Communist Party of Cuba

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The Communist Party of Cuba (Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is Cuba’s ruling party and the only legal political party in the country. It was founded on October 3, 1965, as the successor to the United Party of the Socialist Revolution of Cuba, which grew out of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The party governs Cuba as an authoritarian one-party state; dissidence and political opposition are prohibited. The Cuban constitution calls the PCC the leading force of society and the state. The party holds Congress every five years; between congresses, its Central Committee and its Politburo run daily affairs. Since April 2021, Miguel Díaz-Canel has been the First Secretary of the PCC (and President of Cuba). Fidel Castro led the party from its founding until 2008, followed by Raúl Castro. The PCC is based on Marxism-Leninism, with Castroism and Guevarism influencing its approach. The economy is state-controlled with a planned system, though reforms have introduced some market elements and allowed private investment in recent years. The PCC has a youth wing (Young Communist League) and a children's group (José Martí Pioneer Organization). Internationally, the party supports leftist movements and Latin American integration, conducts medical diplomacy by sending Cuban professionals abroad, and opposes the U.S. embargo against Cuba.