The proposal came from Army General Raúl Castro and was announced by the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
LIMA, Peru – The harsh crisis in Cuba forced the Castro regime this weekend to postpone the 9th. Congress of the Communist Party (PCC), initially planned for April 2026.
The proposal came from Army General Raúl Castro and was announced by the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez during the XI Plenary Session of the PCC that ended last December 13.
Without agreeing on a new date for the Congress, the members of the Party’s Central Committee “unanimously approved this proposal,” according to the island’s state press.
According to the medium CubadebateDíaz-Canel read a letter from Raúl Castro that reads: “starting from the principle of doing at all times what is best for the Revolution, I consider it advisable to postpone the holding of the ninth congress to a later date, and dedicate from now on all the resources that the country has, and the effort and energy of the cadres of the Party, the Government and the State, to resolve the current problems, and dedicate 2026 to recovering as much as possible.”
Castro stated that the postponement “It cannot be seen as a setback, it is a necessary and timely decision that will allow us to unite forces, improve the situation of the nation, and create conditions for a better and fruitful Congress, which consolidates, as our Constitution endorses, the construction of socialism and the advance towards communist society.
The Cuban economy has collapsed: the data of the collapse
Before the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) puts specific numbers on the reality of Cuba in 2025, Diaz-Canel already announced that during the current year there has been a decrease in the Gross Domestic Product of more than 4%.
However, based on the 2024 data published last July, economist Mauricio de Miranda Parrondo, concludes that the contraction of the productive sectors is so severe that “it illustrates the level of collapse of the country’s economic activity.”
Beyond the percentages, the analysis reveals the magnitude of the decline and the continuous deterioration of the economy in recent times. The sugar industry fell by 46.7%, fishing by 22.4% and agricultural sector (including livestock, hunting and forestry) decreased by 20.5%. The generation and distribution of electricity, gas and water (-10.6%), the non-sugar manufacturing industry (-9.6%), commerce (-8.8%) and education (-9.9%) also suffered strong contractions. Added to this are the declines in science and technological innovation (-6.1%) and in public administration, defense and social security (-4.6%). These are key sectors for the functioning of the country, all in decline.
Although some sectors reported growth—such as transportation, storage and communications (9.7%), hotels and restaurants (5.3%) and construction (4.4%)—De Miranda warns that distortions may hide behind these figures. For example, the increase in communications could be explained by the income of the state-owned ETECSA, while urban transportation remains “in a comatose state.”
The economist also questions the efficiency of public spending. In 2024, 25.3% of national investment was concentrated in business services, real estate and rental activities, a sector that barely grew 0.7%. “This shows how inefficient the investments made have been,” he points out.
De Miranda is not limited to an annual photograph. Its analysis of the period 2019-2024 reveals an average annual drop in GDP of -1.9%, which implies a sustained contraction over six years. During that period, sectors such as the sugar industry (-25.4%), fishing (-15.4%), agriculture and livestock (-14.8%) or manufacturing (-9.9%) suffered alarming accumulated declines. Trade (-6.2%), public health (-2.9%), education (-2.8%) and science and innovation (-2.6%) also contracted. In contrast, only five sectors experienced average annual growth, albeit modest: transportation and communications (7.6%), hotels and restaurants (3.2%), construction (1.3%), culture and sports (1.2%), and business services and real estate (1.1%). For De Miranda, this shows that “the people’s resources have been misused in a practically stagnant sector.”
In the words of the economist himself, the evolution of the Cuban economy in recent years resembles “the story of Benjamin Button”: a constant regression that compromises both the present and the future of the country.
