2022 ends, a year that “has been very hard,” according to Miguel Díaz-Canel, and 2023 arrives, which for Manuel Marrero also “seems complex.” The two highest Cuban leaders described the situation in this way at the last Council of Ministers this December and assumed that it is their job to change the situation. “We have to solve it ourselves, from our responsibilities,” the president cried. But there was not a single move announced to change things beyond the usual wishes.
“Working with passion and desire”, “the creativity of the people is infinite” and “willingness to continue defeating the impossible” were, among others, the ingredients that Díaz-Canel recited when he spoke of combating the bad situation that the Island is experiencing, characterized due to serious shortages and massive emigration.
The Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, seemed to be more decisive when he admitted where the main problem lies. “We cannot achieve it if we do not change everything that has shown that it does not work” -began a phrase canceled by its continuation- “as the Commander in Chief taught us well. (…) In 2023 we are going to perfect and continue strengthening the Revolution , he assured, but we have to change our minds and do things differently”.
“We can’t achieve it if we don’t change everything that has shown that it doesn’t work” -began a sentence canceled by its continuation- “as the Commander in Chief taught us well”
Finally, neither of them announced a measure that would lead one to think that things would be done differently. The speeches of both could be summed up in what they repeated the most. “We have to”. What they didn’t say is how.
On the contrary, they did give signs that nothing is going to change. What is truly important, for Díaz-Canel, is “to strengthen the certainty around the Revolution, to continue consolidating the idea that the construction of socialism is the only viable alternative for the prosperity and development of our nation,” he began by making it clear . He did not stop there, he made his particular “out of the Revolution, nothing” by saying: “The only forces capable of facing and defeating each of these challenges are those of us who are here.” In case there was any doubt, he added that everything that is done “has to have a Marxist, critical and anti-capitalist approach.”
Marrero did not stray from the script either and although he claimed “to enter 2023 with another thought, with another way of doing things, with another way of acting; going from defensive to offensive”, it was enough for him to get to the concrete to demonstrate that changes , few. It is necessary to develop the industry, he said, to then point out that it has “essential principles defined by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Ernesto Guevara, who outlined the country’s industrial development strategy.”
The prime minister, evading his labor obligations, also asked businessmen “not to wait for decisions to come from above and develop actions to transform the country in a very short time.”
Beyond the desires and aspirations to improve, the two leaders pointed out the Government’s priorities for the next period, which on the other hand are the same as always, as shown by the fact that they cited the “development of tourism”, a sector to which allocated billions every year even if the results are as miserable as this year, when the forecast was changed twice and has not even been achieved.
They also made abundant references to the food sector, the fight against corruption and illegalities or the takeoff of the socialist company, which Díaz-Canel described as a “life or death” matter.
The list was more like a letter from the Three Wise Men than a year-end speech due to the radical resistance of the two leaders to fulfill their task and offer the tools to achieve the changes that the country needs.
In addition, many other usual wishes on the lists of the Communist Party came up: “that the true reserves and potentialities be unleashed”, “that the productive forces be unblocked”, “that incentives be fostered more and obstacles and prohibitions less “, that there be “greater participation of foreign investment” and “better use of the potential of science and innovation”… The list was more like a letter from the Three Wise Men than a year-end speech for the radical resistance of the two leaders to fulfill their task and offer the tools to achieve the changes that the country needs.
the day, reviewed by the official press, had rather little of noteworthy. The Minister of Education, Ena Elsa Velázquez Cobiella, gave some data on the number of graduates this year and said that just over 30% of the faculty of the schools graduated from the Pedagogical Schools. That was the most informative thing that was said in the session, even if no one cared.
The only thing capable of arousing attention was the claim of the dolphin by Raúl Castro that “respect, order and decency prevail” and that the paintings have a “deeper preparation, in which the use of the method is also taken into account. Marxism for the analysis of the issues and the approach to the transformations that need to be made in the economy”. 2023 promises to look too much like 2022, and that won’t be good for anyone. Not even for those in power.
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