The Communist Party of Cuba speaks
The hard, necessary, and honorable road
At the closing session of the Tenth Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba on July 5, 2025, Party First Secretary Miguel Díaz-Canel once again demonstrated that he is the man of the moment, capable of effectively leading the Cuban Revolution in a time of the passing from the political scene of the generation of the Revolution. The leadership of Díaz-Canel, who also is President of Cuba, occurs in a historic moment defined by an intensification of the six-decades long blockade against Cuba as well as by a structural crisis of the world-system, which has been unfolding for four decades. But it is a historic moment that also is defined by hope, in that the nations of the Global South and East are advancing as never before in the construction in daily political practice of the six-decades old vision of a New International Economic Order, more just, democratic, and sustainable.
The First Secretary began with reference to the proceedings of the Plenary and the expectations of the people with respect to the Party.
We have shared critical and in-depth discussions of the problems we have, but that is not enough to solve them. What the people are expecting from us, their main representatives and public servants, are concrete and immediate actions that help overcome the deep economic crisis that is doing so much damage to the spiritual fabric of our nation.
In order to meet the just expectations of the people, the Party cannot confine itself to condemnation of the blockade or wait for the expected results of new measures of trade and cooperation with friendly nations. Rather, Party militants must recognize that the solutions to Cuba’s problems “depend entirely on us.”
Cuba lives, the First Secretary declared, under conditions of war, in which bombs of economic war block or impose obstacles on all efforts, along with bombs of misinformation and distortion. In recent days, the Presidential Memorandum of National Security against Cuba has confirmed publicly that the strategy of the current administration is to continue the war against Cuba. The Cuban President noted that “the Machiavellian [economic and ideological] combination is not only aimed at destroying the scarce resources of a country surrounded by an empire in the hopeless times that all humanity is experiencing. Its perverse purpose is that the nation fractures and that the victim ends up blaming itself and not the victimizer.”
The economic and ideological war against Cuba, he declared, is felt in everyday Cuban reality, and it is the source of intense debates in the streets and in every center of study and work. In this situation, the task is clear.
It is in this context, plagued by threats and difficulties, in which the Party must work, in order to strengthen unity and to improve ideological work, especially with respect to the patriotic and revolutionary training of the new generations, ensuring the implementation of the Program of Government to eliminate distortions and revive the economy and, at the same time, confronting negative tendencies present in Cuban society.
The struggle involves unity of action on two fronts, the ideological and the economic. The ideological front involves necessary and constant improvement of ideological work, stressing the formation, preparation, selection, and development of political and governmental leaders as well as leaders of mass organizations, administrators, and directors of institutions. The Party has undertaken numerous studies that have found deficiencies and negative tendencies, comportment not consistent with the principles of socialist construction, and egoistic and individualistic conduct that is opposed to the ideals of solidarity and social justice that are the base of the political project of the Revolution. The duty falls upon the members of the Party to be present in the social media, in the streets, and in places of study and work, explaining and educating.
On the economic front, the most important task is ensuring the implementation of the government’s program for eliminating distortions and revitalizing the economy, approved after much debate and discussion by the National Assembly of People’s Power in December 2024. The focus of the program is to elevate the production of goods and improve the efficiency of service. All remaining bureaucratic obstacles must be eliminated, thereby permitting the advancement of the development of the productive forces of the country to their full potential. It is necessary to increase the various sources of income in foreign currency to the country and to utilize efficiently the limited available foreign currency. Agriculture and the food industry are the highest priority, and therefore the government program provides credit to local producers, access to materials and supplies, and fair prices. Food sovereignty is the key.
Other objectives of the program include the stabilization of the energy system, stability in the exchange rate of the Cuban peso, attracting foreign investment in national production, rigorous control over the implementation of the program and evaluation of the results, and maintaining the objective of growing economically with social development. Science and technology are integral to this process: a socialist economy is increasingly cemented in knowledge.
Díaz-Canel declared that socialist democracy is participatory. The government’s program must be implemented in a form that involves the people in the taking of decisions through such means as people’s consultations, public hearings, and digital platforms, which are tied to the ideological formation of the people, deepening the values of socialism and the role of the individual as an active agent in the society, and generating a sense of belonging and commitment to the national project.
The Cuban President made reference to the emergence of an alternative world order. He observed that, in spite of the uncertainty and insecurity in the world scenario,
alternative forces to the unipolar domination of US imperialism have emerged and continue to consolidate, which have materialized in specific countries and in organizations or groupings of countries such as BRICS, which seek greater independence and to break the exclusive yoke of finance, technology and the rules of the game dependent on the economy and power of the United States.
In this context, Cuba has developed fraternal ties with Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras as well as with the countries of the Caribbean. It has important political and economic relations with China, Vietnam, Russia, and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Having reviewed the key points of Díaz-Canel’s closing address, I now turn to a review of reports and comments made during the Plenary. The discussions show that the Party continues to maintain a consensus and exhorts the people to socialist construction, not simply through declarations, but through engagement and presence among the people in their daily situation.