The existence of hundreds of peasant families in the province largely dependent on coffee farming, coupled with the decline in this sector throughout the region, justified the analysis of this issue by the delegates to the Provincial Assembly of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), prior to the organization’s 13th Congress.
Guantánamo, it should be recalled, produced more than 4 million cans of coffee in 1982, with Maisí harvesting more than 1.3 million. In recent years, however, regional collection have not even approached one million.
Coffee plantations that have disappeared due to the planting of various crops, the abandonment of farms, the neglect of the crop (due to the lack of proper agricultural tasks such as clearing, pruning, weeding, and shade regulation), the neglect of producers and pickers, and the shortage of inputs, especially fertilizers, are among the main causes of the production decline.
Addressing the plenary session, Samuel San Lois, president of the Agroforestry Group at the Ministry of Agriculture, outlined the country’s urgent need to recover coffee production, a product that, due to its low national harvest, has had to be imported to ensure the population’s supply.
The official assured that all the demands made by coffee producers to the country’s leadership are being addressed and will be answered before the next harvest. Among the coffee growers’ main requests are an increase in the price of the beans for producers, with a component paid in foreign currency, and improved inputs required by the plantations.
San Lois expressed his satisfaction with how Guantánamo is directing preparations for the 2025-2026 harvest, during which the poor results of the recently concluded harvest, affected by Hurricane Oscar, as well as by deficiencies in production contracting and the diversion of beans, must be reversed.
The Guantanamo ANAP’s members also addressed the issue of the internal functioning and proper implementation of the cadre policy, an issue that is not going well in several municipalities in the territory, such as Maisí, Imías, and Manuel Tames. They also called for the reinstatement of peasant patrols and brigades as a way to counteract crime, particularly the theft and illegal slaughter of livestock.
Félix Duarte Ortega, a member of the Party’s Central Committee and national president of ANAP, praised the agricultural fairs in Guantánamo and the farmers’ contribution to what is undoubtedly the most impactful economic measure adopted in the province in the last year and a half.
