Politics of Cuba

Fidel Castro, in front of statue of José Martí (designed Enrique Luis Varela, sculpture by Juan José Sicre and finished in 1958. [1]), Havana. Source: Ricardo Stuckert/ABr. 27/09/2003

Politics of Cuba takes place in a framework of a one party presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Cuba is led by President Fidel Castro, who has been Chief of State, Head of Government, Prime Minister, First Secretary of the CPC, and/or commander in chief of the armed forces since 1959. Raul Castro is constitutionally designated the successor of his brother. The Ministry of Interior is the principal organ of state security and control.

Legislative branch

Cuba has an elected national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), which has 609 members, elected every five years and holds brief sessions to ratify decisions by executive branch. According to Erickson (2005) "The National Assembly must ratify all high-level appointments. However, the Cuban National Assembly only meets twice a year for a few days [2]. When the National Assembly not in session, it is represented by the Council of State, which has the power to hire and fire government ministers. ."

Petitions

Although the constitution hypothetically allows legislative proposals backed by at least 10,000 citizens to be submitted directly to the National Assembly, in 2002 the government rejected a petition known as the Varela Project, supporters of which submitted 11,000 signatures calling for a national referendum on political and economic reforms. In response, the government arrested dozens of activists in March 2003 for participating in the Varela Project. In October 2003, Project Varela organizers submitted a second petition to the National Assembly with an additional 14,000 signatures. The government has not accepted this petition either.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties in Cuba. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Cuba.

The Communist Party of Cuba (Partido Comunista de Cuba) is constitutionally recognized as Cuba's only legal political party. No political party, including the Communist Party of Cuba, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any candidate. Candidates are nominated at local levels by the local population at small "Town Hall" type meetings. Suffrage is afforded to Cuban citizens resident for two years on the island who are aged over sixteen years and who have not been found guilty of a criminal offence.

The national elections for the 609 members of the National Assembly of People's Power were held according to this system at 19 January 2003. All the 609 candidates who ran uncontested for the National Assembly were elected. According to IPU, all seats were won by the Communist Party of Cuba. Template:Cuban parliamentary election, 2003 Next to the Communist Party of Cuba, various political parties are illegally active in the country. The most important of these are the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Cuba), the Cuban Socialist Democratic Current (Corriente Socialista Democratica Cubana), the Democratic Social-Revolutionary Party of Cuba (Partido Social-Revolucionario Democrático de Cuba), the Democratic Solidarity Party (Partido Solidaridad Democratica), the Liberal Party of Cuba (Partido Liberal de Cuba) and the Social Democratic Co-ordination of Cuba (Coordinadora Social Demócrata de Cuba).

Judicial branch

Main article: Cuban Legal System

Although the constitution theoretically provides for independent courts, it explicitly subordinates them to the National Assembly and to the Council of State. The People's Supreme Court is the highest judicial body. The constitution states that all legally recognized civil liberties can be denied to anyone who opposes the "decision of the Cuban people to build socialism."

Cuban courts are organised into three tiers that match the governmental divisions (national or Supreme Court, provincinal, and municipal). Most civil and criminal cases tried at the municipal and provincial levels are adjudicated by a panel of two lay judges and one professional judge. Cases that involve a potential sentence longer than eight years or complex civil law issues are heard, at the provincial or supreme level, by a panel of three professional judges and two lay judges. Both professional and lay judges are elected to their positions by the legislative assembly that is responsible for that level of government.

Foreign relations of Cuba

Main article: Foreign relations of Cuba

File:Castro Khrushchev.jpg

Fidel Castro with Nikita Khrushchev, former Soviet premier.

CARICOM

Ties between the nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba have remained cordial over the course of the later half of the 20th century [3]. Formal diplomatic relations between the CARICOM economic giants: Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have existed since 1972[4], [5] and have over time led to an increase in cooperation between the CARICOM Heads of Government and Cuba.

In December 2005, during the second CARICOM/CUBA summit held in Barbados, heads of CARICOM and Cuba agreed to deepen their ties in the areas of socio-economic and political cooperation in addition to medical care assistance. Since the meeting, Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the Caribbean Community including: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Suriname, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This development makes Cuba the only country to have embassies in all independent countries of the Caribbean Community[6].

Brazil

With the electorial win of the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2002 ties between Cuba and Brazil have steadily warmed. Brazil continues to play its part in trying to revive and upgrade the offshore oil and gas infrastructure of Cuba[7]. In addition, talks led by Brazil are underway seeking to develop a framework for Cuba to become a normalised affilate member of the Mercosur bloc of countries.

China

As the economy of the Soviet Union fell into a decline during the 1990s, China has emerged as a new a key partner for Cuba's foreign relations. Relations between Cuba and China continue to grow including deals for China to setup a possible military base in Cuba, and an agreement was signed between China and Cuba for China open more factories producing local goods such as televisions. The Government of China has also donated shipments of diesel-electric locomotives to Cuba with the aim of providing a boost to Cuba's national infrastructure [8].

Global

Relations with other American countries have often depended on the proximity of their governments and the American one. In general, leftist governments have been friendly to Cuba and rightist ones hostile. The newly emerged post-Soviet European countries in general are hostile [9] to the Cuban government, and their representatives often banned . Sandinista Nicaragua received help from Cuba.

Cuba has assisted the governments and peoples of several Third World countries, both militarily and in development. There are or have been programs of scholarships for gifted students from Western Sahara and Ethiopia. There are several thousand Polisario (Sahara) children in Cuba and there has been a colony of them on the Isle of Pines for a good number of years.

Venezuela

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has agreed to barter Venezuelan oil, in exchange for Cuban medical assistance.

United States

The governments of Cuba and the United States have been confrontational since before the Bay of Pigs invasion.

More than a million Cuban exiles live in the US, mainly around Miami. These Cuban-Americans have prospered in the US, and maintain an active intellectual life. There are two Cuban-American US senators and three Cuban-American members of the US House of Representatives. The Guantanamo Base is an American military base in Cuban territory, Leased in Perpetuity since 1902.

External links

• Cuba: Socialism and Democracy by Peter Taaffe
• Diana Barahona: Librarians as Spooks: The Scheme to Infiltrate Cuba's Libraries (CounterPunch, June 18/19, 2005).
• Cuba Havana Documentary Bye Bye Havana is a documentary revealing what Cubans are thinking about today!

Further reading

• Erikson, Daniel P.( 2005) Charting Castro's Possible Successors. SAIS Review 25.1, 89-103

• Evenson, Debra (1994). Revolution in the balance: Law and society in contemporary Cuba. Westview Press, Boulder. ISBN 0813384664