Congresses of the Cuban Communist Party Remembered by Philately (II)
The second great meeting of the Cuban Communists for assessing what had been done until that moment and making a projection for the road ahead for the next 5 years took place in 1981, after a five-year period since the First Congress
The year 1980 was known as the Year of the Second Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (CCP) after its approval by the National Assembly at the end of 1979. And the official call to the Second Congress was made on May 1st, International Worker’s Day.
Thus, the Second Congress of the CCP was inaugurated on December 18, 1980 at the Havana Congress Center with the speech by the 2nd Secretary of the CCP Raúl Castro Ruz, and with the attendance of 142 foreign delegations and 1780 elected delegates from throughout all Cuba.
Knowing that the national flag and the flag of the CCP that presided over the meeting had accompanied, only three months before, Colonel Arnaldo Tamayo on the first trip of a Cuban into the cosmos, was a very emotional fact.
For three days, the analysis of the events that occurred during the 5 years between one congress and another, took place. Emphasis was made on the increasing of the imperial aggression and use of biological weapons, the arrival in the U.S presidency of a threatening Ronald Reagan, and provocative acts such as those of the Embassy of Peru in Havana.
Achievements were analyzed, like the progress in industrialization, the creation of the Organs of the People’s Power, the new administrative division having 14 provinces and a special municipality, the Socialist Constitution of the Republic of Cuba was promulgated and important events, like the Sixth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students, were held.
The prognoses for the 1981-1985, the new five-year period and guidelines of national and international policy were drawn up.
The closing ceremony was held in the José Martí Revolution Square with a mass event where the First Secretary of the PCC Fidel Castro described the link of the Communist Party with the masses as strong, deep and indestructible.