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| Raul Castro, presenting the central report, during the opening session of the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) |
Raul highlighted the fact that the inauguration of the Congress was taking place coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist nature of the Revolution by its Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, on April 16, 1961, during a ceremony to pay tribute to those killed the day before during the bombings of Cuban air bases, which was the prelude to the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs mercenary invasion.
The Cuban leader noted that the military and people’s parade held earlier on Saturday at the Revolution Square, dedicated to the young generations, was eloquent proof of the fortitude of the Revolution to follow the example of the heroic Cuban revolutionary fighters of Bay of Pigs.
In this regard, he added that next May 1, on the occasion of the International Workers Day, “we will do likewise throughout the country to show the unity of Cubans in defense of their independence and national sovereignty, which as proven by history, can only be conquered through Socialism.”Raul said that the Congress brings together 1,000 delegates representing nearly 800,000 PCC members affiliated to over 61,000 party cells.
“But, this Congress really started on November 9 last year, with the release of the Draft Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution, a subject that, as previously indicated, will be at the center of the debates of this meeting that is regarded with great expectations by our people,” he stated.
The Cuba president explained that, from December 2010 to February of this year, 8,913,838 people participated in more than 163 thousand meetings held by the different organizations and that over three million people offered their contributions in the discussion of the Guidelines.
“The data collected from the results of the discussions become a formidable working tool for the government and Party leadership at all levels, like a popular referendum, given the depth, scope and pace of the changes we must introduce,” Raul said.
He added that “in a truly extensive democratic exercise, the people freely stated their views, clarified their doubts, proposed amendments, expressed their dissatisfactions and discrepancies, and suggested that we work toward the solution of other problems not included in the document.”
In this regard, he pointed out that every opinion, without exception, was incorporated to the analysis, which helped to enhance the Draft submitted to the consideration of the delegates to the Congress.
“The principle that guided this process was that the validity of a proposal would not depend on the number of opinions expressed about it.
“The data collected from the results of the discussions become a formidable working tool for the government and Party leadership at all levels, like a popular referendum, given the depth, scope and pace of the changes we must introduce,” Raul said.
He added that “in a truly extensive democratic exercise, the people freely stated their views, clarified their doubts, proposed amendments, expressed their dissatisfactions and discrepancies, and suggested that we work toward the solution of other problems not included in the document.”
In this regard, he pointed out that every opinion, without exception, was incorporated to the analysis, which helped to enhance the Draft submitted to the consideration of the delegates to the Congress.
“The principle that guided this process was that the validity of a proposal would not depend on the number of opinions expressed about it.
Raul described the Guidelines as an expression of the people’s will to update the Economic and Social Model in order to secure the continuity and irreversibility of Socialism as well as the economic development of the country and the improvement of the living standard of the people combined with the indispensable formation of ethical and political values.
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