INTERIM PRESIDENT CALLS FOR HARD WORK, MORE PRODUCTION & GREATER EFFICIENCY

Cuban media has not published Raul Castro’s speech in its entirety but rather summaries.

Some highlights from Granma include:

1. Raul Castro said examples of the ways the embargo hurts Cuba abound, and highlighted how the US government impedes Cuban commercial and financial transactions abroad, which are mainly aimed at purchasing foodstuffs, medicines, and products to satisfy the basic needs of the population.
2. He also called attention to a recent statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry denouncing irregularities in the compliance of established migratory agreements regarding the minimum number of visas to be granted yearly by the US to Cubans.
3. “Hundreds of thousands militia members and Revolutionary Armed Forces reserves, together with officers, sergeants and soldiers of the permanent troops, have carried out Operation Caguairan, which has substantially increased the defensive capability of the country by achieving unprecedented levels of military training,” he said.
4. Raul Castro also informed that Operation Caguairan will continue in the coming months. The effort will train about a million Cubans and will conclude with the Bastion 2008 strategic military exercises at the end of next year. By that time, we will be even better prepared to resist and succeed on all battlefronts, including national defense, he said.
5. Raul Castro said Cuba is presently studying the possibility of expanded foreign investment in projects that contribute with capital, technology and markets.

News roundup: Washington Post, Reuters, BBC, NYT

(Photograph: NYT)

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