The party governs Cuba as an authoritarian one-party state where dissidence and political opposition are prohibited and repressed.

In July 1961, two years after the successful overthrow of Fulgencio Batista and the creation of a revolutionary government, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) was formed from the merger of: On 26 March 1962, the ORI became the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution (PURSC), which in turn became the Communist Party of Cuba on 3 October 1965.

The 100 person Central Committee rarely met and it was ten years after its founding that the first regular party Congress was held.

[citation needed] The Eighth Congress took place from 16 to 19 April 2021,[10][11] during which Miguel Díaz-Canel was elected as the First Secretary of the Central Committee, taking over from Raúl Castro.

The Seventh Congress took place from 19 to 22 April 2016,[23] around the 55th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion,[24] concluding with remarks by Fidel Castro.

[27][28][29] Since the Cuban Revolution, the party has also followed the doctrines of Castroism (the ideology of Fidel Castro, including inspiration from José Martí) and Guevarism.

Raúl Castro, after becoming the leader of the party, campaigned to "renew" Cuba's socialist economy through incorporating new exchange and distribution systems that have been traditionally seen as "market" oriented.

[32] The party's most significant international role was in the civil war in Angola, where Cuba directed a joint Angolan/Soviet/Cuban force in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

[33][34] More recently, the party has sought to support Pink Tide leaders across Latin America, such as Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia.

The party maintains a policy of sending thousands of Cuban doctors, agricultural technicians, and other professionals to other countries throughout the developing world.