00:00I'm back to from the South.
00:01Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel
00:03reaffirmed during an interview
00:04that the achievements of socialism
00:06will not be reversed due to the fuel shortage
00:08of the hardship of daily lives
00:10and that Cubans will continue to defend them.
00:13The Cuban leader made these remarks
00:15during an interview with the Puerto Rican media outlet
00:17Claridad in which he defended
00:20the 176 new economic and social measures
00:23announced by his government.
00:25The President also objected to claims
00:28that these measures present an opening
00:30to capitalism on the island.
00:32He explained that changes such as
00:34the introduction of private banking
00:36are part of Cuba's socialist development process
00:39and do not represent a return to capitalism.
00:44President Díaz-Canel insisted
00:45that no country should be subjected
00:48to such conditions and warned
00:49that Cuba's experience could be repeated
00:52by any nation exercising its sovereignty
00:54against Washington.
00:59The situation is undoubtedly creating
01:02a sense of urgency for us as well
01:04because not a single drop of fuel
01:06has entered the country in the past six months.
01:08Can any economy in the world function without fuel?
01:12Can any economy in the world sustain social programs
01:16and social justice without fuel?
01:18We have been subjected to a genocidal criminal policy.
01:22What is being done to Cuba is a crime.
01:24And in the midst of these conditions
01:26we continue to dream
01:28and we continue to defend our principles.
01:31But there are things that have to change.
01:35President Díaz-Canel defended
01:37the ongoing review and evaluation
01:39of these reforms as well as
01:40their implementation in defense of socialism.
01:46You cannot implement measures
01:48unless there is understanding
01:50and a consensus has been built.
01:52Even so, in the midst of this situation
01:55we are putting these measures forward
01:57and opinions remain divided.
01:59Much now depends on how effectively
02:02we ensure political understanding
02:04of these measures
02:05because they involve contradictions and risks
02:08and not all economists have approached them
02:10from the perspective of building socialism.
02:13There is already a group of economists
02:15arguing that Cuba has a project
02:17for economic and social development
02:19based on the market.
02:20They have even dropped the word socialism.
02:23Others have begun saying
02:25that the political system must be changed.
02:28We are not going to change our political system.
02:31We will continue to defend
02:32our political system and our socialism.
02:34This was a subject of debate at the 6th Congress.
02:38It was further developed at the 7th
02:40and advanced at the 8th.
02:42We were already preparing for the 9th Congress.
02:45But at the end of last year
02:47when we were planning to bring all of these issues
02:50before the 9th Congress
02:51which was scheduled to take place
02:53in April of this year
02:54we had to postpone the Congress.
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