Summary of the second day of Sessions of the Cuban Parliament

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 19 (ACN) With the presence of Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the country, the second day of the 3rd Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), in its 10th Legislature, was held on Thursday at the Convention Center.

The agenda included the discussion of the reports presented by the respective heads of the Ministry of Food Industry and the Ministry of Domestic Trade in the context of the exercise of the highest supervision of the Ministry of Food Industry and the rendering of accounts of the Ministry of Domestic Trade.

Also speaking through Governor Milaxy Yanet Sanchez Armas, the government of Villa Clara presented the results of its management regarding the fulfillment of the objectives and goals of the Economy Plan and the State Budget Law, the implementation of the Economic and Social Strategy and the Program for Social Prevention and Attention to Vulnerabilities.

Another item on Thursday's agenda was the analysis of the draft Law on Transparency and Access to Information, which the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment presented to Parliament.

The measures designed to boost food production in Cuba have not achieved the expected results, the deputies learned during the presentation of the report on the highest audit to the Ministry of Food Industry.

Ramon Osmani Aguilar Betancourt, president of the Agri-Food Commission, while presenting the analysis made by the permanent working commissions of Economic Affairs; Industry,
Construction and Energy and Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Environment, with the coordination of the Agri-Food Commission, stressed that the least progress has been made in economic contracting and prices and incentives to producers. En el recorrido por diversos territorios la comisión encargada de esa comprobación identificó deficiencias que limitan una mejor explotación de las instalaciones fabriles, incluidos embalses para la siembra y cría de alevines, sin olvidar la contribución del sector a la soberanía alimentaria nacional y las exportaciones.

For his part, Alberto Lopez Diaz, Minister of the Food Industry, referred to the need for the timely delivery of basic products of the regulated family basket, the increase in exports and the increase in production for chain stores, tourism and the Mariel Special Development Zone, as basic priorities in that sector.

Likewise, he insisted on allocating part of the income to the country's central account and to the acquisition of raw materials for the growth of national production.

Lopez Diaz called for the use of productive capacities based on linkages in the primary sector and all economic actors, as well as to strengthen municipalities through local systems.
Later in the day, Betsy Diaz Velazquez, head of the Ministry of Domestic Trade (Mincin by its Spanish acronym), referred to the main problems when the agency gave an account to the members of the ANPP.

She emphasized that the Mincin focuses its efforts on solving the main dissatisfactions of the population, which are related to the distribution of food of the regulated family basket and the growth of the prices of basic necessities.

She explained that regardless of the impact of the U.S. blockade and financial limitations, there are subjective problems related to the quality of service, the image and hygiene of the establishments, shoddiness, customer abuse, crime and non-compliance with the Consumer Protection regulations.

Regarding the regulated family food basket, Diaz Velazquez explained that the distribution policy approved for 2024 includes the participation of local productions and the adaptation of cycles according to the availability of products.
During the debates, the Cuban head of state called for a response to the distribution problems in mountainous areas with local production and urged the design of work methodologies to creatively overcome problems such as the supply of milk in remote areas.

Diaz-Canel stressed that the Mountain Program is called to achieve the fulfillment of its indicators through self-sufficiency according to the capabilities of each place.
The president insisted on the need to generate, through work and production, the wealth to undertake a fairer distribution of wealth by replacing unnecessary imports that hinder development.
The willingness to overcome difficulties and to look for alternatives to each problem prevailed today in the accountability of the provincial government of Villa Clara before the Parliament.
Reading the document, Milaxys Yanet Sanchez Armas, Governor of Villa Clara, deepened in the situation of the territory in 2023 and in the first four months of this year, a stage that she described as complex from the economic and social point of view.

She explained that the main deficiencies in the fulfillment of the objectives and goals of the Economy Plan and the Budget Law were identified as the inefficient management of the entrepreneurial system, which is manifested in the non-fulfillment of the main physical productions and the companies with economic losses, the insufficient productive linkages of the state entities with the new economic actors and the deficient execution of the investment process.

Also during the day, the deputies approved the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information, the first legal norm of its kind in Cuba, which will contribute to the effective fulfillment of the obligations of the State bodies and other subjects responsible for providing public information.

This legal text, which is part of the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development, will also contribute to the guarantee of citizens' rights, as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, explained Eduardo Martinez Diaz, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, when presenting the bill before the legislative body.

In addition, it will contribute to the reduction of administrative corruption and bribery in all its forms, to the creation of efficient and transparent institutions that respond to the needs of access to public information, as well as to the protection of fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements to which Cuba is a signatory.