The leaders of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) took advantage of the closure, this Saturday, of the V Plenum of the Central Committee, to justify their actions, which have led the country to a generalized crisis and with daily blackouts. “It was a hard and difficult year”, admitted the Minister of EconomyAlejandro Gil Fernández, without at any time recognizing the responsibility of the leaders in the collapse of the national economy.
Raúl Castro was not present at the plenary session of the Party, which was attended by Ramiro Valdés Menéndez – of whose alleged death rumors had circulated this week – and, as a special guest, José Ramón Machado Ventura, a member of the “auxiliary structure” of the Central Committee .
The official press was discreet when discussing the specific issues addressed by the PCC cadres. Chaired by a silent Díaz-Canel and closely monitored by the military that make up the Central Committee, since Friday the leaders have expressed their concerns about the critical situation of the Island and the “deviations from the Ordering Task”, implemented as of January 2021.
“The objectives of the Economy Plan for 2022 were not achieved,” Gil summarized, “the approved measures have not had the necessary impact.” The minister quickly amended the pessimism of his statement and attributed the Island’s failures to the “intensification of the blockade”, the covid pandemic, the rise in world market prices and global inflation, “beyond our organizational problems “.
Everything necessary to boost the country’s development is approved by the leaders, he said, but simply “we don’t have the resources.”
Although nothing is more serious, he lamented, than the lack of foreign currency. Everything needed to boost the country’s development is approved by the leaders, he said, but simply “we don’t have the resources.”
He added that a certain “recovery” was being experienced thanks to the export of nickel, tobacco, rum, honey and seafood, but noted that only 1.7 million tourists have arrived in the country, for which reason 800,000 were missing to meet the forecasts official and almost 3 million to reach the figures for the years prior to the pandemic.
“We can’t compare ourselves to 2021,” Gil said, after lashing out at farm leaders, whose results were remarkably low. “The country has induced or imported inflation,” he said, because imports “force” the government to raise prices. “We cannot fight against that inflation,” he warned.
To that overprice, he said, “we are incorporating an internal component of indiscipline, diversion, speculation, resale.” He again stirred up the “hunt” against scalpers from the grassroots.
Other leaders raised their criteria at the foot of the observations of Alejandro Gil. The common factor of the interventions was to describe the government’s measures as “bold and innovative” and insult their implementation by local cadres and by the population in general.
Shortages and inflation persist, with insufficient results in the measures adopted, which maintains a direct impact on the quality of life of the people
During the first plenary session, held this Friday, they pointed out the “progressive socioeconomic complexity”, which they attribute not only to the blocking and the coronavirus pandemic, but also the explosion of the Saratoga hotel, the fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base and the passage of Hurricane Ian in the western part of the Island, whose “devastation” destabilized the National Electric System.
“The effects of this scenario are reflected in an aggravated situation of material deficiencies that affects all social and economic sectors of the country. Shortages and inflation persist, with insufficient results in the measures adopted, which maintains a direct impact on the quality of life of the people”, admits the report published by the Party during the event.
The text also points out that the deficiencies have had “a harmful political and ideological impact on different sectors of our society” and caused an increase in “subversive and destabilizing plans, using a fierce media campaign as a spearhead.”
They considered it urgent to “improve the work of the Party in the universities” and “take into account the states of opinion of the population.” Although they referred –according to the newspaper Granma– To the East-West Transfer project, carried out in Mayarí, Holguín, they did not offer too many details about the state of the investment in the work, which the vice president, Salvador Valdés Mesa, described as “futuristic”.
During the plenary session, the death of two recently deceased military members of the Central Committee was noted: Brigadier General José Alberto Yanes and Division General Luis Alberto López-Calleja, former son-in-law of Raúl Castro, president of the Forces Business Administration Group. Armed and one of the most powerful men on the Island.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
