These took place between May 27 and June 25, and were guided by a document entitled “Ideas, Concepts and Guidelines of the 8th Party Congress,” which was examined and approved by the Political Bureau on May 22, and served as the central axis of discussion in meetings held by the country’s leadership with some 2,600 Party members across the nation.

The text summarizes key concepts presented by General Raul Castro Ruz in the Central Report, the closing speech by the current First Secretary, and documents approved by the three 8th Congress commissions. Also included is the agreed-upon update of Policy Guidelines, a document which, along with the National Plan for Economic and Social Development through 2030 and the Economic and Social Strategy, constitutes the core of the Cuban Revolution’s current work, in addition to the Constitution of the Republic approved in a 2019 national referendum.

Following the Secretariat’s meetings with territorial leaders to establish fundamental lines of work – summarized below – contributions and debates will continue this month in the Central Committee and Council of Ministers, as well as within leadership bodies of mass organizations, the Young Communists League and the National Assembly of People’s Power, Díaz-Canel explained, with a view toward ensuring “the collective implementation of the Congress, and establishing a work system that supports the fulfillment of its precepts by all grassroots organizations.”

ISLE OF YOUTH

-Produce at the local level. In the case of the Isle of Youth, its integral development model represents an experiment for the country and should also serve as an experiment for the implementation of 8th Congress agreements, given its characteristics.

-More effectively support new economic and social model. The Communist Party must, in an organized manner, alongside the people, guarantee historical continuity.

-Debate in local units everything that can contribute to development, through the execution of a correct cadre policy, as a guarantee of the continuity of the Revolution.

-Get things done, but make sure to communicate well. Social communication must be timely and accompany in a precise manner all actions taken.

PINAR DEL RÍO

-Defend unity by eliminating dogma, combating prejudice, confronting all vestiges of discrimination.

-Maintain ties with the masses, increase militancy and intransigence.

-Encourage the participation of youth, strengthen the work of their grassroots organizations, and ensure that Party members’ agenda coincides with the public agenda.

-Feel the need, as the vanguard Party, to immediately analyze any problem or concern that arises, resolve it or find a solution in collaboration with responsible authorities.

-Convert into concrete results the ideas, concepts and guidelines of the Party Congress.

-Maintain the authority of the Party on the basis of the prestige gained through our work, confronting the country’s problems together with the people.

-Revitalize popular mobilization; promote the use of science and innovation, the computerization of all processes, and social communication as pillars of the Party’s work.

ARTEMISA

-Expand interaction with scientists and experts who can contribute to agricultural activity, especially in identifying exportable items and increasing food production, to avoid importing what we can produce here, one of the country’s strategic issues.

-Within mass organizations like the Federation of Cuban Women and Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, generate debate and assume leadership in addressing vital issues, including gender violence, the role of the family and social equity, while unleashing the untapped potential existing on every block, accompanied by the impetus of youth.

-Pay attention to expanding livestock ranching, the sowing of animal feed, control of land use and the appropriate exploitation of land under irrigation.

HAVANA

-Mobilize the Party’s moral authority, the legacy of the historical generation, in the immediate solution of the country’s problems, because this is what the people expect. We must achieve, first of all, the availability of food, which we can produce here.

-Resolutely combat speculative prices, and intelligently confront crime and corruption, as well as subversion and enemy campaigns.

-Depend on our own efforts and talent; and in the ideological battle we must provide forceful, intelligent answers, far removed from vulgarity and hatred, but with firmness. Adversity cannot stop us, or discourage us.

-Assume responsibility for growth in the Party ranks as the most important organizational process, based on the exemplarity of our members, recognizing meritorious revolutionary citizens before the society.

-Maintain as our fundamental objectives the happiness and welfare of the people in everything we do, both ideologically and economically, as the essence of socialism.

MAYABEQUE

-Evaluate local potential for the creation of micro, medium and small enterprises, as new economic actors to create jobs and production chains to give more value to raw materials, actions which should be encouraged by the Party as part of its role in the economic battle, monetary re-ordering and the development strategy.

-Dynamize the economic strategy and coordinate efforts to expand food production, reduce imports, increase exports, use agro-ecological and scientific techniques to replace fertilizers and other expensive inputs purchased on the international market.

-Mobilize thinking with a view toward containing COVID-19 outbreaks, to allow for summer activities.

-Correctly execute budgeted activity and control resources.

-Improve articulation of public communication work, without improvisation, establishing coordinated relations, to better integrate messages, in both the traditional and virtual realms, to make political-ideological work more effective.

MATANZAS

-Ensure that cadres speak from the heart to the people, and are distinguished by their revolutionary dissatisfaction and sensitivity to the problems of the Revolution. Their discourse, orientations and dialogue must be connected to the demands and problems of the population.

-Avoid bureaucratism and routine in Party work at the grassroots level, appealing to the people to participate in the principal tasks and, with special emphasis, promote the work of mass organizations, which are obliged to revitalize their activity, letting nothing that affects the community be alien to them.

-Make local units vibrant spaces where all members feel committed and eager to engage in honest, profound, enriching debate, to find solutions to problems with the participation of the membership and the rest of the population.

VILLA CLARA

-Always keep the truth as a premise in approaching Party work, at any level, no matter how hard it may be, as Fidel taught us. No matter how harsh the discussion, the first place it must occur is in the local unit, among members.

-Ensure that work to expand the Party ranks is dynamic, creative and that membership serves as a stimulus for youth and their families. We must ensure that members feel proud of belonging to the Party.

-Consolidate the role of the Party in the agricultural sector, vital to promoting our food and nutritional sovereignty plan and municipal self-sufficiency.

CIENFUEGOS

-Increase ties between Party leaders and local units, and based on this close relationship, learn and stay informed of essential issues, take the country’s pulse. This connection allows us to later make analyses to confront and solve problems.

-Defend, in the work of cadres, the use of language that is on a par with that of who resist on a daily basis, in factories, at construction sites, polyclinics, doctor’s offices, schools, and fields, ensuring that institutional discourse matches the people’s agenda.

-Accelerate the cultivation of idle lands, encourage planting and develop agricultural poles.

-Ensure that members of the Young Communists League go on to join the Party ranks, a step that must be understood as a natural transition, in accordance with the political commitment of each individual.

SANCTI SPÍRITUS

-Expand, with the Party at the forefront, the creative resistance of the people on all work fronts, demolishing obstacles, and brushing aside bureaucracy that slows development.

-Strengthen measures to control COVID-19, which, combined with vaccination, will make it possible to protect human life and reactivate the economy.

-Continue denouncing the blockade, which prevents us from receiving foreign currency and credits, and do so with concrete examples of its impact.

-Communicate our truths; work in communities and neighborhoods, to assist the most vulnerable.

CIEGO DE ÁVILA

-Explain that monetary reordering is being blamed for problems that were going to be present with or without the changes. Shortages are a result of the blockade, more than anything else; and shortages lead to inflation.

-Root out everything that causes division and promote unity in all we do. Political and ideological subversion is designed to discredit the Revolution and divide us.

-Confront abusive, speculative prices effectively at the local level, in municipalities, independently of measures adopted at the national level.

CAMAGÜEY

-Strengthen the performance of grassroots organizations, which should help to create a favorable environment for sincere, honest and productive debate, avoiding superficiality and routine responses in the analysis of problems.

-Consolidate the internal life of local units, as a dynamic force in completing tasks everywhere. This can be achieved by general secretaries who are distinguished by their preparation and leadership capacity, not only their human qualities.

-Promote mass organizations’ leadership in all community activity, fully aware that it is not possible to continue doing things in the same way to consolidate an atmosphere of unity and collective contribution.

-Perfect ways of acting, controlling and demanding in a context that is not at all similar to previous moments of the Cuban revolutionary process.

-Consolidate every achievement in agro-food activity, resist setbacks, eliminate conformity, reject vacuous explanations and justifications, and promote new motivations and the desire to get things done, among cadres and workers.

LAS TUNAS

-Bring to life what is written in the Economic and Social Development Plan, direct economic actors toward local development and remove whatever hinders the advance of productive forces.

-Conduct ongoing debate with youth, providing them the space they deserve and have earned, facilitating their participation in all decisive tasks.

-Make up for delays in spring planting and prioritize attention to the recovery of sugar cane.

-Support quality teaching and professional development.

-Struggle with the concept in mind that we are not only going to survive, and are not only resisting, but resisting, as we have done in other moments, in a creative way, which means resisting, but at the same time continuing to advance, without stopping and without renouncing prosperity in our country, as we have projected in our vision of the construction of socialism.

-Ensure that all technical-economic objectives of agro-food programs are met, specifically the production of nickel and its export, and increase the processing and export of zeolite.

-Continue improvement of tourist facilities and the extra-hotel network.

-Create the necessary conditions to ensure the opening of the high tourist season, should the pandemic situation allow.

GRANMA

-Ensure the implementation of agreements and guidelines of the Congress through a comprehensive projection, which contemplates the systematic preparation of cadres, the application of science, close links between the Party, the people and mass organizations, as well as regular follow-up of economic activities, encouraging the development of local potential and endogenous resources.

-Strengthen the role of municipalities in developing productive and economic processes with the purpose of not only resisting, but also advancing and improving the population’s quality of life.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA

-Take the political discussion to the entire membership, to workplaces in the community, to ensure that revolutionaries know the content of the documents that were debated at the Congress, the resolutions approved and the directives that specify where we need to go.

-Keep the Congress alive, making sure that everything that is done has impact in productive centers, among different economic-social actors, mass organizations and the Young Communist League. That work at the community level is marked by the understanding that allows us to perfect our society and advance toward the construction of a more prosperous future and greater happiness for our people.

-Promote the production of oxygen and nitrogen; increase production of corn and beans to satisfy the demand of the largest grain processing plant in the country; accelerate the development of the coffee program and improve attention provided.

GUANTÁNAMO

-Denounce the economic blockade as the main obstacle to national development, and resist with our own forces and intelligence, reducing imports and increasing exportable items.

-Insist that success will depend on our capacity to defend the work of the Party as the political vanguard, from our local units, as a place for honest and participative debate directed toward finding solutions.

(Taken from Granma)

The missive expresses the conviction that the Congress’s “agreements and resolutions will contribute to consolidating the construction of a developed socialist society,” and as our Comandante en jefe insisted, reiterates Cuba’s high regard for the leadership of the PCV, “which has been able to lead this heroic sister nation, with wisdom and firmness, facing great challenges and obstacles, along the roads to victory.”

As an unforgettable symbol of the closeness shared by the two countries, the letter recalls the historic meeting between Army General Raul Castro Ruz and President Ho Chi Minh, “whose fraternal embrace consolidated the special sentiment that unites us and that has been transmitted to newer generations.” This year will mark the 55th anniversary of this singular moment, and Cuba will celebrate it, the message notes.

The PCC reiterated its gratitude to the PCV for the sister party’s faithful, unwavering support, “particularly in the struggle against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States against Cuba and the commitment to continue consolidating our exemplary relations of friendship, cooperation and brotherhood.”

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The meeting began with a minute of silence in honor of Vice Admiral Julio César Gandarilla Bermejo, member of the Party’s Central Committee and Minister of the Interior, who died in the early hours of the day.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz presented several documents related to the economic and social life of the country, which will be analyzed during the upcoming VIII Congress of the organization. The agenda included a review of the economy’s performance over the five-year period 2016-2020; and a report on the status of implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and the Revolution.

Proposals were presented to update the Conceptualization of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development, as well as the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, for the period 2021-2026.

(Taken from Granma)

(Taken from Granma)

This past February 29, Granma published a full report on the process of electing delegates to the Congress, and the following day noted the simultaneous beginning in all provinces of consultation meetings to discuss the documents which will be submitted to the Party’s maximum authority.

The editorial office of this newspaper has received, by various means, expressions of concern from Party members (and non-members, as well) inquiring about the reasons for which, on this occasion, plans were not made for a popular discussion process, similar to that held five years ago regarding the proposed Economic and Social Policy Guidelines of the Party and Revolution.

The fact that such opinions and doubts were expressed is in no way reproachable, much less when they come from people who are genuinely concerned about the work of the Party and the country’s destiny. On the contrary, this is a demonstration of the democracy and participation which are intrinsic characteristics of the socialism we are building. Army General Raúl Castro himself, during the closing session of the First National Conference, called for “fomenting a climate of maximum confidence and the creation of required conditions at all levels for the broadest and most sincere exchange of opinions, both in the heart of the organization and in its interactions with workers and the population…”

And it has been a tradition (or rather, a political right won) throughout the long history of the Revolution that the people have always been consulted, when big decisions are made. The First and Second Declarations of Havana were adopted in José Martí Pla za de la Revolución, and with similar popular participation, that of Santiago de Cuba was approved in the 1960s. The overwhelming vote of approval of the vast majority provided our Republic with a socialist Constitution. In the most difficult days of the Special Period, Workers Parliaments throughout the length and breadth of the country reiterated that Cuba would continue being an eternal Baragua.

Still fresh in the memory of all Cubans is the exemplary fashion in which discussion of the original 291 Guidelines was organized. They were published November 9, 2010, and over a three month period (December of 2010 through February, 2011) they were debated by the entire people, in 163,079 meetings with 8,913,838 participants. Some 3,019,471 comments were made, which were grouped in 781,644 areas of opinion. All were analyzed in detail, and as a result, 94 guidelines (32%) were maintained as proposed; 197 were modified or incorporated into others (68%); and 36 new guidelines were added. The resulting 311 were first discussed at the provincial level, and later in Congress sessions by delegates and invited experts. Eighty-six guidelines were modified at that time (28%) and two new ones approved. Thus the definitive 313 Guidelines were written, as a genuine expression of the people’s will, reaffirmed with approval by the National Assembly of People’s Power.

The Congress agreed on procedures to ensure that the approved guidelines would not simply be filed away, advising the government to create a Standing Commission for Implementation and Development, which, without derogating the roles of Central State Administrative Bodies, would guarantee coordination and comprehensiveness in the complex process of updating the country’s model. The Congress likewise indicated that the Party, at all levels, would supervise, promote, and demand the fulfillment of the approved guidelines.

Since then, both in Central Committee Plenums and the National Assembly, the practical implementation of what was approved has been analyzed twice a year, discussions about which ample information has been provided by different media, as has been the case with Council of Ministers meetings which have approved policies to assure the guidelines’ implementation.

It has always been clear that this would not be an easy task, since this was no experiment in a sterile laboratory, but rather a fundamental transformation at the social level, based on the unassailable premise of not applying shock therapies, so common in capitalist countries, or leaving anyone unprotected. All of this set in the context of an international economic crisis and the pernicious, ever-present blockade.

Raúl alerted in the Central Report he presented to the Congress, “We are convinced that the task we have before us, on this and other issues linked to the updating of our economic model, is full of difficulties and interrelations which touch, to one degree or another, all facets of society as a whole, and thus we know that it is not a question to be resolved in a day, not even in a year, and that it will require at least five years for implementation to unfold with the harmony and comprehensiveness needed…”

And this is how it has gone. The balance sheet on what has been accomplished in five years reveals that 21% of the guidelines have been implemented, while 77% are in the process. The remaining 2% (five guidelines) have not been carried out for different reasons. It must be taken into account that the implementation of a number of the most complex changes began in 2014 and 2015, and the initial results are just beginning to be seen.

Given all of the above, rather than launching another process of discussion on a national level, half way along the road, what is more appropriate is finishing what has begun – continuing to carry out the people’s will expressed five years ago, and continuing to advance in the direction charted by the 6th Congress.

In this way, the 7th Congress will culminate discussions held in assemblies at the grassroots, municipal and provincial levels. The reports presented in the provinces were published in full in local newspapers, and their content debated in hundreds of meetings around the country.

The documents which will be submitted to the Congress are the result of a collective drafting process, with the participation of dozens of officials, researchers in economics and the social sciences, and professors. They have been analyzed by the Implementation Commission’s Scientific Council composed of more than 130 highly qualified experts.

Subsequently, in the Central Committee Plenums of December, 2015 and January, 2016, the documents were discussed, after several drafts had been perfected. Observations and proposals made by this Party leadership body were taken into account in new versions of each of the six texts which were finally submitted to the consultation meetings of delegates, held simultaneously in all provinces, the first week of March.

Present at these meetings were all delegates, nominated at the grassroots level and elected democratically, representing the Party’s membership and the Cuban people as a whole. Women have a significant presence (43%), and while for logical reasons given an event of this kind, many men and women with a great deal of experience were elected, there are 55 young Party members under the age of 35 among the delegates.

Also attending the consultation meetings were more than 3,500 invited guests who likewise made proposals to enrich the documents. Among those participating were all National Assembly deputies, representatives from Central State Administrative Bodies, university professors, researchers from scientific centers, veterans, grassroots leaders of mass organizations, representatives of our civil society, religious leaders, students, farmers, intellectuals and artists, including non-members of the Party.

One of the documents evaluates the national economy’s performance during the five year period, 2011-2015; another, progress in the implementation of guidelines; and a third, an updating of these for 2016-2021.

A fourth document of profound theoretical importance is the conceptualization of Cuba’s socio-economic model of socialist development; while the fifth presents the Economic Development Program through 2030. These last two are both focused on the country we want, and constitute an expression of the nation’s economic and social strategy – with the guidelines approved by the 6th Congress serving as the tactical approach to reach our aspirations, reflecting their continuity and development. These documents do not, therefore, represent anything different in terms of the road taken, but rather a higher level expression based on what has been discussed and submitted for consultation to all Party members and the people.

The sixth document evaluates the implementation status of the First National Conference’s objectives approved in January of 2012. It includes a generally favorable balance sheet, and projects continued work on these goals.

One can imagine the complexity of drafting these documents, which in some cases required more time than initially supposed.

They are all closely interrelated, analyzing what has been accomplished to date, what remains to be done, and charting the future on the socio-economic and political-ideological planes. They cannot be seen through a static lens; they will be debated at the 7th Congress and, as was the case with their antecedents, they will be submitted to periodic reviews.

The 7th Congress will give continuity to the previous Congress and the First National Party Conference, and provide a much more precise definition of the path to be taken by our country – sovereign and truly independent since the triumph of the Revolution, January 1, 1959 – in order to build a prosperous and sustainable socialism.

(Granma)