This week, the municipal government presented a report on the community program Mi Barrio por la Patria in Santa Clara, highlighting dozens of "solineras" set up, over 100 sponsoring businesses, and family gardens as a response to the worst energy and food crisis the island has faced in decades.
According to Chéster Danilo Chaviano Valdés, Secretary of the Municipal Assembly of the People's Power of Santa Clara, "there are many unmet needs and grievances," but he assured that in the last quarter of the year "results are already being observed, and there is popular oversight from the communities."
Cited on Wednesday by a report from the station CMHW, Chaviano emphasized that "we are resuming community debates to address the issues facing our neighborhoods. We acknowledge the lack of communal hygiene and the presence of illegal dumping sites, along with ongoing illegalities and social indiscipline in the neighborhoods. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen our methods in the communities to enhance the involvement of residents, local leaders, and stakeholders in seeking solutions and remedies to make life more bearable."
Among the specific results mentioned by the official are the dozens of community stations with solar power, popularly known as "solineras," for charging equipment and cooking food, more than 15 medical offices and polyclinics with solar panels, and the removal of over 76 micro-dumps in the municipality.
At the provincial level, Villa Clara already has 50 operational solar power stations spread across its 13 municipalities, aiming to reach 60 before the end of the year, and serving around 5,000 families daily, according to official data.
The most striking component of the program is the figure of the "godfathers": over 100 state-owned enterprises and new economic actors such as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes) and Local Development Projects, which support the movement with donations and services.
Among those explicitly mentioned are SAREX, the Electromechanical Company, Gomate, RETMAISS, and Alemanes Express from the José Martí neighborhood.
"There are communities that are making progress; the transformation of small parks in the Virginia community has been achieved. There are more than 100 businesses and new economic actors who are sponsors and support the movement. They have made donations of solar lamps in the communities," emphasized Chaviano.
The program also promotes what are called Productive Neighborhoods, which encourage backyards, family plots, and urban gardens in homes and neighborhoods to contribute to food production. The initiative is complemented by the rehabilitation of parks, Family Care Systems (SAF), collective kitchens, and sports areas.
What the official discourse presents as achievements of socialism largely relies on the management of the private sector. The first solinera in Villa Clara was inaugurated in April by the Gomate Local Development Project, in the Virginia popular council.
In July, the first secretary of the Communist Party in Villa Clara, Susely Morfa González, celebrated on social media the opening of a private solar energy company operated by the entrepreneur Leandro Prada Santana and credited the state Electric Company for the achievement.
The Mi Barrio por la Patria program was launched in March and met with mockery and criticism on social media, where Cubans demanded more basic priorities.
" slogans do not feed us, they do not provide the vital water for life, they do not light up the endless nights of our children and the elderly, they do not provide the medications or efficient medical services," wrote an internet user.
A few days ago, the Municipal Commerce Company of Santa Clara opened the tender for private individuals to manage 16 bodegas under the Community Market project, offering incentives of up to two years without rent and a deadline until September 15.
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