Cuban leader calls for better results on economic front

Tuesday 10th June, 2008

Cuban leader calls for better results on economic front
IANS Tuesday 10th June, 2008

A senior leader of the Communist Party of Cuba has said the island's
socialist system may not last if the government fails to deliver better
economic results, EFE reported Tuesday quoting the state media.

'Either we solve the problems or we ourselves destroy the revolution
that cost us so much blood and sweat,' Maria del Carmen Concepcion said
Monday.

Concepcion is a senior member of the Secretariat, the executive arm of
the party's Central Committee, said.

According to the party daily Granma, Concepcion urged delegates at a
provincial party assembly 'to work with urgency to get better results in
the economy, basically in food production, as well as to increase
savings, efficiency and import-substitution.'

Cuban Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura addressing the meeting
asked 'not to be afraid of (paying) high salaries and to apply
experience wherever possible, provided that it gets concrete results.'

The government is trying to introduce a system of performance-based pay
for workers.

According to Granma, the assembly insisted on the need to increase
agricultural production, and farmers were urged to 'exploit the land and
installations efficiently, giving up irrational practices in favour of
what is the most intelligent, advisable and functional.'

President Raul Castro, who succeeded his ailing elder brother Fidel last
February, vows to improve the Cuban economy, but without loosening the
Communist Party's grip on power.

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