Vietnam to Aid Cuba’s Rice Production
HAVANA TIMES, Sept. 29 – Cuba and Vietnam signed an agreement Monday through which the Asian country – will assist Cuba to increase its rice production. Rice is the number one basic food staple for Cubans.
Vietnam is one of the world’s top five rice producers and the third leading exporter of the grain after Thailand and India and ahead of the United States.
Moreover, IPS reported that Hanoi donated 500 computers, 8,000 notebooks and 600 pairs of shoes as part of the current visit of President Nguyen Minh Triet to Cuba.
The 100 points of excellence that Cuba earned in the handling of its political, ideological, education, sports, social security, healthcare, culture, internal safety/stability, solidarity and others, absorbed the attention of the government leadership, reducing other social responsibilities to minor importance, especially because of a totally committed population, willing to endure any sacrifice.
Periodic lip service have been given to the sugar , cattle , rice, fishing industry, reforestation, egg, poultry, swine production, dams construction or artificial insemination with the importation of world class steers and diary champions, aimed at making Cuba a world leader in each of these fields, only to see interest shift from one of these sectors to another and into oblivion. Cuba is perfectly capable of self sufficiency in each of these fields, whenever leaders of each of these branches are made totally accountable of the end result without interference of non-professionals.
It’s still a bit of a mystery to me how so much of Cuba’s agricultural land remains non- or under- or poorly-utilized after all these decades of the Revolution, and especially after the fall of stalinism in Europa and the resultant period of ‘Rectification’, etc. And certainly the only solution lies with creating a new Worldwide economic structure 100% independent of the present hegemonic imperialist one.