By WILLIAM DEVINE
a, HAVANA
Upshoe vost immediate and dramatic
ro lot of two speeches by Fidel Cas-
of . March was the nationalization
hes still-existing small private busi-
Ses in Cuba.
ae astro had called for a “revolution-
nope” by the people. In its
ih cee to private businesses, he
“Dar the eradication of all vestiges of
sate itism, capitalism and exploita-

me Offensive followed swiftly. A
hi after the nationalization proce-
€S were announced, almost 50,000

Private concerns had been taken over °

the state.
: cand of these were street-corner
te stands or other one-man
buh ions. But others were larger.
song €s on the total number of per-
Dloye affected by the take-over (em-
Clhded jo7d,,omployees) were not in-
in summaries published by the

- Press,

migePever the fact that some of them
it be somewhat more than small

Was ina:
certa tidicated by a summary listing a
1 number in the “basic industry”

Column

bed th But if the nationalization grab-

even € headlines here, there was an

inc More deep-going theme contained

astro’s speech.

Urged the “revolutionary offensive” he

ancin was also directed toward ad-

Pecial}e the economy as a whole, es-

east Y agriculture, the key effort at

Gite 1970. On the economy, the

aces leader noted that the country

real difficulties.”

Casting ticulties were high-lighted by
es forecast that the sugar harvest
year would be 5.5 million tons.

tons S is below last year’s 6.1 million

Millio a considerably below the eight
an f tons targeted this year in the

Or 10 million tons in 1970.
last ye enemy of agriculture in Cuba
Ned was severe drought, the worst
hea for the country’s biggest
are caucing province of Oriente.

Castro” in his outline on March 13,

Speak Said he had been prompted to
wee such depth because of “cir-

digen nces: of protest,” and a certain

tainty sab” “confusion” and “uncer-

Count among the people over the

Clary food-supply problem, parti-

for ay. Over withdrawal of milk quotas

owe in the city of Havana. _
import. went on to say that while
ed a of powdered milk, had remain-
of fo ady, there had been a reduction
of p ur thousand tons in the amount

t ae vcered milk it had been possible
mre from contracting countries.

th ae alternatives, he said, presented

do] pees: investing some millions of

Suspen for more powdered milk, or

Buns the rations for adults in

Nowhee — a ration that existed almost

alter €re_else in the.island. The second

Native has been, adopted.

Sug

Supporting his affirmation of an up-
swing, Castro said big development
plans now underway are receiving huge
financial and physical outlays, but are
not yet producing a return on their

‘investment. However, he declared, that

return will soon start to be gathered.
On the key projection of a 10-mil-
lion-ton sugar crop in 1970, he was

‘particularly emphatic. He avowed there

was “no doubt” this would be accom-
plished. It was not only a goal of the

and lead to the idea that problems can
be solved through luck, not .work.

In outlining the problems and tasks
ahead, Castro’s point that Cubans
must rely fundamentally on their own
efforts was stressed heavily.

In discussing the milk shortage, Cas-
tro noted that the government had
been at fault in not giving as full an
explanation of the Havana milk cut as
possible in the press and other news
media. Without such a complete ex-

William Devine

HAVANA

Revolution, but a question of honor
for the Revolution.

Fundamental to assuring future suc-
cessful sugar and other harvests, he
stated, without being at the mercy of
climatic conditions, were dam-building
and irrigation works.

For this purpose, the Cuban leader
pointed out that this year machinery
will be put to work in agriculture
capable of moving 60 million cubic
metres of earth.

On cattle for dairy and milk needs,
Fidel pointed out that since the Revo-
lution, Cuba has imported — at con-
siderable cost — more than 10 thou-
sand breeding animals. With them, it
has embarked on an extensive program
of artificial insemination—the country
now has 3,000 inseminators compared

-to none before 1959.

Castro pointed out, the offsprings of
this program do not appear in 24 hours.
But when such offspring reach pro-
ductive age they will greatly improve
the meat and milk situation.

Thus, Fidel indicated, the picture is
one of vast investments having been
and being made, whose results are soon
to be seen.

On industrial development, he went
on, advances also have been and are
being made. But the concentration will
be on agriculture until 1970. From that

time, however, more accent will be .

put on industry. ae
As part of the nationalization, pri-

vately-owned bars had been closed
down, not to be re-opened. And Castro
added that state-owned bars would also
be closed. The intent of this “was not
to prevent anyone from having a beer”
in their homes or other places, but the
Revolution should not promote drunk-
enness; it should promote the spirit of
work.

Another measure that Castro announ-
ced was the abolition of the National
Lottery. While this had played a role
in mobilizing financial resources when
there were “lots of people with lots
of money,” this situation no longer
prevailed, nor would it.

It thus made no sense now to con-
tinue taking money, through the lot-
tery, from those who work. In addi-
tion, Fidel said, lottery winnings

strengthen the “mystique” of money,

planation of the measure, a questioning
showed “a certain ideological weak-
ness in our masses,” a “certain lack of
sufficient political education, a certain
lack of political instruction.”
Enlarging and backgrounding this
point, he said that in certain moments,
certain tendencies had developed in the
masses. “One of these tendencies led
to a somewhat compliant situation: the
idea that we were defended, the idea
that there was no problem. Because
on one or two occasions when the
famous intercontinental rockets were
mentioned, everyone here . . . counted
on them as if they really had them
in their pockets.”
“only

correct, intelligent and truly revolu-
tionary way” is to rely “always on our
own forces.”

In the same way, Castro suggested,
such a compliant mentality had grown
up in the field of the economy. The
idea had gained ground that for what-
ever problem, immediate outside aid
would be available for its solution.
This had led away from the idea that
“the decisive effort must be our own.”

“If external resources can be im-
portant, the decisive factor should al-
ways be our disposition, our convic-
tion, that with -or without external
resources, we ourselves will forge the
will to make this country march for-

ward.”

* 150th Anniversary Week
HORIZONS Research presents:

Bridgeport, Conn.,

panelists:

Sunday, May 5 at 2 p.m. at St. Lawrence Hall
"The Young Marx and the Young Generation"

Professor Howard L. Parsons, University of

Stanley Gray (McGill)
D. Goldstick (Carleton)

Peggy Morton (New; Left Committee }
C. Boylan (editor, SCAN), chairman

Tuesday, May. 7, 8 p.m. Lord Simcoe Hotel

"Marxism and Democracy"—a symposium

with Brewster Kneen, journalist and broadcaster
A. Dhrlik, Ist sécretary, Embassy of Czechoslovakia
S. B. Ryerson, editor of HORIZONS, author of just
published "Une

ual Union"
Rae Murphy, editor, Cause

ian Tribune, chairman

Friday, May 10, 8 p.m., King Edward Hotel
"U.S. Economy and World Economy"

Victor Perlo, N.Y. economist

"U.S. Monopoly and Canada"
T. Buck, chairman of the Communist Party
E. Bjarnason, Vancouver economist, chairman

Admission Tuesday and Friday: $1.00

Sunday: voluntary donation

Te tgp

ROR

MAY 3, 1968—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7

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ern