The Council of State analyzed the implementation schedule of the Government’s projections to correct distortions and boost the economy

Detailed information on the implementation schedule of the Government’s projections to correct distortions and boost the economy during the year 2024, was presented this Monday to the Council of State by the member of the Political Bureau of the Party, Manuel Marrero Cruz, Cuban Prime Minister.

In the first ordinary session of this body this year, headed by its head Esteban Lazo Hernández, and with the participation, at the National Capitol, of the First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; the Head of Government delved into several elements of the measures that were presented to the deputies in the Second Ordinary Period of Sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power, held in December 2023.

Marrero Cruz emphasized that, as the population has been informed, the normative provisions regulating the salary measures to stimulate the permanence in the Health and Education sectors were published in the Official Gazette of the Republic; as well as the legal norms regulating the tariff measures, the new retail and wholesale prices of fuels, and the updated rates for passenger transportation, among others, were approved.

In this regard, he highlighted the communicational actions developed to date for the information to our people, mainly through the transmission of several round tables on these issues; as well as the follow-up and control of the implementation of the decisions adopted.

“This becomes the main priority of the Government’s work in the year 2024. The political and communicational assurance of its implementation, and the support of the factors at all levels, are key to provide the greatest amount of information to the people, in order to clarify any concerns”, concluded the Prime Minister.

For his part, the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, commented on four priorities for this stage of work: the strengthening of national unity, based on the elements raised by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, in his speech on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, in Santiago de Cuba; the strengthening of ideological work; the political assurance of the measures approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power; and the systematic discussion of negative trends in our society.

Regarding the measures approved, Díaz-Canel insisted that none of them will be applied until the conditions are created in the country; but, as explained, it will be gradual, with special attention to people in vulnerable situations, taking into account the principle of the Revolution that no one will be left helpless, and where everyone must assume the corresponding responsibility in their control and follow-up, especially the National Assembly, in the systematic verification of the results achieved; accompanied by a solid political communication.

Esteban Lazo, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Party, pointed out the importance of this process, in which the unity of all is essential to promote the fulfillment of the tasks set in order to achieve the best results, especially in the neighborhoods and communities, with the decisive work of the delegates, in permanent exchange with the population, in defense of the work of the Revolution.

FIRST PROCESS OF ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE DELEGATE TO HIS ELECTORS POSTPONED

Subsequently, the members of this body approved not to carry out, in the first quarter of 2024, the first process of accountability of the delegate to his electors, of the 18th mandate of the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power, and to evaluate its development later in the year, taking into account the results of compliance with Agreement 70-X of the Council of State.

Carlos Rafael Fuentes León, vice president of the Commission for Attention to the Local Bodies of the People’s Power of the Cuban Parliament, explained that the agreement, adopted on October 9, 2023, postponed the realization of this process for the first quarter of 2024. To make up for it, the document included several actions, mainly the release of delegates from their work duties, whose work allowed it, for the remainder of 2023, with a view to increasing their link and permanent attention to voters, as well as providing them with the necessary information.

In turn, the 70-X agreement stipulated that the municipal bodies of the People’s Power, in their last ordinary session of the past year, should evaluate the attention given to the proposals formulated, and how the delegates’ relationship with their electors is progressing.

“In compliance with the above, the presidents of the municipal assemblies established the necessary coordination to make it effective. Of the 12,429 delegates to the municipal assemblies, 9,901 were released from their work duties, representing 79.6% of the total; of them, 5,285 full time and 4,616 partially, attending to their responsibilities. A total of 2,392 were not released, a figure which includes the directors of the municipal assemblies and other delegates whose responsibilities did not allow their release”, said Fuentes León.

In this regard, in this item of the session’s agenda, it was informed that the measures taken guaranteed that, between October 15 and December 31, 2023, the delegates released from their work responsibilities throughout the country reached a direct exchange with more than 2 500 000 voters; and that, by this and other means, 86 755 suggestions were received, of which 74.9 % were solved. In addition, 69,734 control actions were carried out on entities providing services of local incidence in this period.

The delegates also participated in priority tasks for the country and for their respective territories. As a result, the objectives proposed at this stage were satisfactorily met.

Finally, the members of the Council of State approved the Plan of Topics for the meetings of this body in the year 2024, in correspondence with its constitutional and legal attributions, and particularly with the issues of greater transcendence and direct impact on the population.

“For the elaboration of the Plan of Topics, the proposals made by the members of the Council of State, the presidents of permanent working commissions of the National Assembly, the provincial governments, the municipal assemblies of the People’s Power, officials and other specialists consulted were taken into account. More than 80 proposals were received, of which 55 were reflected in some way, including the analysis of public policies, government programs, control of the implementation of laws and decrees, control of compliance with the State budget, among others”, said Homero Acosta Álvarez, secretary of the Cuban Legislative.

During the session, the agreements adopted by this body in its previous meetings were also checked.