Cuban People Called on to Confront Everything that Departs from the Spirit of the Revolution
At the first meeting this year of the Council of Ministers of the Cuban government, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, called for confronting everything that deviates from the spirit of the Revolution in Cuban society. He reported on several political processes that will be developed over the coming months to accompany implementation of the government projections aimed at correcting distortions and reinvigorating the economy.
Díaz-Canel said the processes will be guided by the proposals made by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz in his speech on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, based on his views on unity, the work of cadres, ideological work and how to deal with problems of the economy. The objective is to implement recently announced economic measures in a coherent fashion to address social, ideological and economic problems in the society, he said.
The processes are to involve all of Cuban society in discussion, beginning with party members in administrative bodies, then collectives of the workers and students and the population as a whole in their communities. It is a matter of reflecting, evaluating and proposing solutions to the problems in each sphere in a rigorous and creative manner, Díaz-Canel said. He emphasized the importance of cadres who will lead the discussions paying attention to people who may propose other ways of applying the measures or different ways of doing things altogether. "That will provide us a with a wealth of ideas that can be turned into actions," he said.
He explained that the government's projections are aimed at boosting exports and national production, generating savings and redistributing wealth. All are oriented towards the macro-economic stabilization of the country while protecting social gains and contributing to Cuba's social development. "If we strengthen the economy, depend less on imports, export more and increase the foreign exchange earnings the country requires, who is that for? It is for the people," Díaz-Canel pointed out.
Díaz-Canel rejected the attempts of enemies of the Revolution to present the government's projections as neo-liberal reforms, in the style of other programs in the region and the world, where it is "everyone for himself" and everything gets destroyed.
He pointed out that the first measure applied was an increase in funding for the education and health sectors. "What neo-liberal package in the world starts by raising salaries in those two sectors of society?" he asked. "Neo-liberal reforms begin precisely by cutting those budgets and privatizing everything," he said.
Cuba's approach, he said, recognizes that people who work in those two sectors perform the most important functions in society: guaranteeing life, health and education. And when they benefit, everyone benefits. Then as the economy recovers, the deficit is reduced and revenues increase. Pensions, the minimum wage and incomes in other sectors will also rise.
Díaz-Canel stressed that the new economic measures are needed and cannot be postponed as they correct aspects of the economy that have been distorted and structural deviations that are impeding its performance. But the measures will be applied only when conditions for them have been created, he said, when differentiated treatment of those who may be impacted more heavily by the application of a measure has been studied.
The government's projections will develop well to the extent that we are capable of implementing and managing them well, the President said, adding that this will require a process of seeking ongoing feedback. This was the reason for holding discussions with the entire population, he noted, and why it was important to keep providing people with the necessary information through all possible channels.
Díaz-Canel was emphatic in assuring that the Cuban Revolution would not leave anyone unprotected, as has always been the case throughout its history. Even under the most complex of conditions, he said, Cuba's social project continues to expand in both size and quality.
As examples of this he cited the new Casitas Infantiles (child care centres) being established all over the country, the program for restoring the family doctor's and nurse's offices, the neighbourhood improvement programs and 32 other social programs that Cuba has maintained and that "continue to provide solutions and attention to people with specific problems in the midst of the current difficult circumstances."
Strengthening Political and Ideological Work
In the meeting of the Council of Ministers, information was also provided about two other political processes that the Communist Party of Cuba will promote.
Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and Organizational Secretary of the Central Committee, informed that a decision had been taken to analyze and discuss the speeches of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and the First Secretary Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez on the 65th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Revolution in the grassroots organizations of the Party, the Communist Youth Union and in government organizations.
The discussions, he said, will contribute to reaffirming the strategic importance and need for unity, exemplarity and militancy in the revolutionary ranks, adding that they should be rigorous, creative and go to the heart of the pressing need for safeguarding the Revolution and the construction of socialism.
The Party will also promote discussion of the document "Basic Concepts for the Rectification of Deviations and Negative Tendencies in Cuban Society," given the limitations imposed on Cuba's development by the complex socio-economic context -- something he attributed to the tightened blockade as well as "our own inadequacies and mistakes."
He reminded that throughout the 65 years of the Revolution, Fidel and Raúl were the architects of the need to change everything that must be changed, but also to correct or combat whatever threatens the survival of the Revolution. This must become a topic of discussion among the population, he said.
"What we are trying to do," he said, "is to establish a systematic way of doing things by constantly analyzing what deviations there are in our sphere of action and how we are going to overcome them." It is not a one-off or fixed process, he said.
Country Policy
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz described the government's projections to correct distortions and boost the economy as a "country policy."
"This is not just more of the same," he emphasized to the Council of Ministers. "We have been rightly criticized -- even by our people -- for planned measures, that regardless of the real impact the blockade has had, have failed to solve the problems to make it possible for us to advance more quickly."
"The people are no longer demanding effort, sacrifice, dedication from us; they are demanding results," he stressed. "We have no doubt about the difficult situations faced on a full time basis by the managers in the different organizations," he noted, but said it was necessary to ensure those efforts yield results.
The Prime Minister referred to the role played by cadres and the qualities they must possess to be able to face economic conditions like the ones Cuba is dealing with: they must not hold back, must be committed to finding solutions and not set limits for themselves that prevent them from moving forward.
Everything that is not going well needs to be reviewed, he said, but always with an eye to finding solutions. The measures adopted are not going to be able to transform the country's situation from one day to the next, he stressed, but are the way forward. He said solutions would little by little be found, and the light will start to appear, "but only after we all unite, when we all join in."
(Based on a report by Leticia Martínez Hernández, Presidency and Government of Cuba)
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 13 - February 23, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS541319.HTM
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