The country will overcome its deficiencies, but it will do so at its own pace and without “improvising,” First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura said at a mass event celebrating the “National Day of Rebellion” in Santa Clara.

Addressing an audience of 90,000 in front of the Che Guevara mausoleum, Machado emphasized the “economic battle” and talked about the need to boost agricultural production, including with the help of cooperatives and private farmers, and to save on energy.

Contrary to expectations, no reforms were announced during the event. Machado Ventura was the stand-in speaker for President Raúl Castro, who only handed diplomas to provincial representatives in recognition of economic accomplishments.

“We will continue to study, analyze and make decisions that lead to overcoming our deficiencies on all levels and perfect our society,” Machado said. “But we will do so without populist, demagogic or misleading solutions, and it won’t be led by foreign media campaigns.  We will proceed with a sense of responsibility, step by step, at a pace determined by us, without improvising nor haste, in order to not err and definitively leave behind us errors or measures that don’t match with current conditions.”

Neither Fidel Castro, who had been expected to appear at the event, nor Hugo Chávez, who had been the scheduled keynote speaker but didn’t come because of military tensions with neighboring Colombia, were present.

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