The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and the Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa visited the La Güinera Defense Zone in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality this Friday, where they urged the use of available land to grow short-cycle crops in response to the food crisis affecting the island.
During the tour, as part of National Defense Day, Marrero emphasized the comparative advantage of this area over others: "The issue of food is key, and unlike other defense areas, you have land," he showed a report from Canal Caribe of the official television.
The visit also assessed the preparedness plans of the regular troops and the role of the Production and Defense Brigades, as well as critical issues affecting the more than 36,000 residents grouped in the 14 constituencies of La Güinera, including water supply and the uneven rotation of electrical circuits, the source specified.
"We recognize the complexity of the area during such a difficult time, especially regarding energy, including fuel and water, and that we must continue to work hard, particularly in harnessing the potential," Marrero admitted to the local authorities.
The call comes at a time when the regime is facing an unprecedented agricultural and energy collapse, which is why almost 97% of Cuban agricultural microenterprises are unable to operate.
This Friday, Valdés Mesa visited agricultural entities in Mayabeque with a similar message, urging farmers to replace diesel with biomass and firewood due to the lack of fuel.
Marrero's call to cultivate idle lands in Havana is not new. In February, the government attempted to relaunch the failed Cordón de La Habana to reclaim lands specifically in Arroyo Naranjo and surrounding municipalities.
In January, the head of government demanded the removal of obstacles to land delivery during a visit to Cienfuegos, and in December 2025, he celebrated on social media the supposed advances in urban agriculture, which triggered massive ridicule amid widespread shortages.
Rice production in Cuba fell from 304,000 tons in 2018 to just 111,000 in 2025. The country imports between 70% and 80% of the food it consumes, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declared a humanitarian emergency in the Cuban countryside in March.
In the face of the energy collapse that has paralyzed agricultural machinery, Cuban agriculture has returned to the use of oxen and windmills, a reality that contrasts sharply with the repeated speeches from the authorities about the productive potential of the available land.
The Communist Party itself acknowledged in December 2024 the failure of the sector: "The results we have achieved today do not meet the needs of the population."
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