The 63 measures approved by the country's top management respond to structural, organizational, productive, and socioeconomic problems related to food production. But if their implementation is accompanied by routines of inactivity, slowness, non-payments, and dissociations, farmers will never be able to feel the benefits with their own hands and far from stimulating them to produce more, they will create a level of discontent that will frustrate the objectives for which the regulatory package was created.

Although we all know that, the new provisions will not bring about change overnight, the first transformations must be already beginning to take place. Several months after the approval of the norms, in this eastern territory, those who comply and even exceed the agreed-upon delivery of extra milk to the Dairy Company, have not yet received a penny in the foreign currency corresponding to their remuneration. Such inconsistencies with the orientations of the maximum direction of the country, today is a latent concern among the cattle ranchers of Las Tunas.

Alfredo Ortiz (Pirolo), 72 years old, is one of the most outstanding cattlemen of the Niceto Pérez Credit and Service Cooperative (CCS, by its acronym in Spanish). "Up to the end of August, of the 14,000 liters that I have in plan, I have already delivered more than 17,800. The payment of 1.50 per liter, the 9.00 pesos for complying with the plan, has been stably given to us, not so with the currency.

"When you want to solve the milk issue, do not sit down to talk with the producers, do it with those of the Dairy Company. They are the ones who have to reverse the situation and pay us because we are producing."

"My interest is to buy attachments for my tractor and that is the only way. I would also like to acquire other important instruments that are sold in that currency, hence the need for me to obtain the Freely Convertible Currency (MLC, by its acronym in Spanish)." He assures that in the remainder of the year he must guarantee about eight thousand liters more and, without a doubt, he would do it with a lot of motivation if he knows that his payment in foreign currency is delivered in the same measure in which he contributes his extras.

Like Alfredo, Francisco Parra (Paco) is another pillar in the good production results. "The payment in MLC is going to benefit us a lot, it is money that goes directly to our card and with it, we will buy many things, among them, essential supplies for the sanitization of the cold thermos. This gives us a big boost because we will be able to do more in better conditions. If they don't pay us, how will we get it?”

Ermes Rodríguez, vice-president of "Niceto Pérez", expressed the experiences of his 40 farmers, 15 of them stand out for their milk compliance. There are repeated deficiencies in the development of cattle raising in these farms. The problems with Dairy leave much to be said. "It cannot be possible that the milk collected by several producers in the same canteen arrives at different prices. The last one was disastrous; some were paid 5.00 pesos per liter, others 4.00 and some even 7.00 pesos, which is inconceivable since they come from the same cold thermos. The tests are still not done individually and one finds out the quality of the milk when one receives the invoice with the payments."

There is a great demotivation and that is not what the new measures are looking for. "The farmer has to live, improve his quality of life, and if he makes an effort and does a lot of things to fulfill his plans, to be paid a little more, it is fair that he gets his money," said the vice-president.
"The unplugging is with the Dairy Industry. Notice that when this one paid the first month at 9.00 pesos, all the farmers said 'let's go there,' because they were motivated. In that month we reached 19,000 liters of milk, but the next month, they made a catastrophe and paid as they understood, and then came the collective disappointment. In addition, not a single producer has been paid the surplus delivered to the Dairy Company in freely convertible currency."

Ermes Rodríguez says that "recently when the delegate of Agriculture of the province came, we learned that a card had to be made at the bank. The explanation they give us for not paying us is that we do not have those cards and they tell us that they are going to pay for the milk if they take it for their sales in MLC. First, they have to generate the money, then they can pay for it, and that is not what the measures say. How do I know later if the one I gave was the one they used?

THE CONSTRAINS

26 went to the Dairy Company to delve into the difficulties of the matter. There, Ernesto Gutiérrez Delgado, deputy director of the industry, explained that "in June and July a significant level of over compliance was reported, but the cattlemen must have previously created the cards in the bank to make the transfer."

The money is there, the payment obligation is there, what is missing is to make the payment," the executive assured the press. That is the reason for the delay; we are waiting for the branch to determine how it is going to pay the farmer so that it can be executed."

The main objective of this industry is to collect as much cow's milk as possible to reduce the high import rates of powdered milk, "since one ton of this food costs the country around four thousand dollars and in this province, about 50 tons of milk are required monthly," he explained.

"If we buy this product in the international market, it almost triples the cost for what we pay the farmers, so it is quite feasible that it is acquired in our territory," he said. In this factory, most of the products that are generated for commercialization are based on the cow's milk collected, because through different procedures we can substitute the powdered milk and obtain assortments with the same quality, he explained.

"Our part is done, we conciliated with the farmer, we agreed with the bank and we are interested in the farmer receiving his payment."

The creation of the cards does not depend only on the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BANDEC, by its acronym in Spanish). In a dialogue with Orlando Iglesias Carralero, deputy provincial director of the banking institution, we learned that "since the payment for milk over compliance at 0.15 cents in MLC per liter was established, it was determined that it would be through product 26, using a magnetic card," he pointed out.

"In our province, this process is being developed gradually, but it is indispensable for the creation of these that the industry gives us a list with the name of those producers, and thus intend to open the accounts. Here, 101 accounts have already been opened for others, plus 142 that we have already opened for beekeepers," said Iglesias Carralero.

To advance in the creation of the cards, what we have to do is to better organize the organizations involved," suggested the Bandec director. With the beekeepers, we were able to achieve this task, because there was efficient gearing with the Apiculture Company. By municipalities, we knew how many needed it, we planned and the mechanisms were made easier for them.

It is an expeditious process, there is no bureaucracy because the steps are simple," he said, "and once the account is created, the farmer can already be paid. It is not necessary to wait for the card to arrive, it is enough that it is created and the money is transferred.

"We can create a program and we, as an institution, can go to those places, we know that it is not easy for farmers to leave the countryside and we will look for variants. What is necessary is communication."

NON-PAYMENTS, INCONSISTENCIES... NO CLARITY

Then, another incongruity arises, if they have the money to pay and all the cooperatives already have a card in MLC, why have they not transferred the due amount to those who have over-delivered milk, as a result of the livestock program in the collective use lands, the interviewees said.

During these days, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture checked in this province the implementation of the 63 measures. The directors expressed that during the exchange with the farmers, the concerns were linked to this deficiency "and about 300 producers, beekeepers and also livestock farmers, already have the product 26; however, they have not been paid either, so it has not been for lack of cards", said Reynaldo Cuba Medina, vice-president of the Agricultural Group.

Some cooperatives and farmers already have them and still have not been paid a penny. There is a call for all the milk and the surplus to go to the industry because the country needs it, but if the payments do not arrive, it is very complicated for the dairy farmers to continue delivering. They can market that surplus elsewhere, the policy allows it.

Even with these non-payments, according to the Cuban Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Pérez Brito, "Las Tunas is one of the provinces that deliver more milk to the Dairy above the plan. Already 2,596 farmers can collect milk in MLC, a payment that reaches the sum of 104,972 pesos in that currency."

GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH

The results after the implementation of the recent provisions cannot be the same. Good intentions are on the way, but they are not enough. On the one hand, farmers do not receive the remuneration and on the other hand, the credibility of the 63 measures to boost and stimulate food production is compromised.

The Vice Prime Minister and member of the Central Committee of the Party, Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca, pointed out that within the norms it is stipulated that "whoever does not pay will not be sold the product." He also said that when talking about contracts, it is necessary to go to the legal claims: "How many productive bases have sued in court for non-compliance? Let's take it to court then. The contract is approved in the Guidelines of the Party Congress and the economic strategies". The company that owes the producer will have to stop its operations "and every income it generates will be to pay it. Whoever does not pay cannot buy."

Excuses do not solve the problem and there has been a lack of demand, discipline, and responsibility. The causes continue to revolve in the same place and still, the needle does not mark the solution of the matter. The goal is to eliminate the obstacles, the bureaucracy, the disorganization and that, once and for all, the development of the productive forces is stimulated and that the people also have more food on the table.