On November 9, Party Political Bureau member and First Vice President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, visited Baracoa and Maisí, the municipalities most severely affected by Hurricane Matthew, according to various press reports.

The Trabajadores websitenoted that Díaz-Canel was accompanied by deputy minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and Political Bureau member, Army Corps General Ra­món Espinosa Martín, as ministers and deputy ministers of different sectors of the economy provided an up-date on progress being made in recovery efforts.

According to the report, despite the millions of pesos worth of damage caused by the hurricane, the recovery stage is advancing with the aim of repairing and improving the quality of homes, state facilities, productive areas, and services.

Díaz-Canel highlighted the country’s swift response to the disaster, sending thousands of workers from different sectors; as well as food, information-communication technologies, equipment, construction materials and other essential resources for the population, to the affected areas.

In Maisí, Cuba’s first vice president visited mini-industries dedicated to the local production of construction materials, and the site where a new neighborhood will be built, in collaboration with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s Petro­casas initiative. Meanwhile in Baracoa, Díaz-Canel visited the area where Matthew destroyed the bridge over the River Toa, one of the country’s largest rivers.

Radio Baracoa reported that the Cuban official inquired about the alternative overpass being built alongside the former bridge, which will facilitate overland communication with the mining municipality of Moa.

Díaz-Canel also held a fraternal encounter at Baracoa’s Gustavo Rizo airport with renowned visual artist Alexis Leyva Machado (Kcho), who updated the Cuban official on actions he is undertaking to contribute to recovery efforts.