• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 26 / 2011

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18:29, March 26, 2011. The upcoming congress of the Cuban Communist Party in April will introduce several economic reforms while the country retains socialism, Cuban leader Raul Castro said Friday.

Castro said Cuba needs to "correct some mistakes committed in the past five decades of socialism." But he made it clear that Cuba "will not return to capitalism and neo-colonialism" and the updated model for Cuba will primarily be based on a planned economy rather than a market economy."

The new economic policy will conform to the principle that only socialism can overcome the difficulties and preserve the conquests of the Revolution," Castro said.

"The future of the nation is at stake," he said, adding that it is necessary to defend the "permanent discrepancy of the ideas because that's where the best solutions come from."

Meanwhile, Homero Acosta, secretary of the Cuban State Council, said the penal system also needs to be updated along with the economic model.

"The new economic changes will impact every aspect of social life, so it also requires us to modify the criminal law according to the new circumstances," said Acosta.

"It is possible that the typical imprisonment will be replaced by other sanctions like freedom limitation, or correctional labor without confinement, for penalties of up to five years in prison," he said.

Justice Minister Maria Esther Reus said the country needs an updated policy and a legislative development according to the new national reality.

The draft document to be discussed at the party congress in April includes a wide range of topics such as discharging half a million people from over-employed state companies, eliminating excessive social benefits, building a flexible housing market, opening private businesses and implementing a new tax system.

Earlier this week, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro talked about the party structure for the first time since handing over power to his brother Raul in 2006, saying the Cuba leader should at the same time be the first secretary of the party.

Source: Xinhua