In spite of their
prolonged effort to reopen the Puruarán sugar mill and assure the livelihood of
36,000 inhabitants of the region, for this community to continue living by the
production of cane and sugar, they require vital investments in the factory.
The labor power and willingness to work are present, but workers and growers in
this community lack the resources for essential factory repairs. Several of the
steam boilers (calderas) are not working properly. The units that grind the
cane (masas) are worn down and need repairs for maximum extraction of sucrose
from the cane. At a minimum, six of the 30 mills (molinos) must be repaired. A
piece of equipment to repair the steam turbine must be imported. Pipes in the
mill are encrusted with deposits and must be cleaned out for maximum
efficiency. Electrical consumption could be decreased by repairing two turbine
generators (turbinas generadores); these have a capacity of 700 kw and 2000 kw
but they are not currently working. Repairs to key parts of the mill could also
reduce petroleum consumption substantially. An investment of $3,000,000 pesos
(approximately $316,000 U.S. dollars) is required to ensure repairs for the
next harvest season. The cooperative and the community seek outside support so
that the mill can once again generate profits.
A worker who lost his employment with the
closure of the mill in 1992 was forced to migrate illegally to the U.S. to
support his family. He shares these thoughts:
Here, we only live from
the work in the sugar mill and in the country. If the Salinas government had
not closed this mill, we would be just fine. But we are very bad off
economically. The flow of money ended with the closure of the mill. Children
had to leave school, clothing wore out, and people had to migrate to the United
States. And I know the suffering of being in the United States, to cross the
border illegally. After the mill closed, there was pressure, there was
alcoholism, and many workers died from the alcoholism and the pressure, for
lack of hope.
He explains why he
participated in the struggle to reopen the mill and that his situation changed
somewhat with the reopening of the mill in 1998:
This community has a lot
of significance for me because here my parents were born, here I have my
friends, here I have my wife and children. There were years that we had to
cooperate, working for free, without any salary. Now that the mill is reopened,
every eight days, on payday, there is happiness in the town. More than
anything, Pascual also had problems in forming a cooperative. They came to
orient us. This is a very efficacious industry--with its workers, its
administration, and in its heart, because they also suffered like we are
suffering. For me, the help that Pascual has given is significant. We have a
place to sell all the production. We have the raw material, the work force, the
product in the warehouse. Pascual absorbs the production, avoiding the problem
of setting the price of the sugar. With information through the television, the
radio, we hope that someone will bring the resources and invest in order to
help us.
The Sociedad
Cooperativa Trabajadores Pascual offers market security for the Puruarán
cooperative. The Sociedad Cooperativa Trabajadores del Ingenio Puruarán now
seeks assistance with repairs to the factory to ensure their future success.
With the investment of resources by a socially conscious investor who has an
interest in cooperatives, this
mill can be productive and profitable. Currently, $3,000,000 pesos (approximately
$316,000 U.S. dollars) is required to ensure repairs for the next harvest
season.