Socialist system or economic future?

A "strategic goal" is to continue participating actively in economic integration with the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean.

HAVANA, Cuba, – Cuba will develop its socialist economy relying on integration with friendly countries, accepting foreign capital as a complement to national investment, using its human capital efficiently and increasing high added value production, according to draft guidelines to be discussed by society at large.

In the social arena, the government will be less paternalistic and will seek to eliminate gratuities and the food ration book system, say the Draft Guidelines for Economic and Social Policy, circulating this week in Cuba as a basis for popular discussion prior to the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

The Congress, to be held in the second half of April 2011, will be entirely devoted to updating the island's economic model, President Raúl Castro announced. It has the authority to affirm the reforms that are already under way in labour and agriculture, and to approve others that are still being considered.

Experts say the PCC Congress is an opportunity to move away from improvised economic measures and towards an orderly strategy, with clearly-defined phases, that will finally set aside the so-called "real socialism" characteristic of Cuba's former Soviet bloc allies, and respond instead to the country's present needs.

According to the draft guidelines, socialist state enterprises will remain the main model in the economy, but "mixed capital companies, cooperatives, farmers with the right to use idle land, rented property landlords, self-employed workers and other forms that contribute to raise the efficiency of social labour" must be recognised and encouraged.

The non-state companies will be able to supply themselves in the market at non-subsidised wholesale prices.

People with an interest in one of the 178 trades and professions authorised for self-employment and private enterprise see access to wholesale supplies as essential to lowering the costs of their goods and services, although the authorities have stated that this development will depend on whether the country is able to afford it.

Great public interest is being shown in the stated intention to advance towards "monetary unification." Cuba has a dual system, with the Cuban peso as its national currency, and convertible pesos (CUC) as the hard currency which replaced the US dollar in 2004.

However, the process will depend "on productivity increases, the effectiveness of distributive and redistributive mechanisms, and the availability of goods and services," the document says. Item 54 adds "because of its complexity, it requires rigorous preparation and execution, both objectively and subjectively."

A sensitive issue for a large sector of the Cuban population is the proposal to "implement an orderly elimination of the ration book as a regulated, egalitarian form of distribution (of food) at subsidised prices, which benefits those in need as well as those not in need."

As for economic integration, the guidelines give priority to continuing participation in the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), and working intensively on economic coordination and cooperation in the short, medium and long term for the achievement of its goals.

A "strategic goal" is to continue participating actively in economic integration with the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, and to maintain Cuba's membership in regional bodies like the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Petrocaribe.

Popular debates on the draft economic and social policy guidelines will be held from December 1st, 2011 to February 28th, 2011. (Adapted from IPS)