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To The National Administration Of The National Association Of Small
Farmers
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, June 16, 1997
Mr. Orlando Lugo Font
President of the National Assoc. of Small Farmers
Mr. President:
For years now we have been under the auspices of the organization you
direct, witnessing how the State is represented by you. It should be
quite the
reverse, however; you should actually be representing us, the farmers,
before
the State. This has limited your operations and your ability to protect
and
defend our interests. Thus, we now see the imperative need to define our
situation within this organization, such as it is.
If we are members of this organization, then we should be afforded due
attention pursuant to our aims and interests. Your organization should
actually
serve as an intermediary between us and the State to obtain solutions to
our
demands by supporting them.
If this organization is a non-governmental entity, it should not be
influenced or biased by the interests of the State if these are contrary
to the
interests of the farmers, for which sake it exists. If it is a State
organization, then, having declared ourselves independent farmers, we have
no
reason whatsoever for belonging to it, especially if by its poor regard
and
concern for the farmers it does not merit our participation.
Notwithstanding all that has been stated, if the organization known as
the
National Organization of Independent Farmers were to assume a prominent
role in
defending and fighting for the rights of farmers, we would have no
objection in
belonging to the same. Otherwise, Cuban farmers would be faced with the
imperative need of creating a new rural organization to actually represent
them.
We detail below some of our main demands, which should be advocated and
defended by any organization wishing to bring to the country a true
agrarian
revolution.
A) Freedom over types, quality and quantity of crops grown. Marketing
freedom. Produce will be sold at whatever time and place or to whatever
client
suits us, the State being considered as merely a client. No produce,
including
coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, etc., will be regulated by the State.
B) Any type of animal shall be raised that will allow us to ensure an
adequate food supply for families and society at large. This includes the
raising and slaughtering of cattle, subject only to sanitary standards and
regulations.
C) Freedom to contract agricultural laborers who will be paid salaries
in
accordance to the actual, current cost of living.
D) The creation of a national movement of independent cooperatives
that
would help, in the short term, to solve the food problem in Cuba. The
latter
would seek internal and external assistance to enable the realization of
this
project and our noble endeavor: to grant social assistance to
organizations and
persons directly and not through the prices imposed on our produce, as the
latter distorts the true meaning of "assistance".
E) The depoliticization of agriculture--rendering it an economic
rather
than a political entity—such that the cooperatives will not be
subject to
ideological and partisan considerations. Although we referred the matter
to the
governmental institutions responsible for these affairs, we have yet to
receive
any official reply. However, the organizations that deal with your
institution,
the National Association of Small Farmers, have issued strong indictments
against us, something which violates the ethical and moral precepts of any
self-respecting institution. They should not feel assailed, nor do they
have
the right to indict any new institution that arises, acting as if they
could
bestow upon themselves the supreme right to exist exclusively.
It is paradoxical that those small-farmer
cooperatives and general agricultural activities
which have failed most prominently are held up as
examples. The "Emilio Baltazar" and "Victoria de
Giron" cooperatives incurred a debt of almost one
million pesos due to stealing and corruption by
their leaders. To this day, the members of the
former are suffering the consequences of these
actions given the restraints imposed on them by the
bank. The others have seen their earnings hurt as a
result. Others, such as farmer Rafael Nunez Salinas,
residing at 204 Ricardo Rizo St., Alto Songo, have
not received the house they were supposed to obtain in
exchange for their lands.
We wish to emphasize that we do not have a legal entitlement to bring
a
court action against individuals such as Pedro Suarez, president of the
credit
and service cooperative, who hurled offenses and threats against us which
bespeak his ignorance. The same can be said about Rosa Concepcion
Sarmiento, a
person of dubious moral conduct and totally lacking in credibility, who
served
as financial manager of one of the failed cooperatives. As a result of
this
failure, she became embroiled in a court case in which she potentially
faced a
15-year jail sentence. Today, however, she serves in the role of
ideologue for
the Songo-La Maya municipal branch of the National Association of Small
Farmers.
But in this life even bad intentions sometimes bring about something
positive. Such was the case with our ideologue woman friend, whom, in a
speech
she delivered, went beyond the case of the "Transicion"
cooperative
and touted the latter as the implementation of the agrarian policies of
the
Cuban Party of Orthodox Renovation. As a result, she made known the aims
of its
program and publicized it to a greater extent than the party would be
capable of
doing. This is the reason why various farmers and citizens in general are
coming to us, motivated by those new ideas for introducing changes to
Cuban
farmers.
Before closing we wish to remind you that if, after examining all the
foregoing evidence, you persist in defining yourselves as a
non-governmental
organization, then we have no reason to allow you to intrude in our
affairs,
unless it is only to go on promoting us. Another fact which is worth
noting is
that, contrary to our expectations, all of your organization's meetings
have
accomplished nothing concrete for us farmers; nothing that would fulfill
our
exhausted hopes. All we got was the same tall tale that draws on history
and
has no present or future.
There should be no fear of a prosperity that would underscore our
accomplishments in bettering the situation of farmers. If through our
project
we can achieve the solution to the farmer's problems, then we would not be
acting as his enemies but rather as a beacon and a guide for his
ideas.
The "Transicion" cooperative should be a milestone in our
history. All men of goodwill should know that anytime is good to think
about
the homeland and that the homeland has a need for the labor of all men,
although
not all of them know how to labor for the good of the homeland.
Brotherly regards,
Jorge Bejar Baltazar
President of the "Transicion" cooperative
Antonio Alonso Perez
Vice-President
cc: Municipal and Provincial branches of the National Association of
Small
Farmers, and the public at large.
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