Wide arable and cultivated areas make up the scenario in which Leonardo Lora García moves daily. He is a peasant owner of around three hectares in the rural community of Cuatro Caminos, to the south of the municipality of Las Tunas.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- He barely had time to talk with the press team that came to the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes credit and services cooperative (CCS) because the sweet potato was in harvest and “in agricultural activities, every minute is worth so much like gold.”

In this task, he was with his brother, who “returned here to work the land because my father is already very old and can hardly do anything. We take care of work and we have everything for the collective benefit of the family."

“Here we grow tomatoes, chunky bananas, and other various crops that have given us very good results. We had excellent yields in the harvest of cassava.”

Hurrying his words, Leonardo gives some instructions and tells us they would like to plant beans. But, they have not been able to realize that personal aspiration, so necessary for the country in these times of economic hardship and health dangers due to the COVID-19.

“When the plants start to put on the covers, they get sick. We have insisted a lot; however, it has had not been possible. And we already decided to focus on various crops, another current need. That is why we deliver all the productions to the cooperative, which is to say to the people."

“Here we have a guarantee for irrigation because we take advantage of the fact that the river does not dry up. With the pumping machine, we supply all the lands. Look at them yourself, journalist, and you will see that everything is seeded. And there is no marabou! It was difficult to kill it, but we succeeded."

Leonardo is right. The sight is lost amid so much greenery that later will turn into other tonalities in the fruits that are obtained. His efforts already have results and that can be seen every time the products arrive in the city from the cooperative.

“The idea is to continue sowing and fighting every day to produce a little more, as the people deserve. The life of the peasant is very hard because, in addition to the sun and the roughness of the work, we have to deal with unscrupulous people who steal the productions."

“Luckily, at the moment we are a little better because the prices of the products have risen. Now, it only remains to do our best.”