Cuba’s VII Plenum: Addressing national issues amid crisis
By Olalekan Adigun / From Breaking News Network (BNN)
In a crucial gathering of national significance, the VII Plenum of the Central Committee of Cuba [met last week]. The meeting marked the second of the year and the seventh since the 8th Congress of the Party, aligning with the 65th anniversary of the Revolution’s triumph. The event served as a platform to discuss and make critical decisions affecting the country, emphasizing the continuity of the revolutionary process and the implementation of the ruling party’s policies and strategies.
Addressing the Economic Crisis
The Communist Party of Cuba’s top echelons are considering the implementation of a macroeconomic stabilization program to address monetary, financial, and fiscal imbalances. These measures aim to pull the country out of a deep crisis it has been grappling with for the past three years. The Minister of Economy and Planning acknowledged the government’s failure to fulfill its macroeconomic forecasts for the year, leading to a more than 44% increase in the fiscal deficit through a reform of the 2023 Budget Law.
For three years, Cuba has been enduring a severe crisis marked by shortages of basic necessities, such as food, medicine, and fuel, runaway inflation, partial dollarization of the economy, and frequent power outages. These issues have sparked an unprecedented wave of migration and social discontent.
Addressing Foreign Policy Tasks
During the VII Plenum of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), President Miguel Diaz-Canel outlined the extensive efforts required to meet Cuba’s foreign policy tasks in 2023. Despite facing US hostility and navigating a complex international landscape, Diaz-Canel noted that significant results have been achieved. The long-term impacts of past shocks, uneven economic recoveries, and displacement crises characterized migration in 2023.
Proposed Remedial Measures
The Communist Party of Cuba is contemplating a macroeconomic stabilization program to tackle the current monetary, financial, and fiscal imbalances. The proposed measures include the de-dollarization of the economy, the establishment of a stable economic exchange rate, and a reduction in the monetary emission associated with fiscal and quasi-fiscal activity. The country’s priorities, according to Economy and Planning Minister Alejandro Gil, include basic goods, electricity generation, and the availability of fuel, hygiene, and other vital products.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel deemed the VII Plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee as strategic and highly significant for the country’s fate. He acknowledged that measures to curb inflation have been ineffective and assured that actions to confront macroeconomic issues would be implemented in 2024. The importance of ideological-political work, especially with new generations, was highlighted.
Member of the Central Committee’s Secretariat and head of its Ideological Department, Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, stressed the need to strengthen the Party’s role and carry out more comprehensive political work. The persistence of intrusive actions and unconventional warfare methods were debated, as well as the nation’s political stability. Actions for ideological-political work were approved, including perfecting nuclei, prioritizing the role of the political coordinator, and enhancing activism performance on social networks.
The VII Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is in session to analyze priority issues in the country’s political, economic, and social spheres. Extensive information will be provided to the public about the debates. In addition, the event highlights Cuba’s thwarting of destabilizing plans by terrorists based in the United States and the officialization of Russian MIR cards in the country.
