HAVANA_ Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed this Saturday that there will be no changes in the political system imposed in Cuba and that the recent economic reforms announced by the regime seek to “preserve socialism”, despite the worsening of the economic and social crisis that the island is going through.
During the closing of the XXII Congress of the ruling Central of Cuban Workers (CTC), the president affirmed that the neoliberal-oriented proposals and the demands for political opening promoted by opposition and critical sectors “will never have a place” within the transformation process promoted by the Cuban authorities.
“Save the Revolution”
Díaz-Canel dedicated a good part of his speech to defending the 176 economic measures announced on June 18, insisting that his objective is to “save the Revolution and its social conquests” and maintain the socialist orientation of the economy.
“This is a socialist society where the workers rule,” said the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), while attributing the deep crisis facing the country to US sanctions and what he described as a campaign of “counterrevolutionary propaganda.”
The president also appealed to the new generations to assume “the historical responsibility” of continuing the political project established after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
Recognize uncertainty about the model
In one of the most striking passages of his intervention, Díaz-Canel recognized the difficulties in defining how to build socialism in the current circumstances and recalled statements made by Fidel Castro in 2005, when he admitted that no one knew exactly how to develop that economic model.
“Until today, no one has explained, much less proven in practice, how socialism is built in a nation under the conditions of siege that Cuba endures,” he said.
The reference evoked the words spoken by Fidel Castro two decades ago, when he recognized that one of the biggest mistakes of the revolutionary leadership had been to assume that there was a known formula to build socialism.
No political opening
Despite the doubts expressed about the economic model, Díaz-Canel made it clear that the regime does not contemplate structural changes in the political system or an eventual transition to a market economy.
“We do not propose, nor will it ever be our intention, to restore capitalism in Cuba!” he emphasized, insisting that the reforms seek to guarantee the continuity of the socialist project.
The statements come at a time when Cuba is going through one of the worst crises in recent decades, marked by food shortages, blackouts, deterioration of public services and a growing migratory exodus, while opposition sectors demand deeper political and economic transformations.
