RAUL CASTRO DELAYS PARTY CONGRESS, DEFENDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HAVANA 000477

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON PGOV PINR CU
SUBJECT: RAUL CASTRO DELAYS PARTY CONGRESS, DEFENDS
SOCIALISM

REF: A. HAVANA 100

B. 08 HAVANA 969

C. HAVANA 444

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Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) To no one's surprise, Cuban President Raul Castro and
the Communist Party's Central Committee announced on July 29
another delay of the Sixth Communist Party Congress intended
for the end of this year. The official excuse is a lack of
preparation, even though the Congress is already seven years
behind schedule. Amidst a flurry of activity starting with
Raul's July 26 speech and ending with his August 1 speech at
the semi-annual National Assembly, Raul and his ministers
painted a desperate and fairly accurate picture of the Cuban
economy (septel),but once again offered no solutions. In
response to Secretary Clinton's statement earlier in July
that the United States wants to see fundamental changes in
the Cuban regime, Raul said he was not elected to restore
capitalism but to "defend, maintain, and continue to improve
socialism." For their part, the National Assembly
established a Comptroller General's office similar to the
U.S. General Accounting Office, created a national system of
museums, and passed two U.S. focused resolutions regarding
Honduras and the Cuban Five. In what is becoming a fairly
typical tag team routine, Fidel Castro, who remains the head
of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC),has not been heard from
since his brother's return from Africa on July 23. End
Summary

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A Lot of Activity
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2. (SBU) Raul returned on July 23 from an 11-day trip to
Algeria, Egypt (for the Non-Aligned Movement summit),
Namibia, Angola, and a short layover in Brazil. He then
traveled to the eastern province of Holguin on July 26 to
celebrate National Rebellion Day - Cuba's most important
revolutionary holiday representing the 56th anniversary of
the failed attack on Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes
barracks that is now hailed as the start of the revolution.
The twelve working committees of the National Assembly met on
July 28 and 29 to hear reports on the full range of
government activities. Also on July 29, the Seventh Plenum
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, with the
Politburo and Secretariat, and invited members of the Council
of State and the Council of Ministers discussed national
defense and the economy. The Central Committee also
officially agreed to delay the Sixth Communist Party Congress
indefinitely. The Council of Ministers itself met on July 30
to approve a second adjustment of government expenditures and
a non-specific group of measures to "address our country's
tense financial situation (septel)." Finally, the third
ordinary session (since the February 2008 elections) of the
Seventh Legislature of the National Assembly met for one day
on August 1 to unanimously approve two bills, pass two
resolutions, and elect two government officials.

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Party Congress Delayed Again
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3. (C) The Cuban Communist Party held its first Party
Congress in 1975, followed by congresses in 1980, 1985, 1991,
and 1997. The Sixth Party Congress was supposed to take
place in 2002 but has been delayed repeatedly. When he
became president in February 2008, Raul first promised to
hold the long expected gathering of party faithful before the
end of 2009. He later repeated that promise in two prominent
speeches on July 26, 2008 and January 1, 2009. As 2009
rolled along, diplomats, analysts, and our Cuban contacts
grew increasingly confident that a delay was inevitable
because the PCC had yet to propose an agenda and, as one

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diplomat who predicted the delay back in February put it (Ref
A),Fidel is still alive. The delay was made official on
July 29 at the Communist Party's Seventh Central Committee
Plenum. Second Party Secretary Raul Castro's excuse for the
latest delay was that the preparations have not yet been
completed (or started) and this "cannot become just another
event...(because)...most likely it will be the last one
presided over by the historic leadership of the revolution."


4. (SBU) According to PCC statutes, the Congress should
examine and signal the way forward to solve the problems most
important to the construction of socialism and to approve the
strategic programs for the economic, social, and cultural
development of the nation. As part of this process, the PCC
circulates an agenda at least six-months before the Congress
among the 1,500 Congress delegates representing an estimated
850,000 party members around the country. The leaders
discuss the agenda, offer minor tweaks, then approve it in
what is usually touted as a major democratic achievement.


5. (C) The Congress also typically elects new party
leadership, which has led to speculation that one of the
reasons for the continued delay is uncertainty in how to deal
with Fidel Castro who continues to serve as First Party
Secretary even though he no longer physically participates in
PCC activities. However, Raul announced in his August 1
speech at the National Assembly that the party will convene
for the first time and "relatively quickly" a National
Conference to elect new leadership institutions (i.e. the
Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Secretariat). The
new leadership, which will replace members elected 12 years
ago for a term that was supposed to last only five years,
will be responsible for continuing and concluding the
Congress preparations. It is unclear whether the National
Conference will venture to replace Fidel himself.

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With All Due Respect Mrs. Clinton...
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6. (C) In keeping with his custom, Raul made little
reference to the United States in his brief July 26 speech.
While extolling his compatriots to return to working the land
and plant trees, Raul said that "it is not a matter of
shouting Fatherland or Death, down with imperialism; the
blockade hits us and the land is there, waiting for our hard
work." With the exception of one other reference to "the
economic blockade", Raul simply continued his tendency to
identify well known domestic issues (lack of housing, water,
cash, and food) and urge Cubans to sacrifice more and work
harder to overcome them.


7. (C) Raul devoted significantly more time to relations
with the United States in his address to the National
Assembly on August 1. He touted the growing "prestige of
this small island" pointing to Cuba's just ended presidency
of the Non-Aligned Movement, new membership in the Rio Group,
and regional support against the U.S. embargo at the Summit
of the Americas in April. Raul repeated once again that Cuba
does not have the slightest intention of joining the OAS,
although he called the June decision to remove Cuba's
suspension a defeat for the United States and victory for
ALBA and Cuba. Summing up this point, Raul said "the
question emerges regarding which country is isolated in the
region; it does not look like Cuba."


8. (C) Raul said that sticking to the facts the embargo is
still in effect and Cuba is still listed as a state sponsor
of terrorism. He also highlighted that the "positive, though
minimal" changes to U.S. policy regarding travel,
remittances, and telecommunications announced on April 13
have not yet been implemented. "It is important for this to
be made known, since there is considerable confusion and
manipulation of this issue in the international press." Raul
then said the "aggressiveness and anti-Cuban rhetoric" has
been reduced and migration talks are being held in a "serious
and constructive way." He quoted Secretary Clinton's remarks
in early July that "...we are opening up dialogue with Cuba,

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but we are very clear that we want to see fundamental changes
in the Cuban regime." Raul replied, "...with all due
respect, I find myself obliged to respond to Mrs. Clinton and
at the same time to those in the EU who demand that we make
unilateral gestures toward dismantling our political and
social system. I was not elected president to restore
capitalism in Cuba or to hand over the revolution. I was
elected to defend, maintain, and continue to improve
socialism, not to destroy it," after which he reportedly
received an extended standing ovation from the just over 600
National Assembly members. Raul continued by reiterating
Cuba's willingness to discuss everything with the United
States, but "not to negotiate our political or social
system." Addressing Secretary Clinton again, Raul said "that
if they want to discuss everything, we will discuss
everything, not just about here, but about there, too" (in
specific reference to alleged torture at Guantanamo Bay
prison). Raul did not mention or refer to President Obama in
either of his speeches.

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Accomplishments? Comptroller and National Museum System
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9. (C) After all the rhetoric and preparation for the
semi-annual National Assembly, two laws were passed. The
first bill created a National Museum System to help preserve
Cuba's cultural heritage by standardizing the management of
the country's museums. The second bill created an Office of
Comptroller General, which was first introduced by Raul
Castro at the December 2008 National Assembly (Ref B). The
Comptroller is a beefed up version of the ineffective
Ministry of Audit and Control and will report directly to the
National Assembly and Council of State (instead of the
Council of Ministers). The Comptroller has similar
responsibilities to the U.S. General Accounting Office, but
since the Cuban government is involved in all economic
activity in Cuba the regulatory scope is virtually unlimited.
It will also target individuals and not just state entities.


10. (C) The National Assembly also adopted two U.S. focused
resolutions. One called on the United States to stop
"interfering" in Honduras and supporting the de facto
government. The other demanded the return of the Five Cuban
Spies. Finally, the National Assembly "elected" Homero
Acosta Alvarez the new secretary of the Council of State
(replacing Jose Miyar Barruecos who is now Minister of
Science, Technology, and the Environment) and Gladys Bejerano
Portela as the Comptroller General. Bejerano was the
Minister of now defunct Ministry of Audit and Control. All
votes on all bills, resolutions, and elections were unanimous.

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Tag, You Are It
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11. (C) While his brother was traveling through Africa,
Fidel Castro wrote three reflections focusing on Honduras and
the alleged involvement of current and former U.S. government
employees (Ref C). In his latest reflection, Fidel
sarcastically suggested Secretary Clinton should be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in the mediation effort
led by Costa Rican President Arias. Fidel has not published
another reflection since Raul landed back in Cuba on July 23,
seemingly yielding his time to the current president. If the
brothers are indeed intentionally sharing the press time,
Fidel has the much easier task of hypothesizing on foreign
conspiracy theories while Raul is forced to report on the
sorry state of Cuban economy.

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Comments
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12. (C) Beyond the delay of the Party Congress and the
creation of a Comptroller General's office, Raul offered
nothing new to the Cuban people during a hectic week of
meetings and speeches. Possibly most frustrating for both

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ordinary Cubans and the second tier (at least) party
leadership is that Raul Castro had promised in his first
speech as acting president on July 26, 2007 a "structural and
conceptual transformation" in the government. In the last
meeting of the National Assembly in December 2008, Raul
announced the transformation would be submitted at the Sixth
Party Congress. Not only has the Party Congress been delayed
indefinitely, but so has any hint of structural change, in
particular regarding the dire state of the Cuban economy, the
expectation of which had provided at least a sliver of hope
to the most optimistic Cubans. The creation of an Office of
the Comptroller General fits within Raul's focus on better
workplace discipline and fighting corruption, but is unlikely
to positively impact Cuba's current economic and financial
difficulties (septel). In fact, a Comptroller General's
office that effectively cuts down on workplace graft may
negatively impact the average Cuban's standard of living and
reduce the already weak incentives to show up at work.
FARRAR