He stressed that in the westernmost region of the country “recovery work can be seen in all places and people have been coming out of the initial blow caused by the hurricane”.

In his Twitter account he added that little by little the people of Pinar del Río will recover, after the damage caused by the powerful cyclone of category three, out of five, on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

“And everything that is done has to be better than it was,” wrote the president before traveling on Monday to the Isle of Youth, the southernmost territory of the Cuban archipelago.

“The recovery there is advancing rapidly. A good part of its electrical and communications services have been reestablished,” Diaz-Canel pointed out in another tweet before leaving on his trip.

The hurricane entered through the fishing village of La Coloma, on the southern coast of Pinar del Río, and exited through Puerto Esperanza, on the northern coast of that province. As it cut through Cuba it caused severe damage to housing infrastructure, telecommunications, the electrical system and the water supply to the population.

The fierce storm also affected the western provinces of Artemisa, Mayabeque, Havana and the Isle of Youth.

“Here what we cannot do is to let ourselves be defeated; the situation is difficult, we are living difficult days, but they are also heroic days,” the Head of State insisted during his stay this Sunday in La Coloma people’s council.

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