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*Disrespecting Workers* Posted By *Yenisel Rodriguez* On March 15, 2011 @ 9:39 am In *Yenisel Rodriguez's Diary* | *No Comments<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39711&print=1#comments_controls> * *Yenisel Rodriguez * The cooperative used to produce sugar cane. Photo: Bill Hackwell Some workers have had to go more than three months without receiving their wages at the Herminio Hernandez Agricultural Producers Cooperative in the Baguanos municipality of Holguin province. It would seem a paradox that wages exist in a farm cooperative, or that it is managed by those who dont work in the field, or that the cooperative members function like salaried workers. What is happening is that cooperative labor in the agricultural sector in todays Cuba is only an ideological shroud used by the government. According to the workers at the Herminio Hernandez, the cooperative is in debt and therefore doesnt have the wherewithal to pay them. People are upset in the community. When concluding the second month of indebtedness they were sold some basic foodstuffs on credit. However there isnt much hope and the spirits are low in the community. Although the cooperative has never been profitable since it was directed to get out of the production of sugar cane and devote itself to cattle breeding, things have gotten even worse. This was a forced change, decided upon from above and caused by milk fever, a plan to increase the production of this food product. The central government has imposed the same successful formula on all of the countrys cooperatives, which is the principal reason why workers at Herminio Hernandez have been feeding their families with the help of bananas and yucca for several weeks. We dont have any experience in this, nor do the fields provide the best pasture. We have many fields available for just a few sheep and some cows, one of the campesinos at the cooperative told me. The people running things dont know what to do. Should they put the sheep together with the cows in the same pastures? They dont know the sheep pull up the grass by the roots and in a little time will leave no grass at all for the cows, explained another worker who accompanied me on my visit. Days later I found out that the cooperative had been instructed to drop sugar cane planting because its irregular terrain didnt allow the introduction of latest-generation sugar cane combines manufactured in China. These are self-programed for flat terrain. This was why the somewhat uneven land at the Herminio Hernandez cooperative was deemed unsuitable, despite the fact its known for its excellent soil. Now we are forced to wonder whether a real need existed for introducing these combines in the already precarious Cuban sugar industry. Some operators of the old Russian combines assured me that it was not. With the KTPs (the Russian combines) we could take advantage of land close to the sugar mill, which avoided the elevated cost of transporting harvested cane, one operator commented to me. I will soon be returning to visit the workers at this cooperative. As soon as I get there I will report to the readers how the events have unfolded at the Herrera Tres, another community victimized by authoritarianism and government improvisation. [image: Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...] <http://www.linkwithin.com/> [1] ------------------------------ Article printed from Havana Times.org: *http://www.havanatimes.org* URL to article: *http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39711* URLs in this post: [1] Image: *http://www.linkwithin.com/* [image: author photo] *Isbel Diaz Torres:* Pinar del Rio and Havana are my cities. I was born in one on March 1, 1976, and Ive always lived in the other. I am a biologist and poet, though at times Ive also been a musician, translator, teacher, computer geek, designer, photographer and editor. Im very non-conformist and a defender of differences perhaps due to always having been an ever-repressed model child. Nothing enthralls me more than the unknown, nature and art; these serve as my sources of mystery and development. A surprising activism has been born in me over the recent period. Though Im not very sure how to channel it, I feel that its a worthy and legitimate energy. Lets hope I have the discernment to manage it. <http://www.havanatimes.org/author/Isbel%20Diaz> Soy Meat, but Transgenic? March 12, 2011 | [image: Print This Post]<http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39535&print=1> *Print This Post* <http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39535&print=1> [image: Email to a Friend] <http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39535&emailpopup=1> *Email to a Friend* <http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=39535&emailpopup=1> <http://www.havanatimes.org/?attachment_id=39536> A bag of yogurt provided by Cuban children from 7 to 14 years of age. *Isbel Diaz Torres * A great report on Cuban television stirred up comments among people. It was about an intensive and extensive soya production program being undertaken by the Military Agricultural Enterprise and that employs Brazilian technology. Soya became famous in Cuba during the economic crisis of the 1990s. Using this grain, which has a high vegetable protein content, an attempt was made to meet the nutritional needs of a population severely affected by food shortage. Various uses of soya included mixing it with ground meat and blending it into the yogurt given to children from seven to fourteen years of age. Oil from the grain also began to appear in our diet. The acceptance or rejection of food with soya has been varied since it was never part of our traditional diet. Many families came up with successful solutions to support the strange tasteless ground soy meat , while others simply wont eat it. Its oil, however, is generally well accepted by the public. Why do we need more soya now? According to the report, its production would allow us to avoid having to import 150,000 tons of the grain from the United States a savings of $72 million USD (Cuba currently pays to $480 per ton for the product). For this, the Cuban company CUBASOY will sow more than 1.2 million acres in the province of Ciego de Avila. Such an ambitious project as this has required major investments, which have included recruiting Brazilian technicians and purchasing an entire factory from that South American country for drying the grain. In fact, the whole system is mechanized: tractors, planting machinery, equipment for phytosanitary applications, and much more. Indeed 90 percent of the equipment comes from Brazil. Would it be wise here to speak of a monopoly? It has been necessary to build roads, lay 32 miles of electric lines and dig new wells. Irrigation will be supplied with water from the Zaza reservoir, though 40 percent of the water will come from the regions subsoil. The areas to be planted were recovered after years of neglect and abandonment. The plague of the *Marabou* (a thorny bush) had wreaked havoc. The soil, red and high in iron, is of a low quality, meaning that it will require large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides. In 2010, the areas that had been cultivated demanded 4,200 tons of chemicals for the control of plagues, while in 2011 they will receive some 5,800 tons. The impact on the land will be devastating, especially if two harvests are undertaken annually as planned. In an attempt to relieve the consequences that these aggressive practices pose, soy plantings will be rotated with corn. This other grain product will be dedicated to the production of noodles and flour. The project will expand up until 2013, especially if it meets the strict projections dictated by the executive director of the Agricultural Enterprize. General Rubén Martínez Puente Division insists on discipline and order, because to produce this grain discipline and order is necessary. But worst of all, viewed as a total technological package, is that this involves transgenic soya from Brazil. But did they forget to mention that on the television report? Could it have been an innocent oversight on the part of journalist Gladys Rubio? And the corn? Will it be the FR-Bt1 transgenic variety that Cuban scientists are developing? There are questions, lots of questions, but the severe look of General Martínez Puente on the TV and opera music in the background leave no doubt: it will *have* to be a success. 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