14 July 2025

Cuba’s President has said that Cuba is now “a country at war.”

It is, he told a Central Committee plenary of Cuba’s Communist Party held on 4-5 July, at risk from a “Machiavellian combination” of actions by the US Administration. Washington “not only aims to destroy the scarce resources” that Cuba has, he said, but is also trying to create “a political and social crisis that will explode during the summer.”

To respond, he stated, Cuba’s Communist Party (PCC) and government must do much more to deliver “what the people are expecting from us” through “concrete and immediate actions that will help overcome the profound economic crisis” the island is facing.

Referring to the new US Presidential National Security Memorandum on Cuba (See Cuba Briefing 7 July 2025), President Díaz-Canel said that the US Administration intends intensifying its economic war with the aim of “fracturing” the nation through actions “damaging to the spiritual fabric” of the country.

“The United States government, he told the closing session, has “thus decided to maintain and strengthen the pressure, cutting off almost all bilateral diplomatic contact with Cuba and intensifying its campaign to discredit the country and intimidate third parties, primarily Latin Americans and Europeans, as well as Caribbean countries.”

Main themes indicate no change of direction

Speaking as the First Secretary of the country’s Communist Party and at the end of two days of what he described as “tough debates,” he made clear that Cuba’s Communist Party has decided that in the face of a situation “fraught with threats and difficulties” it would continue to pursue its present economic and political path in a largely unrevised form.

In doing so, he said, the PCC would work to strengthen unity, ensuring the delivery of government’s programme to reinvigorate the economy, perfect its ideological work, and emphasise the political training of new generations, while confronting “negative trends present in society.”

His remarks, which offered little that was new or any sense of a change of direction, had several main themes.

Of these the most prominent was real concern about losing the support of the young and the need to do more politically to retain and increase their support. Other lines in his closing remarks suggested fear of an externally engineered social break down, and the need to constantly rethink in practical terms the Party and government’s response to complex interrelated economic problems at a time of significantly diminished resources. His address also implied concern that the breakdown of international norms, might mean that almost any action might now be possible against Cuba by the US and the Cuban leadership’s much-hated exile opposition in the US. Other themes indicated a fear that the Cuban people will blame the Communist Party rather than Washington for the present crisis; anxiety about communicating hope in a changed country, especially to young people; and concern that the PCC will lose its moral authority unless its cadres are successfully revitalised.

Solutions said to depend “entirely” on leadership of Communist Party

During his address, Díaz-Canel indicated that the Central Committee’s two days of discussion had reaffirmed that “solutions depend entirely on us.” In a “highly challenging and threatening context” involving economic warfare, “disinformation, distortion, and hatred,” he stressed, public opinion had “forced us to continually rethink our scenarios of action and resistance tactics without compromising our strategy.”

This meant, he said, “defending unity” had to be the priority for the PCC, because “the very existence of the Revolution depends on it.” He warned however that it cannot be a slogan. Rather, he said, it required action that fosters the participation of the people, and young people especially in relation to ideology and the economy. In doing so, he placed emphasis on the importance of “revolutionary analysis and debate that provides ideas, solutions, and measures to enrich the difficult decision-making process.” He also underlined the need to monitor “the functioning and internal life” of grassroots organisations to ensure that all cadres in leadership positions are implementing all that was agreed at the Communist Party’s last Congress held in 2021.

Addressing international events, Díaz-Canel noted how Cuba had watched “the alarming impunity with which the US and Israeli governments had attacked Iran, without “the slightest vigorous political response from the international community and its institutions”, and what he described as the “premeditated” way in which “genocide against the Palestinian people” is being undertaken. In doing so, he observed the impotence of [the UN’s] anti-democratic structure and what he described as “the complicit role of the large transnational media which, he said, was “generating the narrative and ignoring worldwide condemnation.”

Placing this in a Cuban context, he said that this required the PCC and Government to better inform the Cuban people in defence of national sovereignty and socialism. In this, he observed, social communication will play a decisive role, requiring greater timeliness, quality and articulation, especially through debate and dialogue with young people.

Priorities for the Communist Party in relation to economy outlined

During his lengthy address Díaz-Canel stressed the role of the PCC in relation to the delivery of the programme of economic reform first announced in December 2023. In particular, he noted that:

• The most important task the Party must undertake is to ensure that Government’s macro-economic reform programme is implemented and is better understood nationally.

• The proposals and ideas that emerged from the debate held at the recent Congress of the National Association of Cuban Economists should be incorporated into the programme (See Cuba Briefing 23 June 2025 for details).

• State-owned and non-state-owned enterprises must be freed from the bureaucratic obstacles that still exist and are preventing them from fully utilising their potential in developing the country’s production.

• It is now essential to increase potential foreign currency earnings in every way possible and, more importantly, efficiently utilise the limited available income.

• Agriculture and the food industry must be given the highest priority as food sovereignty is essential.

• Credit programmes for local producers, access to inputs, and fair prices for essential crops can stimulate production, reduce dependence on imports, and reduce foreign currency expenditure.

• It is imperative to stabilise the national electricity system.

• Cuba’s economic and social development model maintains the appropriate balance and relationship between centralisation and decentralisation, balancing macroeconomic stability with innovation, integrating economic actors “in an appropriate relationship”, attracting foreign direct investment, and by prioritising domestic production.

Communist Party told it must consolidate its authority

Speaking specifically about Cuba’s Communist Party, he stressed that “The defence of unity must prevail as task number one.” The Party, he said, “must be the force that revolutionises the Revolution.” This requires, he told meeting participants, it to “consolidate the authority earned by the merits of the historical generation and preserve the leadership and moral authority of the organisation.”

In practical terms, he said, this will require the strengthening of the Party’s “operating dynamics and the proactivity of its members in addressing society’s most pressing problems.” It must show, he stressed, a “genuine concern for the functioning of society …. with the power to convene and mobilise to defeat any plan by the enemies of the Cuban nation.” To this end, growth in Party membership, he said , must be a process that generates genuine interest and has a social impact. “Let’s enlist young people to participate with their natural enthusiasm in all the country’s crucial tasks. This way, we will revive the essence of the Revolution and the Party,” he told the PCC’s Central Committee.

He also sought to have its members reflect on the mechanics of periodic evaluations of cadres and members as to whether they are effectively influencing the methods used in local political work. “We owe it to ourselves to reflect deeply every day on how we carry out our functions as a partisan organisation.” Oversight, he said, must be complemented by involving the population in decision-making combined with ideological training.

Need for greater control over social behaviour stressed

Addressing Cuba’s deteriorating social environment, Cuba’s President indicated that greater control will be required by the authorities. Observing that “problems and behaviours that threaten socialist construction are dangerously accumulating”, he said that “some are reaching magnitudes and levels that are already unacceptable.” This he blamed on a lack of “oversight of approved documents” resulting in a failure to implement policies, laws, decrees, and other legal norms.

Cuba’s President went on to say that it will now be necessary for the Communist Party and Government to “maintain the intensity of integrated actions, prioritising preventive action with the urgent implementation of popular and institutional control.” He also stressed the need to wage a permanent and intense fight against crimes associated with drug trafficking and consumption.

Importance of positive international relations emphasised

In his remarks, Díaz-Canel stressed the importance Cuba places on retaining what he described as “a significant share of political influence in the region and globally.” This authority, he said, “well earned by our historical leaders and respected worldwide, is an authority that gives us a heard and influential voice in important international events.” Speaking about specific relationships he noted that in the case of the BRICS, Cuba is committed to expanding relations and harnessing their potential. “This is undoubtedly a novel alternative that we should support,” he told the PCC plenary.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, and given the electoral calendar in various countries, he observed, the political balance is expected to become more adverse than the scenario experienced in recent years.

In this context, the fraternal ties with Venezuela, the important and close relationship that has strengthened with Mexico in recent years, the ties with Nicaragua and Honduras, and the common position of CARICOM are pillars that we must protect, he said.

Díaz-Canel also noted that political and economic ties with China and Vietnam have continued to strengthen, and that both countries now play a growing and important role in the major economic challenges Cuba faces. By contrast he noted only that the political relationship with Russia is “consolidating,” and that Cuba will continue to promote its participation as an observer country in the Eurasian Economic Union.

Party Congress in 2026 and plans to commemorate Fidel Castro’s birth

During his address, Díaz-Canel described as “crucial” the Central Committee’s approval of a call for a ninth Communist Party Congress to be held in 2026. The Congress is Cuba’s highest decision-making body, setting the country’s political and economic direction for the ensuing multi-year period. The ninth, he said, will be “responsible for presenting a strategy for improving the Party’s work, both ideologically and socioeconomically …. and addressing the problems.” As such, he stated, “it must be a critical Congress, but one that also proposes and approves ways to overcome the current situation under conditions of even more severe gridlock.”

To achieve this, he told the plenary, the intention is that the broadest possible consultation on the congress documents will take place beforehand “with non-members, in sector-specific meetings, with experts on specific topics, in the governing boards and key structures of the Central State Administration agencies, the business system, the budget system, and with young people.” The ninth Congress of Cuba’s Communist Party is to take place on 16-19 April 2026.

Speaking about plans to commemorate the Centennial of the birth of Fidel Castro next year, Cuba’s President said it would “facilitate and ensure encounters between young people and history. Planned events, he stressed, must “transcend the logical nostalgia for the historical leader ….connecting it with current and future struggles.” The intention is, he said, to “reinforce socialist values, connect with new generations, and project his thinking in the face of current challenges.”

Highlights in this issue:

• More visitors sought from China, Turkey, Russia, and Latin America
• Marrero admits government is dissatisfied with its failure to deliver
• State Department sanctions Cuba’s President, extends US restricted hotels list
• Positive Cuba-China biotech experience to be outlined during belt and road events
• Mexico becoming a major supplier of gasoline and other fuels

14 July 2025, Issue 1288

 The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.