Vamos bien, Comandante

The Cuban Labour Federation, which is controlled directly by the Communist Party, is holding its 19th congress in Havana at present.

And much as expected, there have been plenty of speeches by union leaders about the great achievements of the Revolution, the evil US “blockade”, the impending invasion from the North, the glowing future of Communism - and how each and every single worker on the island is right behind Fidel Castro.

But even in a perfectly choreographed world ...

It seems that during pre-congress discussions, some delegates appear to have expressed concerns about a range of labour and production issues, according to a brief report in Granma, the official propaganda sheet of the regime.

Under the somewhat encouraging heading of "Facing reality", the paper reports the comments by Bartolome Sayu, an official in the province of Guantanamo, who complained that “volunteer” workers helping pick up the coffee crop in the region were unhappy about the lack of proper clothing, proper working shoes and general conditions in the work camps.

A delegate from the Ciego de Avila area, Gonzalo Reytor, complained that entire banana plantations were going to waste because of a shortage of trucks and other transport.

And a delegate from Granma, Magda Milanés, was quoted as saying that while she was prepared to “unconditionally support” the regime, blah, blah, blah, perhaps more could be done to combat delinquency and corruption?

Encouraging?