Cuban Communist Party declares economy and food production “national security” | International

The VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which will conclude on Monday with the voluntary withdrawal of Raúl Castro and the symbolic retirement of the old guard, confirmed in its first two days that the main game played in the country is economic and that of Le outcome of these failures largely depends on the survival of the revolution. Tanto en el inform central al Congreso, presentado el viernes por Raúl, como en las comisiones en que trabajan los 300 delegados que asisten al cónclave, la economía, y específicamente la producción de alimentos en estos momentos de grave crisis y desabastecimiento, fueron los temas password. “The productive structure cannot meet the demand levels of the population. This issue is not only a priority, but it is a matter of national security, ”Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said.

Marrero chairs the Economic and Social Commission, one of the three in which the delegates are distributed. It addresses relevant issues, such as the new directions of economic policy that should govern in the coming years or the so-called “conceptualization and updating of the model”, two of the important documents that the conclave of the Cuban communists must approve and that they must define the scope of economic reform.

A day before the start of the VIIIth Congress, Marrero and the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, – who heads another of the committees – held an unprecedented meeting with representatives of the private sector and public enterprises. Both indicated the government’s commitment to promote the so-called Non-State Management Forms (FGNEs), which are nothing but the private sector, which is increasingly dynamic and called upon to play a fundamental role in the revival of the economy.

In the exchange with the independents, the Prime Minister confirmed that the legislation for the legalization and operation of micro-enterprises and SMEs is already prepared and that it will soon start to be implemented. “We have a challenge to take up, and the Government, by reaffirming its vision of the role that the socialist state enterprise must play in the national economy, ratifies the priority and the importance of the consolidation and the development of other forms of non-state management. “Said Marrero.

Various economists drew attention to the said meeting being held on the eve of Congress and saw it as a good sign. “If the political will and practical evidence are firmly expressed in favor of the course of reform, if what is spelled out in the conceptualization document and what is contained in the new Constitution gains life and dynamism, if the results of Congress confirm with their political authority that Of course we would be on the way to overcoming the enormous challenges facing Cuba today, ”said economist Julio Carranza, who, like other analysts from left positions, warns for years that “time is a critical variable”.

The recent announcement of 63 measures to reactivate agricultural production has also not gone unnoticed, including the authorization of farmers to trade freely in beef and milk, once commitments to the state are fulfilled, which until now was almost taboo. On the very day he reported the measures, Agriculture Minister Gustavo Rodríguez Royero was sacked.

At present, the situation is extremely delicate in the streets of Cuba. Stores are out of stock, food is scarce and the lines are desperate, and to add to the problems the complex monetary reform underway has caused Cubans to lose much of their purchasing power. With the country in the red, with virtually no income from tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic – which is breaking infection records these days – in addition to severe economic blackouts caused by the 240 measures adopted by the administration Trump during his four years in office, Cuba is in urgent need of oxygen. And there is a consensus that this oxygen can only come from changes that the authorities themselves introduce in economic policies, because it is clear that those followed so far have not worked.

How “the conceptualization and updating of the model” will be defined in Congress is one of the things to see, although Raúl Castro has already made it clear in the central report, in Cuba, the state-owned company. and central planning will continue to dominate. In his speech, Castro warned that opening up to the private sector would have “limits”, although he did not define them precisely. The approved documents, followed by life and economic emergencies, will tell how far Cuba is prepared to go. The problem, as Marrero said, is that of “national security”.