Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, May 7th. - To exercise more efficient control from all areas, both from the popular and institutional, called the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the most recent meeting of the Council of Ministers, led by the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.
There is popular control that is exercised in the workplaces through the workers' movement, the Head of State insisted, and there is another that is exercised from the community working groups, with the participation of the population. These are these, he emphasized, mechanisms that we have to promote, so that, more directly, the population participates in decision-making.
This, in addition to the link that is achieved with the population, reflected, strengthens the concepts that the Commander-in-Chief developed on the exercise of People's Power in our society.
He also stressed the importance of greater control by the Party, the National Assembly and the Government of the measures and regulations designed in the country, especially those associated with the Government Programme to correct distortions and boost the economy.
Precisely the analysis of how the implementation of the actions approved in the aforementioned program provoked the aforementioned reflections of the president. At that point of the meeting, evaluated each month by the highest governing body, the Deputy Prime Minister of Economy and Planning, Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, referred to the main measures taken at the end of March to meet the different objectives.
Last month, he said, the work was aimed, in essence, at closed schemes of foreign exchange self-financing; proposals to advance the principle of subsidizing people and not products, as well as the improvement of the Government Programme with a scientific focus.
In presenting the report on the implementation of the economy at the end of March, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez, detailed, among other elements, that although exports of goods grew compared to the previous month, they failed to comply with the planned plan.
A similar situation, he pointed out, is recorded in the export of services, in which tourism declined by 22 per cent compared to the same period of 2024. The sugar harvest, he said, maintains an unfavourable situation, while agricultural productions record compliance, although they do not yet cover the satisfaction of the demand.
In this regard, the Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Pérez Brito, acknowledged that, although there are potential to do more, this year there is progress in recruitment. The analyses we have made to deepen the agricultural production inscribed in the Plan of the Economy are clear, he said, that the needs of the population are not met and the productions are far below what is needed.
On a timely basis, on the investment plan in the period, the Minister of Economy and Planning detailed that an analysis of its main items was carried out.
In this regard, he said that priority will be given to works that have material and financial insurance for this year, mainly those associated with the recovery of electricity generation; those of completion that directly tax the increase in food production, paying special attention to the equipment of the irrigation systems that are or are in the process of arrival in the country, and those related to health, mainly those of completion and equipment, or those that guarantee the vitality of the services.
At this point on the agenda, the President of the Republic meant the importance of checking and demanding for the implementation of the plans of all the entities, even more so, taking into account the magnitude of the aggressiveness with which the new U.S. administration is projected towards our country, its coercive measures and the constant media maneuvers.
Faced with these challenges, Díaz-Canel stressed that it becomes increasingly urgent for our nation, subjected to an unprecedented economic war, to manage in a different way the war economy in which we are playing.
Referring to how to overcome the lack of foreign exchange earnings, he insisted that shares have to go, in the main two directions: how we increase foreign exchange earnings and how we use more efficiently those we get.
Among the priorities of work to achieve these purposes, the dignitary emphasized the need to promote more exports; to boost domestic production to replace imports; to make further progress in the banking process; and to strengthen the state business system.
To continue to enhance the national industry, the Head of State also convened, as well as to see the domestic market as a source of development in the country.
He also reflected on the links that must exist between the state and non-state sectors of the economy, as the lack of control and responsibility with which state entities have assumed their relations with the non-state sector has caused us to have accumulated problems that are unacceptable.
We need to ensure, he said, that the non-state sector is more involved in the economic and social development of the country, and that it is embedded in the territorial and local development strategies and the National Economic and Social Development Plan.
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party also spoke of the actions contained in the Government Programme to correct distortions and relaunch the economy also spoke of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Therefore, their insistence on taking into account how we are implementing them, how we are following them, how we are controlling them, to have the necessary feedback and enhance them.
The implementation of the State Budget at the end of the first quarter of the year shows a positive result, it is a surplus balance of 359 million pesos, said the Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, presenting the next item on the agenda.
This result, he said, is obtained in the overall balance sheet of income and expenditure, and also on a specific basis in the outcome of the current account, which basically indicates the consumption by purchase of goods and services, and is an expression of the Government Programme that has been approved to correct distortions and relaunch the economy, specifically in the actions of its first objective, to achieve macroeconomic stabilization.
Fifty-five municipalities, 33 per cent of the total, have a supervARIous result, 17 more than on the same date as the previous year, he said.
The studies we have carried out with the teams of the provincial governments, with the directorates of Finance and Prices, he said, show that there are potentialities and capacities for more municipalities to continue to overcome the deficit position in which they are located, and thus achieve a better result; therefore, better fiscal performance.
In addition to all this, he said, there are also incursions of expenditure that accumulate, both in current and capital expenditure, which requires special attention to ensure the development of social and investment programmes approved with priority criteria in the State budget.
Speaking at that point of the meeting, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, referred to the fact that the Social Assistance Budget is currently at the moment at 93 % of implementation, but within this there is a very important item that is the delivery of resources to families in situations of vulnerability.
So, he said, if we have equity gaps to address, which are objective, it is not consistent that there are territories that have such large inequities of this budget. There are even territories that at this point are very low per cent implementation under that budget item. Better employment would allow greater attention to older adults, children, and doing social things that have a favourable impact.
Hence his call to attend, in a differentiated way, how this budget item is being implemented in the territories.
Referring to this matter, the Prime Minister considered it inconceivable that these inexecutions should be manifested, taking into account the complex situations to be resolved, especially those related to persons in situations of vulnerability, who could benefit from that budget.
Marrero Cruz told the governors to pay more attention to this issue, to transform certain scenarios that are now associated with situations of vulnerability.
In this Council of Ministers, Juan Carlos Alfonso Fraga, deputy head of the National Statistical and Information Office, presented a detailed report on the follow-up to the implementation of the Policy for the Care of Demographic Dynamics in Cuba.
According to data confirmed by the expert, between 2020 and 2024 the national population experienced a significant decline, and today 9 740 000 inhabitants with effective residence in the country are counted.
The low number of births, the increase in deaths and the migration balance are among the main causes of this phenomenon, which has an impact on the most important resource of the nation, the human one.
The essential and necessary thing, he considered, given the evolution of the demographic dynamics of Cuba and all its territories, is to take the population as an important part of all projects and planning, not forgetting that there is no demographic dynamics without economy, but there is no economy without demographic dynamics.
For his part, Antonio Aja, director of the Center for Demographic Studies, reported on the results of visits to provinces and municipalities to monitor the implementation of the policy. Along with discreet progress, problems such as increased fertility in adolescent girls, informal employment and internal migration persist.
In this regard, the Prime Minister called for redoubled efforts across the country to mitigate this negative trend of an issue that is cross-cutting to society as a whole. It is true that it is followed up, the indicators are known, but comprehensive analyses are not carried out in all areas.
In an international scenario marked by the increase in drug production and consumption, the Greater Antilles reinforces its Zero Tolerance policy, with a strategy based on the balance of actions to prevent and combat this harmful scourge.
Hence, almost closing the day of the meeting, Colonel Juan Carlos Poey Guerra, head of the specialized anti-drug confrontation body of the Ministry of the Interior, presented a comprehensive report on preventive and confrontational actions against illicit drug activities in Cuba, and the main results obtained last year.
In the midst of an increasingly adverse international context, he said, Cuba is not alien to the drug threat and its impacts, and therefore maintains the political will to continue to work with international agencies on the matter, and in turn to fulfil the commitments made as a State party to the three international conventions in force.
The actions taken to combat the illicit acts of drugs are based on respect for the rights, duties and fundamental guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, he explained.
The strategy followed for confrontation, he detailed, is based on a balance between prevention and confrontation on the basis of preventive, educational, social inclusion, community popular participation, treatment, rehabilitation and accessible health, universal and without discrimination of any kind.
As part of the actions that have been carried out, he referred to the proposal to establish a National Drug Observatory, which will provide the country with real, objective and reliable information regarding supply, demand and response to the drug situation.
Finally, the Prime Minister stressed that in confronting drugs we must all join, including families, and get the population to understand the risks involved. (Text and Photo: Cubadebate)
