Havana/The torrent of opinions that has followed the very brief release of the Communist Party (PCC) reporting that the Plenary Session of the Central Committee will meet in a single session by videoconference to save money may give the regime a lot to think about. The party meeting was scheduled to be held on December 12 and 13, until this Wednesday a note announced the decision of the Political Bureau to “adjust the work program.”
The measure is taken “taking into account the complex situation that the country is experiencing” and to “guarantee the greater permanence of the main cadres at the base, informing, verifying and managing the solution of those problems that impact the quality of life of the people and the reduction of financial and material expenses.”
Since the Party, Government and Legislature are all one, the lack of need for the appointment was obvious.
Not one more word for a decision that says more about the causes than the effects. It has only been three weeks since the celebration of the event was reported, which is always called before the work of the ordinary session of the National Assembly begins. that meeting starts next Thursday the 18thpreceded by commission meetings in which each ministry presents the balance and forecasts of its area.
In the press releaseThe topics to be addressed at the XI Plenary Session of the Central Committee included the PCC’s review of the famous Government program to correct distortions and re-boost the economyas well as the objectives and goals of the economy for next year and the analysis of the State Budget that the Executive will present to the Assembly.
Since the Party, Government and Legislature are all one, the lack of need for the appointment was evident, no matter how much they talked about other more important matters. mundanesuch as the damage caused by Melissa and the “situation of the effects of previous natural events”, predictably in reference to the lack of progress in recovering damage from catastrophes such as Sandy, 13 years after its passage. Another task to complete was the preparation of the next Party Congressthe IX, scheduled for April 16 to 19, 2026.
The applause has been almost unanimous among the readers of Cubadebatethe official media with a most active community of Internet users. The comments fundamentally reflect two main ideas: on the one hand, that what was going to happen there is extremely expendable; On the other hand, no one cares what happens in the Assembly even though it meets only twice a year in plenary session. The demand that its programming be readjusted is so widespread in opinions that it can be considered almost unanimous.
“The National Assembly should do the same. The electricity that is spent in sessions and sessions is immense: the people need it more. In the end, there is nothing new to say or any solution in sight. When the conditions exist, let them do it, not in these serious moments,” summarizes one of the most forceful. “Let Parliament do the same, being consistent, total…”, drops another user who suggests with his unfinished sentence the absolute discredit in the institution.
A commentator captures in a few words the perception of citizens about the absence of separation of powers in the country. “The same thing is discussed in the meetings of the Council of Ministers, the Council of State, in the plenary sessions of the Central Committee, in the National Assembly and, of course, in the Political Bureau. For this reason, I congratulate the decision made. Savings and austerity above all, so that our people do not lose confidence.”
Let Parliament do the same, being consistent, total…
The demand has extended to other activities, which reflect the general discontent of the population with events that it considers unnecessary in the circumstances in which the country is experiencing. “If all the meetings, colloquiums, festivals and etc. that are held in Havana daily were cancelled, 100 kilowatts would be saved,” writes another reader. “At last it was thought about saving resources of all kinds. Well, look, thousands and thousands are spent every month on meetings, events, commemorations, celebrations and many activities that involve high consumption of electricity, transportation, fuel and other insurance, inappropriate to develop in a country that is going through a great economic crisis.”
There are those who even describe it as incomprehensible that a country that declares itself in “war economy” continue to present a façade of normality, with trips inside and outside the Island, fairs or festivals “with the expenses that all of them entail.” Meanwhile, only one user advocates the uselessness of the measure. “Without sarcasm or irony, for those who see everything easily (sic). A PCC Plenary requires prior preparation, there is already some expense for everything. This Saturday the 13th, electricity, fuel and food will be spent as if they did it in the planned time, perhaps a little less,” he points out, and justifies that in all party headquarters there will be expenses even if the connection is by video call, since the premises must be opened and the leaders fed.
The measure has brought supporters and detractors of the system into agreement for once. In the independent press, the comments are quite similar, although seasoned with deeper criticism. “Why are they going to meet, if in the end they don’t resolve anything at all? If they discuss something, it’s going to be like suppress more to the people so that they do not demonstrate and increase the prices of everything to reduce the fiscal deficit,” says a follower of Cybercuba.
The tension due to the lack of fuel, which transversally affects both citizens and the industry and, with it, the recovery of the economy, continues this Thursday, with 98 distributed generation plants outside the system and a lack of lubricants: a total of 1,007 megawatts of deficit in this energy source alone. To this we must add the problems in thermoelectric plants, which leave 511 MW unavailable. Overall, the Electrical Union forecasts a deficit of 1,865 MW at peak hour today, slightly above the 1,861 that were reported this Wednesday and, in this situation, the planned shutdown at the Energas plant for maintenance is postponed again.
The country is only capable of producing 1,565 MW of the 3,400 it needs. A situation that has no end.
