Havana, Rajab 9, 1437, Apr 16, 2016, SPA -- Cuban President Raul Castro, speaking Saturday at the opening of the Communist Party Congress in Cuba, advocated for the market-economy reform course that Cuba has been on for the last few years. Changes are being implemented "slowly but without pause," Castro said during the opening of the seventh Congress of the Communist Party in Havana, dpa reported. About 1,000 delegates took part in the opening of the most important political meeting in the country's one-party system. The four-day congress is the first since the reform party congress in 2011. The 84-year-old head of state issued a clear rejection of regressive positions. He criticized what he said were "feelings of nostalgia" expressed in recent years that look back on the era when Cuba was supported by the communist government of the former Soviet Union and the countries in the East Bloc. -- SPA 23:00 LOCAL TIME 20:00 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w