"THE objectives approved here were discussed throughout the country in a profoundly democratic spirit," emphasized President Raúl Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, during the closing session of the Party’s 1st National Conference, held January 28-29 at Havana’s International Convention Center.

The President of the Councils of State and Ministers highlighted the broad exchange of opinions which characterized the work in commissions during the first day of the event, while nevertheless emphasizing that the greatest challenge does not lie in reaching agreement, but in how agreements are implemented.

During a session conducted by the Party’s Second Secretary, José Ramón Machado Ventura, delegates unanimously approved resolutions presented by the four commissions and agreed to authorize the Central Committee, during its current term, to fill vacancies representing up to 20% of the number of members approved by the 6th Congress.

Commission #1 addressed the Party’s functioning, methods and style of work. Participants discussed the importance of focusing work by rank and file members on the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines; the strengthening of actions taken to confront social indiscipline, illegal acts, corruption and other negative behavior, while demanding that attention be paid to proposals made by citizens in any context.

Commission #2 was devoted to the Party’s political and ideological work and addressed, among other important issues, the strengthening of national unity around the Party and the Revolution, which requires promoting closer ties with the masses and strengthening one-on-one interaction, using creative means, as well as expanding the conscious participation of the people, as protagonists and agents of change, in the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines.

Commission #3 was charged with analyzing the Party’s cadre development policy and proposed that, in order to better reflect Cuban society, women, Blacks, mixed race persons and youth - on the basis of their merits and accomplishments - be progressively and purposefully promoted to leadership positions. The Commission also emphasized the need for gradual renovation in these positions and for a definition of term limits.

During pre-Conference discussions, more than 65,380 proposals were made to Chapter 4 of the Conference central document devoted to the Party’s relations with the Union of Young Communists (UJC) and other mass organizations, which led to the reformulation of 16 of the 17 resolutions originally proposed. This fact clearly illustrates the democratic, participatory nature of the process, but even more far-reaching was the discussion in Commission #4 addressing the strategic issue of the continuity of the Revolution, which is dependent precisely on the relationship between the Party and the UJC and other mass organizations. This was the focus of many of the delegates’ comments.

The 1st Party Conference approved a final resolution read by Political Bureau member Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, which summarized the fundamental ideas which will guide the Party’s work.

The document updated basic concepts which characterize the relationship between the Party and the UJC and other mass organizations and defined measures to be taken to eliminate the practice of assuming functions and making decisions which are the responsibility of state, government or other administrative bodies.

During the opening session of the Conference, Second Secretary José Ramón Machado Ventura advocated working with a greater sense of responsibility, always looking to the future, and reiterated the need to eliminate obsolete mindsets in order to strengthen the work of the Party.

"This is not a conjunctural task," he said, but should rather constitutes a permanent and essential part of our members’ activity, which guarantees the Party’s continuing ability to rise to the occasion, as demanded by the challenges of every historic period.

Machado Ventura stated that summarizing the opinions and criteria expressed by delegates during the discussions and making them the focus of work, and ensuring the implementation of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, were the fundamental goals of the Conference.

He reiterated that much remains to be done and reported that the meeting was preceded by a thorough analysis of the central document under consideration, published in October 2011, and discussed by the rank and file membership of the Party and the Union of Young Communists.

The inaugural event was dedicated to the 159th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, Cuba’s national hero and recognized by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro as the intellectual author of the assault on the Moncada Garrison of July 26, 1953.

The Conference was convened by the 6th PCC Congress, held in April of 2011.