Defending popular participation and control based on the country 

A detailed evaluation of the Government Program to correct distortions and boost the economy, with an emphasis on updating it after the study and analysis process carried out in the country, was conducted on February 11 by the members of the Council of State at their regular session, led by the President of this body, Esteban Lazo Hernández, and with the participation of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.

The Cuban head of government reported on the preliminary summary of the popular consultation to date, in which some 76,172 meetings were held and 140,348 proposals were made.

He also shared that the final update proposal will be consulted again with the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, governors, the economic commissions of the Party Central Committee and the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), prior to its publication.

The session also provided further details on the implementation of the agreements adopted by the ANPP regarding the Economic Plan and the State Budget.

Marrero Cruz added that, since the last session of this body, work has also been done on the approval of Government Directives to address an acute fuel shortage.

In discussing several actions taken in this regard, he stressed that the objective is to guarantee the vitality of the country without sacrificing development and to minimize the impact on the population by promoting the use of endogenous resources and diversifying ways to generate greater foreign exchange earnings.

In the debate on this issue, Díaz-Canel insisted on the importance of strengthening community work, participation, and popular control among all actors in the neighborhood, promoting social programs, and seeking solutions through unity and collective contribution.

Subsequently, the members of the Council of State evaluated the performance of the permanent working commissions of the ANPP and the results of the activity of Attention to the Population in its Auxiliary Offices.