CIVIL DEFENSE

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System of state measures carried out in peacetime and during exceptional situations to protect the population and the economy.

We are happy to be able to inform you about Cuban Civil Defense via the following topics:

Organization and administration

Civil Defense means all of us!

"Defensa Civil somos todos"

Main measures

Civil Defense National Staff

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Civil Defense is envisaged as a state system of defense measures, carried out in peacetime and during exceptional situations, with the aim of protecting the population and the national economy against enemy destruction and in cases of natural disasters or other types of catastrophes, as well as of the consequences of environmental degradation. It also comprises salvage work and the urgent repair of breakdowns in destroyed or polluted areas.

The President of the Council of State leads Civil Defense through the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which has, for this purpose, the Civil Defense National Staff.

The presidents of the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of People's Power are the heads of Civil Defense in the corresponding territory and have small professional administrative bodies for this purpose.

MAIN MEASURES

The system of civil defense measures constitutes a strategic factor for the country's defense capacity. It is organized in all of the national territory and its activities are based on the use of the human and material resources of state organizations, economic bodies and social institutions.

Among the civil defense measures that are carried out for the protection of the population are alert systems, protection in engineering works and through individual means, evacuation to safe areas and the observation and control of chemical, radioactive and biological pollution.

Civil defense measures have shown their effectiveness against the frequent tropical hurricanes that strike the island and the numerous biological aggressions Cuba has been target to in the last four decades, among which the worst has been the dengue hemorrhagic fever epidemic premeditatedly introduced in 1981, which affected 344,203 people and killed 158, among them 101 children. There have also been many attacks against plants and animals aiming to severely affect our economy.

CIVIL DEFENSE NATIONAL STAFF

This is the system's main organization and is in charge of ensuring the fulfillment of civil defense measures and international standards and agreements relating to civil protection to which the Republic of Cuba is a party and of coordinating cooperation and international aid programs in the case of catastrophes.

It maintains close and smooth working relations and collaboration with numerous institutions that work in the interests of the protection of human life and the environment and with the different branches of the mass media. It also coordinates its actions and collaborates closely with institutions and non-governmental organizations that, like Cuba's Red Cross, the International Red Cross and many others, carry out praiseworthy work for the sake of these objectives.

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