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As tropical storm Melissa continues to intensify over the Caribbean Sea and threatens to hit eastern Cuba as a powerful hurricane, leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez dedicated his Friday to visiting production centers in Pinar del Río, a western province of the country, where he spoke with agricultural and mining workers.
The president visited entities in the municipalities of Minas de Matahambre and Viñales, accompanied by the secretary of Organization of the Communist Party, Roberto Morales Ojeda. At the Caribbean Mining Company (EMINCAR), Díaz-Canel highlighted the productive results and called for preparations for the popular consultation on the new Government Program to boost the economy, scheduled for November.
The tour included the Municipal Livestock Enterprise and the coastal town of Puerto Esperanza, where he praised the management of the local fishing entity, which, according to the Presidencia de Cuba, offers workers average salaries ranging from 8,000 to 8,200 pesos, plus additional benefits, a figure that contrasts sharply with the low incomes in the Cuban state sector.
Díaz-Canel continued his tour of the west despite the alarm caused by the rains from Melissa, which since Friday have resulted in damage in the east of the country, including flooding in Baracoa and landslides in Camagüey.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that Melissa could reach category 4 or 5 before Monday, with winds exceeding 250 km/h and potentially impacting Cuba by Wednesday and Thursday, possibly between Guantánamo and Holguín, causing catastrophic flooding, storm surges, and destructive winds.
As the country prepares for a possible national emergency, the leader posted a message on his X account urging to "anticipate every detail to protect the people." However, a large part of the population lacks electricity to stay informed and does not have food to cope with the storm.
The contrast between the imminent threat in the east and the triumphalist rhetoric in the west has once again sparked criticism among Cubans, many of whom are demanding concrete actions in light of the arrival of what could be the most powerful hurricane to impact the island in 2025.
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