As is his custom every year, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, gave an account of his work as President of the Republic, before the deputies at the Tenth Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People's Power, the last ordinary session of the current legislature.
As a public servant of the nation, he expressed that he assumed this accountability with full responsibility and with the conviction of the importance of this mechanism "for the strengthening of our institutionality, which was a permanent concern of the leadership of the Revolution that precedes and guides us, particularly Army General Raúl Castro Ruz."
"Accountability, at all levels -he explained-, is a mechanism that we must perfect, systematize, develop with rigor before the people, with transparency and as a way to improve ourselves and perfect the work of leadership, in search of results of greater impact on society".
CUBA AND THE WORLD
The Head of State also offered an assessment of the current world and national political and economic scenario. On the prospects for the period ahead, in the domestic order, he stressed that 2023 must be a better year, but achieving it "demands more than a comprehensive plan; it requires shaking inertia, banishing bureaucracy, removing more obstacles and overcoming complacency.
And I trust -he said- "in the creative and innovative work of those who must respond to these tasks in a time that is no longer measured by the clock, but by the urgency caused by the wear and tear of a hard struggle of more than 60 years against a criminal and unacceptable encirclement".
On the international scenario, he stressed that 2023 has been a markedly complicated year, with events such as the military conflict in Europe, which has generated new problems and aggravated many of the existing ones; the still present socioeconomic and health effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, and the consequences of these events for food and medicine prices, transportation, logistics and the essential requirements of developing countries.
"It is a scenario threatened, moreover, by the harmful imperialist determination to divide the world, and to generate exclusions and stigmatizations, to which is added the pernicious tendency to abuse the disproportionate economic and financial power of the United States to apply economic coercion as a preferred instrument of foreign policy."
The President of the Republic also praised the advances in the relations with the countries of our region, where the arrival to government of political forces committed to projects oriented to social justice and the defense of sovereignty, and convinced of the importance of integration and the defense of a region of peace, unity and solidarity, has been catalyzed.
However, he warned that these positive changes are taking place "while the economic and social reality of the region shows alarming levels of poverty, unemployment, inequality and exclusion, which in the long run favor the rise of extreme right-wing and fascist political forces, which try to stop the advance of progressive movements committed to the interests and needs of the majorities".
U.S.-CUBA.
In the case of the United States, he reflected, the fundamental and defining characteristic of the bilateral link continues to be the economic blockade, as a weapon of cruel, illegitimate and immoral coercion, which constitutes the fundamental obstacle to the performance of our economy; and the open policy of subversion and the attempts to destabilize us, with the backing of tens of millions of dollars from the federal budget, together with the tolerance towards those who from their territory guide, finance and even train individuals to commit violent acts in Cuba.
"A few days ago -he denounced-, the government of the United States gave additional proof of the dishonest conduct of its foreign policy, by designating Cuba as a country where religiosity is supposedly persecuted. This is yet another falsehood by a government that finds no justification for continuing with the most comprehensive and prolonged system of coercive economic measures that history has ever known.
"However, and in spite of the above -he added-, we have taken very discreet steps aimed at getting bilateral cooperation on track for the fulfillment of the migratory agreements and also in other areas of priority for both countries".
"Our objective," he further noted, "continues to be to promote broader ties with that country and its people, which already includes close to two million people of Cuban origin or descendants of Cuban origin. And we maintain "the willingness to build a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship, in full compliance with international law and the sovereign prerogatives of each party. This is known to the government of the United States, to which we have expressed it directly and publicly".
THE BLOCKADE WILL CONTINUE, BUT...
As the blockade is the main obstacle to the development of the country and the welfare of the population, Díaz-Canel stressed that the country's leadership is aware that the polarized and alienated nature of U.S. policy can lead to its prolongation for many more years, so the top priority should be "to join efforts and popular creativity in order to solve our most acute problems, face the limitations and channel the course of development".
In view of the urgency of working more effectively and efficiently in the economic field, the President of the Republic further stated: "to say that the economy is going through a complex situation, where the worsening of the blockade, the effects of the pandemic and international inflation, among other adverse factors, are combined, is true and undeniable. But it does not solve it. What we have to do is to look for ways out, to innovate, to break the siege".
The President thus made an evaluation of the acute macroeconomic imbalances accumulated during the last years as a result of the loss of foreign currency income, the high fiscal deficits, the increase in the income of natural persons without productive backing, the partial dollarization of the economy and the weak productive response to generate supply of goods and services, among others.
"These imbalances -he commented- are mainly expressed in the levels of inflation, shortage of supply, depreciation and inconvertibility of the national currency, phenomena that have produced a substantial deterioration of the purchasing power of the income of workers and pensioners and of the living conditions of the population".
In view of this panorama -he indicated- the "improvement in the welfare of the people requires the reactivation of the national productive capacities and the acquisition of a level of foreign currency that guarantees the gradual but sustained increase of the supply of goods and services, which will not be possible without the correction, within certain limits, of the macroeconomic imbalances mentioned", for which the program approved on Monday by the National Assembly in this sense will be implemented.
This year's adversities, such as the accidents of the Saratoga and at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, and Hurricane Ian, in parallel with the reinforced blockade and the costly effects of a pandemic that paralyzed us economically for two years, have not been a reason for discouragement or demobilization, Díaz-Canel later expressed.
"What we have suffered forces us to overcome," added the head of state, who, referring to his own work, recalled that "strength and confidence in victory multiply when you have a huge history pushing your steps and a heroic people giving and demanding more."