Castro to push reform of nation's economic system

Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday said Cuba would steer clear of neoliberal policies, but continue to modernize its socialist system through economic reforms.

In a keynote address at the seventh Congress of the Cuban Communist Party, which opened on Saturday, Castro said the island's economic model would not break with the ideals of social justice adopted by the 1959 Revolution.

In a wide-ranging speech, Castro reviewed the nation's major political and economic developments since the last PCC congress in 2011, and set out the tasks ahead for the country.