14ymedio, Madrid, 16 January 2024 — After 18 years, the list of rules of conduct known as the Code of Ethics of the State Cadres already has a new version, which entered into force this Monday after its publication in the Official Gazette. The rule emphasizes aspects such as “the honor and duty to defend the socialist homeland, anti-imperialist conduct, the willingness to have permanent accountability and to submit to public scrutiny; and the duty to promote the mastery of the regulations that govern the development of society.”
The framework under which 118,000 people should be governed, according to Miriam Marbán González, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and one of those responsible for the preparation of the document, is shorter than the previous one, which had 27 “precepts” after the preamble, and it has changed its name to the Code of Ethics of the Cadres of the Cuban Revolution, since it also applies to the managerial positions of mass organizations.
The new Code contains the definitions of 17 words that should govern the behavior of the cadres, starting with patriotism, understood clearly as a defense of the Revolution. Those subject to the regulation have the obligation to love the country, its symbols and to put Cuba ahead of themselves, defending it – in line with the Constitution – with weapons if necessary.
The subjects of the regulation have the obligation to love the country and its symbols and to put Cuba ahead of themselves, defending it – in line with the Constitution – with weapons if necessary
According to the preamble of the Code, the aforementioned guidelines “cultivate the dignity and sensitivity of the people from Marxist, Leninist, Martian [following José Martí] and Fidelist positions, in correspondence with the most noble values in the evolution of the homeland’s history, exposed in a masterful synthesis in the Concept of Revolution expressed by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.”
The text asks for reliance on the so-called historic generation and calls for updating “the country’s development model,” taking into account that it is in the middle not only of the “blockade” but also of the “ideological war” that must be fought with “exemplary behavior and “revolutionary concern.”
It is precisely anti-imperialism that is the second guideline to follow, according to the curious regulations which have the rank of law. This concept requires “maintaining vigilance and rejection towards actions that seek the political, economic, technological and cultural expansions lor domination of imperialist powers” and includes attitudes such as denouncing Havanatur’s Santa Claus ads or getting the private restaurant San Pepper’s Burger de Holguín to take down their poster.
This section also contemplates the importance of “basing friendships on coincidence and respect for principles and revolutionary morality,” avoiding neighborhoods such as that of the Ecobios, the series of cartoons that recounted the discussions and affections of two Cubans as diverse as they are similar.
Next, the list outlines a whole series of virtues associated with honesty, honor, professionalism, altruism, humanism and solidarity, although the discipline makes it clear again that everything is subject to following the guidelines of the Communist Party, without being allowed at any time to question or offer any alternative within the system itself. “Promote conscious respect and loyalty to the Communist Party of Cuba, contribute with your performance to compliance with the programs, guidelines and agreements approved by its Congress and other party leadership bodies.”
The document calls for “probity” to be observed, assuming an integral attitude that helps to “foresee, combat and denounce any manifestation of indiscipline, illegality, crime and corruption in the administrative sphere” and “to take into account that corruption denigrates both those who incur it and those who tolerate it,” a section in which the Government has severe problems, since the situations in which the ruling party itself is accused of corruption of a public official are innumerable.
The document warns that non-compliance with the statutes will imply submitting to a “disciplinary analysis” in which responsibilities will be required depending on the severity
The situation has reached such heights, pushed by the denunciations of the independent press and the networks, which prevent containing what was previously barely circulating, that the regime has created its own profiles on Facebook to mention cases of corruption in its own ranks that were punished, but avoiding any analysis of what leads the average citizen to systematically break the law.
The regulations also ask for exemplary behavior in two complicated areas. First, transparency, something that the official press itself is already saying should be intrinsic to the system. Second, austerity in the sense of “refusing privileges and accommodation,” for which the citizens reproach the cadres of the Party whose privileges increases as they climb the ladder.
The document warns that non-compliance with the statutes will imply undergoing a “disciplinary analysis” in which responsibilities will be required depending on the severity.
“The bosses will be responsible for the education of their subordinates and the training of future generations, so that anyone who assumes a management role knows that these principles come first, even above other requirements and the competence that we demand,” said Miguel Mario Cabrera Castellanos, head of the Directorate of State and Government Cadres. He said that this document, which has the rank of law, applies to all those who “professionally work in management positions of political, mass and social organizations. It also applies to state, governmental and administrative spheres, and to those appointed as representatives of the Cuban State in mixed capital companies.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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