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    Adelquis and the Gratitude of his Constituents

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    José Martí Plaza, In the heart of Las Tunas (Photo Gallery)

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Las Tunas News

Patria Colloquium Attended by Media Repr…

A representation of the press and communication media of Las Tunas is attending the third edition of the Patria International Colloquium, which begins today and will be held in Havana...

Construction Materials Company, on New P…

The Las Tunas Building Materials Company is one of the most antiquated in the country, equipped with obsolete technology, so its workers do everything they can to fulfill their contracts...

Lay Judges Are in Invested in Their Post…

All the pre-candidates for lay judges, including those of the Military Court, presented to the municipal assemblies of the People’s Power in Las Tunas received the approval of the delegates...

The Harvest at the Antonio Guiteras Suga…

Continuing to implement alternatives that contribute to improving staff service, fundamentally concerning food in the mill's dining room and cafeterias, and strengthening control to increase the use of agricultural and...

Plant Health in Las Tunas, the Struggle …

Three research projects focused on pest management and biological analysis in the agri-food system are among the priorities of the Provincial Laboratory of Plant Health in Las Tunas this year.

Las Tunas Women Farmers, from Passion to…

Mileidy Crespo Pérez, Addys Oliver Moreno, and Moraima Martínez Reynaldo proudly parade their gender and their peasant roots in the streets of the towns and villages of the province of...

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Cuba News

US Raises Millions-Worth Funds for Plans…

United States authorities approved an additional sum of more than 50 million dollars for subversive actions against Cuba, with emphasis on media manipulation campaigns, Cubadebate’s website reported on Sunday.

Artificial Intelligence Focuses Debates …

The 3rd edition of "Patria" (Homeland) International Colloquium focuses Tuesday its panels and keynote speeches on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the work of media.

Cuba Protests against U.S. Interference

The firm rejection of the interference behavior and the slanderous messages of the U.S. Government and its Embassy in Cuba, regarding internal matters of the national reality, was made known...

Cuba Maintains Popular Commitment to Con…

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated the will to confront the U.S. blockade and boost the country's economic development; he also reaffirmed the government's commitment to the population.

HeberFeron Drug Improves Life of Albinos…

The use of the drug HeberFeron improves the quality of life of the albinos community in Cuba, the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) announced today.

Cuba Continues to Work to Clarify Fate o…

Cuba continues to make pertinent efforts to clarify the situation of kidnapped Doctors Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez Hernández, whose alleged deaths were disclosed on February 17.

World News

Features

Mario Luis Ávila Balmaseda, better known as Mayito.

The Three Wise Men never brought Mayito the bicycle he wanted. He still remembers the silent grimaces of his father when he got upset because he had left them the grass, the water, everything... and the gifts never arrived. And then, when he learned that his Wise Man could not afford his gift, he felt very ashamed.

That is the reason for his satisfaction now because today's kids "are not so fanciful to go around believing in nonsense and have their feet firmly on the ground.”
In those years he grew up early. It was January 5, 1971, when he picked up a machete for the first time in his life and found himself in the middle of a sugar cane field. Now he tells it with a smile and it seems that time is slipping away in his eyes.

He is fifty years old, but before when life forced him to work hard and without fear, he was just an enthusiastic young man, born in the neighborhood of Africa Chiquita, back in San Manuel, land of good cane and noble people.

And the man that he is knows this very well. Because he has walked the most diverse places of that area of Puerto Padre. He feels at home in La Canoa, Santa Bárbara, or La Bomba.

He made his debut on January 5 at the Guatemala sugar mill in Holguin, where he left the first sweats of his sugar life. But afterward, many sugar mills in Cuba have known his efforts; of course, none with the passion that he has dedicated to the one in his town, the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill.

"We have to rescue the cane, the harvest is our life; the places become different; there is more transportation, more joy, and the people are filled with hope.

"The country has developed a lot in all sciences; with the vaccines, one realizes how many people study and improve themselves in Cuba; however, we have to look to the countryside.

"Because it is also true that there are some people who have been getting used to good things without having to sweat; and, therefore, the places that were real sugarcane growers today do not have sugarcane. It is something that needs to be addressed in fact."

Mayito, Mario Luis Ávila Balmaseda, here you are his full name, is a passionate baseball fan and suffers to the point that his wife, the night his team loses, prefers to sleep in another room.

That's what he tells me and he never stops smiling; he always has a witty remark on the tip of his tongue and he blurts out his strongest knowledge as if he were telling a story on a street corner.

Right now, he is in the field, working on the beginning of the harvest at the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill. He hopes it won't be the last, because he will always be there, wherever he is needed.

Like him, many men and women in this country, hardened by the hard work in the fields, weave a daily and anonymous story that makes Cuba a better place.