HAVANA, Cuba.- The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution are without doubts in constant renovation, Second Secretary of the Party Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said when closing the Ninth Congress of the largest organization of masses of the country, in the Convention Palace of Havana.

In the presence of Army General Raul Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Party, Machado Ventura recalled that the CDR emerged in response to terrorist acts, which far from intimidating as the enemy intended in vain, were transformed by Fidel into an organization genuinely popular, innovative and autochthonous, always ready to combat.

He ratified with the members of CDR the firm commitment to be faithful to the example and valuable teachings of the founder of the organization, the Commander in Chief.

At present, the ideological task is the most important, and advancing on that front is necessary, Machado Ventura said at the Ninth Congress of the CDR.

Sustained and Promising Advances

In carrying out a comprehensive appraisal of the work since the previous Congress of the CDR, the Second Secretary of the Party, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, said there are sustained and promising advances, and therefore he congratulated the National Directorate and the membership.

At the close of the ninth meeting of the largest mass organization in Cuba, Machado Ventura acknowledged that blood donations, one of the most human and beautiful tasks of the CDR, have remained stable for more than five years.

He commended the mass and conscious participation of citizens in the popular consultation of the new draft Constitution, with interventions that demonstrate the deep and responsible study of the document.

Machado Ventura congratulated, on behalf of the Party, the CDR for their outstanding participation in the development of the transcendental task in the communities.

For More Dynamism

At the closing of the Ninth Congress of the CDR, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said that the analyses reaffirmed the need for the organization to become more and more useful to the community, to promote the unity of the family, to strengthen and to stimulate its contribution to reaffirm the values of the socialist society.

He praised the new ideas put into practice, such as the Youth Detachments and the debate in neighborhoods, which have injected dynamism into the work of the CDR.

But it is imperative, Machado Ventura stressed, to look for ways to involve more and more people in the neighborhood, to give direct participation to the neighbors, listening to their concerns and interests, and join them up to the organization of activities.

He called to confront crime, corruption, illegalities, and social Indisciplines in the neighborhood.