106. Cubans to Discuss the Key Document for the 6th Congress of PCC

The following are two brief articles by Juventud Rebelde, the newspaper of the Young Communist League of Cuba.  They provide further information about the process of development of the "Economic and Social Policy Project," the main document submitted by the PCC Political Bureau for the discussion leading up to the Congress in April 2011.  They also give a sense of how the process of discussion will unfold and lead to the decision at the April Congress.  


--KN

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"Raùl Castro Discusses New Economic and Social Policy Guidelines," Juventud Rebelde, November 11, 2010

Cuban President Raul Castro attended the first session of a national seminar to discuss the draft of new national Economic and Social Policy Guidelines.

The meeting was held on Wednesday at the Higher Institute of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and attended by leaders and experts who will guide the discussion process with the population.

In a brief address to the 523 participants, Raul Castro reaffirmed the importance of the work they will carry out in the following weeks to prepare personnel who, together with them, will lead the process of explaining and discussing the document at public forums.

The text will be discussed among the grassroots organizations of the PCC, with workers, and in all communities, the Granma newspaper reported.

During the meeting, Vice President of the Council of Ministers Marino Murillo assessed the state of the economy in relation to the content of the new policy guidelines.

The seminar, which runs until Saturday, is being attended by members of the PCC Political Bureau and the Central Committee Secretariat, vice presidents of the government, ministers, and leaders from the PCC, the Union of Young Communists, and mass organizations.

Members from the Ministries of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and the National Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba; and journalists and professors from the PCC education institutes throughout the country also participate at the session. 

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"Cubans to Debate Social and Economic Policy Project," Juventud Rebelde,  November 11, 2010

During the closing of the Fifth Ordinary Session of the Cuban National Assembly on August 1, 2010, President Raúl Castro spoke about the progress of the studies undertaken by the Economic Policy Commission of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, the results of which were to be discussed by Party members and the population in its entirety.

The work has been developing over a period of several months with the creation of the Economic Policy Commission headed by President Raúl Castro with Julio Casas Regueiro serving as vice president and Minister of the Economy and Planning Marino Murillo Jorge serving as coordinator.

To complete the commission's work of defining the direction to be taken in economic and social policy, working groups were formed, headed by members of the Political Bureau, vice presidents of the Council of Ministers, as well as other Party and government leaders from the relevant areas. 

The working groups focused on the following topics: the economic management model; macro-economic policies (monetary, exchange, fiscal, pricing); foreign economic policy; investment policy; social policy; agricultural industry policy; policies for other sectors (tourism, transportation, construction, retail sales); science and technology; and a study of the country's system of two currencies. A working group was also formed to study the regulations and legal procedures related to changes in the economic model.

A number of other officials from departments of the Central Committee and specialists from other bodies and research institutions also participated.

As a result of the Commission's work, a document entitled "Economic and Social Policy Project" was drafted and will be discussed with all Party members, workers and the general population, in order to gather and take into account their opinions. It will subsequently be submitted to the Sixth Congress for approval.

The document has been published as a pamphlet, available to the population for sale at post offices and news stands across the country.

The Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba will take place in the second half of April, 2011, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) victory and the declaration of the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution.