The 11th Plenary Session of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee met this Thursday afternoon, headed by its first secretary, Army General Raul Castro Ruz.
At the meeting – with the President of the Republic and Political Bureau member, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, also participating – Party Second Secretary José Ramón Machado Ventura, announced plans for the Eighth Congress of the PCC, which will take place April 16-19, 2021.
Central Committee members also received a report on progress on implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution during 2019. Political Bureau member Marino Murillo Jorge, head of the Permanent Commission for Implementation and Development, explained that, since the Seventh Congress to date, a total of 216 policies and measures have been approved, 16 of them this year.
Among these decisions, he mentioned the improvement of the socialist state enterprise and central organizations of enterprise management; the strengthening of Government Councils; the leading role of science, technology and innovation; and follow-up on measures adopted related to demographic dynamics.
The complex economic situation that has worsened in recent months, Murillo commented, “cannot become a factor in slowing down this process; on the contrary, it demands greater impetus to the updating of our economic and social model, to eliminate obstacles that persist in the development of the productive forces and efficiency.”
He noted the importance of enhancing the guiding role of programatic documents approved by the Party, and using them as a basis for day-to-day work.
Also discussed during the meeting were the main characteristics of the Economic Plan and State Budget for 2020. These documents, presented by the Ministers of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, and of Finance and Prices, Meisi Bolaños Weiss, will be presented today to deputies at the National Assembly of People’s Power.
Closing the meeting, Raúl called for continuing to work with optimism and organization to confront all obstacles. We can resist whatever may come, he stated, but we must be prepared.
We will continue to move forward, he added, managing the resources we have well, making conservation a daily battle, from one end of the country to the other.
In the face of the enemy’s threats, Raúl insisted, each one of us in our own neighborhood, in our community, must be on combat footing, and make our own the phrase we repeated following the death of the Comandante en jefe, “I am Fidel!”
(Granma)