(Council of State transcript / GI translation)

Dear Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee;

Compañero Machado;

Comandantes de la Revolución;

President Lazo;

Dear deputies:

It is impossible to take the floor in this extraordinary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, in which we have focused the debate on economic issues, without making any obligatory and heartfelt reference to the historical significance of the event we experienced just three days ago, in a solemn session of our Parliament.

José Martí, although he did not live the events of April 10, 1869, described them with words that 150 years later still impress. Through him we can better understand the history of that small town where, on that day, the seed of the nation was planted, when its name was inscribed in the memory of the country, to travel, in just one month, from this high point to ashes.

Twenty-three years had passed when he published in the newspaper Patria the following, I’ll quote only excerpts: “Free Guaimaro was never more beautiful than in the days when it entered into glory and sacrifice (…). The families of the heroes, eager to see them, came to where their heroism occurred, by putting themselves into the law, they would be great (…). As brides came the wives, and the children, as when they talk about the supernatural (…). Coming together were Oriente, Las Villas and the center, the injured local souls spontaneously composed the national soul, and the revolution entered the republic.”

There are no words more perfect than those of Martí in this description of how the national soul was composed when “the revolution entered the republic.”

Considering the events and the role of men in them, the Apostle stated in 1892: “Neither Cuba nor history will ever forget that those who came first in the war became the first to demand respect for the law.”

Neither Cuba nor history, we can repeat today, will forget the ceremony of last Wednesday the 10th, and its links with the event that defined us as a nation, on April 10, a century and a half ago.

Our Army General, who was first in war, has also been first in proposing, conducting, and demanding the imperative updating of the law, out of respect for the law.

The chroniclers of these times will not have the challenge, overcome brilliantly by Martí, of telling the story of the serious disagreements among our founding heroes. Precisely thanks to 151 years of struggle for our emancipation, today we are not arguing, but rather proclaiming.

Nor are we obliged, as were our founding heroes, to construct a government before winning freedom. Freedom was first rescued and sustained by more than a generation of revolutionaries, over hard years of creation and resistance.

Thus, the Constitution we recently proclaimed has a great history. Its roots lie in the first that was born fighting within the heart of the Republic in Arms, and later reaffirmed in three constitutions during the war, to be reborn in 1901, under the worse circumstances, in an assembly with its hands tied by Yankee intervention.

In 1940, another Constitution, the conquest of several generations of Cubans, was celebrated although not implemented. It was violated and buried by a despot, but its death lit the spark of a Revolution that was destined to fulfill its precepts of fundamental justice.

Many years later, in 1976, the people inscribed their most radical aspirations in another Constitution, the first socialist one, that after a few reforms brought us to this Magna Carta, proclaimed this April 10, precisely in honor of this history.

I always say that the recently proclaimed Constitution is strong because it draws on this history of intense search for a national guide, that we have described briefly, and the more recent, too, and from long months of analysis, debates, and modifications that involved in its construction the majority of the people, who later supported it irrefutably in a referendum.

One parallel between that historic April 10, and the date three days ago, points to other vital links: we do not need to decide on a flag for our ceremony, because in 1869 the red triangle was chosen, which “proudly waved in the fight, / without a childish or romantic boast; / the Cuban who does not believe / should be flogged as a coward,” as we learned with the unsurpassed verses of Bonifacio Byrne.

Nor can it be said that a woman demanded here the place she deserved.

From Ana Betancourt to Vilma Espín, women’s contribution to the Revolution has been boundless. And justice has finally been served. Women are the majority in this Assembly, as is all important matters in our society.

But there are other moments that equal past and present times. All of Cuba, like Guáimaro 150 years ago, has a tenacious and avaricious enemy lurking nearby.

And just as the Spanish army viciously attacked Guaimaro, a month after that beautiful day of the first national Constitution, the neighboring empire threatens, again, to assault Cuba. And in fact it attacks every day with foolish measures that are escalating in hostility and in viciousness.

Guáimaro’s response to the Spanish assault, as Bayamo had before, was to burn everything that could not be defended. And that was also described by Martí as if he had seen it: “The mothers did not cry, nor did the men hesitate, nary a weak heart was to be seen as the cedars and mahogany fell. With their own hands, they lit the bonfires to the holy city, and when the night closed in, the sacrifice was reflected in the sky (…). The people went into the forest (…). And a good hand hid the constitution in the ground. It must be found!”

This is how Martí concludes this beautiful piece of journalism, entitled “El 10 de abril.”

We are passionate about history, it’s true. But if we return to it once and again, it is not only because of the pleasure our national glory provides. We return because within it there are formidable reserves of Cuban morality, always under attack, always ready to turn any material possession to ashes before raising our arms for the adversary to chain them.

What Martí asked us to find in 1892 in this “entry of the revolution into the republic,” will always have a pending task. In our case, it is the permanent battle to maintain our sovereignty and strive for all justice with the greatest degree of prosperity possible.

The current U.S. administration that dismisses multi-literalism and has decided to return the world’s to its worse times, shamelessly making threats of insolent intervention, and constant ultimatums, including the invasion option, has publicly stated, more than once, its intention to destroy any development alternative apart from the savage capitalism it attempts to promote in the region.

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are nations with political projects that do not accept the version of the Monroe Doctrine followed by the Trump administration, which, unable to keep its election promises of industrial recovery and national greatness, is sinking into a morass of ridiculous lies to assert that three Latin American nations, struggling to overcome the underdevelopment they inherited, threaten the powerful empire.

They have been busy working against Venezuela, repeating the same script used in criminal aggressions against Cuba since the first years of the Revolution, including state terrorism and pressure on other countries to break regional unity.

The novelty is in non-conventional war tactics that range from the symbolic to very real, from fake news, lies wrapped in novel false trappings, to sabotage of computer networks that sustain the country’s functioning. The empire literally cut off Venezuelans’ lights and water. At the same time their spokespeople and latest puppet seethe before the world because the Bolivarian government rejects false humanitarian aid.

Hypocrites, criminals, thieves of Venezuela’s national treasury: there is no other way to describe those attempting to defeat the courageous people with hunger and deprivation, stealing their financial resources, while sharpening their teeth to devour the riches nature has given this sister nation in abundance, which Bolivar and Chávez raised to a place of honor on the map of America, with their contribution to the continent’s independence.

We cannot underestimate the escalation of this aggression. Beyond the threats, typical of these political merchants, with the rise to decision-making positions of deceitful, mediocre, criminal politicians, financial persecution has increased and the blockade of Cuba tightened.

They have pushed the precarious relations with our country back to the lowest level, fabricating false acoustic incidents, channeling millions of dollars to the counterrevolution and political subversion, issuing dishonest, spurious lists, and trying to activate the hateful Helms-Burton Law, in an attempt to return us to the beginning of this story, when we were a slave nation of another empire.

This year, they have focused on giving us deadlines for the possible implementation of Title III of this slave law, which is what it should really be called. They have done so year after year since 1996, in the style of capital pardons. Now they are putting it off for a month, a few days, with arrogant threats, like someone holding a sword over our heads, ready to cut them off, if we don’t surrender.

What is the entire Helms-Burton, if not the 60-year blockade made law?

What more can they do after 60 years of persecution, aggression, and threats?

This past April 10, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, said here:

“We have been warning of the aggressive actions unleashed by the U.S. government against the Latin American and Caribbean region. It does so in the name of the Monroe Doctrine, with an arrogant McCarthyist contempt for socialism, for the self-determination of peoples, and the sovereign rights of countries in the region.”

As he has alerted us, all indications are that the blockade is being tightened around Cuban sovereignty, reinforcing the blockade, especially the financial persecution. Pressure from the United States is creating obstacles to financing and credit from third countries; while internally we are still held back by administrative inefficiency, an importing mentality, the lack of conservation, and insufficient income from exports, among other evils, from which we cannot exclude cases of corruption and illegalities, unacceptable today, as always, in the Revolution.

Faced with this map of tremendous challenges, we run the risk of believing that there is no way out. But history has something to tell us. Fidel, Raúl, Almeida, Camilo, Che, the generation of our parents and grandparents, with less experience and even fewer resources, confronted more serious, darker moments, and emerged victorious.

History shows us that when we have a correct strategy, when there is unity of objectives, and a sense of nationhood, all obstacles can be overcome.

The difficult present panorama, that has been described, imposes two absolute priorities: preparation for defense and the economic battle, at the same time.

The strategy is to work without rest on alternatives, already designed, without abandoning a single one of our objectives directed toward greater wellbeing for our people.

To those who arrogantly and disdainfully ignored the call made for the world to be open to Cuba, we will respond by showing that, yes, we heard the appeal and are opening ourselves even more to those who act sovereignly in the interest of promoting and developing common policies to support the survival of the human species, as Fidel said at the Earth Summit in 1992.

This philosophy moves us when we call for reflection and discussion of economic issues.

Today we have evaluated progress on the implementation of the Guidelines. And it is very important that this information has been shared, because it clarifies for us just how intense and complex the work has been, and above all, what remains to be done.

What has been implemented over the last decade is no small thing: 206 policies, at the rate of 20 per year. In 2018 alone, 47 were approved and the rate of implementation rose, thanks to our greater experience, organization, and participation from Central State Administration bodies.

The government and Party’s constant monitoring of the implementation, through its fundamental programs, has allowed us to note negative outcomes and experiences. And this differentiated analysis has not only facilitated corrective action, but also helped avoid the repetition of errors, as the Party’s First Secretary has noted. Needed is more attention to detail in preparation, organization, and training in every process, experiment, and procedure, for every person involved in these.

We likewise advocate the incorporation of jurists, from the very conception of policies, in the design of legal norms, so that they are coherent with the fundamental objectives and protect our state apparatus from distortions that could be generated by volunteerism and improvisation.

Last but not least, we are obliged to speed up the process as much as possible, carefully defining the route in timelines for implementation. Thus far, we have not been able to achieve this.

With equal emphasis, we have analyzed the elaboration and advances of the National Social and Economic Plan through 2030.

The objective analysis of the country’s current conditions and the international environment, have led us to propose economic planning in three stages:

2019- 2021, 2022- 2026, and 2027- 2030.

But the current conjuncture requires us, realistically, to focus on the first, fully aware of the additional difficulties we face, which could become worse.

For this, we have identified six strategic sectors that have the greatest impact on the economy, in which efforts and resources will be concentrated, without ignoring others.

These sectors are: tourism; the biotechnology-pharmaceutical industry; the electro-energetic related to renewable resources; food production; the export of professional services; and construction.

To say this is in good Cuban: the difficult situation requires us to set clear, well defined priorities, to avoid returning to the hard times of the Special Period.

Today we have the advantage of a more diversified, internationally integrated economy; tourist development; the biotechnology-pharmaceutical industry; greater potential for exports; more construction capacity, a water distribution system, transportation; communications; and untapped potential for savings and the replacement of imports, which we must take better advantage of.

We are intent on developing government work with more efficient public and enterprise management; with fewer obstacles and less bureaucracy; greater transparency and participation; direct, ongoing links with the grassroots; more efficient social communication; more scientific research and a more active role on the part of universities, based on demand and needs, with greater impact on the economy and production.

With the strengthening of the socialist state enterprise, our greatest productive force; with our ears alert to those with knowledge and experience to contribute; with a constant view toward the provinces and communities; with deep and astute legislative work; with greater autonomy for municipalities; and regular accountability for those assuring development programs.

With no fear of change; chipping away at problems; taking full advantage of our strengths in collective leadership and advocating with discipline and commitment the orientations of our Party.

Unleashing a permanent ethical battle against corruption and illegalities; ordering and strengthening non-state economic management; revitalizing our communities; and promoting beauty and a culture of detail as everyday practices.

Being accountable to the people and encouraging their indispensable participation in the solution of every problem. Generalizing best practices. Overcoming the inertia of the tired. Spreading the enthusiasm and optimism of the committed. Understanding that the beauty of the worst moment lies in the extent of the challenges.

The list of tasks is infinite, but I would like to dwell on those that require more immediate action and I urge everyone to join us in assuming them:
First, the updating of the Economic Plan based on the most difficult scenarios.

We intend to immediately launch pending economic measures related to demands and needs; the reorganization of domestic commerce; the performance of the enterprise system, agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives and self-employment.

Our government work will be focused on agriculture, export production, tourism, the replacement of imports (with domestic goods), foreign investment and productive linkages with all national industries possible.

Now more than ever it is essential to save and manage resources carefully, fundamentally energy, so that its use contributes to greater productivity; appropriately use credit and different forms of financing, with more emphasis on investment.

Under these circumstances, it is essential to meet and take advantage of all the potential present in human resources and the qualified workforce we have.

We will continue advancing in the process of computerization of society and working hard to improve food supplies, housing, and transportation, the quality of services, even in the midst of asphyxiating financial persecution that makes the importing of goods and resources of primary necessity particularly difficult, and sometimes impossible.

Compañeras and compañeros:

Awaiting this legislature are months and perhaps years of intense work, but we must advance as quickly as possible so that the Constitution is expressed in laws that are more in tune with our times and needs.

And we have no right to delay changes longer than absolutely necessary.

We assume the mandate to change everything that needs to be changed and correct everything that hinders and delays progress toward prosperity in the shortest time and with the highest quality.

What will not change will be our attitude toward those who hold their sword over us.

The answer is: No, imperialist gentlemen, we Cubans do not surrender, nor do we accept laws on our affairs that are not within the bounds of our Constitution. In Cuba, Cuban men, and of course women, govern.

Title III (of the Helms-Burton) is no worse than I or II, they are part of the toolkit used against the entire people of Cuba, simply to rob us of our lands, steal our homes, take possession of the few natural resources, and seduce and buy our people. All this to punish us for the bad example so many oppressed peoples would like to follow.

No one is going to steal from us, not by seduction or by force, “the homeland that our forefathers won on foot”, as Rubén Martínez Villena said in his forceful verses.

Cuba continues to have confidence in its strengths, in its dignity and also in the strength and dignity of other sovereign, independent nations. But we continue to believe in the U.S. people, in the homeland of Lincoln, who are ashamed of those who violate universal law in the name of the entire nation.

And take note, if history holds answers, that on a day like this, April 11, 1959, exactly 60 years ago, Fidel said, and with this I will conclude:
“Our people will be greater, the greater the obstacles we face; history will say more of our people, the more difficulties that must be overcome; the future will bring more justice, the more we are slandered today; and all that anyone can say will be that a society was organized here which all the world’s people could visit to learn what justice was, what democracy was, and we were able to defend this and sustain it, and, although we do not know what fate has in store for us, we do have the certainty to say that our Revolution will triumph because we will be able to defend it, and that our people will perish, if we must perish to defend it.”

Let us defend these convictions in massive popular demonstrations, in all of Cuba, this coming May Day.

“See you in the homeland’s plazas, because we are Cuba and we are continuity!

Homeland or Death!

We will always triumph!

(Ovation.)

As our population has noted, a series of measures have been underway for months in order to reinforce the combat capacity and readiness of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the country’s entire defense system, under the strategic conception of the war of all the people, as established in the Constitution of the Republic we have just proclaimed.

At the same time, a group of decisions has been adopted to guide the performance of our economy, to resist and overcome new obstacles imposed by the tightening of the economic and financial blockade, without renouncing development programs that are underway.

Thus, we must remain alert and aware that we could face additional difficulties and that the situation could worsen in coming months. It is not a question of returning to the most difficult times of the Special Period in the 1990s. The current panorama is different, with the diversification of the economy, but we must always prepare for the worst variant.

It is imperative that efforts be redoubled to increase national production, especially food; review all expenses to avoid those that are not absolutely necessary; ensure more efficient use of energy resources, especially gasoline, which includes ending existing theft and assuming conservation as a firm guideline for leaders, from the national level to the local, and among compatriots in general.

Over 60 years, facing aggression and threats, Cubans have shown the iron will to resist and overcome the most difficult circumstances. Despite its immense power, imperialism does not possess the capacity to break the dignity of a united people, proud of its history and of the freedom conquered with so much sacrifice. Cuba has already shown that, yes, we could, yes, we can, and will always be able to resist, fight, and emerge victorious. (Applause). There is no other alternative.

That’s all for now.
Thank you very much.
(Ovation).

Also in attendance were President of the Councils of Ministers and State Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; José Ramón Machado Ventura, Party second secretary; and National Assembly President Esteban Lazo.

In his speech, Raúl emphasized that this Constitution gives continuity to the country’s first revolutionary constitution proclaimed in Guáimaro, exactly 150 years ago, by “preserving the unity of all Cubans, the homeland’s sovereignty and independence, as fundamental pillars.”

(Source:Granma)

Lazo announced the closing of the extraordinary session and affirmed that the Constitution was proclaimed today, April 10, to guide the country’s present and future.
Raúl came down from the Presidential platform and shook hands with members of the Councils of Ministers sitting in the first row, while Díaz-Canel greeted deputies and Council of State and Ministers members sitting on the platform. A shout of “Viva la Revolución!” rang out, followed by a unanimous “Viva!” and prolonged applause.

We will not renounce any of our principles
While the Raúl commented that the tone used by the United States with respect to Cuba has become increasingly threatening, he reaffirmed that we will never abandon the duty to act in solidarity with Venezuela, or renounce any of our principles.

We have let the U.S. administration know, with clarity, firmness and serenity, through direct diplomatic channels and publicly, that Cuba is not afraid of threats, and that our vocation for peace and understanding is accompanied by the unshakeable determination and sovereign right of Cubans to defend the future of our nation without foreign interference, he insisted.

At the same time, he said we must be aware that additional difficulties may come and that the economic situation could worsen in coming months, although it is not a question of returning to the special period if the 1990s, because today the economy is more diversified.
Cuba has shown that, yes, we could, yes, we can, and will always resist, fight, and triumph, there is no other alternative, Raúl said to concluded his speech, which was followed by applause from deputies and guests who all rose to their feet.

The new Constitution guarantees the Revolution’s continuity and the irrevocability of socialism

Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first Party secretary, upon proclaiming the new Constitution, stated that the opportunity constituted an exceptional privilege since this is the second time he has had the responsibility.

“On February 24, 1976, 43 years ago, the Comandante en Jefe, before traveling abroad to fulfill an obligatory commitment, asked me to take his place during the Proclamation event,” he recalled.

The chosen date, he said, is not accidental; 150 years ago Cuba’s Mambi freedom fighters, gathered in a Constituent Assembly, and agreed on our first revolutionary Constitution.

That text, he recalled, projected the importance of unity, freedom, independence, and recognition of equality among all Cubans.

This Constitution represents continuity, Raúl said, safeguarding the unity of all Cubans and the independence and sovereignty of the homeland.
Guáimaro, he recalled, was followed by the Constitutions of Jimaguayú and La Yaya, as a continuation of the same process.

It is worth recalling, he said, that despite the Mambi struggle, the desired freedom was not achieved and the victory was cut short by U.S. intervention.

Continuing the historical review, he noted that under U.S. military occupation, the Constitution of 1901 was approved, which included the infamous Platt Amendment.
Next came the Constitution of 1940 that reflected many of the Cuban people’s longings, during a period of struggle that impacted the approval of a text that was ahead of its time, including prohibitions on discrimination and large landholdings. Nonetheless, many of its postulates remained dead letter since no legislative effort to concretize the stated ideals was possible under those conditions.

It remained in effect, Raúl continued, until the 1952 coup by Fulgencio Batista, which catalyzed the revolutionary movement, whose program was synthesized in Fidel’s “History will absolve me” statement, following the Moncada assault.

(Source: Granma)

In the presence of Party Political Bureau member and ANPP President, Esteban Lazo Hernández, members of the Food and Agriculture Commission reviewed measures to eliminate problems linked to the control of livestock feed production, with the aim of substituting imports; compliance with measures to increase food production for the population; and those related to perfecting the food marketing and distribution systems.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Youth, Children and Women’s Equal Rights discussed progress toward improving the education system, especially the teaching of history. In the presence of Party Political Bureau member and First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the group reviewed radio and television programming for children, and the views of adolescents, youth and children on this issue.

Also discussed during yesterday’s meeting, by the Economic Affairs Commission, was the result of audits carried out across entities where discrepancies between wages and productive results at the end of 2016 were identified.

Likewise, the National Defense, and Health and Sports commissions reviewed the epidemiological situation in the country, as well as the effectiveness and results of measures taken in territories to prevent and combat diseases spread by Aedes genus mosquitoes.

Deputies from the Services Commission discussed the metrological program and sale of subsidized and non-subsidized products; while the Industry, Construction and Energy Commission presented information regarding measures taken to deal with illegalities linked to urban and territorial planning.

Current trends in the employment fluctuation of science sector workers and highly qualified personnel, as well as methods to ensure their retention; measures to combat the drug consumption; and actions being taken toward fulfilling plans and prevention strategies; were all topics addressed by deputies in the Education, Science, Technology and Environment; and Constitutional and Legal Affairs commissions, respectively.

(Granma)

JUAN ESTEBAN LAZO HERNÁNDEZ, President National Assembly of People’s Power

Given the power vested in me by the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in Article 81, section b,

I call:

The Fifth Ordinary Session of the Eighth Legislature of the National Assembly of People’s Power, to take place on July 15, 2015, at 9:00am, in Havana’s Convention Center

(Stenographic versions – Council of State)

This time the closing speech will be a little longer than on former occasions, but this has been indeed an exceptional session, because of the issues that have been discussed, the opinions that you have expressed and the documents that have been approved.

On my way here to attend this Assembly session, when I looked at the newspaper’s date, December 18, a simple historical event immediately came to my mind.  It has been exactly 54 years ever since –back then we did not expect to live for so long, due to the circumstances surrounding us- when we were part of the newly-formed Rebel Army, which are today the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Revolution in itself.  On December 5 of that same year, three days after the landing of the Granma, we suffered a major setback in a place known as Alegría de Pío.  After that debacle we had to walk for 13 days in small groups, trying to cross through the two sieges that had been laid around us.  Finally, with the help of some peasants, I could join the small group headed by Fidel.

It was already dark when we met.  After the initial hug the first question he asked me was: “How many rifles are you bringing?” “Five”, I answered. And then he said: “Five plus the two I got make seven.  Now I am sure we will win this war!” (Applause).

And it seems he was right.

This is a happy coincidence.  That is why I wanted to begin my closing remarks by evoking such a nice memory.

Comrades all:

We have been meeting for several days now discussing extremely important matters for the future of the nation.  This time, in addition to our customary work in commissions, the deputies have met in plenary with the purpose of discussing the details of the current economic situation as well as the proposed budget and economic plan for the year 2011.

The deputies have also devoted long hours to the thorough evaluation and clarification of some doubts and concerns about the Draft Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution.

Our media has broadly covered these discussions in order to make it easier for the general public to receive this information.

In spite of the impacts of the world crisis on the national economy, the irregular rain pattern during the last 19 months -from November 2008 until June this year-, and without excluding our own errors, I can affirm that the performance of the 2010 economic plan could be deemed as acceptable considering the times we are living.  We will attain the goal of 2.1 per cent growth of the Gross Domestic Product, better known by its acronym (GDP); exports of goods and services have increased.  The annual forecast figure of foreign tourists has already been reached even when the current year is not yet at a close.  Although, once again, we will not be able to meet the planned revenues goals, we have strengthened the domestic financial balance and, for the first time in several years, we have begun to see a favorable dynamic, still somewhat limited, in work productivity in relation to the average salary levels.

Withholdings of foreign transfers or, what amounts to the same thing, the restrictions we were forced to impose on payments from Cuban banks to foreign suppliers at the end of 2008 -which shall be totally suppressed next year- have continued to decrease.  At the same time, significant progress has been achieved in the rescheduling of our debt with our principal creditors.

Once again I would like to thank our commercial and financial partners for their confidence and understanding and I reassure them of our most steadfast determination to punctually honor our commitments.  The Government has given precise instructions not to take on new debts without guaranteeing their payment within the terms agreed upon.

As was explained by the Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy and Planning, Marino Murillo Jorge, next year’s economic plan foresees a 3.1 per cent GDP growth, which should be reached in the midst of a scenario that is not any less complicated or tense.

The year 2011 would be the first of the five covered by the midterm projection of our economy.  During this period we shall be gradually and progressively introducing some new structures and concepts in the Cuban economic model.

During the coming year, we shall decisively move on to reduce unnecessary expenses, thus promoting the saving of all types of resources which, as we have said on several occasions, is the quickest and safest input of revenues at our disposal right now.

We shall do likewise in the areas of health, education, culture and sports, without neglecting in the least – but rather raising- the quality of our social programs, where we have identified enormous reserves of efficiency through a more rational use of the existing infrastructure.  We shall also increase the exports of goods and services, while continuing to concentrate investments in those areas providing the quickest returns.

Regarding the economic plan and the budget, we have insisted that the old story of non-compliances and overdrafts must come to an end.  The plan and the budget are sacred.  And I repeat: from now on, the plan and the budget will be sacred; they are drafted to be complied with, not for us to be contented with justifications of any sort or even with imprecisions and lies -whether deliberate or not-, whenever the goals previously set are not met.

At times there have been some comrades who, without pursuing a fraudulent purpose, convey the inaccurate information reported by their subordinates without previously checking them and so they unconsciously fall into lying.  But these false data could lead us to make wrong decisions with major or minor repercussions on the nation.  Whoever acts in that manner is also a liar, and regardless of whom these persons may be they must be definitively -not temporarily- removed from the position they hold and, after an analysis by the corresponding bodies, they must also be removed from the ranks of the Party, should they belong to it.

Lies and their harmful effects have accompanied mankind since we learned the art of speech in ancient times, motivating society’s condemnation.  We should recall that the eighth of the Ten Commandments of the Bible reads:  “Thou shalt not bear false witness or lie”.  Likewise, the three basic moral ethical principles of the Inca civilization stated as follows: do not lie, do not steal and do not be lazy.

I am going to repeat these three principles that are still observed by Inca descendants today: do not lie, do not steal and do not be lazy. Those are correct principles, aren’t they? Let us try to bear them in mind.

We must struggle to eradicate, once and for all, lies and deceit from the cadres’ behavior at all levels.  No wonder Comrade Fidel in his brilliant definition of the concept of Revolution, pointed out, among other things: “… not to ever say a lie or violate ethical principles”. These are concepts that appear on the first page of the booklet containing the Guidelines that we have been discussing.

After the publication of the Draft Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy on November 9th last, the train of the Sixth Party Congress has taken on steam.  The true congress will be the open and honest discussions –as is being the case- of said Guidelines by Party members and the entire people.  This genuine democratic exercise will allow us to further enrich that document and, without excluding divergent opinions, we intend to achieve a national consensus about the need and urgency of introducing strategic changes in the way the economy operates, so that Socialism in Cuba could be sustainable and irreversible.

We should not be afraid of opposing criteria.  This instruction, which is not new, should not be construed as one applicable only to the discussions of the Guidelines. The differences of opinion, preferably expressed in the proper place, time and way, that is, at the right place, at the right moment and in the correct form, shall always be more desirable than the false unanimity based on pretence and opportunism.  Moreover, this is a right nobody should be deprived of.

The more ideas we are capable of inspiring in the analysis of any given problem, the closer we shall come to its appropriate solution.

The Economic Policy Commission of the Party and the 11 groups which make it up, have worked long months to draw up the abovementioned Guidelines which, as we have explained, shall constitute the leitmotif of the Congress, based on the conviction that the analysis of the economic situation is the most important task of the Party and the Government and the basic subject of cadres at all levels.

During the last few years we have been insisting that we could not let ourselves be carried away by improvising and haste in this area, considering the magnitude, complexity and inter-relations of the decisions to be adopted.  For that reason I think that we did the right thing when we decided to defer the celebration of the Party Congress, even when we have had to patiently bear with the honest and also the ill-intended protests both inside Cuba and abroad urging us to rush into the adoption of a score of measures.  Our adversaries abroad, as we might expect, have challenged our every step, first by calling the measures cosmetic and insufficient and now trying to confuse public opinion by prophesizing a sure failure and concentrating their campaigns on extolling an alleged disappointment and skepticism with which they say our people have welcomed this draft.

Sometimes it seems that their most heartfelt wishes prevent them from seeing the reality.  In making their true desires evident, they blatantly demand that we dismantle the economic and social system that we created, just as if this Revolution were willing to submit to the most humiliating surrender or, what tantamount to the same thing, steer its own destiny by submitting to denigrating conditions.

Throughout 500 years, from Hatuey to Fidel, our people have shed too much blood to accept the dismantling of what we have built with so much sacrifice (Applause).

To those who may entertain those unfounded illusions, we must remind once and again what I said before this Parliament on August 1, 2009, and I quote: “I was not elected President to restore capitalism in Cuba nor to surrender the Revolution.  I was elected to defend, maintain and continue improving socialism, not to destroy it”, (Applause) end of quote.

Today, I add that the measures we are implementing and all the modifications that need to be introduced to the updating of the economic model are aimed at the preservation of socialism by strengthening it and making it truly irrevocable, as was stated in the Constitution of the Republic at the behest of the vast majority of our population in the year 2002.

We need to put on the table all the information and arguments behind every decision and also suppress the excessive secrecy to which we became used to during these 50 years that we have lived under the enemy siege.  Any State must reasonably keep some matters secret; that is something nobody can deny.  But matters defining the political and economical course of the nation shall be no secret.  It is vital to explain, provide arguments and convince the people of the fairness, need and urgency of any measure, no matter how tough it appears to be.

The Party and the Communist Youth, as well as Cuba’s Workers’ Central and its unions, along with the rest of the mass and social organizations have the capacity to mobilize the support and the confidence of the people through debate, free from unviable dogmas and schemes that emerge as a colossal psychological barrier that we need to dismantle little by little.  Together we can make it (Applause).

That is exactly the fundamental agenda that we have reserved for the National Conference of the Party to be held in 2011, after the Congress, at a date to be fixed later.  On that occasion we shall analyze, among other matters, the modifications of the working methods and styles of the Party since, as a result of the deficiencies found in the performance of the Government administrative bodies throughout the years, the Party has had to engage in the exercise of functions outside its duties, which restricted and compromised its role as the organized avant-garde of the Cuban nation and the top leading force of society and the State, as established by Article Five of the Constitution of the Republic.

The Party should lead and supervise; it should not interfere with the activities of the Government at no level.  It is the Government that governs.  Each body has its own norms and procedures, depending on what their missions are within the society.

It is necessary to change the mentality of the cadres and of all other compatriots in facing up the new scenario which is beginning to be sketched out.  It is just about transforming the erroneous and unsustainable concepts about socialism, that have been very deeply rooted in broad sectors of the population over the years, as a result of the excessively paternalistic, idealistic and egalitarian approach instituted by the Revolution in the interest of social justice.

Many of us Cubans confuse socialism with freebies and subsidies; and equality with egalitarianism.  Quite a few of us consider the ration card to be a social achievement that should never be gotten rid of.

In this regard, I am convinced that several of the problems we are facing today have their origin in this distribution mechanism.  While it is true that its implementation was inspired by the wholesome idea of ensuring people a stable supply of foodstuffs and other goods to counter the unscrupulous hoarding by some for profit, it is an evident expression of egalitarianism that equally benefits those who work and those who do not, or those who do not see the need to work, which generated practices such as bartering and resale in a submerged black market, etc, etc.

The solution to this complex and sensitive matter is not a simple one, since it is closely related to the strengthening of the role of salaries in society.  That will only be possible if, at the same time, freebies and subsidies are reduced and the productivity of work and the supply of products to the population are increased.

In this matter, as well as in the eradication of overstaffing, the Socialist State shall not leave any citizen unprotected and, via the social welfare system, it shall ensure that people who are unable to work will receive the minimum required protection.  In the future there will be subsidies, not to products, but to Cuban men and women who for one reason or another really need them.

As is known, as from September this year, the cigarette rations were eliminated.  This product was being delivered only to a part of the population. Obviously, due to its harmful effects to human health, it can not be considered a basic commodity.

Next year –and we have already discussed that here- we can not afford to spend around 50 million dollars -47, to be exact- to import coffee to sustain the rations that have so far been distributed to all consumers, including newborn children.  Since this is an unavoidable necessity, we intend to mix it with peas, as we used to do until 2005, since peas are much cheaper than coffee, whose price is almost three thousand dollars per ton, while the cost of a ton of peas is 390 dollars.

Therefore, if we want to keep on drinking pure, un-rationed coffee, the only solution is to produce it in Cuba where it has been proven that all the required conditions for its cultivation exist, and where we can produce enough quantities to satisfy the demand and even to export it with the highest quality.

After the US war against Vietnam, the heroic and undefeated Vietnamese people asked us to teach them how to plant coffee, and there we went. We taught them how to plan it and conveyed to them all our experience.  Today Vietnam is the second biggest coffee exporter in the world. A Vietnamese official asked one of his Cuban colleagues: “How come you, who taught us how to plant coffee just recently, are now buying coffee from us?” I can not figure out what might have been the Cuban official’s answer, but most certainly he might have said: “the blockade.”

These decisions, and others that we shall have to apply, even though we know they are not popular ones, are a must in order to be able to maintain and even improve the free public health, education and social security services for all of our citizens.

The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Comrade Fidel himself, in his historical speech on November 17, 2005, stated, and I quote: “Here is a conclusion I’ve come to after many years: among all the errors we may have committed, the greatest of them all was that we believed that someone really knew something about socialism, or that someone actually knew how to build socialism”, end of quote.  Hardly one month ago, exactly five years later, in his message on the occasion of the International Students Day, Fidel reiterated these concepts which are still fully valid.

I for one remember an idea expressed by a Soviet award-winning scientist who about half a century ago –around the times when the first man ever traveled to the cosmos, who was Gagarin- was thinking that even though the possibility of a manned flight into space had been theoretically documented, it was still a journey into the unknown, the undiscovered.

While we have counted on the theoretical Marxist-Leninist legacy, according to which there is scientific evidence of the feasibility of socialism and the practical experience of the attempts to build it in other countries, the construction of a new society from an economic point of view is, in my modest opinion, also a journey into the unknown –the undiscovered.  Therefore each step must be profoundly meditated upon and planned before the next step is taken; mistakes are to be timely and quickly amended so that the solution is not left up to time, which will make them grow bigger and, ultimately, our invoice will be even more costly.

We are fully aware of the mistakes we have committed and the Guidelines we are right now discussing precisely mark the beginning of the road to rectification and the necessary updating of our socialist economic model.

No one should claim they have been deceived: the Guidelines will signal the road towards a socialist future, adapted to Cuba’s conditions and not to the capitalist and neo-colonial past which was defeated by the Revolution.  Planning, and not free market, shall be the distinctive feature of the economy.  As was outlined in the third general Guideline, the concentration of ownership shall not be allowed.  This is as clear as glass, but there is no one as blind as the one who doesn’t want to see.

The building of socialism should be according to the specific features of every country.  That is a History lesson that we have learned very well.  We do not intend to copy from anyone again; that brought about enough problems to us because, in addition to that, many a time we also copied badly, as we said yesterday. However we shall not ignore others’ experiences and we will learn from them, even from the positive experience of capitalists.

Speaking about the necessary change of mind, I shall mention one example:  we have arrived at the conclusion that self-employment is one more alternative for working-age citizens, aimed at increasing the supply of goods and services to the population, which could rid the State of those tasks so that it could focus on what is truly decisive, what the Party and the Government should do is, first and foremost, facilitate their work rather than generate stigmas and prejudices against them, much less demonize them.  Therefore it is fundamental that we modify the existing negative approach that quite a few of us have towards this form of private job.  When defining the features that ought to characterize the building of a new society, the classics of Marxist-Leninism –particularly Lenin- stated, among other things, that the State, on behalf of all the people, should keep the ownership over all the basic production means.

We turned this precept into an absolute principle and almost all the country’s economic activity started to be run by the State.  The steps we have been taking and shall take towards broadening and relaxing self-employment are the result of profound meditations and analysis and we can assure you this time there will be no going back.

Cuba’s Workers’ Central and its respective national trade unions are currently studying the forms and methods to organize the provision of assistance to this labor force, promote full compliance with the Law and the payment of taxes and encourage these workers to eschew illegalities.  We should defend their interests just as we do with any other citizen, as long as they observe the approved juridical norms.

The introduction of the basic concepts about the taxation system at different levels of education becomes very important, since younger generations will become permanently and concretely acquainted with the implementation of taxes as the most universal form of redistribution of the national income, in the interest of covering social costs, including the assistance to persons in greatest need.

From the point of view of the society as a whole, we have to encourage among all taxpayers the civic values of respect for and compliance with tax payments; we should educate people in that discipline and culture, reward those who comply and sanction tax evaders.

Another area where there is still much to do, in spite of the advances made, is the attention to the different production modalities in agriculture to remove the existing obstacles that hinder the promotion of productive forces in our rural areas so that, depending on the savings obtained by reducing the import of foodstuffs, farmers could receive just and reasonable revenues for their hard work.  However this does not justify the fixing of extremely high prices to the commodities consumed by the population.

After two years since we started to distribute idle lands in usufruct, I think we are now in the position to evaluate the allocation of additional land plots, above the limits regulated by Decree-Law 259 of July 2008, to those agricultural workers who have achieved outstanding results in the intensive use of the lands they have been tilling.

I think it timely to clarify that the ownership of the lands distributed in usufruct continues to belong to all the people.  Thus, if for any reason these lands are required for uses different from these in the future –namely, the construction of a social facility, a highway or whatever- the State shall compensate beneficial owners for their investments and would pay to them the value of the benefits created.

In due time, once we conclude the studies based on the experience we have been accumulating, we shall submit the corresponding proposals to modify the abovementioned Decree-Law to the Council of State, where farmers have their own representative, who is comrade Lugo Fonte, the chairman of the National Association of Small Farmers.

One of the most difficult barriers to overcome in the effort to create a different view  -and  we should publicly recognize that-, is the lack of  knowledge about the economy among the people, including quite a few cadres who, giving clear proof of a supine ignorance on the subject, adopt or propose decisions while facing customary problems without stopping for a single minute to evaluate their effects and costs, or without knowing whether there is a budget or resources  assigned to that end according to a plan.

I am not announcing any new discovery when I state that improvisation in general, particularly when it comes to the economy, leads to a sure failure regardless of the lofty ends one intends to attain.

On December 2 last, on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the landing of the Granma, the official newspaper of our Party published an excerpt of the speech delivered by Fidel on that same date in 1976, when we were celebrating the twentieth anniversary of that historical event.  Given its validity and relevance I find it appropriate to quote it.  Thirty four years ago Fidel said:  “The strength of a people and a revolution lies precisely in its capacity to understand and cope with difficulties.  Despite everything, we will move forward on numerous fronts and we will struggle tirelessly to increase the economy’s efficiency, save resources, reduce non-essential costs, increase exports and raise economic awareness in every citizen.  I said earlier that we are all politicians; now I add that we should all be economists, and I repeat, economists, not economic reductionists.  A mindset oriented to saving and efficiency is different from that oriented to consumption”, end of quote.

To become an economist does not mean that we should now try to get a degree in Economics –we have enough of those. It means to have a domain of the main principles of Economics, not to pursue a PhD in Economics.

And Fidel continued to say: “…now I add that we should all be economists, and I repeat, economists, not economic reductionists.  A mindset oriented to saving and efficiency is different from that oriented to consumption”, end of quote.

That is the essence of the Guidelines you have in your hands and of the precise instructions oriented to promote economic development right now, which is about producing whatever can be exported, reduce imports and invest in those areas that could yield the quickest returns.  It is also about increasing economic efficiency, saving resources, reducing unnecessary costs –we have discussed all that in these days-, increasing exports and raising an economic awareness in every citizen.  And I repeat: “economists, not economic reductionists.  A mindset oriented to saving and efficiency is different from that oriented to consumption”, end of quote.  This was said on December 2, thirty four years ago.

Ten years later, on December 1 of 1986, during the deferred session of the Third Party Congress, Fidel stated, and I quote: “Many do not understand that the Socialist State, just as any other State or system, can not deliver what it does not have. And it will have much less if it does not produce, if it gives away money without any production backing.  I am sure that overstaffing, excess money paid out to people, idle stocks and wasting of resources are all linked to the great number of unprofitable companies that we have in our country…” end of the quote.

After 34 and 24 years respectively from the time when these two ideas that I have just quoted were expressed by the Leader of the Revolution, these and many other problems are still with us.

And, well, what did we do back then? Why weren’t the instructions given by the Leader of the Revolution complied with? We applaud every speech; we shout Long Live the Revolution! And afterwards things remain just the same.

He did his part, and now, trying to find an explanation, I express that Fidel, with his genius, was blazing a trail, showing the way, and the rest of us didn’t know how to ensure and consolidate our march forward to pursue those goals.

The truth is that we lacked cohesion, despite this people’s unity around its Party, its leaders and its Government, which has been our main strategic weapon for surviving more than five decades, inside a fortress under siege, facing the most powerful empire that has ever existed. But lacked cohesion, organization and coordination between the Party and the Government.  In the midst of the threats and the daily emergencies we neglected mid and long-term planning; we did not act strongly enough against the economic violations and the errors committed by some leaders and we also stalled in correcting decisions that didn’t have the effect we expected but managed to survive.

On more than one occasion –right here, before this Parliament- I have referred to the fact that in this Revolution almost everything has been said and that we should check which of the instructions given by the Leader of the Revolution have been fulfilled and which have not, ever since he made his vibrant statement “History Will Absolve Me” during the trial against the Moncada attackers until the present.  We will retake Fidel’s ideas, which continue to be valid even today, and will not allow the same to happen to us again. That is the reason behind the instructions oriented and the main line traced by the Party and the Government regarding errors, violations, etc. If we want to save the Revolution we have to comply with whatever we may agree.  We should not allow that, after the Congress is over –as has been happening so far in many very eloquent cases- documents go to desk drawers to sleep the eternal sleep, just as we have been explaining in these days of fruitful, democratic and truly profound discussions. That is how we want the people to continue discussing those Guidelines.  We have almost 100 days for that. We either rectify –because we no longer have time to keep on skirting around the precipice- or we will sink, and, as I said before, we will also be sinking the efforts made by entire generations since the times of Hatuey, the American Indian who came from the territory that is today the Dominican Republic and Haiti –the first internationalist in our country- until Fidel, who has brilliantly led us through these so complex situations since the triumph of the Revolution (Applause).

Those of us who are not so young, or those who, being older, are still feeling young and ready to keep up in the struggle (Applause), as well as those who belong to the younger generations –some of whom spoke eloquently yesterday- should never forget the words pronounced by Fidel in his first speech after coming into the capital, at the Batista’s military headquarters, the former ‘Columbia’, which is today the school named “Ciudad Libertad”.  From that place he said: “The Revolution has triumphed and there is an immense happiness, but there is still much to do. We should not make the mistake of thinking that from now on everything would be easier.  From now everything would be perhaps more difficult”.  And that precise and visionary advice has become true all along these more than fifty years.

We did not expect this to be a bed of roses; we knew the power we were going to challenge, for which we only counted on the people and the weapons that we grabbed from Batista’s army.  Later on we continued to acquire as many weapons as we could until the present, while we continued to further develop –and Fidel also taught us that- the great unity of our people, which we should always protect, as much as if it were the apples of our eyes or our own lives.  But that unity can not be achieved by decree.  We will have more unity because it will be everybody’s domain, if we apply absolutely democratic methods to political work in the entire nation, with patience, from the Party’s grassroots cells to the supreme organ of the State, which is this Assembly gathered here.

We have a cultured people that have attained a high educational level, and we have many other positive things.  Huge advances have been made, but this is not the right occasion to list up all of them; you already know about them.  Our media talks a lot about them, about the achievements of the Revolution.  In our speeches we also expand on that.  But we must go to the core of the problems, just as we have done in this Parliament session.

What I mean is that the issues that we have discussed and the errors that we have criticized can not happen again because it is the life of the Revolution what is at stake.

Errors, if they are just analyzed with honesty, can become experiences and lessons that could teach us how to eradicate them and avoid its replication.  Haven’t you heard the proverb saying that the human being is the only animal that stumbles more than once against the same obstacle? I have known some who have stumbled five, six, even ten times, and if we don’t stop them they will continue to stumble.  And we will not because they may injure an ankle or the tip of their toes; it is because the mistakes they make cost millions. You heard what was read by the Vice-President himself, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Murillo; or what was just read by the President of the Commission on Economic Affairs of the Parliament, comrade Osvaldo Martínez.  We stopped receiving some millions because of the low prices of sugar; throughout all these years sugar prices have been at rock bottom.  And now, when sugar prices are up, we stopped receiving some millions because, for some reason, we did not meet the sugar production plan. In such and such economic activity we stopped receiving so much because we did not meet the production plans.

I was telling Machado –I was making some comments while they were speaking; just some comments, right there by his side- that if you add up all the millions that we have failed to receive for not meeting our production plans, just imagine  how many problems we could have solved.

And so it happens in every other area.

That is why I am a staunch advocator of the eradication of excessive secrecy, although some secrets must be kept.  Yesterday we talked about some of them, which I do not intend to publish.  You may have noticed that nothing, almost nothing, has been published by the press about my interventions at the Assembly.  I asked for this to be done this way, so that I could speak straight.  The session was held behind closed doors so that we could discuss things as we commonly say here, stripping ourselves to our underclothes, although it was not necessary to take off so much clothes. But we discussed what we had to discuss.  That is the way it should be.

And I am very much in favor of the struggle against excessive secrecy, because our failures as well as those who are interested in leaving things as they are so that they continue to be just the same, are all hidden under that well-decorated carpet. And I remember some of the criticisms that were made: “yes, let such and such criticism be published by the press”, I myself said in the past, many years ago.  And, of course, no specific reference was made to any entity, but to a product, and so on so forth.

All of a sudden the big bureaucracy began to mobilize: “Those things are not helpful; they demoralize workers”, they said.  What workers were going to be demoralized?

So it happened once at the big State-run dairy enterprise named ‘El Triángulo’. It was quite big then and continues to be so.  I believe it is now a genetic centre… (Someone reminds him that the center’s name is ‘Triunvirato’).  That’s right, Triunvirato. ‘Triángulo’ is the one in Camagüey. It had been weeks since one of the trucks of that dairy farm, a small truck, had been out of order.  Therefore, all the milk produced by the dairy farms of that region –not only by that enterprise- was being used to feed some pigs they were raising.

Then I said to one of the secretaries of the Central Committee responsible for supervising agriculture at that time:  “Go to the ‘Granma’ newspaper and tell everything that is going on; make a criticism.

I stirred up the hornet’s nest.  People did not know I had been the one who had given those instructions.  And some approached me and even said to me:  “Those things are not helpful because they demoralize the workers”, and so on so forth.

Nearby the city, close to the capital of the province, there were they, throwing away milk, using it to feed their own pigs.

That is why I say: ¿excessive secrecy? No way.  Let those wanting to keep their own deficiencies in secret to struggle and devote that huge effort to avoid them –I mean, deficiencies.

That is to say, errors, if they are just analyzed –as we said a while ago- with honesty, can become experiences and lessons that could teach us how to eradicate them and avoid its replication.

If we do not proceed this way, we will keep on making the same mistakes. That is why I am one of those who claim that in Cuba there are animals –I am referring to the proverb saying that man is the only animal who stumbles twice against the same obstacle.  But, in Cuba, there are more.

Do not forget about another Dominican, a great internationalist, who was the chief commander of our Liberation Army, Generalissimo Máximo Gómez, who knew Cubans too well.  He was married to a Cuban; his children were born in the battlefield.  Many of them died of poverty.  Manana was always behind him; she accompanied him wherever he went.  Gómez used to say: “Cubans either fall short of or go over the limits”. Isn’t that so? (The audience says ‘yes’).  Let’s see if we can go over the limits, but when it comes to the strict compliance with our duties.

I mean, that is precisely the great usefulness of a thorough analysis of errors.  That should become a permanent rule of conduct for all leaders, at all levels. Those who do not proceed this way would be infringing their main duty as leaders.

Besides, the reality of figures prevails over all of our hopes and dreams.  Since our early years in first grade, when we study elementary arithmetic, we learn that two plus two makes four, not five or six –as we said once, right here.  You don’t have to be an economist to understand that two plus two makes four.  On that occasion I added: “…but sometimes, as a result of or own deficiencies, two plus two happen to make three”.  That is to say, you don’t have to be an economist to understand that. Therefore, if at any given time we have to do something whether in the economic or social fields, whose cost can not be covered by the resources available, we may do that being aware of the consequences and knowing, ahead of time, that, ultimately, bare facts shall irremissibly prevail, no matter how well-intended we might be.

Besides, Cuba has tens and tens of thousands of professionals graduated by the Revolution in the specialties of Economics, Accounting and Finances, just to mention some within this profile, and we haven’t known how to make a proper use of their knowledge in the interest of the nation’s orderly development.

We have the most precious thing –mentioned by Comrade Fidel on several occasions-, which is human capital.  We must further consolidate it, with the help of the National Association of Economists and Accountants (ANEC) to take up the task of constantly and systematically educating our cultured people and their leaders at all levels in this subject.  A large representation from the ANEC National Board took part –together with us and several other cadres present here- in the first seminars that we organized to analyze these Guidelines, and many of its members are immersed in the process of discussions under way. The entire National Board attended these seminars and afterwards they took part in the discussions with the members of the Party and the people that were held in different municipalities and provinces.

In this regard, we should emphasize the decisive contribution made by thousands and thousands of accountants to recover the place Accounting deserves in economic management –and you know what I am talking about and how Accounting operates in this country and in almost all enterprises- which, as we well know, is an indispensable condition to ensure success and order in everything that we intend to accomplish.

In these circumstances, nobody should lose sight of the relevance of keeping a differentiated approach to the youth –and here I am dealing with a different issue, related to university graduates and medium-level technicians; that is, they deserve a different treatment and approach, as you saw it was described by the first resolution passed by the Ministry of Labor.  I should emphasize the decision of exempting new graduates from any overstaffing reduction process while they are completing their Social Service term. Otherwise they will be the first to be sacrificed.

Now then, we are not trying to assign them to jobs that have nothing to do with their professional profiles, as it has occurred in the past, when they were even employed as doormen at some work places while they were completing their Social Service term, regardless of the title or knowledge they have acquired, because that period is precisely designed to train them in the production and  provision of services, so that they could complement the theory they learned in school with practice and cultivate in them the love for work. If we do not do that we will be sacrificing the immediate future, those who will continue after us.

No less important is the work to be carried out by cadres and specialists involved in the drafting and review of legal documents, which are to be in tune with the modifications that are being implemented. For example, in order to create the legal framework –because not a single step should be taken without first taking into account this, the legal framework- for two Guidelines (158 and 159), referring to self-employment, its taxation regime and the reduction of overstaffing, we have had to issue almost 30 legal provisions, including decree-laws –today we adopted those that were proclaimed during this period-, Government agreements and resolutions from various ministries and national institutes.

Just a few days ago –listen to this example-, a resolution issued by the Ministry of Finances that modified the prices set by collecting centers for a series of agricultural products had to invalidate another 36 resolutions issued by that same body on different dates in previous years, but all of them  were still in force. Who could control an activity like that, the pricing of agricultural products, when the prices fixed are not governed by supply and demand and there are 36 different documents governing it? No matter how many computers you may have, this is something impossible to do.  And so there are many decisions of this sort contained in documents, one after the other; some of them modify the others, the ones that come next, and so on.  In this case, one resolution replaced another 36, but all of them were still in force.

These facts give you some idea of the work facing us in the area of juridical organization for the purpose of reinforcing the institutional character of the country  -this is not because we like papers; every activity must be regulated in documents and officially approved-, and eliminating so many irrational prohibitions that have been prevailed for years, without bearing in mind the existing circumstances, creating a veritable breeding ground for multiple actions outside the law that very often give rise to different levels of corruption.  One can arrive at a life-tested conclusion: irrational prohibitions lead to violations and that in turn leads to corruption and impunity.  That is why I believe that people are right –because they have said since they discussed the speech I delivered in 2007, which was not a speech that deserved being discussed by the entire people, but then they were told: “You may say what you want”, and right here I reported the results of that survey.  Besides, that was intended to accumulate greater experience for what we are doing right now, and we managed to accumulate important experiences, and many of the statements made then are being repeated now during the discussion of the Guidelines That is, people were right in their concerns over the mind-boggling procedures associated with housing and the buying and selling of cars among individuals, just to mention two examples that are currently under study for an orderly solution. That is why yesterday we remembered, as Marino was saying, that the State regulates its relations with individuals, but the State does not have to interfere in any way with the intention of regulating the relations between two individuals.  So if I have a little car, a jalopy or whatever, an “almendrón”, as it is commonly called here, and that car is mine, I have the right to sell it to whoever I want, provided I also observe the regulations established by the owner’s registry.

At the same time, we must simplify and group together the legislation in force, which is generally rather dispersed.  The guiding documents are drawn up so that they known by those responsible for enforcing them, not just to be filed away.  Therefore, we have to educate all cadres and demand that they work with the legal provisions that govern their functions and see to it that this is complied with as a professional qualification requirement to occupy any given post. Yesterday or the day before yesterday we referred to an example which was a sort of common denominator to all provinces regarding one specific fact.  It was a usual practice for all to receive documents and immediately put them inside a drawer.  And this happened just the other day. And meanwhile life goes on.

It is worthwhile remembering, once again, that ignorance of the law does not exempt anyone from complying with it and that, according to the Constitution, every citizen has equal rights and responsibilities.  Therefore whoever commits a crime in Cuba, regardless of the position they hold or whoever they may be, they shall have to face up to the consequences of their mistakes and bear the full weight of the law.

Moving on to another issue, also covered by the Guidelines, we have excluded 68 important investments for the country from next year’s economic plan –as was already informed here-, because they have not complied with the established requirements, among them, identification of funding, technical preparation, streamlining of project, identification of the construction group capable of undertaking such works within the established terms and the evaluation of feasibility studies, among others.  We shall not permit the wastage of resources destined to investments due to the spontaneity, improvisation and superficiality that, more often than not, have characterized the investment process.  And when this issue was discussed during the last meeting of the Council of Ministers –and many of you heard it- we decided that this will happen no more, and those who infringe upon that decision will have to face the consequences, no matter which.

In dealing with these subjects I must refer to the key role to be played by the Party cadres, the Government, mass and youth organizations in the coordinated and harmonious conduction of the process to update the Cuban economic model.

Now we have a special and well prepared battlefield to show that all of this can be done, that it can be done well, that we will not fall short of or go over the limits, as the Generalissimo used to say.

In the course of the gradual decentralization that we are carrying out, we have adopted different measures to increase the authority of administrative and business executives on whom we shall continue to delegate powers.  Simultaneously we are improving control procedures and will adopt a more demanding attitude against any manifestation of negligence, apathy and other behaviors incompatible with public positions.

Right here, sitting on the first row, there is the Vice President of the Council of State, Gladys Bejerano, who –as you know- is an efficient General Comptroller of the Republic.

When that ministry still existed under the name of Ministry for Auditing and Control –that activity is now under the direct supervision of the Council of State and, on behalf of that organ, I personally check its everyday performance, as I do with the Republic’s General Attorney’s work, and I assign them some tasks-, despite the fact that it could not do much because all justifications were accepted and these always had a sort of godfather, comrade Gladys Bejerano was frowned on by some. And very often when she exerted her controls someone, anyone, came to complain:  “Well, that does not help.” Some others said: “That is demoralizing” –what on earth was that! They said that “comrade Gladys was very tough, that she said things in a very tough way”.  But that is what we want; that is what I always demanded from them.

And then, once –I had not yet been appointed to this post- I said: “I believe we should dissolve this ministry”. I saw some happy faces; they were all looking at each other.  The exception was Gladys’ sad face; because apparently we were disregarding her important task.  Then I waited for almost a minute, just a few seconds, and afterwards I said: “We are going to dissolve that ministry, because its minister has the same hierarchy as all other ministers, and we are going to create the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, which will be under the Council of State, ad we will propose Gladys as Vice President of the Council of State”.  There were faces that saddened and Gladys laughed happily again (Laughter).  What I am telling you is no joke (Applause); this is no joke.

I was saying that the authority of administrative executives, ministers, provincial and municipal governments will increase.  They will be further supported and their faculties will be decentralized from above.

We have said that municipal governments must have faculties and resources.  We also indicated the way to acquire them and added that we will continue to delegate some faculties.  At the same time the control mechanisms will be further perfected; we will adopt a more severe attitude against every manifestation of negligence, indolence and other behaviors incompatible with the performance of any public position.

Likewise, we are fully aware of the harm caused by the “inverse pyramid” phenomenon to the cadres’ policy over the years, which means that salaries were not being paid according to the importance and hierarchy of leading posts, nor was there an adequate differentiation between them.  This discourages the promotion of the most capable workers to higher responsibilities at the enterprises and even at ministries.  This is a basic problem that must be resolved according to what is indicated in Guidelines 156 and 161, related to the wages policy.

The Sixth Party Congress should be, as a fact of life, the last to be attended by most of us who belong to the Revolution’s historical generation.  The time we have left is short, the task that lies ahead of us is gigantic, and without an ounce of immodesty, personal vanity or sentimentalism, I think we have the obligation of taking advantage of the power of our moral authority among the people to trace out the route to be followed and resolve some other important problems. (Applause).

We don’t think we are more intelligent or able that anyone else or any of the like, but we strongly believe that we have the elemental duty to rectify the mistakes that we have made all along these five decades during which we have been building socialism in Cuba.  To this endeavor we will devote all the energy we have left, which fortunately is not just a little (Applause).

We will increase our perseverance and our intransigence against wrongdoings.  Government ministers and other administrative and political leaders know they will count on our full support when, while performing their duties,  they educate –they must first and foremost educate- and at the same time adopt a demanding behavior towards their subordinates, and are not afraid of running into trouble. Usually no one is willing to run into that:  Do not be afraid of running into trouble for confronting the wrong. Running into trouble for confronting the wrong is right now one of our main tasks aimed at eradicating all those deficiencies that we have mentioned.

Likewise it is very clear to all of us that we are no longer living through the early years after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 –the early months after the triumph-, when some of those who were appointed to government posts, particularly in that first government that was appointed by Urrutia, except for the Defense and Agriculture portfolios, were told: “Do not touch that”, because we were thinking about the agrarian reform and the weapons that we had occupied or we intended to occupy.  I am speaking about January 2.  After Fidel made the speech at “Céspedes” park, he left for the enemy’s general headquarters to speak to those soldiers so that they would join him – because there had been a coup d’etat in Havana and we did not know how to operate the tanks, the artillery and other means they had there.  Fidel allowed Urrutia and other leaders of the 26th of July Movement of the University of Santiago de Cuba to appoint a government.

I was the one who carried that message to Urrutia at dawn on January 2, because the mass rally at the square had concluded after midnight.  So I said to him: “Do not touch that; it is recommended not to touch the Ministry of Agriculture or the Ministry of Defense.” This was the only thing that was said.  So when I told him, on behalf of Fidel, to appoint Colonel Rego Rubido, who had just surrendered to Fidel in an area known as “Alto del Escandel” on January 1, Urrutia  started to pace up and down the garage of the house in the neighborhood called ‘Vista Alegre’, where I went to meet him.  A crowd had surrounded the patio of the house and waved hello at me.  Discussions went on for a while:  “I can not appoint a member of Batista’s army as chief commander of the Rebel Army!” he said. “Look President”, I told him, “Fidel knows what he is doing.  There has been a coup d’etat in Havana.  He is heading for Bayamo to speak with Batista’s soldiers…” And those were the ones who joined him along the way.  They took a whole   week to complete the journey, and when they entered Columbia they had already grown a wispy beard.  Guillermo came with Fidel and others who are present here, like Colomé.  Ramiro came with Che; Polito came with Fidel.  I don’t know what Álvaro did; he was 15 years old.  Did you stay there or you also came? (Álvaro answered he stayed in Santiago).  Oh, you stayed in Santiago.  Well done, because you are from Santiago.

So then there was no choice.  There were 5 000 enemy soldiers in the city and I hardly had two or three bodyguards with me, nothing else.  We founded several columns, because we prepared a solid force for Fidel.  Lussón, who commanded a more powerful column, to which Colomé belonged, had departed already.  Belarmino was commanding another column.  We placed Efigenio into some old planes that used to belong to Batista, so that he might arrive in Havana and take over the National Police. Efigenio Ameijeiras was the chief commander of Column 6, facing Guantánamo, and I had appointed him as chief of the three columns surrounding the city that we intended to attack on January 2, when we realize that General Cantillo had betrayed us.  So I had to think what to do.  I entered the very office of Chaviano, the same place where I was interrogated at the time of the Moncada attack.  I went through the same door I had gone through back then.

Luckily, I was captured many days after the repression and the massacre against the comrades who attacked the Moncada had ceased. I was not beaten; I did not go through that experience.  Under such circumstances I tried to behave as decently as possible, without insolence.  They made me walk along the lines of soldiers who yelled insults at me and asked the captain and the officers who accompanied me: “Give him to me Captain, so that justice is served!”

And then five years, five months and five days after, on January 1st, we entered the city of Santiago de Cuba, and I went to the Moncada garrison to speak to all those people.  I entered through the same door but now I was cheered and applauded.  I carried a single bodyguard with me, and I talked to the soldiers.  My mission was to gather all officers and take them to El Escandel, close to El Caney, so that they could speak to Fidel.  I could not leave by myself from that place.  I was carried, shoulder high, by a crowd of soldiers and sergeants who took me to the neighborhood where they lived, right beside the Moncada garrison.  And there I was; I could not leave that place.  I was offered coffee, etc. (Somebody tells something to Raúl).  What? Gerolán? I was addressing the troop and then they started to shout: “Gerolán! Gerolán!” So I asked the Batista’s officers: “What is Gerolán?” But they didn’t pay any attention to me.  They continued shouting “Gerolán!” and I kept on speaking at the top of my voice from a balcony.  But no way; nobody wanted to tell me what was Gerolán and the soldiers did not let me speak.  The man who accompanied me did not know either.  Finally, one officer –I think he was an accountant, or worked in something that had to do with logistics-, a lieutenant or second lieutenant, approached me and said:  “Listen, Commander, Gerolán is the extra pay soldiers receive when they are operating out in the field”.  And then I asked: “So, what’s the problem? Haven’t they been paid that?” and I was told: “No, because here the dead were not even reported so that the chiefs could rob that money.”  So I said: “Tomorrow, after we take control of the fortress, there will be Gerolán for all of you”.  Ah! It seemed that the world had come to an end.  And then I said: What a troop we have right here in front of us! (Laughter).  We requested a loan from a bank and we paid the Gerolán to those poor soldiers who did not have… That is what Guillermo wanted me to recall.

But, what was the meaning of Gerolán? Gerolán was the name of a poor-quality syrup that I believed had some special properties, which was taken mainly by braggers (Laughter).

And then I also said that everybody would be paid that money, but obviously these times are not like those early years after the triumph…

Oh, well! I did not finish the story about Urrutia, did I? Melba Hernández could bear witness of that –she is not here today.  I had not seen her since we were in Mexico.  Afterwards she was able to come and join the Third Front, which was commanded by Almeida.  Since those houses of the Vista Alegre neighborhood had a garage with a little stairs that led to a kitchen, she was there in the kitchen, waiting for all that fuss to come to an end.  I signaled to her to wait, and Urrutia kept on pacing up and down with his hands crossed behind his back.  Time passed by, until it seemed that I remembered about my Galician descent and uttered to him a few phrases I can not repeat here.  I said to him: “Listen, I have been struggling against Batista for seven years.  I have been in combat, in prison, in exile.  Do you think it does not bother me to see a Batista’s officer as chief commander of the army? That man will command nobody; he will consult me everything, because I will assign him to the very office of the chief of the regiment”.  And so it happened.  The first order I gave was: “Let us begin to send all those soldiers who are here”.  And since the bridges had all been blown up and I did not want them to come across Fidel, although they were unarmed, I used the three frigates that belonged to Batista’s navy.  I began to send them into groups of 500 to the centre and the western part of the country, where they lived.

I said to him a few words.  I was being tough on him and I said:  “Fidel knows what he is doing and I obey Fidel!”  Then he kept on pacing up and down and said:  “Well, Commander, we will see a solution; I believe it is reasonable, don’t you think?” And I said:  “Yes, that is what I think.” “Well, that’s fine”, he said.  After that I kissed Melba goodbye and I left to fulfill my duties.

I was in Santiago; Fidel left me in charge of the eastern provinces at that time.  I did not attend the inauguration ceremony, which was held at the University of Santiago.  I did not attend that.

You have already seen how we held our meetings, haven’t you? When I was about to leave, old Urrutia called me up and said to me:  “Commander, I need you to appoint and aide-the- camp to work with me”. I said:  “I will send you one, President”.  I began to wonder which person I could send -I had already figured out the troubles we would have with this man.  February, March, four or five months had hardly elapsed…you know the story- and I ran into Machado Ventura (Laughter).  He was carrying a Thompson; he was already Commander.  And then I said to him: “Listen Machado –I did not want to tell him about this incident:  I only told that to Fidel and to no one else when I came to Havana on February.  “Listen, Machado, the President has asked me this and that, and I think you are the ideal person”.  “Nooo!” Machado said to me, “what I have to do is to find a job as a medical doctor”.  “Forget about that job”, I said, “it is now when all this mess is going to start”.  And, finally, he accepted.

Urrutia came to Havana and I stayed in Oriente. When I came to Havana on February, we started to have problems with Urrutia, and these problems continued.  Nothing was published about the steps Urrutia was taking or his absolute irrationality, even as a person.  The first thing he did was to be paid the same salary Batista earned, plus the representation allowance.  And, of course, he bought himself a small shack, as was done by Grau, who must be around, although Urrutia left.

Then I said: “Well, I am going to call my friend Machado to see how things are”.  And when I called to the Presidential Palace and asked for Machado I was told:  “No, Machado has not been here for such and such a time”.  And then I wondered:  “Where is Machado?” And I found him working as a doctor in the municipality La Habana, wasn’t it? (Machado says yes).  That is to say, I thought he had been the first defector from the modern Revolutionary Armed Forces (Laughter).  Hopefully with his work he managed to clear his name.

After laughing a little bit at the expenses of Machado, who is my friend, we shall continue.

We are all clear that these are not like the early days after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, when some who occupied government posts –and that was when I came across the anecdote about that government- resigned to show their opposition against the first radical measures adopted by the Revolution, mainly against the agrarian reform -the first was adopted on May 17 of 1959.  That is why that behavior was then branded as counterrevolutionary.  That is, they resigned to show their opposition to the radical measures, and we qualified them: “That is counterrevolution”, but then we accepted their resignation. Today, the true revolutionary and honest behavior is for any cadre to resign with dignity and without any fear whenever they feel tired or incapable of fully performing their duties or comply with the new instructions that we are giving. In that case, the right thing to do is to resign, with dignity and without any fear. That will always be preferable to a demotion.

In this regard, I should refer to three comrades who occupied important positions in the leadership of the Party and the Government.  As a result of their mistakes, the Political Bureau asked them to resign to their condition as members of this leading body, of the Central Committee and as deputies to the National People’s Power Assembly.  I am referring to Jorge Luis Sierra Cruz, Yadira García Vera and Pedro Sáez Montejo.  The first two were also released from their positions as minister of Transportation and of the Basic Industry respectively –that is I am referring to Sierra and Yadira.  Sierra took upon himself attributions he was not entitled to, which led him to make serious mistakes in management.  Yadira García did a dreadful job as a leader of a very important ministry, such as the Basic Industry Ministry, which takes care of oil production, mining, etc., which became particularly evident in the poor control of the resources allocated to investments, that led to a waste of those resources, as it became obvious during the expansion of the nickel factory Pedro Soto Alba of Moa, in the province of Holguín.  Both comrades were severely criticized at the joint meetings of the Political Bureau and the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers.

On his part, Pedro Sáez Montejo, evidencing superficiality incompatible with his position as First Secretary of the Communist Party in the City of Havana, infringed upon the party work standards, something that was discussed with him by a Political Bureau commission which was presided over by myself and made up by comrades Machado Ventura and Esteban Lazo.

It is fair to say though that the three of them recognized the mistakes each of them had made and adopted a correct attitude.  That is the reason why the Political Bureau Commission decided to respect their condition as members of the Communist Party.  Likewise, we deemed it convenient to assign them to tasks related to their respective specialties –some of them at the grassroots level.  Others, like Sierra, who is a mechanical engineer by profession, is right now working in a little workshop of a general war tanks repairing unit.  The workshop has between 11 to 14 workers, and Sierra is the chief of them all.

Personally, the three of them will continue to be my friends but my only single commitment is with the people, particularly with those who have lost their lives in these 58 years of continued struggle since the coup d’etat in 1952.  This has been the procedure followed with three high level leaders, so let it be known that this would be the same procedure to be followed by the Party and the Government with every other cadre.  We will demand more from them, but at the same time we will warn them and adopt any relevant disciplinary measure if any of the established rules are infringed upon.

As was established by the Law to Modify the Country’s Political and Administrative Division, on January next year the new provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque will be created. Their respective governments will start to work according to the new organizational and structural conceptions, which are far more rational than the ones that exist in the present Havana province.

All functions, structures and payrolls have been already defined.  We are still working on the definitions of their attributions as well as their relations with the Central State Administrative Apparatus, national companies and political and mass organizations.  We will follow very closely this experience so that it could be gradually implemented on all other local government bodies throughout the country in the course of the next five years.  We very much favor the usefulness of continuing to gradually increase the authority of provincial and municipal governments by entrusting them with greater faculties for the execution of local budgets, which will absorb part of the taxes generated by the economic activity aiming at contributing to its further development.

The relations with the peoples and governments of almost every nation are improving amidst the convulsive international situation.

The world has known with amazement about the scandalous revelations made by hundreds of thousands of classified documents of the US government. Some of the most recent are about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; others deal with the most varied topics about the US relations with tens of States.

Although everybody is wondering what is really going on and how could this be linked to the twists and turns of the US politics, what has been revealed so far show that the US, under the pretence of practicing a kind rhetoric, essentially, it continues to implement the usual politics and acts as a global gendarme.

There isn’t the slightest willingness on the part of the United States to change its policy against Cuba, not even to eliminate its most irrational aspects.  It is evident that a powerful and reactionary minority that props up the anti Cuban mafia continues to have a major influence on these issues.

The United States not only turns a blind eye to the overwhelming call issued by 187 countries asking for an end to the  economic, commercial and financial blockade against our country.  In the year 2010, it reinforced its implementation and once again included Cuba in its spurious lists, whereby they take upon themselves the right to qualify and denigrate other sovereign States to justify punitive actions or even acts of aggression.

The US policy against Cuba does not have an ounce of credibility.  The US has no other choice but to resort to lies to reiterate certain allegations.  Some of them stand out for being scandalously false, as the one asserting that Cuba is a country that sponsors international terrorism, tolerates domestic traffic in children and the use of women for sexual exploitation, violates flagrantly human rights and is responsible for significantly restricting religious freedom.

The US government tries to hide its own sins and attempts to evade its responsibilities when it allows that notorious international terrorists who have been wanted by the legal systems of several countries continue to live with impunity in that country while it maintains our Five brothers unjustly imprisoned for fighting against terrorism.

In its slanderous campaigns about the human rights situation in Cuba, the United States has found the connivance of European countries, characterized by their double standards and their submissiveness to the US imperialism, which became well known for their complicity with the CIA secret renditions, the creation of torture and detention centers, for placing the burden of the economic crisis on the lowest income workers and the students, for violently repressing demonstrators and for the implementation of discriminatory policies against migrants and minorities.

We will continue to struggle, together with all Latin American nations, for an emancipating integration.  In the context of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, we will continue to work to consolidate the solidarity and unity that will make us ever stronger.

Therefore, we will continue to support the sister nation of Haiti where our health staff together with Latin American and Haitian doctors who graduated in Cuba, in a selfless and humanitarian way, is coping with the cholera epidemic, the destruction caused by the earthquake and the sequels of hundreds of years of exploitation and plundering of that noble people that needs the international community to grant resources for reconstruction and especially for a sustainable development.

This is also the right occasion to convey, from this parliamentary meeting and on behalf of all Cubans, a message of support and solidarity to the brother people of Venezuela, who are suffering from the ravages of torrential rains that have caused great human and material losses. At a very early stage, the tens of thousands of Cuban cooperation workers who are offering their services in that country were instructed to place themselves at the disposal of the Venezuelan people and President Hugo Chavez for whatever might be necessary.

April next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Socialist character of our Revolution.  In the sands of Playa Girón our forces fought for the first time to defend socialism and within hardly 72 hours, led by Commander in Chief in person, they managed to defeat the mercenary invasion sponsored by the US government.

On the occasion of such a relevant commemoration, there will be a military parade on April 16 with the participation of troops and combat equipment, to be attended by the delegates to the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party who will meet on that very afternoon to begin their works, which we hope will conclude on April 19, the day when we celebrate the Victory of Playa Girón.  We will begin by celebrating the proclamation of the socialist character of the Revolution, the speech delivered by Fidel during the burial of the victims of the bombings, which were launched the day before the attack on Girón, and we will conclude on the day when victory was attained. The parade will be closed by tens of thousands of youths representing the new generations, which are the guarantee of the continuity of the Revolution.

This celebration will be dedicated to our youth, which has never failed to be faithful to the Revolution.  Youth were those who died during the attack on the Moncada and Bayamo garrisons; youth were those who rose up in  Santiago de Cuba under the leadership of Frank País; youth were the Granma expeditionaries who, after the fiasco at Alegría de Pío, founded the Rebel Army, and were joined by waves of other youths  from the countryside and the city, particularly by the reinforcement that came from Santiago that was personally organized and sent by Frank himself; youth were those who were members of the powerful clandestine movement of all the organizations; youth were those who courageously attacked the Presidential Palace and  the ‘Radio Reloj’ radio station on March 13, 1957, headed by Jose Antonio Echeverría; youth were those  who fought heroically in Girón; youth and teenagers were those who joined the literacy campaign in that same year, also 50 years ago; youth were most of those who fought against the mercenary bands organized by the CIA, until well advanced the year 1965; youth were those who wrote beautiful pages of  courage and stoicism in the internationalist missions in several countries, particularly those in support of the liberation movements in Africa; youth are our Five Heroes who risked their lives in the struggle against terrorism and have suffered more than 12 years of cruel imprisonment; youth are many of the thousands and thousands of cooperation workers who defend the human life by curing diseases that have already been eradicated in Cuba, supporting the literacy programs and disseminating culture and the practice of sports throughout many countries of the world.

This Revolution has been the result of the sacrifices made by the Cuban youth:  the workers, farmers, students, intellectuals, military, all the youths from all the times during which they have lived and struggled. That is why we will dedicate this fiftieth anniversary celebration to our youth.

This Revolution will be carried forward by the youth, full of optimism and with an unshakable faith in victory.

Huge have also been the challenges and dangers since the triumph of the Revolution and the proclamation of its socialist character, especially after victory of Girón.  But no difficulty has ever bent our spirit.  We are and will be here thanks to the dignity, the integrity, the courage, the ideological strength, the revolutionary spirit and the sacrifice of the revolutionary people of Cuba, which long ago embraced the idea that socialism is the only guarantee to continue to be free and independent.

Thank you, very much (Ovation).

Comrades all:

These have been days of intensive work.  In Holguin, on July 26, I explained that I would be brief because other more complex issues would be submitted to deeper analysis in different meetings to be held through the week.

We spent the full day of July 29 at the 7th Plenary Meeting of the Party’s Central Committee, with its Politburo and Secretariat as well as members of the Council of State and Ministers specially invited, that is, the main Party, State and Government leaders and the key cadres of the mass organizations representing our society. Later on, I shall refer to some issues dealt with at the plenary session although our media published some information yesterday.

Likewise, a regular session of the Council of Ministers was held the following day where a second adjustment of this year’s spending was approved together with a set of actions aimed at tackling the grave financial situation of our economy.

Also the National Assembly commissions have been in session during this week and the deputies have received detailed information on and discussed about the performance of every sphere of action in the country. Today, at this plenary session we have analyzed and decided upon other major issues. The legislations concerning the National System of Museums and the establishment of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic were passed after a comprehensive process where different opinions were discussed, examined and harmonized at all levels.

The National System of Museums Act is an indispensable instrument to preserve our historical and cultural heritage for the present and future generations.

On the other hand, the Act on the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic has established a state body to replace the current ministry of Auditing and Control with the aim of assisting the National Assembly and the Council of State in their constitutional mandate to supervise every State and Government entity.

This new institution will play an essential role in the promotion of economic discipline and order, internal control and a resolved action against any manifestation of corruption as well as the causes and conditions that could open the way to a negligent or criminal behavior by any leader or government employee.

It will also help to define the civil liabilities and penal responsibilities of both the direct and indirect culprits of an offense. According to the law, the latter are those cadres, leaders or government employees who fail to be demanding with their subordinates, have a negligent conduct or ignore the established rules thus favoring the breach of discipline or avoiding its confrontation or immediate report to the corresponding authorities.

The Assembly has just elected Deputy Gladys Bejerano Portela as the Comptroller General. She will have my full support for the achievement of her objectives but above all I will demand that she fulfills her duty to the letter. Likewise, both the Party and Government will stay alert to the leaders at other levels who should be equally conscientious.

These matters are always essential but much more so under the present circumstances.

During the latest session of the Assembly on December, I warned that the year 2009 would be very challenging for the Cubans as a result of the losses and damages caused by three devastating hurricanes amounting to 10 billion dollars. The first, Gustav, started to pounding on August 30 and the third, Paloma, extended its effects until November 9. This means that in barely 72 days the country lost about 20% of its Gross Domestic Product, the celebrated GDP. This would be compounded by the uncertainty created by the global financial and economic crisis and its inevitable impact on our economy.

At that point we were thinking of a 6% growth; but, by April, as we found ourselves forced to make a first adjustment of the plan, our expectations came down to a 2.5%. Then, in the first semester, we have seen a GDP growth of 0.8%; still, it has been estimated that by the end of the year it will be of about 1.7%.

Our exports have significantly decreased due to the plummeting of prices. For instance, the average price of nickel has fallen from 21,100 dollars a ton last year to 11,700 in this first semester. And in the first months of the year it was even lower, to the point that we contemplated the temporary closure of some of the nickel plants.

Tourism is facing the paradox that even as it has received 2.9% more visitors, its earnings have been declining due to the deterioration of the exchange rate of other currencies with respect to the US dollar: in short, more tourists but lower returns.

In the same token, the value of our exports has also experienced a marked decrease. This has led to an almost even trade balance; however, the accumulated effect of previous commitments and the additional difficulties to accede to financial sources have made the financial situation of the country more complex.

Despite our firm determination to honor every obligation, we have been forced to renegotiate debts, payments and other commitments with foreign companies, albeit this is a rather common occurrence these days all over the world. As a rule, our partners have been understanding and shown confidence. Today, we reiterate our appreciation to them and the assurances that we will honor the agreements that have been reached.

At the same time, new proceedings have been recently enforced to expedite transactions with foreign partners that require more discipline and control in this area.

We have been consistent with the necessity to adjust spending to earnings. I am not an economist nor has it been my work under the Revolution to manage the details of economic development, however, I start from the basic logic that –as I said in the latest parliamentary session—no one, neither a person nor a country, can endlessly spend more than they earn. Two plus two always make four, not five. As I said three days ago during the Central Committee Plenary meeting, in the conditions of our imperfect socialism, due to our own shortcomings, quite often two plus two make three.

We are presently involved in the elaboration of the economic plans for the coming year whose guidelines were already approved by the Council of Ministers. I shall mention two of them: to plan a balance of payments without deficit and even with a reserve to make it possible to face up to unforeseen circumstances, and to give absolute priority to the growth of productions and services that bring in hard currency.

Such is the course of action we agreed upon at the 7th Plenary Meeting and the one every institution should implement under the leadership of the ministry of Economics and Planning, a major State body that it is our obligation to assist, support and, foremost, obey.

This year we have continued adopting various measures to strengthen institutionalization and the performance of our State and Government. Four new vice-presidents of the Council of Ministers have been appointed who, together with other two we had, have taken on the attention to ministries, national entities and major development programs. The restructuring of the state apparatus has continued with the merging of various State bodies and other institutions leading to a cut down of spending, transportation and payrolls, not to mention unnecessary paperwork. This process will go on gradually advancing with the purpose of improving the government’s efficiency. There is an increasingly cohesive, harmonious and integrated work among the Party, State and Government collective leadership bodies.

Modest progress is perceived despite the existing strain of our economy. The domestic monetary balance exhibits one of the most favorable situations of the past 20 years. Prices remain high but stable while the number of people working is greater than before. The agricultural and industrial productions have grown, with some exceptions, while transportation as a whole has improved and social services to the population are guaranteed, particularly healthcare, education and cultural and artistic functions.

As far as healthcare is concerned, –despite the inefficiencies we are all aware of– we have given undisputable proof of our capacity to fight all kinds of epidemics.

This is one of the few countries in the world that can say it has the A H1N1 pandemic under control. For example, as this disease keeps constantly advancing in over 171 nations –according to their own reports to the World Health Organization– with more than 177,000 people infected and a death toll of over 1100, in Cuba 242 cases have been confirmed of which 135, that is, more than half, are sick people who have traveled to the island; 50 are introduced cases, that is, persons infected by sick people coming from overseas; and 57 are considered indigenous cases since they were infected here by introduced cases. Of the total figure, 232 patients have been discharged and the remaining 10 show a favorable evolution.

Up to this moment, none of the patients has developed complications and none has died. This is a success of the healthcare system developed by the Revolution and an example that good results can be obtained if we are demanding and if the necessary arguments are offered, the required organizational measures adopted and the entire people involved.

Other achievements could be mentioned such as the avoidance until now of the upsetting blackouts to the population due to power generation deficits, which means we have only had those associated with maintenance to the power grids or other causes.

This would not have been possible without the strategy designed by comrade Fidel and the subsequent steps taken for energy production and saving.

As you know, in the first months of this year the energy demand highly exceeded the planned consumption in circumstances where it is impossible to import more fuel. By June, the decisions adopted allowed for a reversal of the situation even if in July the results were not that favorable. Apparently, the initial momentum is fading, as it is usually the case, this being a negative characteristic often affecting our cadres and government employees. For the rest of the year and in the future, it will be necessary to be more rigorous as to this crucial issue. There is simply no other alternative but to strictly abide by the plan.

Extraordinary measures have been implemented, such as cutting off services to certain entities that have exceeded planned consumption; this has had an impact on them. Also, some crafty people have been fined for altering their electricity meters. I am warning the latter that we shall take more severe action, including the electricity cuts to re-offenders for long periods and even definitely, if need be.

The increase of power consumption in the state sector has been contained but it has continued to grow in the residential sector. Therefore, although we are aware of the high temperatures in these months and that this is a vacation period, we appeal to our entire people to save as much energy as possible knowing that there is still untapped potential for that. The mass organizations in every neighborhood have a greater role to play in this connection, under the Party guidance, persuading the people and taking rational and adequately coordinated action.

There are plenty of needs and we should learn to prioritize the most important. Their solution will depend on our working harder and better. We should definitely put an end to the irresponsible attitude of consuming while no one, or very few, care to think of how much the country pays to ensure it and, foremost, if it can really do it.

We are aware of how anguishing it is, for example, not to have a home but as I have said more than once, the solution to this problem does not depend on our wishes; it is something that takes time, resources and mostly labor. And it becomes more difficult when, as it is commonly the case, we don’t have enough construction workers.

Some provinces do not even have enough people willing to work as teachers, police officers or in some other areas that require a special dedication or physical effort. I made reference to this subject in the previous session of the National Assembly, and I shall continue to follow attentively how every province achieves the incorporation of their people to these tasks.

This issue demands realistic solutions in addition to appealing to the honor of the people which is also important.

In the area of Education, over 7800 teachers in retirement have come back to class while another 7000 have postponed their retirement, which added to the teachers who canceled their request for voluntary redundancy and the ones who have reincorporated, will increase the number of educators to almost 19,000 in the forthcoming school year. I am sure that the example of these comrades will be emulated by many others who have not done it so far, and that many of those reaching retirement age will stay a little longer, if they can, doing their job and receiving the corresponding pension in addition to their wages. This amounts to a considerable figure.

As you know, recently a modest wage increase was approved for this sector. We would have liked it to be higher  –and we tried—to more fairly remunerate our teachers and professors for their efforts, but as we delved deeply into the subject we realized that this was all we could do under the present circumstances; and these hard-working professionals have showed their appreciation.

Our social spending must match real possibilities and this requires cutting off those that we can do without. These can be beneficial or even commendable activities which are simply not within reach of our economy.

In this connection, various alternatives are being examined to reduce the number of boarding and semi-boarding students in educational centers at all levels. For example, there are junior and senior high schools in the countryside in places where their participation in agricultural work is no longer required while their students mostly come from urban areas.  These schools will be transferred to the cities as material and organizational conditions are ensured.

This decision is aimed at cutting down the high spending in education without impacting on its quality. It will also spare some 5000 teachers long hours of daily travel to the schools and back home and enhance the family role in the children’s education. Nevertheless, in some rural areas they will always need a few schools with boarding students.

Another area in which sound steps have been taken is in reconciling the admission to teaching centers with the present and future requirements of the socio-economic development of every territory.

The same rational approach will be adopted with regards to other decisions concerning education, healthcare and the remaining sectors included in the budget in order to eliminate simply unsustainable spending that have been mounting annually and that are not only rather inefficient but also have made some people impervious to the need to work.

It was on these bases that the regulations were designed to hold more than one job as an alternative conducive to a better use of the workers’ potentials while raising their incomes. This includes the students of working age, as it is common practice in the world, who additionally to covering their personal needs can also improve their professional training but above all be better prepared for life.

We must be aware of our limitations, not to be afraid of them or wage them as a pretext to do nothing but rather to choose the best alternative and implement it.

Last July 26, I addressed the results achieved in milk production and collection and in the distribution of fallow land, and I spoke of the urgency of intensively exploiting the land surrounding almost every city and town.

The first try was made in the city of Camaguey with the participation of every institution and body under the guidance of the government in the province using its own resources and with an extensive utilization of oxen-drawn tools. It has been planned to start next January extending this experience to one head-municipality in every province.

This program, called suburban farming, will be developed in the areas surrounding cities and towns up to a distance allowing the people to work there with the minimum possible use of fuel.

It has been decided to assign this new task to the ministry of Agriculture, specifically to Deputy Adolfo Rodriguez Nodal and his reduced staff who have achieved remarkable results in urban farming thanks to their being demanding and systematic in their work as evidenced in the four annual evaluations of every province and municipality nationwide.

For this program we should forget about tractors and fuel, even if we had enough; the idea is to work basically with oxen since we are talking here of small-size farms. An increasing number of growers have been doing exactly this with excellent results. I have visited several of them and seen that they have turned their land into real gardens where every inch is cultivated.

The upgrading of the collection system of farming products with a comprehensive approach is an ongoing task. As reported by the media, this has already been applied in the two Havana provinces, albeit with many old problems that have been there forever, the same as the bureaucracy handling this activity for such a long time, but the necessary adjustments will be made to take this experience to the rest of the country. At the moment, the installation of new engines in 145 old trucks has been completed and these rejuvenated trucks coming out of the workshops will be used to bring supplies to the capital. Soon, the same will be done with 55 other trucks to bring that figure up to 200.

It is necessary to work with this spirit not only in agriculture but in every productive or service activity that can contribute earnings to the nation or substitute imports.

To such strategic tasks as food production, which as we have indicated is a matter of national security, we shall continue attracting the highest possible number of people through all the existing forms of property but in an orderly fashion.

We can count on many university graduates, –in some specialties we have many more than we need—but if we are not capable of changing their mentality and creating the objective and subjective conditions that will secure the availability of a qualified work force, who will be tilling the land? Who will work in factories and workshops?  And, who will create the material riches required by our people? Sometimes one gets the impression that we are eating into socialism before we even build it and that we expect to spend as if we had already built communism.

Going on to another subject, the seven months of this year have been witness to an outstanding performance of Cuba in the international arena. Thus, even our staunchest enemies cannot deny the growing prestige of this small island.

We have just passed on to Egypt the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, which its member countries agree has been reinvigorated in the last three years under Cuba’s leadership and now commands greater cohesion and influence in the most varied world forums.

The peoples and governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, proving again the deep changes occurred in the 50 years that have passed since the triumph of the Revolution and the failure of the attempts to isolate our country in this hemisphere, have unanimously claimed with renovated energy at the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain the lifting of the US blockade.

It was a resounding victory obtained by ALBA and the entire region in San Pedro Sula, Republic of Honduras, when beating the US opposition they decided to unconditionally remove the anachronistic exclusion of Cuba from the Organization of American States, which we have no intention to join for obvious reasons that you all know well.

Cuba is actively involved in the different integration mechanisms of the region. Its admission to the Group of Rio as a full member last December was a very significant event.

Our political and economic relations with Venezuela and the other members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) as well as with countries in the region and the world at large keep up their steady advance. The ALBA continues to consolidate as a forum of integration and solidarity. At the same time, it’s starting to become the target of imperialist assaults.

This Assembly has just adopted a declaration on Honduras. Cuba has strongly condemned the coup d’état in that country and decidedly supported the immediate and unconditional reinstating of the legitimate president while expressing its solidarity with that sister nation. Whatever happens in Honduras shall be decisive for the future of Our America. The Honduran people will have the final say in this matter.

Despite economic and financial hazards we have honored our moral commitment to international cooperation and solidarity.

The two Central American nations that did not have diplomatic relations with us have established them in the past few months.

We could ask which country is really isolated in this region; it is certainly not Cuba.

We have followed attentively the attitude of the new US Administration towards Cuba. Being true to facts, the economic, commercial and financial blockade remain intact and in full force as evidenced in the persecution of our transactions with other countries and in the increasing number of fines given to American companies and their foreign subsidiaries. Likewise, Cuba is still unjustifiably included in the list of states sponsoring international terrorism annually prepared by the State Department.

The positive, albeit minimum measures announced last April 13, –on the eve of the Summit of the Americas in light of the continental outcry against the blockade—which would abrogate travel restrictions to Cuban residents in that country and limitations to family remittances, and permit some operations related to telecommunications have not been implemented until today. It is important to know this because there is plenty of confusion and manipulation of this issue in the international media.

It is true that the anti-Cuban aggressiveness and rhetoric by the US administration has declined. Also, after a six-year suspension following a decision by former president Bush, the talks between the two governments on the migration issue were resumed last July 14 and developed in a serious and constructive way. Cuba reiterated that it will continue to rigorously honor the migratory accords, as it has done so far, and denounced the Cuban Adjustment Act and the dry-foot/wet-foot policy enforced by the United States government that encourage illegal migration and the trafficking of persons.

A few weeks back, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that they are opened to a dialogue with Cuba but that they clearly want to see fundamental changes in the Cuban regime.

It is my obligation to respond to Mrs. Clinton, with all due respect, and also to those in the European Union who are asking for unilateral gestures in the sense of dismantling our social and political regime.

I was not elected President to return capitalism to Cuba or to surrender the Revolution. I was elected to defend, preserve and continue to perfect socialism, not to destroy it. (Prolonged applause)

This should be very clear for it represents the unyielding determination of the Cuban people that on February 1976 approved by referendum –through direct and secret ballot with a 97.7% of the vote— the Constitution of the Republic, which in its Article No.1 reads: “Cuba is an independent and sovereign Socialist State of workers, organized with all and for the good of all as a unitary and democratic republic to enjoy political freedom, social justice, individual and collective wellbeing and human solidarity.”

More recently, in the year 2002, –exactly from June 15 through 18—a total of 8, 198, 237 people, almost the entire population of voting age, signed an appeal to this Assembly for the promotion of a constitutional reform that ratified the Constitution of the Republic in full and declared irrevocable the socialist nature and the political and social system set forth in our Magna Carta. This was unanimously approved by the deputies to the National Assembly in a Special Session held June 24 through 26 that same year.

I avail myself of this opportunity to reiterate Cuba’s disposition to hold a respectful dialogue with the United States, on equal footing, without the slightest shadow to our independence, sovereignty and self-determination. We are ready to discuss everything, I repeat, everything, but everything about here in Cuba, and about there in the United States. We will not negotiate our political or social system. We are not asking the United States to do so. We should mutually respect our differences.

We do not recognize jurisdiction to the government of that country or any other group of countries over our sovereign affairs.

As of the triumph of the Revolution there has not been in Cuba any extrajudicial execution, any missing or tortured person; I rectify myself: there has been torture in Cuba, at the Guantanamo Naval Base imposed to our homeland over one hundred years ago through the infamous Platt Amendment passed by the US Congress as a pre-condition to the end of the Yankee military occupation. People have been tortured there, and that is a portion of the Cuban territory, but we did not do it. That’s why, with all due respect, we tell Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State of that country, that if she wants to discuss everything we are willing to discuss everything about here, but about there, too.

The closure of the American prison in Guantanamo has been announced; it is a fair demand of the world public, but it should not be all. We do not renounce nor will we ever renounce the unconditional return of that portion of the national territory.

The same way we have insisted on our disposition to settle our differences with the United States, I clearly say that we are facing the issue with absolute calm and no haste. For 50 years now we have been walking on the edge of a sword, so we are well trained in that, and we are capable of resisting 50 more years of aggressions and blockade. (Applause)

There are those who say that in the US power circles they are betting on the demise of the historic generation of the Revolution, a sinister bet on the so-called “biological factor”, that is, the death of Fidel and of all of us.

Those who think this way are doomed since the successive generations of revolutionary patriots, first of all our magnificent youth, will never be ideologically disarmed, and along with them and the Party in the frontline will stand the Mambises of the 20th Century: our glorious Revolutionary Armed Forces which this time did walk victoriously into Santiago de Cuba on January 1st, 1959, headed by their Commander in Chief. (Applause)

I did not mention the ministry of the Interior because it had not been created when we entered Santiago de Cuba, and also because we consider it to be a part of the same family and with identical objectives.

Eloquent examples of this attitude are our Five Heroes, who for almost 11 years have remained incarcerated in US prisons for fighting the terrorist plans against Cuba. The world movement for their release keeps growing and this Assembly has just today agreed on an appeal to all parliaments and peoples in the world denouncing that injustice. From here we warmly embrace Gerardo, Ramon, Antonio, Fernando and Rene and we express our admiration for their uncompromising stance which is by now a symbol of the Cuban Revolution. (Applause)

I have another substantial topic to bring to your attention that was yesterday reported by our media. The 7th Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee decided to postpone the celebration of the 6th Party Congress originally scheduled for the end of this year.

The task lying ahead of the Cuban communists and all of our people is great. With the widest possible popular participation, we should define the socialist society that we want to build and can build under the present and future conditions of Cuba, and the economic model that will rule the life of the nation to the benefit of our compatriots. Also, we must ensure the impossibility to reverse the socio-political regime of the country which is the only guarantee of its true independence.

It’s understandable that the studies undertaken are huge since they should cover the main aspects of national life in the midst of the urgencies and strains linked to the economic situation.

These include, among others, the complex process towards monetary unification to put an end to the circulation of two currencies, –which it was necessary to establish at a given moment– to eliminate gratuities, except those consecrated by the Constitution, and undue subsidies as well as to establish a wage system in accordance with the socialist principle that goes: “From everyone according to their capacity, to everyone according to their work.”

It would be senseless to hold a formal Congress lacking in content, one that would not delve deeply into these strategic matters and establish the guidelines for the future. In other words, comrades, we need ‘to bell the cat’, identifying the main problems and this will necessarily take some more time.

As adopted in the 7th Plenary Central Committee meeting and later explained in the published note, first we need to complete the preparation of the entire Party, then analyze it with all of the people and finally hold the Congress only when the whole process is completed. A real Congress is that where every problem is discussed with the communists and with the entire population.

This should be the way to proceed if we want to hold a meaningful Congress, in a situation such as the present, finding solutions to the problems and looking into the future. The decision must be made by the people with the Party in the vanguard.

We have accumulated enough experience of consultations with the masses during the 50 years of Revolution. The most recent nationwide consultation was the analysis of the July 26, 2007 speech in Camaguey. In the months of September and October discussions took place at the rank and file of the Party not limited to the subjects dealt with in that speech and encouraging the people to express themselves on any issue of their interest. The resulting data were very useful for the subsequent work of country’s leadership. On November that year the collection of information and the elaboration of the summary were carried out and by December we were able to examine the final report in the Party. The discussions took place with the participation of over 5.1 million people, who made 3, 255, 000 contributions and 1, 301, 203 concrete proposals, of which 48.8% were criticisms. The product of this activity was not thrown in a bottomless basket.

The most common issues raised were linked to food production; the unwavering decision to build socialism; imports substitution and raising production; the economic and social situation; the idea that it is impossible to spend more than is earned; the need to fight corruption and crime; the preparations for defence and the role of political and government cadres. As you can see, these subjects are very closely linked to the content of the Congress and the future of our country. I should point out now that such a process was then conceived as part of the preparation for that major Party event.

The postponement of the Congress does not mean that we are going to stop preparing; on the contrary, this decision involves the necessity to take certain steps that cannot be put off such as the renovation of the Party higher levels of leadership.

The current Central Committee is made up by excellent comrades but many of them do not have today the responsibilities they did twelve years ago when they were elected for a five-year term that has extended due to the accumulated delay in the celebration of the Party Congress.

In Article 16 of the Party Statutes it is set forth that: “In the period between congresses, the Central Committee can convene a National Conference to discuss major issues related to Party policy. The National Conference will be entitled to incorporate new members to that body and to separate or free from responsibilities in it those it deems appropriate. The number of participants, the way they are elected and the rules for the preparation and development of the National Conference are established by the politburo.”

In accordance with this article, the 7th Plenary Meeting has agreed to convene a National Conference basically to elect the new members of the leadership, that is, of the central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat which are responsible for the continuation and conclusion of the preparations for Congress.  It is something that we had not done before and that can be arranged in a relatively short period, and so it shall be done.

As from January 1959, it has been an unchanged principle to analyze with our people every major problem, regardless of how hard. If we have been able to survive for half a century every challenge and aggression, it has been because the Revolution is the work of the immense majority of Cubans.

Firmly united, we shall be consistent with the legacy received from our people’s long history of struggle, Fidel’s teachings and our everlasting commitment to the fallen.

Thank you very much.

(Standing ovation)

Comrades all:

We are coming to the end of a year when our country has taken up difficult challenges. A world economy marked by the upheavals of a sustained decline has been aggravated by increasingly devastating and unpredictable natural phenomena. Cuba as well as the other countries from Latin America and the Caribbean has witnessed a succession of droughts, hurricanes and floods of growing intensity and frequency.

But, again, millions of Cubans have shown the spirit of those who never back away from challenges, regardless of how insurmountable they may seem. The fact remains that when we work united in solidarity and with adequate organization the resources invested and the results of our efforts multiply.

In general, recovery from the damages caused by the last three hurricanes is steadily advancing. We can already see the first fruits of the steady recovery of the farming productions. Likewise, major investments have been made to equip the brigades that will substantially increase the capacity for housing construction. By now, we have in the country the first four large brigades that will be working in the ground movement required by the new housing development.

On the other hand, the equipment and material have been bought to be used in the construction of roads and railways and in the repairs of the power and communication grids. This has been achieved in a shorter period than on previous occasions even if the damages were greater. These are but a few examples of what has been done in the past few months.

Nevertheless, we should be aware of the magnitude of this endeavor, particularly, the recovery of the houses, since this year’s hurricanes  affected over 500 thousand of them in 35 municipalities, while in 12 other of these 70 thousand remain affected by meteorological events that hit on previous years. From the total sum, 77% are still pending repairs or full construction.

I have been given assurances that this work can be concluded within three years, but let’s be realistic and not delude ourselves, for even with a continued effort we might need from three to six years.

However, while the majority was working and making sacrifices, some tried to profit from the needs of their compatriots, but these were confronted by the firm action of the law enforcement forces, the Prosecution and the Courts of Law acting with the support of the population through the mass organizations.

It must be clear that not a step backward shall be taken in our purpose to strengthen institutionalization, discipline and order in every field since without these it is simply not possible to advance.

The economic results achieved this year have been discussed both in this plenary session and in previous days.

Actually, the adverse economic reality during practically the entire year 2008, combined with the great number of hours that the country’s leadership had to dedicate to looking for the best alternatives to ensure food, healthcare, education and the other basic necessities of our people, despite all difficulties, forced us to postpone the study and adoption of decisions on equally important issues.

It has been possible to advance in other areas such as the distribution of idle land among those who can and are willing to make them produce. This is a decisive area; therefore, we should be alert in case of any delay or violation of the established rules.

There has also been progress in the collection and local distribution of milk and other food that can be possibly grown in the country; in the rationalization of transportation and its improvement wherever possible; in the construction of major water facilities, aqueducts and sewage systems or the restoration of those existing in various cities; the sustained growth of tourism and a modest increase in imports replacement, just to mention some of the most important tasks.

This has enabled us to be in a better position to face the increasing expenses associated to the losses caused by the powerful meteorological phenomena and what’s more by the enormous increase in the prices of practically everything we need to import, except for some specific fluctuations.

For example, concerning food, the country paid this year 907 million dollars more than in 2007, and of these, close to 840 million were due to price increase. These prices have been decreasing in the past few weeks, but the prices of our main export items have decreased even more.

In 2008, the average price of nickel was 41% lower than in 2007 and 80% lower than that year’s record. Also the prices of sugar and seafood, among other export items, have sustained a decrease.

The financial crisis that broke out in the United States has quickly evolved to become the global economic crisis that comrade Fidel forecast no less than ten years ago; the most severe crisis in almost 80 years.

The truth is that no Nobel Laureate in Economics, no school of economic thought or international body can ascertain how long and how far this crisis will go.

Therefore, next year will be one of great uncertainty in world economy and we should be prepared to take up that serious challenge which has been affecting us considerably.

Despite all of these difficulties our economy registered some growth, even if less than had been planned, basically, as I have already said, due to the damages caused by the hurricanes amounting to almost 10 billion dollars, that is, close to 20% of this year’s gross domestic product.

Given its importance, I must insist on an idea I have expressed before: no one, neither a person nor a country, can afford to endlessly spend more than it receives from the sale of its productions or the services it renders.

The adverse scenario of the world economy and our own difficulties demand that we maximize the possibilities offered by the mutually advantageous relations that we have been developing with friendly nations in every continent, particularly with the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, personally encouraged by its President, comrade Hugo Chavez Frias.

Our primary duty is to adjust our foreign currency spending to the amounts we can bring in. The victory in this battle shall depend on the steady increase of productions either marked for exports or that can efficiently replace imports or bring about savings, and on ensuring a greater and better offer of services to people from other countries, since tourism as well as healthcare bring in considerable incomes.

This is not only an imperative necessity but also our basic duty to future generations. It would not be ethical to increase the non productive expenditures at the expense of contracting debts to be paid for by our children and grandchildren.

Consequently, it has been decided, among other measures, to reduce by 50% the expenses contemplated by the state institutions for foreign traveling and the same has been decided with respect to the business sector. The objective is not to reduce necessary tasks or negotiations but rather to act more rationally.

Far from changing the economic strategy adopted, we are being totally consistent with it. We have not set aside any of the issues I have addressed lately. Rather, we have proceeded to take the partial measures allowed by the circumstances and we shall advance –avoiding undue speed or an excess of idealism– depending on the availability of resources and the conclusion of the necessary studies.

In the same token, we should be aware that in order to gradually solve the distortions affecting our wage system, we need to work for the removal of undue gratuitousness and excessive subsidies; otherwise, we cannot make ends meet. Two plus two will always make four; never five.  We must be realistic and adjust all of our dreams to real possibilities. This means to apply the socialist principle of everyone receiving according to their work.

We should be limiting gratuitousness strictly to ensuring every citizen such crucial services as education, healthcare and social security, which together with culture and sports –just to keep their current levels—will demand higher productions and an increase in the budget incomes, since the expenses keep growing from one year to the next. This is no simple task and it requires that everyone understands it and supports it.

An example of this is what the Council of Ministers analyzed and broadly  informed you about yesterday regarding the elimination of the practice to guarantee holiday packages, gastronomic offers and others at highly subsidized prices to cadres, outstanding workers and other segments of the population which accounted for an annual spending in hard currency of almost 60 million dollars. Perhaps a little more, if we add that the subsidies received by the camping program exceed 60 million dollars a year. This is the only country in the world doing that.

Let this be clearly understood: we are not questioning whether those who have enjoyed this possibility deserved it or not, nor are we limiting the right to go to these places. We are questioning the rationality of such a costly incentive, under the present circumstances or any other.

It is a known fact that most people do not have a clear perception of what they receive for free or of the generally high subsidies which are part of their payment and feel that this comes only from their salary.

As I have said, this issue was thoroughly discussed yesterday. It really has many other angles from which we shall continue to analyze it; and we say without hesitation that they must all be examined and gradually removed as we advance in the process of giving the salary its real worth. There is no other solution.

The priority accorded to other issues prevented us from concluding the necessary studies and presenting to this Assembly session the new composition of the government. Therefore, we are requesting from you to put off that decision, even if, as we have done so far, we shall continue to introduce other changes in the course of the year 2009.

These issues are very closely linked to the structural and conceptual transformation that shall be submitted to discussion to and approval by the Sixth Party Congress.

For example, great progress has been made in the study towards the establishment of the office of General Comptroller of the Republic. This will be a hierarchical higher body of the central administration of the State directly subordinated to the State Council.

It is our purpose to introduce our proposal to the next session of the National Assembly.

The draft proposal sets forth that this new body would take up the work of the existing ministry of Auditing and Control in addition to other tasks. It is assumed that this new body will have more responsibilities than it usually does in other countries where it is essentially limited to controlling the pubic funds.

In short, we hope it will decisively contribute to strengthening the demand that every leadership structure discharges its duty strictly, while avoiding doing the job of a minister or of any other official. Even in those cases where it detects the absence of rules or regulations, it shall promote their elaboration and presentation to the corresponding authorities. Such a situation is present both at the level of enterprises and even the nation.

Where are your duties spelled out, and your guidelines, those that must guide your work and on whose basis you should demand from everyone the fulfillment of their duty, as many delegates said here referring to very concrete subjects? There is an absolute absence of rules or regulations.

This office of the General Comptroller of the Republic will also see after that, and I shall elaborate on this concept because it is high time for many of us to start checking what should be regulated in our respective areas of responsibility.

Everything requires a regulation as a guidance on which our work must be based.

In order to call for action we need to educate, to guide, to prevent and to demand the observation of what has been provided for, but what should be done must be written down and not depend on what comes through anyone’s mind. And, if the time comes to punish somebody we cannot limit ourselves to those who directly committed the violation but we should also include those who with their negligent actions propitiate or permit their occurrence, that is, the so-called accessories, those who do not claim for a responsible action.

For many years I have meditated on these matters, first of all by critically analyzing my own work and the others’, and I have reached the conclusion that one of our fundamental problems is that we are not systematically demanding at all levels. Do observe and meditate, look at one side and the other, and look inside yourselves, too.

We should always be willing to get involved in discussions and to face misunderstandings. Being a leader is knowing first of all how to call for action, from the rank and file to the top levels. It is not possible to lead, control and be tolerant at the same time, I mean, be “a good guy,” as people usually say.  That’s why those who really do what they are supposed to do are called names, generally degrading names.

Likewise, it is not possible to be a good leader without mastering the documents and provisions that rule our work. We are not used to observe the ruling documents, and when a new one comes around, we simply read the heading and put it on ice. Our work must be guided by the ruling documents adopted at the corresponding levels, preferably after democratic discussions, with the participation of everyone that should be involved and of those who should enforce them.

There are few institutions in our country, very few, where everything is regulated from the moment you join in up to the way you should be buried if you die while working in that institution, and what to do in every case. I’m giving you these two extreme examples. But, there are others where nothing is regulated and you commonly find unconscious violations –that occur naturally– of official regulations and laws of the republic, passed by this same Parliament, and nothing happens.

I was saying that it is impossible to be a leader without mastering the provisions and the ruling documents concerning our work.

Unfortunately, not everyone is in the habit of studying or consulting them as often as necessary, which is the only way to adequately implement them.

The office of the Comptroller will not remove these problems all by itself, since these stem from deeply rooted vices, as deeply rooted as the plants of  marabou, –but even the marabou can be pulled out, the marabou can be burned, and in the that land which is today protected at least by the marabou, useful plants can be grown and fruits produced for the country– however, it will contribute –I mean the Comptroller’s office– to the battle we are waging on them with the support of other state institutions, especially the General Attorney of the Republic’s office, the Party and other non state institutions which together stand for the entire society. We shall give the maximum support to this effort and move ahead step by step avoiding extremism but acting with energy and rigor. De meditate on these matters I have just said and be watchful.

During the previous session of this Assembly we concentrated on two main issues: the new Social Security Law and the necessity to increase incorporation to the labor force, productivity and efficiency.

I agree with the views expressed here during this session in the sense that we have adopted a fair Social Security Law, which respects the workers’ interests while taking into account the country’s economic and demographic realities.

As reported by our press outlets, the year 2008 is coming to its end with a slight growth in the birth rate as compared to previous years. This does not point, however, to a change in the sustained trend of an increase in the number of citizens of older age with respect to the younger resulting in a progressive decrease of the economically active population.

These are unavoidable reasons that can hardly be reversed and that impose the necessity to defer the retirement age. This has been understood by the overwhelming majority of our workers after profound discussions where everybody’s opinion was attentively listened to.

Last June an appeal was made to all teachers and professors who had retired for several reasons to return to the classrooms, and the response has proved our expectations to be right.  We are happy to congratulate the seven thousand educators who responded positively and who are today contributing their experience and expertise to the different education levels, particularly, in the primary, junior and high school education, where the major deficit of educators is registered.

It has meant a major reinforcement for the hard-working and irreplaceable detachment made up by our educators.  A proof of this is the additional figure of nine thousand educators who are beyond retirement age and still working. And this task does not end here, mostly in the provinces with the lower results.

Something similar happened before with the over 1600 engineers, middle level technicians and skilled workers already retired who have come back to work with the Armed Forces, many of whom are taking part in the important task of modernizing our armament and other means of defense, a subject I addressed in the previous session of this Assembly; 1500 retirees have returned.

These examples show that our people always responds well when a serious work is done, and when sound arguments are offered together with a correct organization.

On that occasion I also made reference to the fact that every province must ensure not only the professors it needs but also the construction workers, the police agents and the rest of the working force they are lacking today. Some progress has been made. In the first semester of this year, 867 youths from the capital of the country joined the courses to train as policemen, and the enrollment of those who shall start training on February 2009 is already complete.  The provinces of Matanzas and La Habana are still lagging behind.

Even if I do not address this issue during the next session of the Assembly, I will publicly recall it so that we do not forget.

As far as the construction workers are concerned, I must say that the response has been very, very poor in this key sector for the development of the country in every area, even for the thousands of houses we need to build. Let’s see what can be done.

These are only steps part of a number of measures we shall continue to adopt until working becomes a crucial necessity to all. To put it simple: the people must feel the need to work in order to cover their basic needs, regardless of the conscience of every honest citizen about this primary duty.

Let’s not deceive ourselves; if there is no pressure, if the people do not need to work in order to cover their necessities, and if we continue to give things for free here and there, we shall lose our voice calling people to work. That’s my perception, and that’s why everything that I am proposing is aimed at that objective. Let’s not deceive ourselves.

We share the concern of many compatriots with respect to individuals who do not make any contribution to society, but we should be aware that this problem cannot be solved with a resolution, not even with legislation. This requires a comprehensive approach including political, economic, legal and administrative action, but above all it requires what I have just said: that they feel the necessity to work.

In the field of international relations the country has been very successful. We have properly fulfilled our responsibility at the head of the Movement of Non Aligned Countries, which is today more active and united. The resolution against the blockade was adopted at the United Nations for the seventeenth consecutive time. Just a few days ago, the Summit of the Rio Group acclaimed the acceptance of Cuba as a full member, while our country’s considerations were attentively and respectfully heeded by the attending leaders to the summits of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development, and of MERCOSUR.

The nations of our sub-continent have moved from making petitions for to demanding the cessation of aggressions against Cuba by the United States of America, both in multilateral meetings and individually by a growing number of governments and parliaments.

An example of this transformation is the statement against the blockade unanimously adopted at the Latin America and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development.

This year we continued striving restlessly for the return to our homeland of our Five Heroes. Here, in the presence of their relatives and the people, we restate our commitment to never lose heart in this effort until they are all back home.

The swift and considerable assistance received after being hit by the hurricanes, together with the countless messages of solidarity and encouragement, are gestures much appreciated by our people, as they are another tangible example of the respect and affection Cuba has earned with its vertical and principled position in its relations with other countries, and its fraternal and selfless cooperation in innumerable areas, specially in healthcare and education.

We are living through a historic time radically different, very different, from those years when the governments of Latin America, except for few but honorable exceptions, submitted as a group to Washington’s dictate to isolate Cuba. Today, we are harvesting the fruits of a firm and fraternal foreign policy based on unshakable principles, conceived and carried out by comrade Fidel for almost five decades, even under the most challenging circumstances.

This year which is about to end, we hosted various important international meetings, the most recent being the Third Cuba-CARICOM Summit, held this December in Santiago de Cuba with excellent results and which was attended, for the first time, by every leader of the countries that make up this community. Additionally, we have had the honor to welcome numerous heads of State or Government, as well as outstanding personalities from all continents in the areas of politics, economics, religion, science and culture.

Around these same days, fifty years ago, the Ejercito Rebelde –in close coordination with the combatants of the underground struggle– obtained its great and decisive final victories throughout the country. Hardly a week later, unable to resist the thrust of the revolution, the tyranny collapsed, seven years after it had come to submerge the country even deeper into tragedy.

The triumph of our latest War of Liberation came exactly five years, five months and five days after the heroic attempt to “take heaven by storm” in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo, on July 26, 1953.

The victory of January 1st did not mark the end of the struggle but rather the beginning of a new stage characterized by the increasingly massive and conscious participation of our people without a minute of truce in almost half a century. Such has also been our reality in the particularly intensive and complex past 12 months that we have just reviewed.

That is why I’d like to conclude wishing you and all of our compatriots, good health and much energy for the year 2009. We shall need them both, as I have said before; there is plenty of work to be done!

We, Cuban revolutionaries, can look back at the past holding our heads high and into the future with the same confidence in our strength and our capacity to resist.

Let’s congratulate ourselves on the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Revolution, and first of all let’s congratulate our Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz who has been leading us, –yesterday, today and always—from victory to victory!

Thank you, very much.