Cuban communists move to strengthen one-party rule

Cuban communists move to strengthen one-party rule
By Marc Frank, Reuters | July 5, 2006

HAVANA -- Cuba's Communist Party named a new 12-member executive
committee to strengthen one-party rule, a communique issued yesterday
said, even as US pressure mounts for a multi party system upon President
Fidel Castro's passing. The new secretariat will be led by Castro, who
turns 80 in August, his brother Raul Castro, 75, and current party
organizational secretary Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 75, with most of
the remaining members in their 40s and 50s.

The Bush administration's Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba was
expected to issue a report later this week calling for stepped - up
action to undermine Communist Party rule after Castro departs the scene.
A draft of the first chapter is titled ``Hastening the End of the Castro
Dictatorship: Transition Not Succession" and includes a classified annex
of measures to be taken. ``With the horizon marking an end of the long
struggle against tyranny in Cuba approaching . . . Cubans will ensure
that the dictatorship that advocated nuclear war against our nation will
rapidly come to an end," the draft report states.

Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly, called the
draft report a ``declaration of war."

The communique, issued yesterday at the end of a secret meeting of the
Central Committee, said a standing ovation followed Raul Castro's
assertion that the party would continue leading the nation in Fidel
Castro's absence, despite US efforts to derail a smooth succession. ``We
will be victorious over the enemy that is trying to ambush us,
consolidate ever more the revolution, and make it stronger on all
fronts," the defense minister and brother Fidel's designated successor
vowed.

``The closer we come to the end of the Castros' leadership, the more it
appears the United States and Cuba are on a collision," a European
diplomat said.

The Communist Party is the only one allowed on the island, and it has
been led by the Castros since its founding in 1965.

The Castros also head the Political Bureau, the highest decision-making
body between Central Committee meetings, with the Secretariat now
charged with carrying out its decisions.

``The Cuban government has taken a number of steps to strengthen the
party and prepare for a smooth Communist succession," said Daniel
Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington policy group.
``They have recruited younger leaders into party positions and
strengthened ideological training programs."

Cash-strapped Cuba has been bolstered financially by oil supplies from
Venezuela, a boom in medical service exports and tourism, and new export
credits from China. An earlier Political Bureau communique said the
executive committee would be reestablished in part to ensure the
increased cash flow was put to good use as the country works to leave a
long, post-Soviet crisis behind.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/07/05/cuban_communists_move_to_strengthen_one_party_rule/