Published in ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, S.A.) Bulletin On Line, No. 2, 2005

Perched atop the mountains, Saint Georges is the capital city and main port. Its houses, in defiance of ravines and heights, hang from cliffs propped up by huge piles in structures resulting from a popular ingenuity worthy of attention by civil engineers worldwide.

Tens of French names are found throughout its geography, since Britain and France contended for the island two centuries ago. English is its official and most widespread language, though many speak Patois, Creole and French as well.

Educated and friendly, Grenadian people like music and dancing; Caribbean rhythms such as calypso and reggae are heard everywhere in their unmistakable lilting, foot-tapping sound.
 

The highest elevation is Mount Saint Catherine (840m above sea level). All mountain highways are so narrow that if two trucks coming from opposite directions meet on those high winding roads, one must yield to the other. Driving a vehicle, which is done British-style (wheel to the right; traffic to the left), requires composure and skill.

Cuba and Grenada established relations on April 14, 1979 during Prime Minister and leader Maurice Bishop’s mandate. His sympathy and overwhelming personality were a force majeure for the New Jewel movement. Being a Caribbean anti-imperialist and Latin American earned him enemies disguised as ultra-leftists who fueled Party divisionism and revolts conducive to a military intervention by the U.S. in October 25, 1983.

Following Mr. Bishop’s assassination came an era of grief, darkness, silence, shame and impotent rage at the foreign boot that had crushed the nation’s dream of a consummate life.
 

Bilateral relations are at a good level of progress today. Friendship between the two Caribbean countries has been sealed with many acts of love: hundreds of Grenada’s youths have studied in Cuba, and thousands are treated these days by Cuban doctors or other professionals trained in Cuban universities.

The two major works made in the isle of spices were both designed and managed by our specialists: the modern international airport in Point Salines, 15 minutes from Saint Georges, and the new General Hospital, it's first stage already finished.

Saying in Grenada that you’re Cuban means being openly loved, as people joyfully prove wherever you go, so much so now that Operation Milagro [Miracle] has spread throughout the region. Cuban ophthalmologists provide care to hundreds who have lost their sight or must undergo surgery to avoid that risk.

Cuban economic attaché Ana Silvia Rodríguez has served as an interpreter for the doctors, and she can’t find sufficient time to answer the phone and talk to dozens of people calling for information. Those who speak Spanish help her at the popular offices where locals wait for hours to be attended, not without patience and politeness.
 

Thirty-four ambassadors in the aftermath of the hurricane

Untouched by hurricanes for the last 50 years, many said the island was blessed by God and thus safe from natural disasters. Hurricane Ivan broke the spell in November 2005, charging a high price for so many stormless years. Grenada was left almost cut off from the world and with no electric power; most houses lost their roofs, bridges were destroyed, and dozens of people were killed as a result, which led the United Nations to declare the country a disaster area.

CANTO (Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations) asked for assistance to restore public utilities in Grenada, and ETECSA ranked among the first to respond to Cable & Wireless Grenada Ltd., the local operating enterprise.

A group of ETECSA officials, including engineers Miguel Fragoso, advisor to the company’s President; Eloy Vigueras, head of our branch office in Matanzas province; and Aníbal Andrés Zayas, deputy manager of UN Red’s outdoor plant, visited the island in order to make arrangements and define both parties’ obligations.

The 34 members of this contingent were selected on the basis of professionalism and behavior in the workplace. In early June the first brigades arrived, followed shortly after by tools and equipment, an initial step in their steadfast commitment to elevate Cuba’s name again and make ETECSA’s potential known in the Caribbean area.
 

A youth and friendship shot in the arm

One of the hardest and most complicated restoration tasks was entrusted to Cuba’s contingent: to install nearly 40 km of fiber-optic cable to link the cities of Gouyave and Grenville (almost the whole northern half of Grenada) in the parishes of St. Johns and St. Andrews, respectively.
 

Work Hero of the Republic of Cuba Domingo González Estupiñán, a man used to big challenges, says arriving in Grenada was a shot of youth in the arm. He celebrated his 70^th birthday in the field, striving to make his companeros' job easier.

“To me the best thing are the people who came; although many of us met here for the first time our sense of responsibility for and pride at being Cubans brought us together at once. We have become a family, now I have brothers in every province. Besides, your heart pounds when people show their affection; that’s an emotion which makes you work all the harder.”

“I had never worked in such out-of-the-way places,” explains Alberto Garrido Jiménez, a wire-coupler from Camagüey province. “We get up very early; sunlight finds us on the road, and what sunlight! Cubans back home bitch about being hot, but here you get scalded. I’ve been devoted to locating interruptions and closing modules, in addition to the huge responsibility of being my brigade’s driver. You’ve seen these highways and how much cars speed, so if you add to the picture that you drive on the right side and the roads are extremely steep, then you know what I’m talking about, even if they’re all happy with this support.”

The workers pair up as days pass by and they adapt to each other’s knacks. At any rate, there was not much of a chance to be choosy around here, so it never amounted to a problem. Jesús Alfredo Izquierdo heads Brigade One. His companeros are from the provinces of Camagüey, Pinar del Río, and Cienfuegos. “When the going gets tough, we help one another as if we’ve been friends forever.”

Jacinto Beltrán, from Pinar del Río province, has been most impressed by this island’s unaffected people. What he finds hard to cope with is heights and the way their ladders have to be set sometimes. “There are many ravines, but we work to the best of our abilities when it comes to safety regulations,” he says.

A member of the measurement group, Jorge Luis Alvarez is proud of the quality work achieved by the contingent, because everything, from coupling to measuring, has been done conscientiously. He is from Matanzas province, like Carlos García Medina, who is in the fiber optics brigade and underlines that “the hard part has been the underground route, since there’s quite a lot of dangerous twists and turns along these roads.”

From a textile town between San Antonio de los Baños and Bauta, in Habana province, Alexander González has earned much respect despite being one of the youngest. Pepe, the technical manager, confirms that the boy fights with might and main, and tells us about a landslide caused by hurricane Emily near the town of Victoria. “A route was hanging over a precipice and the posts were lying on the ground; we needed to pull them up without breaking the turnbuckles or they would otherwise fall down the cliff and the whole route would be lost.”

It was a dangerous plan: they had to pull at the turnbuckle, previously fastened to a tree, with the help of a truck and a tied-up pile. This young man had to take the rope to the ravine edge –with adequate safeguards, of course– to tie it to the pole, using the base of the truck crane for support. As soon as he finished the risky maneuver, the truck pulled and they managed to straighten the route. As his comrades were looking at him in pride he told them, “We all did it, we all did it.”

Alexander looks older owing to his actions of profound human feeling. In the evenings he shares his food with local construction workers engaged in repairing the hotel where the Cubans were lodged, and also distributed the remaining rice and other products to the girls working as chambermaids. It’s certainly a personal decision, but we distinguish ourselves by sharing and giving away.

The Grand View hotel is very well named. From its premises, considerably damaged by hurricane Ivan, there’s a beautiful view of the capital city and its surrounding coast. A nice, respectful friendship has been born between its staff and our workers.

Roland Macguire, a short, darker-than-night local, wants to go to Cuba because “doctors in Grenada can’t get a thing right,” he says in Spanish as taught by our playful guys, “about an epicondyle problem that keeps his arm in a cast. He makes it clear he loves the homeland of his new 34 friends who behave as if they were at home and not in a hotel.

As engineer Jesús Eloy López Vigueras, leader of the contingent, points out, “we are helping repair local cable networks in 13 of the 20 Cable & Wireless Grenada’s Customer Remote Units in 6 of the island’s 7 parishes; and doing other places like Moliriere, Concord, Grand Roy, Florida, Duquesne, Nonpareil, Mardigras and Permontemps, where there are no remote units but a number of zinc plates blown by the winds damaged the networks.

“Linking the towns of Gouyave and Grenville (the country’s second most important city) with almost 40 km worth of fiber-optic cable has been the most burdensome assignment yet. We have also taken care of closing nearly a thousand open links in the local network and have fixed around 9,000 broken lines.”

Working jointly with this contingent are two brigades of linesmen, two wire-couplers, measurement and fiber optics, as well as technicians and managers selected from all offices, composing an assorted group of people who nevertheless work as one when watching over safety and taking measures needed to avoid occupational hazards in this mountainous geography, with not one case of accident in its ranks so far.

Arquímedes, a labor protection expert from Guantánamo province, has become popular for his registration of every work or collective activity. “When I saw the places assigned to us I had to talk to the boys loud and clear, for my mission is that no one gets a scratch. If things in the field get ugly we call the local company’s crane so that the workers can be lifted in the cherry picker without unnecessary risks. Furthermore, we all wear hardhats and tight belts.”

As agreed, they work 12 hours a day, starting with a 6 a.m. briefing to discuss the day’s tasks, difficulties and risks as well as domestic and international news, interesting information about this sphere, life in Grenada, its history and folk traditions. Of course, distance, unity and challenge trigger a bit of décima[1] and poetry on the side, the fruit of creative talent at its best. They call it a day at 6 p.m., since more can’t be done without taking risks.

Our forces have repaired 38 local network boxes and shielded 93 km of cable.

A summary of physical indicators show the following figures: 563 coupling modules installed; 5453 empty pairs tested; 1823 empty pairs recovered; 2417 cable sheets repaired; 55 terminal boxes and 350 continuous screens installed; 100 couplings reconstructed; 798 terminal boxes tested; 610 cord sections serviced; and 40 km of fiber-optic cable installed, a result made possible by these workers’ professionalism, discipline and dedication.

Moreover, the contingent’s effective and unified action has facilitated brotherly interchange with other cooperators, namely the Venezuelan military engaged in building dwellings donated to Grenada by President Hugo Chávez, and whose camp the Cubans visited by surprise on the anniversary of Venezuela’s independence. It’s touching to see and hear the greetings exchanged by both caravans as they pass by one another every day, a relationship further strengthened when hurricane Emily struck the island and our communications gear was put at their disposal in case of isolation.

Emily, the second hurricane in 50 years

It happened while our boys were in Grenada. The staff of Cable & Wireless were astonished at the skills of and the measures put into practice by these Cubans to protect the equipment and themselves. Even the local enterprise’s storing yard and facilities were covered by our advise and preventive regulations: sandbags on the rooftops, poles tied up, trucks and other vehicles secured… In a nutshell, a whole life- and resource-saving culture attained by we Cubans in the last few years.

Exchanging experiences with Cable & Wireless Grenada Ltd. concerning preparedness to face hurricane Emily’s impact on the island and implementing an action plan to reduce it in compliance with ETECSA-issued guidelines in Cuba proved to set an example of collaboration between the two countries. By working together, Grenada and Cuba saved human lives and avoided more material loss.

The role played by our embassy and the close links that always existed during the event are to be emphasized. Information services and mutual regard never failed.

Once in the recovery stage, the Cubans worked together with Cable & Wireless Grenada to repair damages in the outside network, which, even if not too significant, required coordinated actions and the application of previously-planned safety provisions.

Landslides that swept away telecommunication poles and line spans accounted for the most serious problems, although the Cuban contingent has already successfully completed its share of the solution.

Topnotch meetings

Acknowledging virtue is an excellent human attitude. Engineer José Antonio Fernández Martínez, ETECSA’s CEO, paid a tightly scheduled three-day visit to the Enterprise’s contingent, accompanied by engineers Carlos Manuel Céspedes, director of the Network Business Unit, Guelsys González, ETECSA’s manager in Matanzas province; and consultant Miguel Fragoso.

Welcomed by the Cubans workers, the delegation arrived in Point Salines on the best possible date: 26^th of July.

Humberto Rivero, Cuban ambassador to Grenada, underscored that “our telecommunications comrades related closely to the mission ever since they got here. Hurricane Ivan tore away the roof of the second floor at the Embassy; then came Emily and they helped us secure everything. They have been 34 more ambassadors who have lent a helping hand in organizing activities, distributing documents and supporting other cooperators in the medical and construction brigades.

We take great pride in their way of working, with Cuban flags flying on their cars and all the opinions submitted by their local counterparts from the very outset. Their exchanges with, and assistance to solidarity group members, and their people-to-people revolutionary dialogue have beyond any doubt been a mainstay in making our realities known.

In their spare time they have also undertaken a number of highly patriotic activities, such as when they visited and cleaned up the site where our compatriots fell in combat with the U.S. Marines, but all that would amount to nothing had their original mission not been recorded as another page of glory for Caribbean and Latin American unity. Noble and sound projects which solidify Cuba’s image spring from a devotion such as that of ETECSA’s workers.”

A courtesy call to Grenada’s Council of State for a meeting with first deputy president Gregory Bowen, in charge of both the energy and telecommunications portfolios, served to evaluate the Cuban staff’s performance in restoring services affected by hurricane Ivan.

At the end, in a quick encounter with our delegation, Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said he was astonished at how much our companeros work from dawn to dusk and and was satisfied with the cooperation and top-grade relations between our sister islands. Also present were our ambassador Humberto Rivero; economic attaché Silvia Rodríguez; Cable & Wireless Grenada Ltd. president Ian Blanchard, and CANTO officials.

Mr. Ian Blanchard, who is also vice-president of CANTO, expressed his satisfaction and gratitude for the Cubans’ work. He said that Ivan, against all odds, caught them unawares, totally disorganized and lacking the human resources to confront the tragedy. “Grenada needs specialized forces in telecommunications; there’s a lot to be done, and the Cubans have proved to be professional, committed and unbeatably civic. I wish you could stay here with us!”, he commented. He went on to add: “They have achieved perfect harmony with our workers which has facilitated everything, the language barrier notwithstanding.”

CANTO Secretary General Regina Frasser thinks her organization should lay the foundations for Caribbean countries to unite and support each other in case of disasters. “ETECSA was the first to say yes to our call for assistance, and the outcome has been commendable, as stated by both Grenada’s top authorities and the directors and workers from the local enterprise. Since the Cubans have shown how to get organized to face up to this kind of natural event, and we are inviting them to participate in a committee against catastrophes Grenada will host next November. Theirs is a learned voice which must be carefully heeded.”

Endorsed by acknowledgement

As our caravan passed every day through highways and town, the Cuban flag fluttering atop every vehicle, emotional phrases were heard all along, such as ‘Long live Cuba!’, ‘Long live Fidel!’, ‘Friends!’, ‘Comrades!’, and ‘Thank you very much!’.

Visiting their workplaces and seeing how they were greeted, every face showing gratefulness and respect, was very exciting. The reason is that many people here have children or relatives who studied or received medical care in Cuba, and they thus recognized the example set and the solidarity offered by this nation, always the first to arrive in the most difficult moments.

Last August, when the guys were received by ETECSA’s top management, they handed to José Antonio Fernández the plaque of honor given them by Grenada’s enterprise, as well as documents of appreciation they sent to the Cuban authorities.

The President told them that now they have gained a reputable experience and have gone beyond daily life’s heroics through a valuable action of internationalism, which highly favors ETECSA and certifies that our labor force is ready to assume any task anywhere, however difficult and complex it may be.

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Hanging on the wall in her living room in Grenada is a version of Leonardo Da Vinci’s biblical picture The Last Supper, in the middle of which is an image of Maurice Bishop surrounded by his aides and the faces of those who betrayed him and brought about both the destruction of a project of social changes and an excuse for the U.S. invasion. Bishop’s government promoted his Caribbean island’s most authentic values. The silence about his overthrowing and violent death have been no obstacle for common citizens to express their admiration for the late leader, a proof of that being their respect of Bishop’s mother.

She shows in her eyes the sadness of so many blows received from life. Her name is Alimenta Bishop, as she makes very clear because she knows we Cubans feel surprise at it. She has very often undergone many tests of love –and of lack thereof. In Grenada they call her ‘Mum’, for her greatest pride is being mother to a larger-than-life man whose ideas went beyond his beautiful country and the Caribbean region.

To her home in on of the hills of Saint George, the capital city, went the contingent of Cuban telecommunications workers to bring her a bunch of flowers. Heading the group are ETECSA’s CEO engineer José Antonio Fernández Martínez and Cuban ambassador Humberto Rivero. As Fernández tells her that for over two months a group of Cuban telecommunications workers are helping restore the lines and networks damaged by hurricane Ivan, her laughter interrupts him and she says she sees them passing by very early in the morning and then when they return in the evening, and that she sits by her window to glimpse at the Cuban flags carried by the caravan. “There were electricians before, and constructors, and there are always doctors. Cuba is always giving good things to our country.”

She asks her eldest daughter Maureen to pass her the pictures of Fidel’s visit. “All my children’s names start with an ‘M’: Maureen, Mareen, and Maurice”. She points at a piece of furniture where she keeps a collection of family photographs, and in one of them Mum is talking with Fidel, her hands in his.

Work Hero of the Republic of Cuba Domingo González Estupiñán gives her the bunch of flowers on behalf of everybody. She says to have worked very much to sustain her home, for her husband fell victim of a political battle.

We don’t want to impose on such an excellent host, so we ask her whether she wishes to send any message to Cuba. Then she took our notebook and wrote the following: “I thank Fidel very much for visiting our home, it was a beautiful gesture of perseverance and friendship. There are many things for which Grenada is grateful to the Cuban people.”

That afternoon of Friday, July 29, our contingent in Grenada left behind another proof of affection and respect for the finest of this Caribbean island’s people: flowers in the hands of Grenada’s most beautiful flower: Alimenta Bishop, Mum.

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