BLESS THE BEASTS Farmers work in a field using oxen to plow the land in Los Palacios, Pinar del Rio province, Cuba. Due to lack of fuel, Cubans have resorted to animal traction to boost agriculture and transport goods and people in rural areas. 鈥擜FP
LOS PALACIOS, CUBA鈥擫ack of fuel, in large part due to the US blockade, is forcing Cubans to return to horse and ox power for farming, transport and everyday travel.
In Los Palacios, 100 kilometers west of the capital Havana, Heriberto Piloto bellows at his oxen 鈥淢ontezuelo鈥� and 鈥淧asajero鈥� as they plow a tobacco field at 鈥淟a Juanita鈥� farm.
Once, the fields were plowed by tractors, plus some animal help, but now beasts of burden are the only option, meaning the job of plowman has made a comeback, too, in Cuba鈥檚 fields.
鈥淯nder normal conditions, we always used animals and 鈥� given the country鈥檚 fuel restrictions, we鈥檝e had to increase this activity,鈥� said Alfredo Reynoso, the director of the state company Cubaquivir, which provides services to the 12 agricultural cooperatives in Los Palacios.
鈥淲e need to prepare around 1,200 hectares of land with animal power during the cold season,鈥� Reynoso added.
No buses
A thousand kilometers to the east, long, straight roads flanked by sugarcane fields lead to Havana.
There, 鈥淒ragau鈥� and 鈥淎bre Campo鈥� pull an ox cart driven by Felix Betancourt, a 65-year-old bringing food to field workers.
鈥淚 bring food to cooperative workers: breakfast, lunch. It works well, it saves a lot of things, (including) fuel, given that there is none any more,鈥� said Betancourt. 鈥淭he animals鈥� fuel is grass. In the evening, I give them food, leave them to sleep well, then I get up the next morning and put them to work at 5:30 a.m.鈥�
In the eastern city of Bayamo, horse-drawn carriages have long been a tourist attraction. Today, they鈥檝e become an integral part of the public transport system.
鈥淐arriages have always been used in Bayamo, but now they鈥檙e being used a bit more,鈥� said Silvia Diaz, a neighborhood leader. 鈥淭here are neighborhoods where there are no buses, but there are carriages.鈥�
Rides cost between two and five pesos (between two and five US dollars).
In recent weeks, garbage disposal has been carried out by carts pulled by animals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 helping to keep the neighborhood clean and avoid fuel expenses,鈥� she said.
Not enough beasts
US sanctions against Cuba and its main source of oil, socialist ally Venezuela, forced the island nation to operate with just 30 percent of its fuel needs in September.
October was better, but still Cuba had only 60 percent of its requirements.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 say that the lack of fuel hasn鈥檛 been felt,鈥� said Jorge Luis La Guardia, the 50-year-old president of one of Los Palacios鈥� agricultural cooperatives.
It鈥檚 not the first time that Cuba has had to revert to the use of pack and draught animal.
The government encouraged their use during the economic crisis of the 1990s that followed the breakup of the old Soviet Union, which had been Cuba鈥檚 main foreign backer.
The problem is that Cuba doesn鈥檛 have enough beasts to take up the strain of silenced engines.
Los Palacios has 780 pairs of oxen, 鈥渋nsufficient鈥� to meet the city鈥檚 needs, according to Reynoso.
鈥淲e鈥檙e transporting 100 percent of the farmers鈥� food to the population by pack animals, with oxen and carts, horse gigs and horse-drawn carriages,鈥� said La Guardia.
Cuba has almost 200,000 pack animals, according to official data. 鈥擜FP