Total reform in five years

Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba

By Gerardo Arreola

From the Mexican daily La Jornada

At the opening of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), President Raúl Castro confirmed the implementation of the ongoing reform without haste but without pause, announced that for the first time since the triumph of the Revolution the terms of office in the highest public posts will be limited to 10 years, and said the centralized economy will proceed to a new system that will recognize the trends in the market.

Castro confirmed his intention to remove the PCC from a direct operation in business management and government, called for the elimination of the tacit requirement of being a communist militant to reach public office, and insisted on strengthening the functions of municipalities and provinces.

He asked the Cuban press to abandon its bored, improvised and superficial products, and announced the imminent opening of the trade in homes and cars and an increase in the amount of land that is leased in usufruct.

The president illustrated the scope of the plan with this fact: it will be necessary to harmonize hundreds of standards and reach a constitutional reform, a process that takes about five years.

Castro acknowledged that Barack Obama has taken some positive steps toward Cuba, but accused him of causing the destabilization of the island and tightening the economic blockade. Either way, Castro restated its bid to normalize relations with the United States, so we may “coexist in a civilized manner, our differences notwithstanding, on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in [each other’s] internal affairs.”

For the first time since the congresses were instituted, Cuba’s single party dispensed with its icons in the set. This time, the backdrop over the stage did not feature the images of the figures of communism, Marx, Engels and Lenin; national heroes Martí, Maceo and Gómez, or the revolutionaries Mella, Camilo Cienfuegos and Che Guevara that loomed over the previous meetings. There was only the logo of the conclave, with a red background that descended on the green of a row of plants.

Raúl Castro, wearing a white guayabera and joined on the front row by the political bureau, read the main report and improvised in several places. The thousand delegates to the conclave will elect a new leadership in which, predictably, the president will replace his older brother, Fidel, as first secretary.

With Fidel Castro, 84, out of public functions, this Congress may be the last for the historic leaders like Raúl (79) and Ramiro Valdés (78), the only remaining leaders of the uprising that began nearly six decades ago who remain at the forefront of command.

Expectations and consensus

Raúl Castro said that the discussion of the Draft Guidelines for the Economic and Social Policy – the basis for the Congress – generated high expectations among the population, and became a virtual referendum on the scope of reform. Thus would consensus be reached, Castro said. “There was no unanimity,” he said. “That is precisely what was needed.”

The discussion focused on the chapters on social policy, housing, transportation and economic management, Castro said, but the point most heatedly discussed was that of the ration card (subsidized basic food basket).

The president confirmed that this mechanism will not be removed at once, but conditioned to decisions that raise the output and wages: “In Cuba, under socialism, there will never be room for shock therapies.”

Something similar will happen with the mass layoffs, again according to the conditions. Private microenterprises, added Castro, may contribute to the construction of socialism by allowing the State to focus on strategic sectors and public services.

The Cuban leader illustrated other reform scenarios, such as the need to eradicate the “mentality of inertia” of public officials who wait for orders from above, without assuming responsibilities. He asked the press to eliminate the habit of triumphalism, stridency and formalism, though he acknowledged that journalists do not yet have the necessary access to official sources.

On term limits, which have never existed in the Cuban revolutionary period, Castro said only this: “It is advisable to recommend limiting the time of service in high political and State positions to a maximum of two five-year terms. This is possible and necessary under the present circumstances, quite different from those prevailing in the first decades of the Revolution that was not yet consolidated when it had already become the target of continuous threats and aggressions.”

Religion and opposition

Apart from a brief passage on the international situation, Castro departed little from the reform to enter into other topics. Among them, she said it is necessary to continue to eliminate any bias towards religious believers.

He cited the release of imprisoned opponents as a government decision, executed “in the framework of a dialogue of mutual respect, loyalty and transparency” with the Catholic Church, 
”which contributed with its humanitarian labors to completion of this action in harmony; in any case, the laurels correspond to that religious institution.”

We have thus helped to consolidate the most precious legacy of our history and the revolutionary process: the unity of the nation, he added.

Castro also recalled the active role of former Foreign Minister of Spain, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who facilitated the departure of some convicts to his country, but rejected the relentless campaign to discredit Cuba on human rights waged by the United States and European countries.

In any case, Castro spoke clearly about the public order policy: What we shall never do is to deny people the right to defend their revolution, because the defense of our independence, of the achievements of socialism and of our streets and plazas will remain the first duty of every Cuban patriot, he said.