Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Five committees discussed a reform plan

The Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC only) began on Sunday with the discussion of draft amendments to update the country's economic model in five working committees also reviewed the report submitted by President Raul Castro at the opening of conclave. Thousand delegates taking part in a conference considered crucial because it will be responsible for ratifying the plan to upgrade the island's economic model and it is called to be the last of the historical generation of the revolution, as has repeatedly reminded President Raul Castro .

The five working committees have started their session on Sunday, according to local media reports, discussed the so-called "Draft guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution" which contains the plan of economic reforms. This project has come to Congress after being subjected to public debate in more than 163,000 popular assemblies held in recent months with the participation of 8.9 million Cubans, as reported by General Castro in his speech opening the Congress.

After this process, the document has reached the Communist conclave with some modifications, since the 291 "guidelines" (measures) contained in the original project has gone to 311 in the text submitted for consideration by the Congress of the CCP. Raul Castro said yesterday at the opening of the conclave, that 68 percent of the plan has been "reformulated" after input from the citizens' assemblies prior to Congress.

"We can safely describe the guidelines as expressing the will of the people (...) to update the economic and social model in order to ensure the continuity and irreversibility of socialism and the country's economic development and raising living standards, "he said on Saturday the Cuban president.

The economic reform plan proposed by the government of Raul Castro seeks to update the model without sacrificing Cuban socialism, but opens loopholes for private initiative and aims to reduce the bloated public templates, giving more autonomy to the management of state enterprises and social spending cuts eliminating unnecessary subsidies, among other measures.

Besides the economic issue, the Cuban communists elected at its Sixth Congress in its management and is expected to formalize the resignation of Fidel Castro as the first secretary of the party and its replacement by his brother Raul (who has always been the second secretary) in the highest office of the organization.

The Communist conclave meets behind closed doors at the Palace of Conventions in Havana.

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