|
 The meeting is the Communist Party's first congress in five years
and the first since President Raul Castro and his U.S. counterpart
Barack Obama announced they were to end decades of enmity and seek
normal relations.
The party has been secretive about the agenda of the meeting, even
by Cuba's opaque standards, triggering grumbling among younger
members who have grown accustomed to a freer flow of information and
contact with the world.
As well as the lack of discussion, party foot soldiers said they
were worried that the country had not implemented quickly enough the
sweeping market reforms adopted at the last party congress in 2011
to avoid economic collapse.
"The economic plan is still getting on track but it needs to
accelerate," said Wilson Batista, who has been a party member for
twenty years.
"The world's policies, the world's economy changes daily and we need
to adjust ourselves exactly. We need to get on the world economic
train."
 Cuba has improved its financial credibility over the last five
years, running trade and current account surpluses and restructuring
$50 billion in mainly old debt, although harsh U.S. sanctions remain
in place.
A nascent middle-class has emerged, making money from small
businesses such as construction and hospitality. But in what one
Cuban blogger called "paralysis at the cliff edge," the party has
not relinquished control of trade or larger businesses.
ANOINTING A SUCCESSOR
The party has implemented about a fifth of the measures it adopted
in 2011, and Cubans are eager for more, especially a unification of
the country's two currencies and an end to the government's monopoly
on imports and exports.
Many Cubans are tired of waiting, especially young professionals who
are rarely allowed to set up private practices. With news from the
outside world closer thanks to more Internet access and booming
tourism, ever greater numbers are taking advantage of new freedoms
to travel and emigrate.
[to top of second column] |
The congress takes place three weeks after Obama made history as the
first U.S. president to visit the island in 88 years and eloquently
called for more political freedom and democracy in the one-party
state.
His words are unlikely to be heeded, because the party sees itself
as the greatest defense against Washington's past attempts to
dominate Cuba.
Cuba's top leaders started their careers as young guerrilla fighters
who overthrew a U.S. backed government in 1959, and a few years
later repelled the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion - which the
party congress is timed to commemorate.
Now, party chief Raul Castro is 84 and his top lieutenant in the
party, José Ramón Machado Ventura is 85.
Castro is due to retire as president in 2018 and by the end of the
four-day congress it will be clear whether he remains as party
leader until 2021, or whether somebody younger takes over the
leadership.
Founded in 1965, the Communist Party is seen as more powerful in
Cuba than the government. It was formally led by Fidel Castro until
2011, although his younger brother had effectively taken command
several years earlier.
(Editing by Mary Milliken)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
