“They say the harvest is going from bad to worse, and the sugar mill is a real pain.” This was the topic of conversation among customers as they waited their turn to buy the sugar assigned through the regulated family basket.

Whatever they say, whether true or not, it's important to know that the Antonio Guiteras agro-industrial sugar company continues its harvest, despite the significant damage caused by the winds of the US blockade, which for more than 60 years has battered every corner of the Cuban economy with huge fury.

It would have been easier for its workers and managers to wait for better conditions before launching into the fight, knowing, in advance, that they were doing so with half-baked equipment and machinery repaired, or rather, patched up as needed due to a lack of key resources.

Hence, significant time is lost due to industrial breakdowns. This, coupled with fuel and lubricant shortages, electrical and weather problems, and the lack of skilled industrial specialists and workers, who had to be replaced with reinforcements from other mills and even with contracted personnel. All this combined became a major obstacle impossible to overcome with greater perseverance, will, effort, and sacrifice.

Thus, the high cost of such limitations can be summarized as follows: of the 123 working days elapsed since the start of the campaign, on January 23rd, only 21 have counted as effective.

There hasn't been a moment of respite. In this tough struggle, they have had the incentive of having the constant support of the top political and governmental authorities in the province.

Through this joint effort, little by little, the Colossus of the municipality of Puerto Padre has fabricated 13 percent of the sugar planned, destined for the regulated family basket. They have not wavered in their efforts to respond to the call made by the country's top leadership to business and labor groups, seeking to achieve production and contributions in line with the objective conditions in their respective areas of operation.

Meanwhile, the milling continues and will last as long as possible, as Las Tunas' goal is to process all the cane, whether to produce sugar, molasses, or electricity.