With a sea of people in streets, plazas, and parks, Cienfuegos commemorated the 62nd anniversary of the armed uprising and Party First Secretary Army General Raúl Castro honored those who fell in battle sending a floral wreath.

Julio Camacho Aguilera, Party Central Committee member, attended the event, and first secretary in the province, Félix Duartes Ortega, delivered the main remarks.

As is traditional, once the commemoration ended the province’s highest leadership headed the people’s march to the obelisk in Tomás Acea Cemetery raised in memory of the martyrs and heroes of the uprising.

(Granma)

The focus of rigorous supervision by national and provincial leaders since the beginning of its construction, the brand new plant is taking its first steps to accomplish a critical objective: ensuring the supply of fertilizer required by Cuban agriculture, and thus replacing costly imports.

The total investment to erect and equip the plant, with a production capacity of 55 tons of fertilizer per hour, was 41 million pesos. The largest portion was allocated by the Cuban state, while an amount exceeding four million dollars was contributed by India.

The NPK has an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of mixed fertilizers of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), necessary soil elements that allow plants to build tissue, grow and develop in all phases of their productive cycle, thus increasing yields.

Satish Gh Maurya, one of the Indian specialists who participated in the assembly of machinery, pointed out that this is the first plant in Cuba on which experts from his country have worked. They provided their services, taking great interest in the project, he noted, adding that the Cuban team was very receptive and collaborative.

The first stage of the NPK project involves the plant’s basic operations core, which will allow for productive levels to meet the requirements of Cuban agriculture for 2019, 2020 and part of 2021, explained Mario Valmaseda, director of the in Cuba Chemical Enterprise (Equifa).

(Granma)

He said that, after this stage, demand is projected to increase and, by that time, the second phase should be completed, which includes the construction of warehouses for the high volume of raw material that will be needed.

Equifa deputy director Fidel Rivero added that this second stage will include, along with the three warehouses for raw materials, roads and protection systems, to be completed by 2020.For the remainder of 2019, production of 79,300 tons is planned, and the plant is responsible for guaranteeing 70% of the fertilizer needed during the cold season planting period, which will favor food production in the fourth quarter of the year and early 2020.

NPK Cienfuegos will save the country 25% of the expense currently required to import ammonium sulfate, diammonium phosphate, phosphorus, and potassium chloride, since zeolite – the base component for mixed fertilizers – is of national production, from the Ranchuelo and Villa Clara deposits, said Joel Vale, a project specialist.

(Granma)

Cuba’s “Pearl of the South” is known for its modernity, architecture, and organization, as stated in the recognition of its central historic district as a World Heritage Site in 2007, “The first, exceptional example of an architectural complex representative of the new ideas of modernity, hygiene, and order, in the urban planning that developed in Latin America during the 19th century.”

Highlighted are the integrity and conservation of its architecture, its “elegant squares and promenades, stretches of façades…” but only those who have been here know its magic, which comes not only from the sober beauty of its buildings.

Cienfuegos moves in its history, written by more than 2,000 members of the brigade of that region in the Rebel Army, who rose up on a glorious September 5, 1957, and in more the than 60 years of its inhabitants’ commitment. And it lives in the pride of its people, in the industrial boom that distinguishes it, in the bay without which the city does not breathe.

Tonight, its art will be celebrated, and the stage could be no other than the mythical Tomás Terry Theater, also a Cienfuegos fixture. The history of this city will be revisited by musicians and actors, under the direction of José Oriol González.

But the 200 years are only a pretext. The beloved city is the subject of song, and venerated, every day.

(Granma)

Financed by the Renewable Energy Sources Investment Company (EDIFRE), the farm will have a total of 14,400 solar panels with a generating capacity of 3.6 megawatts (MW) during the hours of highest solar radiation.

The solar farm, at a cost of more than 10 million pesos, will have the largest generating capacity of those installed here thus far, in the municipalities of Cantarrana and Cruces. In total, these three solar farms will provide 8.2 MW to the National Electric System (SEN).

Plans are to reach 50 MW of solar power in this province by 2030, with the construction of two further solar farms in the municipalities of Aguada de Pasajeros and Rodas, as part of the firm commitment to renewable energy in this territory.

(Granma)