Cuba aims to build socialism, not communism, in draft constitution

[rooster59]

Cuba aims to build socialism, not communism, in draft constitution

By Sarah Marsh

 

The Cuban flag hangs next to the photographs of late Cuba's President Fidel Castro and his brother, Cuba's former President Raul Castro, in Havana, Cuba July 21, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

 

HAVANA (Reuters) - A draft of Cuba's new constitution keeps the Communist Party as its leading political force but states as its aim the construction of socialism rather than communism, reflecting changing times, top officials told lawmakers this weekend.

 

Cuba is replacing its Soviet-era constitution with a new constitution to reflect and implement political and economic changes designed to make its one-party socialist system - one of the last in the world - sustainable.

 

The constitution will for example recognise private property, something long stigmatised by the Communist Party as a vestige of capitalism, the secretary of the council of state, Homero Acosta, told lawmakers on Saturday.

 

This should give greater legal recognition to the micro businesses that have flourished in the wake of market reforms. Cuba’s current 1976 constitution only recognises state, cooperative, farmer, personal and joint venture property.

 

The draft also appears to strengthen political institutions and create a more collective leadership structure, after nearly 60 years of rule by late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and his younger brother Raul Castro.

 

Castro, then 86, handed over the presidency in April to his mentee Miguel Diaz-Canel although he remains head of the Communist Party until 2021. He also heads the constitutional reform commission.

 

Under the new constitution, the president will no longer be the head of the council of state and council of ministers, according to Acosta. Instead it creates the position of prime minister and designates the president of the assembly also as head of the council of state, Cuba's highest executive body.

 

The draft also sets an age and term limits for presidents, stating they must be under 60 when they first take office and can carry out no more than two consecutive five-year terms.

 

The draft omits a clause in the current constitution on aiming to build a "communist society".

 

Instead, it simply talks about building socialism, reflecting the fact Cuba has moved into a different era following the fall of the Soviet Union, according to the president of the National Assembly Esteban Lazo.

 

"This does not mean we are renouncing our ideas," Lazo was quoted as saying by state-run media.

 

One of the most hotly awaited and controversial changes in the draft is the recognition of marriage as between two individuals rather than a man and a wife, opening the path to same-sex unions.

 

The national assembly is expected this weekend to pass the document, which will then be submitted to a popular consultation, meaning changes are possible. A final draft will later be put to a national referendum.

 

At the start of the assembly meeting on Saturday, new President Diaz-Canel named his cabinet, keeping a majority of ministers from Castro including in the key posts of defence, interior, trade and foreign relations.

 

Marino Murillo, the head of the Communist Party's reform commission and previously one of the council of ministers' vice presidents, was the only top figure omitted from the new lineup.

 

Under Castro, Murillo spearheaded reforms to the state-run economy to give a greater role to foreign investment and the private sector. He remains head of the Party's reform commission and a member of the political bureau.

 

The reforms have slowed however in recent years amid fears they have allowed some Cubans to enrich themselves, fostering inequality, and weakened the control of the state.

 

This month, Cuba issued regulations tightening control of the private sector and limiting business licenses to one per person.

 

Two octogenarians will remain vice presidents while two fifty-year olds will be promoted to that position, reflecting the slow generational transition in Cuba's leadership.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-22

[JingerBen]

Nothing will fundamentally change in Cuba until the old Marxist knuckleheads who run the country are gone. 

[spidermike007]

I had the good fortune of visiting Cuba many times, while "LA chcaracha grande" was still in power. I befriended many in Cuba. Amazing place. Extraordinary people. Great culture. But, all had the same thing to say about Fidel.

They had a great PR machine, and it would crank out alot of hyperbole about their educational and healthcare system being the best in the world. And you would then have numskulls like Michael Moore pick up on that, and run with it, to create utter disinformation campaigns. Yes, they did produce the greatest number of doctors per capita. But, most would have to leave the country to make a living, as they could not live very well on the $40 a month government salary. I met civil engineers, who had trained in Russia, and specialized in suspension bridges, who made $38 a month, and moonlighted as tour guides, to feed their families. All the while Castro was living in his gilded mansion, feasting on lobster tail, and socking away billions. For some of us, we were able to see for ourselves, and we saw that the dissemination was just that. When I would meet locals, they would nearly all say the same thing. Fidel was universally despised, and so was the regime. All of that was said in hushed tones, for fear of being discovered, and sent to one of his concentration camps, or marched before a firing squad. I would stop to chat with a local, and within minutes he would get picked up by the police. I would later find out he was held for days, under suspicion of offering either prostitution services or currency exchange. The government hated for the people to engage in exchange, as it gave them power and freedom. It was sickening. I stopped visiting, around 2008, as I got so disgusted with the government and the low quality of life the people had to endure under the despotic regime of the Castro brothers. They are absolute vermin, on every level. I was told by reputable sources that both brothers had fortunes into the tens of billions of dollars, and many of the generals were worth billions. Total hypocrisy. Castro lost his ideals, and sight of the bigger picture within 30 days of assuming power. It was all about the money, and the power, and the totalitarian rule. It was not about the people.

 

Very, very typical of the regime of despots. You have been made so poor by our policies, and our systematic repression of the people, that there is no way you could afford a $60 boom box. I know people who have been put into jail for the most minor of offenses. During my last trip in about 2008, "la grande cucaracha" (Fidel, for those of you who do not speak spanish. The grand cockroach). started losing his faculties, and really begun a heavy crackdown. He became very paranoid, and probably should have been put on heavy anti-depresent of bi-polar meds. He started having people locked up for the most minor of offenses. Women who were hanging out talking to their friends were locked up on suspicion of prostitution. It was quite sickening. I left a few days early on that trip, and vowed to never return, until they had cleared out the vermin. I hope that happens. Nothing of any real significance will happen as long as Raul is alive. No doubt he is less dogmatic than his older brother. But, he is also a pragmatist. If he and his cronies can still maintain absolute control, while amassing many more billions of dollars, why not? 

 

I wish the best for the Cuban people. They deserve a better life, and they deserve better government. 

 

[BuaBS]

Say hello to a second Venezuela.

[bumpkin]

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ?     It's not a new problem - first written about 2000 years ago.  Who controls the people in power ? 

Only an independent  judiciary, the Rule of Law and with Rights enshrined in law can protect the people.