We frequently find young faces in the ranks of the General Customs of the Republic (AGR), a control body that this February 5 reaches its six decades of creation. However, we want them to be more, so that they carry out the work in the different areas with the aim of achieving an excellent service, the highest aspiration of the entity.
Conversing with some of those who, due to their merits, make up the AGR's 60th Anniversary Detachment —bearered last December 16 in Villa Clara— was an inspiring experience. They are guided by the passion for a noble work, they are interested in improving themselves every day and they intend to ensure that their roles are developed with greater quality.
They want to be trusted, for their work to be valued and understood, for others to take them up as an example. They yearn to be seen with pride, as a reflection of a body that has as its first objective the safeguarding of national security. They had their dreams, today they take care of them and want to multiply them. They will go out to fight for others, and their love for the institution to which they belong will be enough to do everything well today and better tomorrow.
I want you to trust us
«Since 2016 I entered Customs through an External Source course, which is another way in addition to the Customs Training School. I was very interested in passing all the exams and starting to work in an area where I dealt with people, with travelers.
«At the airport, however, I fell in love with the Canine Technique and asked for my transfer. I was happy in those six years working with a dog dedicated to the specialty of Explosives and then I was one of the first to pass the first course for the specialty of Quarantine, to work with those dogs that detect prohibited and regulated foods at the border. For health reasons I couldn't continue in the Canina and you don't know how much I miss my two dogs.
"As a Customs officer, I now work in the office that is open from Monday to Saturday, from eight to four in the afternoon in Terminal 1 of the José Martí International Airport (AIJM), so that passengers and the general population can make inquiries, complaints or claims. There is also email (jagjap.aaijm@aduana.gob.cu) and telephone numbers 72664530, extension 109, and 72664541. In any of the variants we must offer the respectful and accurate treatment that everyone deserves.
«I love my job because, specifically, I have to ensure compliance with the established rules and that they are understood by people. It is not always easy, because not a few want to break the law or express their dissatisfaction with a certain measure taken.
«I want to continue improving myself and Customs offers many possibilities for this. I would also like people to trust us because we work with transparency and with the desire that everything happens within the framework of legality. (Karelvis Terán, 28 years old, head of the Department of Attention to the Population of the AIJM since 2016 and general secretary of the UJC Committee)
Want customs to make it better
«I was studying Industrial Engineering in Santiago de Cuba and I decided to change my life because I was attracted to work in Customs. Now I'm studying the 2nd. year of the degree along with my work in the port, which has made me fall in love.
«I worked at the Cruise Terminal at the end of the course and I really liked the confrontation work. I was later in Palco in the position of officer depending on the warehouse, where the loads that come from Mariel are controlled. I learned a lot in the Dispatch area later and they asked me to go to the Customs Processes department of the Port. I am also the general secretary of the UJC Committee.
«I have had many experiences that have allowed me to understand the importance of the work of Customs as a control body. When I worked directly with the dispatches received, it was difficult to make the regulations understand, because sometimes they want to break the law, and it hurts me that people's merchandise is confiscated, but the laws that the country passes are up to us to enforce.
«I would like all the young people who are in Customs to strengthen their sense of belonging, to love it, to be passionate about their work and to understand how significant it is for the country. Wanting Customs, it will be better». (Diosmany Paumier, 22 years old, First Customs Officer of the Port of Havana)
she marks your life
«In a short time I fell in love with each of the customs processes. I worked as a teacher in Primary Education and later, outside the sector, I joined Customs. I worked in confrontation, I was a specialist in Technical Media and I surpassed myself in the different discovery techniques, from X-rays to radiation detectors, drugs, explosives, which allow us to be effective in border control.
«I led the Risk Management and Control Team and then took over the management of the terminal. Unlike others in the country, Holguín Customs is complex because the territorial area it serves is extensive: two international airports, Frank País and Sierra Maestra, in Manzanillo; the port of Moa, the port of Carúpano, the Marina de Vita and the postal points of Las Tunas, Holguín and Granma, as well as the Aerovaradero agency, near the terminal.
«You are a customs officer forever. The values and operational skills that you develop do not leave you. The possibility of evaluating behaviors, signs, behaviors is sharpened and you become a special person. If someone stops working at Customs, you keep all that, and they are indelible marks of life. Being head of the terminal came as a surprise, it was not my aspiration. It is something that exceeded my expectations and that is why I assume my work with commitment and responsibility. (Yuniel Maldonado, 38 years old, head of the terminal at the Frank País airport in Holguín)
That other young people join
Graduates from the Customs Training School, Marielena Marimón and Anet Antúnez, aged 23 and 22 respectively, demonstrate maturity in dialogue. The first, a Border Security specialist in Postal Customs and Shipping, and the second, a specialist in Physical Recognition of Customs Mercantile Control, comment vehemently on their daily performance.
«I want to be respected and that must be earned with daily work. It is not about learning the law by heart and acting like a robot, it is about putting love into what we do. In my area, the measures have become more flexible and one is also sensitized because the shipments are sometimes medicines necessary for treatment, and people deserve to be treated according to their situation. You learn a lot from that, from doing your job well and personalizing the treatment. We are the face of Customs, "explained Marimón.
«I must review all the merchandise of the institutions that enter the country for their control, and I must ensure the coincidence of what exists in physical form and what appears on invoices. Work is exhausting at times, I can start very early and finish late at night, because I have to check everything. However, what I do is beautiful, and above all, it is important. I would like other young people to join in," Antúnez commented.
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