The First Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Matanzas, Mario Felipe Sabines Lorenzo, urged on Saturday producers and state organizations to revive agricultural fairs and "bring food closer to the neighborhoods", during the debut of his radio program "Diálogo Abierto" on Radio 26, this Wednesday by the official newspaper Girón.
The call came after a report from a listener, Amelia Rodríguez, who raised concerns about the deterioration of the Agricultural Fair at the Plaza XIV Festival: its abandonment forces the elderly to travel long distances to obtain food. Another listener, Dairon Martín, pointed out the existence of a massive dump in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood that is affecting the health of the residents.
Sabines Lorenzo acknowledged the validity of both complaints and promised to follow up, although the citizen reaction on social media was one of open skepticism: "I don't remember how long they've been saying the same thing," wrote one user; another added, "Whether or not there is an Open Dialogue, things will remain the same."
The leader stated that the primary concern of the people of Matanzas is access to food, and framed the provincial management around two key areas: food production and energy matrix change.
As agricultural advancements, the regime official mentioned the planting of more than 600 hectares of rice and the conversion of irrigation systems to solar panels, which would allow farmers to irrigate without relying on fuel.
He also highlighted the restoration of the Matanzas Cookie Factory following the installation of solar panels, although he acknowledged that the high costs of raw materials remain a significant challenge.
The promises to bring food closer to the neighborhoods of Matanzas are not new either: in May 2026, the provincial PCC had already made the same commitment, in a context of blackouts lasting up to 70 hours.
In the energy sector, the leader stated that over 35,000 homes have solar modules, more than 2,000 lamps have been installed, and 1,450 private businesses have acquired their own energy matrices to avoid dependence on the National Electric System.
However, the province faces over 170 burned transformers and severe water pumping issues, a crisis that by the end of October affected around 265,000 people in Matanzas, placing the territory second in the country for the population without regular water supply.
To attempt to separate both crises, the regime is working on installing generators and panels in the hydraulic systems with the goal, according to Sabines Lorenzo, of “separating the electrical blackout from the water outage”.
Regarding waste management, the leader announced a new management model that includes charging fees to economic actors and digital payments via QR code to finance collection services.
Sabines Lorenzo announced that the next broadcast of "Diálogo Abierto" will be entirely dedicated to the water supply: "We are going to organize a visit to the hydraulic sector from the provincial Party [...] and we will address everything related to water pumping."
The program "Open Dialogue" replicates the format of the biweekly show "Shared Criteria" that Díaz-Canel launched on Radio Rebelde in September 2026, and has shown its own limitations: in its fourth broadcast, Díaz-Canel admitted that only nine out of 23 complaints received in the previous broadcast had been resolved.
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