Ambassador Josefina Vidal Informs Ottawa Cuba Connections About Cuban Situation and Historic Congress
 
Cuban
Ambassador to Canada,
Her Excellency Josefina Vidal spoke at Ottawa Cuba Connections' Annual
General Meeting, held virtually on April 26. The Ambassador had
recently arrived in Ottawa from Cuba where she was a delegate to the
8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba and re-elected to
the Party's Central Committee. Ambassador Vidal began her
remarks by conveying the thanks of many in Cuba who wanted to express
their appreciation for the work of the solidarity movement in Canada in
support of the Cuban people.
She explained that at the present time the situation in Cuba
is very complicated because of the new wave of the pandemic, with
special measures having to be taken in Havana and a few other locations
in an attempt to control the spread. Vaccinations have so far begun on
a small scale, but clinical
trials of Cuba's several vaccine candidates are proceeding very well,
with wide scale vaccinations expected to begin shortly.
Although there is a new administration in the U.S., she said,
there is no change in the U.S. policy towards Cuba and the blockade is
creating severe hardships for the people. There are food shortages and
lack of needed medical supplies and the government is working very hard
to mitigate the situation. The U.S. ban on remittances to Cuba is still
in place and the disruption of travel is also causing grave harm to the
economy, but the Ambassador pointed out that the Cuban people are
resilient and are facing the challenges courageously.
The Ambassador said that the recently completed 8th Congress
of the Communist Party of Cuba was a very important event in the life
of the Cuban people, stating that even though due to the conditions
under the pandemic the size of the Congress had to be reduced to 300
delegates, it was very
important that it be held at this time. She explained that she was
honoured to have been chosen as a delegate from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs as part of a delegation of three which included the Minister of
Foreign Affairs.
She recounted enthusiastically the highlights of the
achievements of the Congress of which there were many, an important one
being that the 8th Congress completed the transfer of the main
leadership of the Party to a new generation, with measures put in place
to guarantee that the revolutionary
content established by the generation which led the Cuban people to
defend the victories of the Revolution would continue to guide that
national project.
The Congress also assessed that although many of the problems
faced by Cuba are due to external forces, there are also structural
problems that still exist which must be addressed. There is also a
great deal of work remaining to deal with the pandemic.
She said very important critical debates were held during the
Congress about some of the shortcomings that were detrimental to the
work of the Party. Issues like excessive bureaucracy and inefficiency
were discussed as well as the need to overcome the resistance
to change of some in the public service and of Party members as well.
The 8th Congress established the main tasks for the coming
period and emphasized the need for dynamism in the implementation of
economic reforms. It called for greater efforts to raise the
productivity of large state-owned enterprises, and increasing food
production to reduce the need for imports. In order to promote
democracy, the Congress also emphasized the need for wide scale
discussion among the people on the many different questions facing
Cuban society.
The Ambassador concluded her remarks by hailing the success of
the 8th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba which has instilled
conviction and confidence in the Party members and the people to face
the challenges that must be overcome.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 10 - May 4, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51103.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
