N°14-02/06/2021 The VIIIth Congress of the Communist Party has just been held and marks, among other things, the passing of the torch between the historic generation of the Cuban revolution embodied by Raul Castro,
the brother of Fidel Castro and that of the new secretary general of the party: Miguel Diaz- Canel already President of the Republic.
The opening of the 8th Party Congress takes place on a milestone in the history of the Cuban nation: the 60th anniversary of the Proclamation, by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, of the socialist character of the Revolution, on April 16, 1961, during the funerals of the victims and the day before the bombing of the air bases, prelude to the mercenary invasion of Playa Giron. This was organized and financed by the government of the United States as part of the plans to crush the example of the Cuban Revolution and to re-impose neocolonial rule on the Island, with the complicity of the Organization of American States.
During his opening speech Raul Castro recalled the conditions under which the congress takes place. The Covid 19 pandemic deeply affects the economic life of the country due to the significant fall in tourism; at the same time an accentuated aggressiveness from American imperialism and its allies who impose an economic and financial blockade which is a real act of war, to create the conditions for a revolt against the socialist power. The embargo is combined with intense propaganda pressure aimed at destabilizing and recruiting part of the population against socialism (1).
Raul Castro devoted an important part of his speech to the economic measures taken in the last period aimed at giving greater latitude to private initiatives in a whole series of activities.
He insisted that there was no question of challenging the socialist character of the Cuban revolution through these measures and especially in the vital sectors of the economy, public services, commerce and finance. Raul Castro strongly insisted that political and economic cadres must play a decisive role in implementing this policy by relying on the party and the working masses. Without the vanguard party, he said, there can be no Cuban nation: “The unity of the vast majority of Cubans around the Party, the work and the ideals of the Revolution, has been our fundamental strategic weapon to successfully face all kinds of threats and aggressions. This is why we must zealously preserve this unity and never tolerate a division between revolutionaries under false pretenses of a greater democracy, because that would be the first step towards the destruction, from within, of the Revolution itself, of socialism and consequently of national independence and the return under the domination of North American imperialism”. Raul Castro devoted a long time to international issues, first recalling the principles on which the Cuban nation is based: "These include respect for the principles and standards of international law and the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the obligation of non-interference, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any State and to observe the principles of national sovereignty, equal rights and self-determination of peoples; the commitment of the countries of the region to foster relations of friendship and cooperation among themselves and with other nations, whatever the differences between their political, economic and social systems or their levels of development; to practice tolerance and live together in peace as good neighbors; and the commitment to fully respect the inalienable right of each State to choose its political, economic, social and cultural system, as an essential condition for ensuring peaceful coexistence between nations”. After asserting these principles, the intervention underlines the increasingly aggressive character of US imperialism and its allies that Raul Castro calls a counteroffensive in Latin America to root out revolutionary and progressive movements in the region. It is in light of this reality that the intervention underlines the need for strengthening the popular defense capacities of the Cuban nation. In conclusion Raul Castro announces his decision to be a revolutionary militant, as a new generation of leaders must take on the leadership of the party and of the country.
(1) The blockade against Cuba provokes demonstrations that condemn it. In France as everywhere in the world, including in the USA, actions demand the lifting of this blockade as it is a war crime.