Havana, September 19( RHC)-- The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba agreed to convene the meetings of accountability of delegates to the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power to their electors in the period between October 15 and November 30, 2023.

In the session of this body, held this Monday and headed by its President Esteban Lazo Hernández; its members agreed that the rendering of accounts of the delegates to their electors is one of the most important processes carried out by the system of People's Power, as a genuine expression of socialist democracy; through which these electors know, evaluate and pronounce themselves on the management and the work developed by their representatives during a given period.

The adopted agreement also establishes that the Provincial Governments of the People's Power and the local administrations contribute to the development of this process and guarantee, at the request of the President of the Municipal Assembly, the participation of their directors in these meetings, said Miriam Brito Sarroca, president of the National Assembly's Commission for Attention to the Local Bodies of the People's Power.

This process of accountability of the delegate to his constituents will be the first of its kind in the XVIII mandate of the municipal organs of People's Power.

A look at the progress of the measures approved for the strengthening of the state enterprise

On the agenda of this September 18 session, the members of the State Council also evaluated the fulfillment of the measures approved for the strengthening of the state enterprise. In this regard, the Deputy Prime Minister and head of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil Fernández, gave a detailed explanation on how, since the VI Party Congress to date, the State Enterprise System has undergone multiple transformations, which were initiated in 2011 with the generalization of the powers exercised by the enterprises in improvement and, in more recent periods, with the approval of 43 measures to advance in the strengthening of the state enterprise.

Measures were also adopted for the development of specific sectors, as is the case of agriculture (63 measures), sugar (93 measures) and the Program for the improvement of trade and gastronomy activities, among other actions, explained Gil Fernández.

In his presentation on the subject, he acknowledged that, although all these transformations have allowed the gradual transition to a more flexible management model, their implementation has not had the same behavior in the different sectors of the economy, nor have all the expected results been achieved. As a rule, he said, they have been applied equally to all sectors, without distinguishing the specific characteristics of each activity, which has limited their impact.

The tightening of the blockade, the devaluation of the national currency, the world economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, added to productive inefficiencies and the non-fulfillment of the country's foreign currency income, have had negative effects on the enterprises which, in practice, have seen their operational capacities very limited, added the Cuban deputy prime minister.

After delving into the current situation of the State Enterprise System and its main results, Gil Fernandez proposed, among the actions to continue advancing in the strengthening of the socialist state enterprise, to recover the efficiency levels of the main economic activities and achieve their sustainable development, through the adoption of transforming measures.

Likewise, he insisted on the need to establish efficient and sustainable mechanisms for the access to fundamental financial and material resources; to make the management of the labor force, the determination of salaries and price formation more flexible; to establish differentiated operating criteria and performance requirements; as well as to eliminate excessive subordination; as essential elements for the integral transformation of the state enterprise.

Finally, after going in depth into the actions in which progress is currently being made in this matter, he pointed out the work developed with a view to the forthcoming presentation, in compliance with the legislative schedule, of the draft bill of the Socialist State Enterprise.

Approval of three new Decree Laws

During the meeting, the members of the Council of State adopted the decree law "On Coasts", which has the purpose of establishing the set of mechanisms, actions and instruments to be applied in the coastal and protection zone, aimed at its sustainable use, as well as the protection of human settlements, and the processes of economic and social development in these, explained Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment.

At the same time, they issued the normative provision "On Agricultural Cooperatives". According to the presentation of the Minister of Agriculture, Ydael Pérez Brito, this stipulates the general legal framework that regulates the organization, constitution, operation, integration, spin-off, merger and extinction of agricultural cooperatives. In addition, it takes into account the experience in the application of regulations related to this subject, the transformations taking place in the Cuban agricultural and forestry sector, and the measures approved to boost agricultural production that recognize the cooperative sector as an essential actor in national and territorial development.

This body also approved the decree law "Modifying Decree Law no. 2 "On Mechanization, Irrigation, Agricultural Drainage and Water Supply to Animals", of December 13, 2019. Ydael Pérez Brito pointed out in his presentation that, the changes occurred in the economic and social scenario of the country since the application of the mentioned decree law no. 2, require updating aspects of its regulation that have become obstacles to dynamize agricultural production.

Subsequently, the session examined the implementation of Law no. 145 "On Territorial and Urban Planning and Land Management", approved by the National Assembly of People's Power on December 21, 2021 and published in the Official Gazette in November 2022 together with its regulations and four resolutions.

"Law no. 145 and its complementary norms entered into force on March 24, 2023, and have not generated major changes to the exercise of the activity, but rather adjusts procedures and terms for territorial and urban planning and land management, which facilitates its implementation with a law approach," detailed Major General Raúl Omar Acosta Gregorich, president of the National Institute of Territorial Planning and Urbanism, prior to the analysis of the implementation actions developed.

He stated that, five months after the entry into force of the above mentioned law, the implementation is going according to plan; and it has been positively assimilated by agencies, national and local entities, as well as by the population.

Finally, the Council of State evaluated the main advances on the implementation of the National Program for the Advancement of Women. Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman presented the achievements reached in its different areas of special attention and its lines of action for 2023; of a transcendental program of high importance for our society, faithful to the legacy of Fidel, Raúl and Vilma Espín on this issue, as underlined by the President of the Council of State, Esteban Lazo Hernández.

Some data on women in today's Cuban society

- 57.3% of the workers in science and technology
- 57% of Doctors of Science
- 55.7% are women deputies. Cuba is the second Parliament in the world with the highest presence of women, after Rwanda.
- 52.4% of the members of the Council of State.
- 5 women ministers, 10 first deputy ministers and 26 deputy ministers
- 4 female governors (26.7%) and 12 female vice-governors (80%)
- 84 female presidents of Municipal Assemblies of People's Power and 98 female vice presidents
- 5,484 are constituency delegates (44.12%).

(Taken from the Cuban Parliament Web Site)