To continue promoting the exemplary nature of the cadres and popular participation in all processes, to remain permanently linked to the base, to defend our socialist essences and principles, and to continue working hard and very intelligently in order to overcome the difficult situation in the country. , called this Monday the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the meeting with Presidents of Municipal Assemblies of People's Power.

The fifth meeting of this type, led by Esteban Lazo Hernández, head of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State, was also attended by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, provincial governors, mayors and other municipal and officials of the Auxiliary Offices of the Cuban Parliament.

Work together in the face of every challenge

At the beginning of the exchange, Lazo Hernández shared that, a few hours ago, the session of the Council of State was held, where important programs of the country were checked. In this sense, he pointed out that this body has been working for several months to perfect its work, it has a plan of topics for the rest of its mandate adjusted to its constitutional powers, which allows it to better plan work and operate more efficiently. tidy.

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He referred that, since the last meeting, there have been intense months of work, with various activities such as holding debates with delegates and other guests to analyze the interventions of the Prime Minister, and the heads of Economy and Planning and Finance and Prices, on January 31. These meetings had an average participation of over 90% in the country, he pointed out.

Likewise, he mentioned, among other important actions of the stage, the realization of regional integrated community work workshops, based in the provinces of Matanzas, Granma and Ciego de Ávila. “Integrated Community Work will allow us to continue overcoming difficulties and further strengthen the work of People's Power. Now we have to work on an instrument to regulate this activity, from the methodological point of view, in order to achieve its best development », he stressed.

Esteban Lazo added that, in recent months, together with the permanent work commissions of the National Assembly of People's Power, he has visited various territories of the country to verify the implementation of the approved policies and regulations, the actions carried out for the benefit of the population, the existing local potentialities and the insufficiencies that affect the citizenship.

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He insisted that today more than ever we have to march together and the slogan must be work, work and work, as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Miguel Díaz-Canel Party has expressed.

“In all the territories, we have been struck by the leading role that our People's Power delegates have been playing. Their work during the most difficult stage of the pandemic is admirable. Every day we see them become the leaders of the community, their recognition is palpable. They are, as Army General Raúl Castro Ruz said at one point, those who are in the first ideological trench of the Revolution », he stressed.

In his intervention, the President of the Cuban Parliament delved into other aspects of the current national and international context.

That the new economic actors integrate municipal development strategies

As the first item on the agenda, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, offered a detailed explanation on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and Non-Agricultural Cooperatives (CNA) in the context of municipal development. .

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In this regard, he reported that as of June 17 of this year, 3,869 economic actors have been approved in the country, of which 3,764 are private MSMEs, 51 state MSMEs, and 54 non-agricultural cooperatives.

In his presentation, he also specified that 66.2% (2,564) of the approved economic actors are concentrated in five provinces, and that the activities of construction, manufacturing industries, gastronomy, commerce and personal services and production of food and beverages account for 82% of new entrants.

He insisted on the relevance of incorporating new economic actors into municipal development strategies, taking into account that the business fabric of municipalities is essential for the production of goods and services in that territory. In turn, he stressed that the insertion of CNAs and MSMEs in the municipal ecosystem should be encouraged, including linkages with the socialist state company and the link with institutional actors such as the Government, the university, the banking system, among others; as well as agreeing on their participation in tasks of social responsibility in the territories.

Alejandro Gil reiterated the role of the municipalities in the control of the new actors, especially in terms of compliance with taxes; land use regulations; the environmental license, when applicable; corresponding licenses for the exercise of the activity; among other items.

Finally, he added that, through the Platform of Economic Actors (PAE), designed by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), all provinces have real-time access to information on their MSMEs, CNAs and applications in process.

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In the debate on this topic, José Ramón Cabrera Miranda, president of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power of Los Palacios, pointed out that this territory in Pinar del Río now has four state MSMEs in operation and two on the PAE platform. From the initial process of its creation, the potentialities and reserves that these new economic actors had in the diversification of their services were identified, while the linkage with local state and non-state actors was strengthened, he said.

"We encourage them to pay attention to the communities where they live, from their social responsibility in the creation of goods and services in their local environment," he considered.

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For his part, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz called on the municipal authorities to deploy local initiatives so that economic actors emerge based on the solution of existing problems in the territories. «These actors are born in the municipality, they develop their activities in these territories. Therefore, we must work to meet the needs of the municipality and the population”, declared the Head of Government of the Republic.

In this sense, Esteban Lazo Hernández pointed out that today the municipal assemblies of People's Power are called to play an important role in this activity. “From them, territorial development must be encouraged more, not only when approving the respective strategies, but also when controlling them. It is necessary to specify what is approved, the people have to feel the results, ”said the head of the National Assembly.

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In relation to this issue, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, stated that "we are approving an economic actor fundamentally based on whether it is a complement to economic activity in the strategy of local development of each territory. They must participate in the processes of the Revolution, in the economic and social programs of the Revolution, with links with other actors and with social responsibility, stressed the Cuban Head of State.

Design the Plan and Budget with a participatory approach

Subsequently, Vice Prime Minister Alejandro Gil Fernández delved into the essential aspects of the preparation of the Plan for the Economy and the State Budget for the year 2023. After addressing the respective objectives and directives, he stated that the construction of the local budgets with the participation of social and economic sectors of the municipalities, delegates, presidents of popular councils and local authorities, taking into account the proposals of the population.

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Among the specific directives at the local level, Gil Fernández specified that, in the process of preparing the municipal budget, resources for attention to programs and projects of a social nature will be prioritized, as a contribution to the sustainability of social justice, in correspondence with the Economy Plan and projections of municipal development strategies. Among the aforementioned priorities, he mentioned that situations of vulnerability of individuals and families must be addressed, and the creation of conditions to transform this situation; measures to reduce inequalities; transformation of the neighborhoods and improvement of the housing fund; attention to mothers with three or more minor children; among other items.

In this regard, Esteban Lazo drew attention to the fact that it is essential that delegates, directors and members of the local administration participate in this process, due to their knowledge of the needs, programs and social projects that require concrete advances. He exhorted the people to actively participate, in order to achieve a Plan and Budget that is closest to our realities.

Díaz-Canel reflected that the Plan for the Economy must coincide with the solution and attention to the main problems of the territories, it must pay taxes on the generation of the income required by the municipality, it must facilitate the effective collection of taxes, it must contribute to the development of local production systems and be based on science and innovation.

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«The Plan must have a participatory process, well organized and that, based on the proposals of the population, generate solutions. More than diagnoses, it must have proposals for solutions. The Plan will be based on guaranteeing the needs of the population in food, medicine, transportation, health, education, culture, sports, security and social care, community services, water supply and waste treatment, and electricity. In the contribution to this Plan, the socialist state company has to play an essential role”, recognized the Cuban President.

In addition, he referred that the Economy Plan will be in correspondence with the problems raised by citizens, attention to people in situations of vulnerability and to young people, to programs of food sovereignty and nutritional education, among other issues.

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Finally, in the meeting with Presidents of Municipal Assemblies of People's Power from all over the country; Ana María Mari Machado, vice president of the Cuban legislature, addressed the details for the communication assurance of the processes and activities of the People's Power system, where she highlighted the relevant role of social communication as a pillar in the management of the State and the Government. Also, several elements related to the next popular referendum process of the Family Code were shared.

Author

Enrique Moreno Gimeranez

Photos

Tony Hernandez Mena

Taken from the Official Page of the National Assembly of People's Power

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