:For the Communist Party of Cuba founded in 1925, see Popular Socialist Party (Cuba)

Communist Party of Cuba Partido Comunista de Cuba
First Secretary	Raúl Castro
Second Secretary	José Ramón Machado
Founded	3 October 1965
Headquarters	Havana, Cuba
Newspaper	Granma
Youth wing	Young Communist League
Membership  (2011)	800,000 14%
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	Foro de São Paulo
Colours	Red and Blue
National Assembly of People's Power	614 / 614
Website
http://www.pcc.cu/
Politics of Cuba Political parties Elections

The Communist Party of Cuba (Spanish: Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state". As of April 2011, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba is Raúl Castro, the President of Cuba, younger brother of the previous First Secretary and President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, and the Second Secretary is José Ramón Machado Ventura.^[1]

History [edit]

A billboard in Havana promoting the ongoing socialist revolution

Cuba had a number of communist and anarchist organizations since the early period of the Republic. The original "internationalised" Communist Party of Cuba was formed in the 1920s, which was later renamed the Popular Socialist Party for electoral reasons. In July 1961, two years after the 1959 Revolution, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) was formed by the merger of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, the Popular Socialist Party led by Blas Roca and the Revolutionary Directory March 13 led by Faure Chomón. On March 26, 1962 the ORI became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC) which, in turn, became the Communist Party of Cuba on October 3, 1965. According to Article 5 of the Cuban constitution of 1976, the Communist Party is "the superior guiding force of society and of the State, that organizes and orients common efforts toward the high goals of the construction of socialism and the advancement toward communist society."4; thus the Communist party is the only recognized political party in Cuba. Other parties, though not illegal, are unable to campaign or conduct any activities on the island that could be deemed counter-revolutionary.

For the first fifteen years of its formal existence, the Communist Party was almost completely inactive outside of the Politburo. The 100 person Central Committee rarely met and it was ten years after its founding that the first regular Party Congress was held. In 1969, membership of the party was only 55,000 or 0.7% of the population, making the PCC the smallest ruling Communist party in the world. In the 1970s, the party's apparatus began to develop. By the time of the first Party Congress in 1975 the party had grown to just over two hundred thousand members, the Central Committee was meeting regularly and provided the organizational apparatus giving the party the leading role in society that ruling Communist parties generally hold. By 1980 the party had grown to over 430,000 members and grew further to 520,000 by 1985. Apparatuses of the party had grown to ensure that its leading cadres were appointed to key government positions.

Structure [edit]

Congress [edit]

The Communist Party of Cuba held its first Party Congress in 1975 and has had additional congresses in 1980, 1986, 1991 and 1997. It was announced in July 2009 that the Sixth Party Congress, originally scheduled for late 2009, has been postponed^[2] due to the economic crisis.^[3]

• 1st Congress (17–22 December 1975)
• 2nd Congress (17–20 December 1980)
• 3rd Congress (4–7 February 1986)
• 4th Congress (10–14 October 1991)
• 5th Congress (8–10 October 1997)
• 6th Congress (16–19 April 2011)

Central Committee [edit]

The leading bodies of the party were the Politburo and the Secretariat until 1991 when the two bodies were merged into an expanded Politburo with over twenty members. The Secretariat, however, was re-introduced in 2002. There is also a Central Committee which meets between party congresses. At the Fifth Party Congress the size of the Central Committee was reduced to 150 members from the previous membership of 225. Fidel Castro was the party's First Secretary (or leader) since its inception, while Raúl Castro was the Second Secretary. Upon Fidel's 2008 resignation from the Party and Cuban government, Raúl became First Secretary.

Politburo [edit]

The 6th Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba was elected by the Central Committee on 19 April 2011 in the aftermath of the 6th Party Congress.

Secretariat [edit]

The 6th Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba was elected by the Central Committee on 19 April 2011 in the aftermath of the 6th Party Congress.

Others [edit]

The Communist Party of Cuba has a youth wing, the Young Communist League (Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas, UJC) modelled on the Soviet Komsomol^{[citation needed]}. It also has a children's group, the José Martí Pioneer Organization.

Ideology [edit]

Communist parties
Africa Algeria Egypt Lesotho Libya Madagascar Namibia Réunion Senegal South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tunisia
Americas Argentina PCA PCCE PCRA Bolivia Brazil PCdoB PCB Canada CPoC MLPoC Chile PCCh PC(AP) Colombia Cuba Ecuador Mexico PC PPS PPSM Panama PPP PC(ml)P Paraguay Peru PCP PCdelP-PR Uruguay United States Venezuela
Asia Bahrain Bangladesh CPB WPB Burma China (PRC) India CPI CPI(M) CPI(Mst) SUCI(C) Iran CPI Tudeh Party Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan CPK CPPK Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Nepal CPN(UML) UCPN(M) Pakistan Palestine Philippines Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Taiwan TCP CPRC Vietnam Former parties Cambodia CPK KPRP Indonesia Korea Malaya and Singapore Philippines Saudi Arabia Taiwan Thailand
Europe Albania Armenia Austria KPÖ KI Azerbaijan Belarus (KPB) Belgium PvdA/PTB KP PC Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark DKP KPiD Estonia Finland France PCF PCOF Georgia Germany Greece ΚΚΕ ΚΟΕ ΑΚΟΑ Hungary Ireland CPI WPI Italy PdCI PRC Luxembourg Malta Moldova Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia CPRF RCWP-RPC San Marino Slovakia Spain PCE PCC PCPE Sweden KP SKP Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom CPB NCPB CPS CPGB-ML Former parties Czechoslovakia East Germany Italy Netherlands Romania Soviet Union United Kingdom West Germany Yugoslavia
Oceania Australia CPA CPA(ML) New Zealand CPA WPNZ
Related topics Communism (history) Marxism-Leninism Democratic centralism
v t e

Compared with other ruling Communist Parties, such as the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Communist Party of China and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Communist Party of Cuba retains a stricter adherence to the tradition of Marxism-Leninism and the traditional Soviet model^{[citation needed]}.

The Cuban party is more deeply committed to the concept of socialism than other ruling parties^{[citation needed]} and has been more reluctant in engaging in market reforms though it has been forced to accept some market measures in its economy due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the resultant loss of economic subsidies. The Communist Party of Cuba has favored supporting revolutions abroad and was active in assisting the ELN in Colombia, the FMLN in El Salvador, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement in Grenada.^{[citation needed]} Their most significant international role was in Angola where the Cuban direction of a joint Angolan/Soviet/Cuban force that was involved in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.^[4][5] This led to the withdrawal of intervening forces and, in the following peace agreement, the independence of Namibia from South African rule.^[6]

It has largely been forced to retreat from this policy due to a lack of funds resulting from the halt of material aid from the Soviet Union. However, the party maintains a policy of sending thousands of Cuban doctors, agricultural technicians, and other professionals to other countries throughout the developing world. More recently the party has sought to support left wing leaders such as Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• (Spanish) Official web site
• Leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba

v t e Political parties in Cuba In government Communist Party of Cuba Opposition Cuban Liberal Movement Christian Democratic Party of Cuba Cuban Democratic Socialist Current Democratic Social-Revolutionary Party of Cuba Democratic Solidarity Party National Liberal Party of Cuba Social Democratic Co-ordination of Cuba Historical Cuban National Party Democratic Union Party Independent Republican Party Liberal Party National Action Party Partido Auténtico Partido Ortodoxo Popular Socialist Party Progressive Action Party Republican Party of Havana Politics List of political parties Politics of Cuba

v t e  Cuba topics   History Timeline Colonial governors Ten Years' War Little War Cuban War of Independence Sinking of the USS Maine Spanish–American War Platt Amendment Revolution 1932 hurricane La Coubre explosion Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis War Against the Bandits Cuban intervention in Angola (1975–1991) Cubana Flight 455 Mariel boatlift Special Period 2006 transfer of presidential duties Tropical cyclones   Geography Cities Bayamo Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Guantánamo Havana Holguín Matanzas Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santa Clara Santiago de Cuba Victoria de Las Tunas Provinces Artemisa Camagüey Ciego de Ávila Cienfuegos Ciudad de La Habana Granma Guantánamo Holguín Isla de la Juventud Las Tunas Matanzas Mayabeque Pinar del Río Sancti Spíritus Santiago de Cuba Villa Clara Other Almendares River Sierra Maestra World Heritage Sites   Governance Security Economy Governance Castroism Constitution Elections Foreign relations Law Military Government opposition Politics Presidency Cuba – United States relations Bay of Pigs Invasion Brothers to the Rescue Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Cuban American Cuban-American lobby Cuban dissident movement Cuban Five Cuban Missile Crisis Elián González affair Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Helms–Burton Act Cuba – United States hijackings Luis Posada Carriles Mariel boatlift Operation Northwoods Operation Peter Pan Platt Amendment Spanish–American War United States ambassador United States embargo United States Interests Section Political parties Current Communist Party Christian Democratic Democratic Socialist Current Democratic Social-Revolutionary Democratic Solidarity Liberal Liberal Movement Social Democratic Co-ordination Former Auténtico Cuban National Democratic Union Independent Republican Ortodoxo Popular Socialist Republican (Havana) Security Military Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) Army Navy Air Force Territorial Troops Militia Law enforcement National Revolutionary Police Force Intelligence Military Counterintelligence Directorate Intelligence Directorate Economy Agriculture Agrarian reform Cooperatives Central bank Peso (currency) Convertible peso Telecommunications Tourism Transport airline   Society Culture Society Censorship Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Education Healthcare Human rights LGBT Rationing Sociolismo Scouting and Guiding Culture Art Cinema Internet Literature Media Music Musical theater Newspapers Public holidays Radio Religion Sports baseball boxing football Television Universities   Demographics People Demographics Cubans Afro-Cubans Cape Verdean Chinese Ciboney Filipino French German Haitian Isleños Italian Japanese Jews Korean LGBT Spanish White Women People By name Desi Arnaz Fulgencio Batista Leo Brouwer Fidel Castro Raúl Castro Celia Cruz Ibrahim Ferrer Osmani García Máximo Gómez Elián González Nicolás Guillén José Martí Pablo Milanés Omara Portuondo Silvio Rodríguez Compay Segundo Félix Varela By occupation Academics Activists Actors Architects Artists Ballet dancers Businesspeople Chefs Comedians Composers Cosmonauts Criminals Dancers Economists Educators Engineers Entertainers Farmers Film directors Film producers Geographers Heads of State Colonial heads Historians Illustrators Journalists Judges Lawyers Librarians Mathematicians Military personnel Models Musicians Notaries Painters Philosophers Photographers Physicians Poets Politicians Presidents Psychologists Radio personalities Rappers Rebels Religious leaders Revolutionaries Sailors Scientists Sculptors Sex workers Singers Social scientists Soldiers Songwriters Sportspeople Television personalities Women Writers Category Commons Portal WikiProject