Elections in Cuba
[12] Suggestions for nominations are made at all levels mainly by mass organizations, trade unions, people's councils, and student federations.
In 2002 supporters of a movement known as the Varela Project submitted a citizen proposal of law with 11,000 signatures calling for a national referendum on political and economic reforms.
The Cuban National Assembly Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee tabled the Varela Project citizens' initiative and responded with a counter initiative, the petition for which collected 8.1 million signatures, to request that Cuba's National Assembly amend the constitution to state "Socialism and the revolutionary political and social system...are irrevocable; and Cuba will never again return to capitalism.
[25] The national legislature meets twice a year for a week, to pass unanimously all the bills proposed by the executive branch.
[2][3] William M. LeoGrande, in a paper written for the Cuba Transition Project at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, wrote of the previous 1992 election law: "unprecedented openness in debate, not just among party members, but also among the entire populace, so as to foster greater participation and build 'the necessary consensus' for the government's policy response...Eventually, some three million people participated in the pre-Congress discussions", but "When the new electoral law was finalized… it dashed any hopes for a significant opening to alternative voices.
The ban on campaigning was retained, and the nomination of provincial and national assembly candidates was entrusted to Candidacy Commissions.
Thus, the election process at the provincial and national levels avoided the possibility of even implicit policy differences among candidates.
[36] In 1960, Castro made a speech to the General Assembly referring to Cuba in relation to other Latin American nations, "We are speaking of democracy.
It is not only forbidden to nominate candidates but also to be involved in any other stage of the electoral process… The PCC’s role is one of guidance, supervision and of guarantor of participatory democracy.
[40] U.S. State Department: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: "Candidates for provincial and national office must be approved in advance by mass organizations controlled by the government.
In practice a small group of leaders, under the direction of the president, selected the members of the highest policy-making bodies of the CP, the Politburo, and the Central Committee."
Although not a formal requirement, in practice CP membership was a prerequisite for high-level official positions and professional advancement."
Fidel Castro dominates the political system, having transformed the country into a one-party state with the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) controlling all governmental entities from the national to the local level.
On January 19, 2003, an election was held for the Cuban National Assembly, with just 609 candidates – all supported by the regime – vying for 609 seats.
"[42] Since 1996, official European Union policy towards Cuba has stated an objective "to encourage a process of transition to a pluralist democracy via constructive engagement with the Cuban Government."
describes the Cuban decision-making process thus: "Elections for the National Assembly, where only candidates approved by the local authorities can partake, take place every five years.
Involvement in decision-making and implementation through non-political actors has been institutionalised through national organisations, linked to the Communist Party, representing farmers, youth groups, students, women, industrial workers, etc."
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an organ of the OAS, prepared a report in 1997 that detailed the lack of free elections in Cuba, stating that this violated "the right to political participation set forth in Article XX of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, which states textually that: "Every person having legal capacity is entitled to participate in the government of his country, directly or through his representatives, and to take part in popular elections, which shall be by secret ballot, and shall be honest, periodic and free.
In practice, however, these district assemblies are usually organized by the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution or the Communist Party, which makes the selection of an opponent of the regime most unlikely.
It is based on some simple premises: all citizens are born with the right to choose their own leaders, to define their own destiny, to speak freely, to organize political parties, trade unions and non-governmental groups, and to have fair and open trials."
The 2006 report from Human Rights Watch states: Cuba remains a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent.
President Fidel Castro, now in his forty-seventh year in power, shows no willingness to consider even minor reforms.
Instead, his government continues to enforce political conformity using criminal prosecutions, long- and short-term detentions, mob harassment, police warnings, surveillance, house arrests, travel restrictions, and politically-motivated dismissals from employment.
The end result is that Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law.
The universally-recognized rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are systematically violated by the State and victims have virtually no means of redress within the judicial system.
"[46]Critics argue that whatever the merits of the system for electing the National Assembly, that body is itself a facade for the reality of PCC rule in Cuba.
