Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Communist Party of Cuba Partido Comunista de Cuba


Communist Party of Cuba
Partido Comunista de Cuba
First Secretary Raúl Castro
Second Secretary José Ramón Machado
Founded 3 October 1965
Headquarters Havana, Cuba
Newspaper Granma
Youth wing Young Communist League
Membership  (2011) 800,000 14%
Ideology Communism
Revolutionary socialism
Marxism–Leninism
Martísm
Left-wing nationalism
Castroism
Guevarism
International affiliation Foro de São Paulo
Colours Red and Blue
Website
http://www.pcc.cu/
Politics of Cuba
Political parties
Elections
The Communist Party of Cuba (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state". As of April 2011, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is Raúl Castro, the President of Cuba, younger brother of the previous First Secretary and President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, and the Second Secretary is José Ramón Machado Ventura.[1]

Contents

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History

A billboard in Havana promoting the ongoing socialist revolution
Cuba had a number of communist and anarchist organizations since the early period of the Republic. The original "internationalised" Communist Party of Cuba was formed in the 1920s, which was later renamed the Popular Socialist Party for electoral reasons. In July 1961, two years after the 1959 Revolution, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) was formed by the merger of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, the Popular Socialist Party led by Blas Roca and the Revolutionary Directory March 13 led by Faure Chomón. On March 26, 1962 the ORI became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC) which, in turn, became the Communist Party of Cuba on October 3, 1965. The Communist party remains the only recognized political party in Cuba. Other parties, though not illegal, are unable to campaign or conduct any activities on the island that could be deemed counter-revolutionary.
For the first fifteen years of its formal existence, the Communist Party was almost completely inactive outside of the Politburo. The 100 person Central Committee rarely met and it was ten years after its founding that the first regular Party Congress was held. In 1969, membership of the party was only 55,000 or 0.7% of the population, making the PCC the smallest ruling Communist party in the world. In the 1970s, the party's apparatus began to develop. By the time of the first Party Congress in 1975 the party had grown to just over two hundred thousand members, the Central Committee was meeting regularly and provided the organizational apparatus giving the party the leading role in society that ruling Communist parties generally hold. By 1980 the party had grown to over 430,000 members and grew further to 520,000 by 1985. Apparatuses of the party had grown to ensure that its leading cadres were appointed to key government positions.

Structure

Congress

The Communist Party of Cuba held its first Party Congress in 1975 and has had additional congresses in 1980, 1986, 1991 and 1997. It was announced in July 2009 that the Sixth Party Congress, originally scheduled for late 2009, has been postponed[2] due to the economic crisis.[3]
  • 1st Congress (17–22 December 1975)
  • 2nd Congress (17–20 December 1980)
  • 3rd Congress (4–7 February 1986)
  • 4th Congress (10–14 October 1991)
  • 5th Congress (8–10 October 1997)
  • 6th Congress (16–19 April 2011)

Central Committee

The leading bodies of the party were the Politburo and the Secretariat until 1991 when the two bodies were merged into an expanded Politburo with over twenty members. The Secretariat, however, was re-introduced in 2002. There is also a Central Committee which meets between party congresses. At the Fifth Party Congress the size of the Central Committee was reduced to 150 members from the previous membership of 225. Fidel Castro was the party's First Secretary (or leader) since its inception, while Raúl Castro was the Second Secretary. Upon Fidel's 2008 resignation from the Party and Cuban government, Raúl became First Secretary.

Politburo

The 6th Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba was elected by the Central Committee on 19 April 2011 in the aftermath of the 6th Party Congress.
Rank Name
(birth–death)
Member since Duration Party position(s) State position(s)
Elected at the 1st plenum of the 6th Central Committee (19 April 2011)
1 Raúl Castro Ruz
(born 1931)
3 October 1965 700147000000000000047 years, 7002117000000000000117 days
2 José Ramón Machado Ventura
(born 1930)
3 October 1965 700147000000000000047 years, 7002117000000000000117 days
3 Ramiro Valdés Menéndez
(born 1932)
3 October 1965 700147000000000000047 years, 7002117000000000000117 days
4 Abelardo Colomé Ibarra
(born 1939)
7 February 1986 700126000000000000026 years, 7002210000000000000210 days
5 Esteban Lazo Hernandez
(born 1944)
7 February 1986 700126000000000000026 years, 7002210000000000000210 days
6 Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada
(born 1937)
10 October 1997 700115000000000000015 years, 7002110000000000000110 days
7 Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez Mario
(born 1960)
10 October 1997 700115000000000000015 years, 7002110000000000000110 days
8 Leopoldo Cintra Frías
(born 1941)
14 October 1991 700121000000000000021 years, 7002106000000000000106 days
9 Alvaro Lopez Miera
(born 1943)
10 October 1997 700115000000000000015 years, 7002110000000000000110 days
10 Ramón Espinosa Martín
(born 1939)
10 October 1997 700115000000000000015 years, 7002110000000000000110 days
11 Lázara Mercedes López Acea
(born 1964)
19 April 2011 70001000000000000001 year, 7002284000000000000284 days
  • First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Havana

12 Salvador Valdés Mesa
(born ?)
10 October 1997 700115000000000000015 years, 7002110000000000000110 days
13 Adel Izquierdo Rodríguez
(born 1945)
19 April 2011 70001000000000000001 year, 7002284000000000000284 days
14 Marino Alberto Murillo Jorge
(born 1961)
19 April 2011 70001000000000000001 year, 7002284000000000000284 days
Elected at the 5th plenum of the 6th Central Committee (11 December 2012)
15 Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
(born 1958)
11 December 2012 50000000000000000000 years, 700147000000000000047 days

[edit] Secretariat

The 6th Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba was elected by the Central Committee on 19 April 2011 in the aftermath of the 6th Party Congress.
Rank Name
(birth–death)
Member since Duration Party position(s) State position(s)
1 José Ramón Machado Ventura
(born 1930)
1 July 2006 70006000000000000006 years, 7002211000000000000211 days
2 Esteban Lazo Hernandez
(born 1944)
1 July 2006 70006000000000000006 years, 7002211000000000000211 days
3 Abelardo Álbarez Gil
(born 1945)
1 July 2006 70006000000000000006 years, 7002211000000000000211 days
  • Head of the Department of Cadre Policy

4 Víctor Fidel Gaute López
(born 1960)
1 July 2006 70006000000000000006 years, 7002211000000000000211 days

5 Olga Lidia Tapia Iglesias
(born 1962)
1 July 2006 70006000000000000006 years, 7002211000000000000211 days

6 José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera
(born 1932)
19 April 2011 70001000000000000001 year, 7002284000000000000284 days
  • Head of the Department of International Relations

7 Misael Enamorado Dáger
(born 1953)
19 April 2011 70001000000000000001 year, 7002284000000000000284 days

[edit] Others

The Communist Party of Cuba has a youth wing, the Young Communist League (Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas, UJC) modelled on the Soviet Komsomol[citation needed]. It also has a children's group, the José Martí Pioneer Organization.

Ideology

Compared with other ruling Communist Parties, such as the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Communist Party of China and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Communist Party of Cuba retains a stricter adherence to the tradition of Marxism-Leninism and the traditional Soviet model[citation needed].
The Cuban party is more deeply committed to the concept of socialism than other ruling parties[citation needed] and has been more reluctant in engaging in market reforms though it has been forced to accept some market measures in its economy due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the resultant loss of economic subsidies. The Communist Party of Cuba has favored supporting revolutions abroad and was active in assisting the ELN in Colombia, the FMLN in El Salvador, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement in Grenada.[citation needed] Their most significant international role was in Angola where the Cuban direction of a joint Angolan/Soviet/Cuban force that was involved in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.[4][5] This led to the withdrawal of intervening forces and, in the following peace agreement, the independence of Namibia from South African rule.[6]
It has largely been forced to retreat from this policy due to a lack of funds resulting from the halt of material aid from the Soviet Union. However, the party maintains a policy of sending thousands of Cuban doctors, agricultural technicians, and other professionals to other countries throughout the developing world. More recently the party has sought to support left wing leaders such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

References

External links


 Cuba

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