Delegates to the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) approved on Monday the Central Report and the Draft Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution.
During the third day of the Congress, which concluded on Tuesday morning at Havana’s Convention Center, the delegates approved the Report presented in the opening session by the First Secretary of the Party, Raul Castro Ruz, according to Cuban television.The delegates also endorsed a Resolution on the Guidelines, which were discussed during three months from December 1, 2010, to February 28, 2011, in more than 163,000 meetings by different organizations with the attendance of 8,913,838 people.
According to the Central Report, the original document contained 291 guidelines; 16 of them were moved to others; 94 preserved their phrasing; 181 had their content modified; and 36 new guidelines were incorporated for a grand total of 311 guidelines. After two days of intense discussions, the 997 delegates agreed on the validity of the Central Report and the Guidelines as documents of permanent consultation henceforth.
The resolution on the Guidelines states that the economic policy of the party is based on the principle that Socialism is the only way to guarantee the system of life that the Cuban people needs and the sovereignty and independence of the country. The document also highlights that planning, in accordance with market trends, will be a priority in the updating process of the economic model. In addition, the delegates agreed on the creation of a Standing Committee for Implementation and Development, which, without diminishing the authority of the different Organs of the Central Administration of the State, will control, verify and coordinate actions among all the institutions involved in this activity. This Committee will recommend the
inclusion of new guidelines and will lead the implementation process in coordination with the relevant bodies.
It was also recommended that the institutions such as the National Assembly of the People’s Power, among others, elaborate legal norms to support the economic and social steps approved in order to contribute to the updating process of the Cuban economic model.
The participants also passed a resolution on the improvement of organs of the People’s Power, the Electoral System, and the Political and Administrative Division, which deals with the need to find the proper ways to delimit attributions and relations among the Assemblies and their Administration Councils with the Organs of the Central Administration of the State and enterprises located in their territories, as well as to promote more autonomy of the municipalities.
The document explains that this process will require changes in the Political and Administrative Division of the country, with the purpose of adjusting current boundaries; and to do so it is necessary to revise and define the organization of big provincial capital cities like Havana. A process of this nature demands different proceedings, legal terms, and adjustments in the Electoral System, on the basis of the key principles that support it and show its democratic and participatory character, the text adds.
