White Book 2005

THIRD PART: CUBA HOLDS ITS GROUND IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY AND FOREIGN CHALLENGES AND CONTINUES TO BUILD A MORE DEMOCRATIC, JUST, PARTICIPATIVE EQUAL SOCIETY IMBUED WITH SOLIDARITY

CUBA AND HUMAN RIGHTS (Part IV)

CHAPTER I: THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM THE CUBAN PEOPLE, EXERCISING THEIR SOVEREIGNTY, HAVE ESTABLISHED

The Cuban political and electoral system

Casting doubt upon the Cuban political and electoral system is one of the fundamental pillars of the US-led anti-Cuban campaign about democracy and human rights.

In this campaign, the United States is supported by some of its allies, most of which are former colonial powers, who also find it in their interests to impose on developing countries a model of political organisation which allows the former to continue controlling and dominating the latter.

Washington’s spokespersons seek to demonstrate the alleged incompatibility of the political system established by the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba with internationally accepted standards of democracy and human rights. They do this to create a false image of an intolerant, static society which does not permit plurality and political participation.

The manipulation of the concept “democracy” by the major western powers has reached dangerous heights. Any country which does not follow the one model they advocate, the patterns and values they promote is not only subject to questioning and to having their legitimacy challenged through the international institutions the Western powers control, it also runs the risk of becoming a potential “target” for a pre-emptive war, as per an aggressive imperialist doctrine.

Attempts are made in the great power centres in the North —whose resources and tools of oppression grow daily thanks to the unjust neoliberal globalisation process that is taking place—to impose a biased, unbalanced and selfish view of human rights, a view which minimises and ignores their social, economic, cultural facets and denies the very existence and collective way some rights belonging to whole nations are enjoyed, rights such as self determination, development and peace.

They want to make the end goal of international cooperation the individual enjoyment of certain civil and political rights which they call substantive (inalienable) thus belittling a whole range of rights which they consider to be adjectival (developing, progressive, non essential, simple aspirations for the future) without taking into account that eradication of poverty hunger, illiteracy, curable diseases, and the survival of hundreds of millions of people in the world depends on the full realisation of the latter.

The motive behind creating this unfair, selective and cynical hierarchy of rights is simple: if all categories and generations of human rights were evaluated with equal rigour and if their intrinsic interdependence were acknowledged, most of the governments which today claim to champion, promote and protect those rights would inevitably be identified as their worst and cruellest violators. The major western industrialised powers have not only progressively dismantled the limited social benefits which their people used to enjoy — these arose in the soi-disant welfare states which were set up to face up to the challenge from socialism during the Cold War— but their transnational corporations are also chiefly responsible for the poverty and underdevelopment of the South countries, their imperialist aggressions and smart bombs kill and maim tens of thousands every year, their pharmaceutical companies, hiding behind selfish intellectual property rights, prevent access to medicines needed by hundreds of millions of low income people.

So-called bourgeois liberal democracy based on representation has been severely criticised since it first arose and was conceived of because some were certain that it was impossible to have a system of representation in societies where inequality reigned. The point was reached where some said that only egalitarian societies could have systems of government which entailed people trusting others to represent their interests. The point was reached where some rightly said that where inequality reigned, where some had a lot and others had nothing, the whole system of government and all the laws would benefit only those who had everything and work against the well being and progress of those who had nothing.

One of the features of international cooperation in the last few years has been the way the most important powers in the North have manipulated the concepts of democracy and human rights for the purpose of political domination and, in this endeavour, have been able to rely on the complicity of some government that are subordinate to them and behave a their client states supporting their schemes for geo-strategic influence.

This state of affairs runs counter to the spirit and the letter of the most important international instruments on human rights and to the consensus reached at the International Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993.

The International Covenants on Human Rights recognise that “all peoples have the right of self-determination, including the right to determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development”.

In the declaration and action plan adopted at in Vienna in 1993 it was established that: “democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives”.

The Cuban political system is the expression of the will of the Cuban people.

The Cuban political system is genuinely authentic and autochthonous and is based on the experienced handed down by its rich history of struggle for equality and of solidarity between men and women, of independence, sovereignty, non-discrimination, unity, participation, people’s power and social justice.

The Cuban people themselves had suffered the disastrous consequences of the political model that the United States is trying to force them to adopt again. They have already lived through the sorry experience of the “multiparty” ,”representative” system that the United States prescribed for them which went hand in hand with foreign dependence, corruption, political and administrative fraud, poverty for vast sectors of the population, discrimination and racism, in a word, a complete absence of the most elemental individual and collective rights, including the right to really free, democratic elections. In Cuba, that system not only bred corrupt, thieving rulers but also gave birth to brutal tyrannies, promoted and supported by the US government.

The country had to buckle down to designing a model that would allow them to solve these inherited evils; to do this it dug down into its roots and turned for help to the social, humanist, patriotic thought of the Cuban nation’s most illustrious heroes.

When explaining the Cuban political system the first thing that must be stressed is that our model is not imported, it was never a copy of the Soviet model, nor of that existing in the then socialist countries in eastern Europe, as the enemies of the Revolution would have it seem.

When the socialist Constitution was passed in a popular referendum in 1976 —it had the backing of 95% of the electorate— an important process of institution building in the country took a step forward , the People’s Power bodies such as the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the Council of State were founded , among other things.

There were significant constitutional and electoral reforms in 1992 which made it possible for deputies to the National Assembly and delegates to provincial assemblies to be elected by direct and secret ballot; delegates to municipal assemblies were already elected in this manner.

Characteristics of the Cuban political and electoral system:

1- Organisation of periodic elections where suffrage is universal and equal and voting is secret.

2- Universal registration in the electoral rolls, as a matter of course and without charge, for all citizens 16 and over who have the right to vote.

3- Direct nomination of candidates for delegates to the municipal assemblies by the voters themselves at public assemblies in which no less than 2 and no more than 8 candidates must be proposed. (In many countries the leadership of the political parties nominates candidates.)

4- The municipal assemblies propose candidates for delegate to the 14 provincial assemblies and for deputy to the National Assembly, approving or rejecting the suggestions from the nomination commissions which are composed of representatives from union, social, student, peasant, women and other organisations. Although, when all is said and done, the people have the last word, through their direct secret vote at the ballot box.

For the most recent general elections in January 2003, the aforementioned organisations held 860 plenary sessions and, on average, over 87% of their membership attended These meetings proposed 57,340 candidates for delegates to the provincial assemblies and for the National Assembly deputies. These were taken into consideration by the nomination commissions.

Consultations were held with candidates for delegate to the provincial assemblies and National Assembly deputy to discuss the nominations for president and vice-president of the municipal and provincial assemblies, and for the positions of president, vice-president, secretary and the other members of the Council of State. 3,068,878 people took part in these consultations in work places, educational institutions, in the cooperative and agricultural sector, in military units, communities, etc.

11,102 meetings were also held to introduce the candidates in the aforementioned places; 2,161,159 people attended.

As part of our democratic process, in the 2003 general elections, the nomination commissions in two municipalities had to nominate two different candidates for the National Assembly and the provincial assembly since the candidates first nominated were not approved by the corresponding municipal assemblies.

5- The absence of million–dollar election campaigns where resorting to insults, slander and manipulation is the norm. All candidates receive the same treatment. The only advertising allowed is the publication of the official biography listing the personal qualities and history of the candidate.

In Cuba the personal qualities of each candidate are what decides the outcome of the vote, not money. In the United States, a country which claims to be a champion of democracy, getting elected senator can cost as much as $3,000,000.

6- The elections are completely clean and transparent. The ballot boxes are guarded by children and young pioneers, they are sealed in the presence of the voters, the votes are counted publicly, and anyone interested in doing so may attend including the domestic and foreign press, diplomats, tourists and anyone else who want to.

7- Anyone elected must receive a majority of the votes cast. The candidate is only elected if he or she obtains more than 50% of the valid votes cast. If this does not happen in the first round of voting for delegates to municipal assemblies, then the two candidates who received most votes move on to a second round. If the voting is for a delegate to the provincial assemblies or deputy to the National Assembly and a candidate does not receive enough votes to be elected, then a new candidate must be nominated for a second round of elections.

8- The vote is free, equal and secret. All Cuban citizens have the right to elect and be elected. Since there are no party lists, one votes directly for the candidate one wishes to elect. In elections for delegates to the provincial assemblies and for deputies to the National Assembly, one may vote for one, several, all or none of the candidates.

9-All of the representative bodies of state power are elected and renewable.

It is not a requirement that one be a member of the Communist party of Cuba — which is not an electoral party— to be elected to any position. In fact 22 % of the more than 30 000 candidates nominated to next partial elections for the People’s Power Municipality Assemblies are not members of the Communist Party. The party neither proposes nor elects candidates. It acts as a guarantor for the cleanliness, order and transparency of the elections.

In the January 2003 elections for deputies, there was a turnover of 62% of the members of the National Assembly. 21 of the 31 members of the Council of State, who are elected by the National Assembly, were re-elected and 10 new members were chosen.

In 2003, 8 incumbent provincial assembly presidents and 6 incumbent vice-presidents were re-elected and 6 new presidents and 8 vice-presidents were elected.

In October 2002, the 169 municipal assemblies re-elected 95 incumbent presidents and 72 vice-presidents which accounted for 43.8 % and 57.3 % continuity respectively.

10- All those elected have to render account of what they have done to the electorate.

11- All those elected can be recalled by the voters at any time during their term in office.

12-. The deputies and delegates are not professionals and therefore are not paid a salary for performing their duties.

13- There is a high turn out for elections. There has been over 95% turn-out in every election held since 1976.

In the January 2003 elections for delegates to the provincial assemblies, there was a 97.64% turn-out. Of the votes cast in the elections for deputy, 96.14% were valid, 3% were null and void and only 0.86% were blank.

Elections are always held on a Sunday, — not a working day— and there are enough polling stations to ensure that it is not difficult for voters to get to them. Voting is not obligatory; it is a civic right and duty.

14-. Representatives from the widest variety of sectors in Cuban society make up the Cuban Parliament.

219 of the 609 deputies in the National Assembly are women, which is 35.96% and 8% more than in the previous legislature; 99% are university graduates or graduates from senior secondary school; only 5 left school after ninth grade and one has only primary school education; 32.84%, 4% more than in the previous National Assembly, are black and mixed race people and almost a quarter are workers in productive or service industries.

15- A deputy is elected for every 20,000 inhabitant or fraction greater than 10,000. All municipal territories are represented in the National Assembly. Each municipality elects at least 2 deputies and, based on this figure, they proportionally elect as many deputies as there are inhabitants. Up to 50% of the deputies have to have been elected as delegates from the constituencies, thus ensuring that they have been directly nominated by the electors themselves and that they live in the district for which they have been nominated.

16- In a secret, free and direct ballot, the National Assembly elects the Council of State and its president from among its deputies. The President of the Council of State is the Head of State and Head of Government. The Cuban Head of State and Government must go through two elections: he or she must first be elected as a deputy by the population of his or her constituency by free direct and secret ballot and obtain more than half the vote, and then by the National Assembly, also by free, secret and direct ballot.

17- Since the National Assembly is the Supreme Organ of State Power and since the legislative, executive and judicial branches are subordinated to it, the Head of State and Government cannot dissolve it.

18- The power to propose laws belongs to many social actors and not only to the deputies, the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s Office but also to unions, student, women’s and social organisations and to the citizens themselves. In the latter case, if citizens wish to propose a law, the proposal must be supported by at least 10,000 who have the right to vote.

19- Laws are passed by a majority vote. A specific feature of the Cuban method is that a draft law is not discussed in a plenary session of the National Assembly until, through repeated consultation with deputies and taking into consideration the proposals they make, it has been clearly shown that there is a majority in the Assembly who consent to discuss and pass it.

We should point out that the most important laws, those that that may affect the population as a whole or those that may be of concern to them or to workers and their families are discussed with them and consultations are held all across the country in factories, peasant cooperatives, schools, in the neighbourhoods, bodies and institutions before being a law is analysed, debated and passed in parliament.

Cuban deputies tend to spend many more hours on this kind of work that those spent by their counterparts anywhere else on earth. An example is apropos here: discussions were held in factories, peasant cooperatives and educational centres when the National Assembly set out to discuss the measures that had to be taken to deal with the serious economic crisis caused by the rupture of economic and trading ties with the defunct Soviet Union and other previously socialist Eastern and Central European countries and by a US blockade made more severe once the Torricelli Act was passed. The discussion process lasted for four months and more than 3.000,000 workers were involved in it.

Can the United States and other countries that go along with its anti-Cuban policies cite practices such as these?. It is well-known that many of the decisions that affect a country’s future economically or socially speaking or which affect an individual’s personal or family life are not even discussed in parliaments and sometime not even in public meetings of the executive branch itself.

On 17 April, the first round of partial elections to elect the delegates to the municipal people’s power assemblies will be held. Their term of office is two and a half years. On 24 April a second round will be held in those constituencies where no candidate received more than 50% of the valid votes cast.

The National Electoral Commission, the provincial, municipal and constituency electoral commissions have been set up and are working to organise the elections, to guarantee that the provisions of Cuban electoral law are fully complied with.

The electoral commissions must guarantee that every thing is ready for millions of Cubans to take part in proposing candidates for delegate. They have to draw up the Electoral registers, oversee the whole process of nominating candidates in the constituencies in their areas, assure that everything is in place so that those nominated can be voted on by direct and secret ballot, check the validity of the elections and organise the way the municipal assemblies are constituted and perform many other important tasks.

Why is there only one political party in Cuba?

The Republic of Cuba’s Constitution, by the people’s sovereign choice and decision, recognises the existence of only one political party in the country, The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). Nevertheless, this is not is political party in the traditional bourgeois liberal democracy sense. It is not an electoral party. Because of legal restrictions and because of the very fact that the PCC is not an electoral party, it does not decide on the formation or composition of the Government. It neither proposes nor elects any candidates. It does not take part in nor interfere in the elections for the National Assembly of People’s Power (the highest body of the Cuban State) for the People’s Supreme Court nor for the President of the Council of State.

The PCC’s role is one of guidance, supervision and of guarantor of participatory democracy and of sustainable development with equity, and social justice in Cuban socialist society.

The Party —because of its moral authority and the exemplary nature of its members— carries out its work through persuasion, by convincing people and in a close, constant association with the citizenry. Its ranks are filled with outstanding workers, agricultural workers, intellectuals artists, scientists, chosen for their personal qualities and their commitment to the common good. The decisions it takes are binding only upon its members. This concept and practice guarantee that in a system where there is only one party, the largest possible plurality of opinions is empowered and can prevail. The party ahs 896,119 members

The PCC is the party of the unity and independence of every Cuban. It is the heir to and embodies the historical continuity of the Cuban Revolutionary Party founded by our national hero, José Martí, also as a the only party of all Cubans to fight for his revolution.

The aims that gave rise to José Martí’s party —to liberate Cuba, to prevent it from being annexed to the United States and to unite all pro-independence sectors and forces in a single political organisation, conscious of the fact that division was the principal cause of the failures of the previous independence wars— these same aims are present today when the Cuban people is suffering from a harsh economic, trade and financial blockade and other aggressive actions from the United States whose goal is to divide the country, overthrow the government and destroy the system installed in Cuba by the sovereign decision of all Cubans.

The Party is the result of the integration and voluntary union of revolutionary Cubans from several organisations that fought against the dictatorship and the neo-colonial system forced down the throats of the Cuban people by the United States. A common goal brought various revolutionary forces together to found the PCC six years after the Revolution: unity, a prerequisite for democracy, solidarity, independence and development for the Cuban nation, whose objective is to build socialism in Cuba.

The Cuban people are perfectly familiar with the characteristics and “bounties” of the multiparty system that the United States praises so much; it lived with it for more than half a century. What is paradoxical is that the superpower wishes to impose on others what it has not been able to achieve itself. In the United States, a one party system is, in fact, in place, the party of capital and the transnationals, which putting on a different hat every now and then, has managed to stay in power for more than 200 years.

The United States pushed for the annihilation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and in 1902 imposed on the Cuban people a political system with several parties as an instrument of neo-colonial control and division; this only served to exacerbate poverty, corruption and the surrendering of the country’s wealth to US capital. Those political parties, created by the neo-colonial metropolis, demonstrated their inability and lack of will to go up against the bloody Batista dictatorship, indeed, quite the opposite, many of them received money and grew rich on the crumbs which the savage dictator dispensed.

When the Cuban Revolution was victorious one of the first demands the peoples made was that an end be put to the politicking and corrupt ways of the traditional political parties. There was a unanimous call for unity. The traditional parties in existence dissolved themselves and their top brass ran off to Miami of their own accord.

A multiparty system is not a synonym for democracy, neither is the existence of multiplicity of parties a prerequisite for democracy. There are more than a few cases where there is a multitude of political parties and yet no democracy nor real popular participation, where abstention is the major voter. Neither in international law nor in the main legal instruments and resolutions of the Assembly General is there any principle which postulates a multiparty system as a prerequisite for democracy. Quite the contrary, human rights conventions state that a nation freely decides for itself what kind of political system it will have and provides for its own social, cultural and economic development. Similarly, in the Vienna Declaration and Action Programme it states that democracy is based on the will of the people, freely expressed when it comes to deciding what kind of political, economic, social and cultural regime it will have.

The Cuban political system recognises, respects and encourages the greatest possible plurality of ideas and points of view, guaranteeing channels and places for debate. Really important decisions are only taken when the broadest possible social consensus has been reached.

There are no political upper echelons in Cuba which designate or nominate candidates. In our country this is done through an extremely popular, participative process.

In the rich industrialised world, and especially in countries in the South, there are many people who question the model of bourgeois, liberal democracy that some are attempting to install in Cuba. There are signs of a chromic crisis and in some of these countries this has produced a collapse of the traditional political party system.

A recent study made in 18 Latin American countries revealed that 40% of the region’s inhabitants think that democracy without political parties is viable. The study also revealed that 64.5% of voters believe that electoral promises are not kept by those in power because they lie to win the election. The United States or the US embassy was cited s the most important extraterritorial actor when it comes down to exercising real power in the area .

Although the Cuban system too, has a representative nature, this does not end with formal representation, it encourages direct participation by the population in representative bodies.

Democracy means real, daily participation in the exercise of power and the decision taking process in all social arenas and it cannot exist without freedom, without popular participation, social justice, individual and collective well-being or without human solidarity.

Cuban Civil Society

The process of revolutionary transformations undertaken by the Cuban people from the moment of their triumph in 1959 fostered solid, broad-based, representative, active participation by the citizenry.

Cuban civil society makes possible and feasible and guarantees direct participation by all Cubans in all discussions, proposals for laws and decision taking about all matters of importance to the Cuban nation: its political life, its economic development, its defence, its identity and cultural development, its foreign relations, the distribution of its wealth and the protection of its tangible and intangible heritage, etc.

Many of the social, grassroots, scientific, cultural and even religious organisations that have been founded in the last four decades have become part of Cuban civil society. These are joined by the organisations founded before 1959 which were not involved in nor supported the outrages and crimes of Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorial regime, whose rights were respected; most of them are still functioning actively in the country.

Civil society in Cuba comprises more than 2000 organisations, some of the most prominent of which are the social and grassroots organisations and the technical, scientific, cultural, artistic, sports, friendship and solidarity organisations or associations and any others which operate by virtue of the Associations Act (Law 54).

Social and grassroots organisations have hundreds of thousands of members, some even have millions and in view of their importance are even recognised in the Cuban Constitution in particular in Article 7. Because of their broad-based membership, representativeness and ability to mobilize, the Cuban political system ensures that these non-governmental organisations are given broad powers and the capacity to propose legislation, to be consulted, to give opinions and even to take decisions as they put into practice the participative democracy instituted by the existing constitutional order. These organisations are:

The Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) founded in 1960. They have more than 7.5 million members. Area residents over the age of 14 voluntarily join these committees. As well as making sure areas residents cooperate to combat terrorism, and crime, their social tasks include encouraging care and attention for young people, blood donating.

The National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) founded in 1961 has 200,000 independent peasant farmer members who own their own land thanks to the Agrarian Reform Law. It helps Cuba peasant small farmers and orients their participation in the social and economic transformation of rural society; in the implementation of the agrarian programme; in boosting agricultural production and so they can achieve a sustained increase in their contribution to domestic agro-industry and to feeding the population.

The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), an organisation founded in 1960 after a number of women’s organisations merged. It has 3.6 million members over the age of 24 and develops political programmes designed to help women achieve full equality in all spheres and at all levels of society.

The University Students’ Federation (FEU) a grassroots organisation which represents the interests of and enforces the rights already won by students. More than 100,000 students are members of the FEU.

The Federation of Senior Secondary School Students (FEEM) is the national organisation for senior secondary school students. Its main objectives include looking after student rights and obligations. It also represents them before and channels their concerns and worries to schools, state bodies, the government and elsewhere. It was founded on 6 December 1970 and has more than 300,000 members.

The Central Workers Organisation of Cuba (CTC) which has approximately 3,000,000 members is heir to the best traditions of struggle and combat of Cuban workers. More details will be given about the CTC below.

In Article 103, the Cuban Constitution decrees that the local government bodies act in close coordination with grassroots and social organisations. Their ability to initiate legislation is constitutionally recognised.

In addition to the foregoing, it should be pointed out that the initiative for most recent amendment to the constitution —it was made in 2002 as an answer to President Bush’s threats, declared Cuba’s socialist social and political system to be irrevocable and banned the negotiation of any agreement under aggression, threat or coercion from a foreign power— came from a joint request from several social and grassroots organisations and was signed by more than 8 million registered voters, that is to say, by more than 98% the Cuban electorate who did so of their own free will.

As per the provisions of the Electoral Law, the members of the commissions which nominate the candidates for election to the provincial and National assemblies of people’s power are representatives from the Central Cuban Workers’ Organisation (CTC), the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP), the University Students’ Federation (FEU) and the Senior Secondary Students’ Federation (FEEM). They are appointed by the municipal, provincial or national, (whichever is relevant) executives of these organisations.

Some grassroots and social organisations, such as the Cuban Central Workers Organisation (founded in 1939 and the umbrella organisation for 19 unions) and the University Students’ Federation (founded in 1922), have a long history. Several others emerged with the Revolution because there was a need to provide broad sectors of the population with the opportunity to become direct actors in the process of change underway. This, for example, was the case with the Federation of Cuban Women (more than 50% of Cubans are women), the Cuban National Union of Artists and Writers, the National Union of Cuban Jurists and the Union of Cuban Journalists.

As was said, there is another type of non-governmental organisation or association in Cuba which generally has a much smaller membership. They are scientific, technical, cultural, artistic or sports organisation or friendship or solidarity organisations and include culinary, medical and technical associations, associations of sugar workers, architects and engineers, of agricultural and forestry technicians , environmentalists, philosophers, historians, of social and political scientists, associations for protecting nature, and association for members or descendants of various different nationalities.

Today in Cuba there are 2217 non-governmental organisations or associations of this type, of these 1104 are fraternal, 175 scientific, 142 friendship, 52 cultural, 395 athletic and 356 for social interest.

This second group of organisations or associations function in accordance with Law No. 54 of 1985, the Law of Associations and their Regulations. This establishes the requirements for creating, registering and running such organisations.

The conditions which must be met before a non-governmental organisation can be registered in Cuba are the same as exist in most countries: they must be non-profit, their finances must be transparent and available for auditing by the competent governmental body, they must have a minimum of 30 members, their activities must not be harmful to public well-being or to that of other individuals or private entities, they must respect the constitutional order and legality, must not be against the principles of humanism, independence, solidarity, non-discrimination, equity, and social justice which hold sway in Cuban society.

One of the essential requirements for constituting any civil society organisation in Cuba, and this includes social and grassroots organisations, is that members join voluntarily.

Another two of their distinctive characteristics are their structure and their rules for democratic operation. All of their officers, at all levels, must be elected. They hold meetings of members periodically which makes it possible for them to debate and take decisions on any question of interest to the organisation. Most of them include in their by-laws that assemblies of the members, at grassroots, municipal and provincial levels be held every four or five years, as must congresses at the national level.
The aim of these assemblies or congresses is to elect the executive by secret, direct ballot, to have the previous executive give account of its performance, to evaluate the organisation’s work during the term in office of the previous executive and to discuss, formulate and approve the organisation’s programmes, tasks and action plans for the coming period.

Washington’s lying allegations that there is no independent civil society in Cuba does not bear scrutiny. The United Nations Economic and Social Council itself (ECOSOC) has granted consultant status to more than 10 Cuban non-governmental organisations and these contribute regularly to the work of its subsidiary bodies.

The requirements and information needed for legally registering and monitoring a Cuban non-governmental organisation are consistent with those demanded by ECOSOC’s Non-Governmental Organisations Committee and contained in the Council’s Resolution 1996/31 for granting consultant status to and monitoring the activities of NGOs.

Included among the Cuban non-governmental organisations that have consultative status (with ECOSOC) are: The Cuban United Nations Association (ACNU), The National Association of Cuban Economists and Accountants (ANEC), The Cuban National Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), The Centre for European Studies (CEE), The Centre for Studies on Young People (CESJ), the José Martí Cultural Society, The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the Cuban Movement for Peace and the Sovereignty of Peoples, the Nation Union of Cuban Jurists (UNJC), the Félix Varela Centre and the Centre for Asian and Oceanian Studies.

There are other international organisations headquartered in Havana which have also received consultative status with the Council, these include: The Organisation for Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) and the Latin American Continental Students’ Organisation (OCLAE).

The law guarantees that Cuban NGOs are able to operate independently. The Cuban government does not interfere in any way whatsoever with their functioning, not does it finance their administrative expenses. The government only gives financial support to specific projects that the NGOs carry out for the benefit of society or specific communities. They are also involved in channelling and administering a significant portion of the financial aid the country receives as foreign development assistance.

Moreover, Cuba has relations and keeps in systematic contact with more than 398 NGOs from 18 countries, 127 of which are from North America and 271 from Europe. At least 147 NGOs from various countries are engaged in cooperation programmes and 52 foreign cooperants are temporary residents in our country working on various cooperation projects.

All non-governmental organisations in Cuba have legal personality and their own property. The law stipulates that their property is obtained using membership dues, donations and other authorised economic revenue, such as the sale of publications, organisation of events, etc.

The Government receives not only support from the organisations in Cuban civil society but also opinions, suggestions and criticisms which are not always in favour of the projects, measures or actions designed and conceived by government bodies.

Nevertheless, these organisations have no need to resort to confrontation in order to achieve their aims. The Government, at all levels, is constantly consulting them and respects their broad legal authority to participate in formulating policies and programmes and take decisions about them. This was even the case during difficult times on such complex matters as the adoption and implementation of the economic restructuring measures that the country found itself obliged to take to deal with special period from 1990 onwards.

Civil society in Cuba exists as a complement and not in opposition to the state. The latter creates the institutions and represents the power of the overwhelming majority of the Cuban people, namely the labourers, agricultural workers, and all workers, intellectuals, artists and researchers in the education, health, science service and other sectors.

This harmonious relationship does not favour the United States’ interests; it needs to foster division in and disintegration of Cuban society in order to advance the aims of its imperialist policy. By the way, where has it been written or said that in order to be independent, civil society organisations must confront and oppose their country’s government? This might be unavoidable in plutocratic societies like the United States but not when there is popular and participatory democracy as there is in Cuba.

Exercising the right to unionise

In Cuba, the current legislation and daily practice in all workplaces in the country guarantees all union activity and the fullest enjoyment of the right to unionise. The foregoing is corroborated by the existence of 19 national and industry unions which are organised municipally and provincially. These unions also have 169 municipal and 14 provincial organisations which have 128,285 union branches or locals under them. The 869,534 union leaders at all levels are elected by secret ballot. 69,616 of these are provincials leaders (of 7,674 union locals)

The existence in Cuba of a single central union umbrella organisation which brings the 19 national unions together has not been something the government imposed, nor does it stem from any regulation other than the sovereign will of Cuban workers. The battle for unity in the union movement in Cuba has a long, deep-rooted tradition. It was in 1938, long before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and following a free decision by Cuban workers themselves, that the Confederation of Cuban Workers, which the following year became the Cuban Central Workers’ Organisation, was founded.

The unity of the Cuban workers’ movement has been decisive in its struggle and demands in defence of the power it currently exercises.

Fulgencio Batista’s bloody dictatorship (1952-1958) made one of the priorities of its tyrannical regime the destruction of the union movement’s unity which the CTC had created. He never succeeded. In spite of creating artificial “yellow” unions led by criminals paid by the tyrant and neo-colonial countries’ companies, Cuban workers never allowed themselves to be tricked and remained united in their one and only central organisation.

Neither the Labour Code in effect in Cuba nor any complementary legislation place restrictions on the creation of unions. All Cuban workers have the right to freely join and to set up union organisations with no need for prior authorisation.

All unions in Cuba and the Cuban Central Workers’ Organisation go about their activities and programmes in a completely independent manner. The unions themselves draft and pass their by-laws and regulations, decide on the structure of their organisations, their own work methods and style in accordance with their interests.

The workers affiliated with each union nominate and elect their own officials at the various levels, from grassroots assemblies of workers up to the respective congresses which are held regularly and at all levels the strictest respect for union democracy is observed. The union officials who are democratically elected by the workers take part with full legal authority in management board meetings, where they take the decisions which affect them both at the company level and even at the level of Central State Administration bodies and institutions.

The Labour Code establishes the guarantees necessary for unrestricted union activity to exist in every workplace in the country and for the workers and their representatives to participate fully in the process of taking decisions which most affect their many interests.

One of the principal goals of workers all over the world, full employment, was achieved in Cuba during 2004. (The unemployment rate is less than 2%)

The electronic and print media

Cuba bestows the greatest importance not only on protecting but also on promoting the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both of which are included in the Constitution; the legal regulations governing them have been improved.
From its inception, the Cuban Revolution has always given priority in its programmes and policies to overcoming the structural and institutional obstacles to the full exercise of these rights in Cuba. One of the first acts of the revolutionary government was to stamp out illiteracy. Similarly, it fostered and encouraged the establishment of many people’s and social organisations which have shown how effective they are in fostering the flee flow and exchange of ideas.

The revolutionary transformations allowed the Cuban people to take control of the means of information and communication when the latter were nationalised. All Cubans are guaranteed access to the widest spectrum of information. Even though the US blockade limits our access to resources and opportunities, Cuba has broad range of electronic and print media serving the Cuban people and they have a clear public function.

Private, national or transnational monopolies of information and communication are forbidden by law. The use of the media for commercial advertising, inciting racial hatred, pornography, inciting violence and other evils that afflict the media in the West are forbidden by law.

Cubans have the opportunity to receive broadcasts and to be the subjects who create the programming and contents of both the electronic and written media; this guarantees the fullest possible plurality. The media are used to foster discussion and criticism by the public, to disseminate information and to educate children and young people in a spirit of social justice, liberty, equality and human solidarity.

Nevertheless, the situation affecting Cuba, a country suffering from a foreign power’s policy of hostility and undeclared war, cannot be ignored. Under such circumstances, disinformation and the manipulation of the news can be an instrument of aggression. A careful examination of the source and veracity of the information becomes a national security imperative. Punishing those responsible for spreading enemy propaganda is unavoidable if we are to defend ourselves

In societies based on the neo-liberal model, which they are trying to impose on the whole world, whether or not an individual or group of individuals has access to the means of information and communication and the dissemination of opinions is determined by the economic resources of that individual or group of individuals interested in exercising this right.

Providing universal access to basic social services and meeting the population’s basic needs is a basic premise of the Cuban model of development. This includes access to information and communication services. In Cuba, information and communications technologies are assets at the service of the entire population. Education and training in their use are free. Use of and access to their services are governed by clear policies and benefit from programmes aimed at expanding their use by all Cubans.

The priorities established for these services, including the Internet, are determined by the maxim that the scarce resources available must benefit the highest possible number of individuals. That is why priority is given to access through social and community settings, such as schools, universities, hospitals and health centres, libraries, research centres, local, provincial and national administration offices and arts and cultural centres. At the individual level, priority is given to connecting doctors, intellectuals, researchers, academics etc.

The widespread use of computers to teach adults, adolescents and children from the pre-school level on is being extended.

Cuba today has around 300,000 computers (this will double in three years), more than two thirds of which are connected in networks. There are 1,209 domain addresses ending in dot cu, more than 1,500 web sites on the Internet and more than 790,000 email accounts and 150,000 Internet users.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Cuba have access to the Internet, and this number will increase daily, if the country’s economic situation permits this to happen. Using INFOMED alone —this is Public Health’s Internet service— around 30,000 health care professionals, doctors and paramedics have access to the Internet. At the higher education level, almost all the professors and most students use the Internet, the only restrictions being the computer time available and the speed of our networks.

Similarly, all the national and local press is available on the Internet. Several radio stations broadcast in real time over the Internet, as does Cubavision International.

In a developing country that is blockaded, and given the impossibility of devoting more resources to developing television service, radio continues to playa vital role in citizens’ participation. There are 76 radio station which mostly broadcast on medium wave and FM. 8 of this stations are national, 16 provincial and 51 municipal and community. In addition to these there is one short wave international radio station.

There are four national TV channels. We have 15 provincial television centres including one on the special municipality of the Isle of Youth and a telecentre serving those living in the hills and mountains.

Television programming includes foreign-made documentaries, soap operas, series, films and educational, scientific and news material. Approximately 20% of programmes shown on TV is not produced in Cuba.

The opening of two television channel devoted essentially to education has been especially effective in increasing the conduits available for the free flow of information and opinions. These channels are received by over 85% of the population and are on air for an average of 15 to 20 hours a day. Their broadcasts represent 62.7% of the total hours of Cuban television broadcast domestically. Cuba broadcasts to the world via Cubavision International.

In 2004 Cuba had a total of 577 print publications. Occupying a position of great importance among these are the 26 newspapers, 3 of which are national in scope (including the union newspaper “Trabajadores” (Workers) and the paper directed at young people “Juventud Rebelde” (Rebellious Youth), 14 are provincial, 8 are territorial and one is international.

355 of the other regular publications, most of which are magazines, are aimed at the general public. 37 of these cover the arts and literature, 21 cinema, 76 medicine and public health, 30 the sugar agro-industry, 23 technology and construction, 15 social sciences, 17 the economy and finances, 15 education and educational philosophy, 17 economics and finance, 15 education and educational philosophy, 17 biological sciences and biotechnology, 22 standards and intellectual property and 12 industry, transport, etc.

There are also 32 regular publications put our by religious institutions, 11 by private entities, 9 by social and grassroots organisations, and 63 by other non-governmental organisations and 17 by political organisations.

There are 78 publications which appear in digital as well as paper format and 127 which only exist in digital format.

Given that there are such a wide range of editors, producers, journalists and reporters, so many possibilities and guarantees for citizens to participate directly in the programming and broadcasting of the public media, and, considering that we are a very small country, such a large number of radio stations, Web sites, magazines and newspapers, who can seriously and objectively claim that there is no plurality in the Cuban electronic and print media? And, in fact, if there are not more of all of the above it is basically because the availability of paper is limited as are the resources needed to broadcast more hours of radio and television because of our underdevelopment and the U.S. blockade.

The right to petition and defence of human rights when there are violation of the latter.

By virtue of article 63 of the Fundamental Law of the Republic, any citizen has the right to lay complaints and address petitions to the authorities and to receive adequate attention or responses in a reasonable time, as per the law.

These provisions are echoed the legislation concerning central state administration which protects and develops this right by establishing the ways and procedures that the bodies of which it (central state administration) is composed must follow to respond to the complaints received directly from the population or those that the population sends via their elected representatives.

Any Cuban or his or her representatives can lay complaints or denounce violations of their rights and demand a reply from such institutions as:

The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic and in particular its department for the protection of citizens’ rights. The Attorney General’s Office, in article 8, paragraph c) of Law No, 83 of 1997 was made responsible for attending to claims laid by citizens about alleged violations of their rights. In Article 24 of the same law, paragraph 2) it was given the responsibility of settling claims through resolutions issued by the attorney general which re-establish legality.

- Social and grassroots organisations

- The National Revolutionary Police

- The departments which attend to the public in the office of the secretary to the executive committee of the council of ministers and in each one of the bodies of central state administration.
- Delegates to the municipal assemblies of people’s power and the municipal and provincial administration councils and the permanent committees of the National Assembly.

- The Council of State

- Municipal, provincial and central committees of the Communist Party of Cuba.

There are legal guarantees in Cuba so that anyone — whether that person is a Cuban citizen or a foreigner— can have recourse to the courts or the competent authorities to exert their rights or, if these rights have been violated, to demand that they be defended.
Access to the courts in Cuba is free and in cases that need representation or the services of a lawyer, citizens may go to any lawyer, no matter how famous this person may be, and contract him or her for a small fee, established by law and a priori, which is not beyond the reach of any average citizen. Justice is dispenses swiftly, in contrast to some other countries where any case, civil, criminal or other can take years. The Cuban system gives the first court’s verdict within a matter or months.

Equality of all before the law and the uniform application of that law by judges prevent practices that are common elsewhere, especially in the United States where economic power can cause imbalances that lead to bribery and unevenness when justice is handed down.

The deep respect for human dignity, the principle of equality and the spirit of humanism and solidarity that infuses our society are what guide the administration of justice in Cuba.

Cuban judges are independent and do not owe obedience to anything other than the law. Those who allege that Cuba courts are cannot make independent rulings are lying. The professional judges are elected for an indefinite period and can only be removed for reasons set forth in our laws. This contributes to the autonomous, independent manner in which they do their job.

Cuba has demonstrated the veracity of the premise that an cultured, prepared and educated people will never be oppressed and will exert its full, complete independence and freedom.

The Cuban people is moving ahead with a revolutionary process of permanent transformations to firmly establish democracy and participation by the citizenry. The changes have been and will continue to be multiple: all, nevertheless, lie within the framework of the socialist constitutional order whose irrevocability was decided on by the overwhelming majority of the Cuban nation. We are not trying to show there is unanimity, far from it, there is a broad diversity of opinions and ways to channel these.

It is only because they have a government of the people, with the people and for the people and permanent, genuine and participative democracy that the Cuban people has been able to overcome the challenges, threats and aggression levelled at it by successive US administrations. This includes the genocidal blockade which has lasted for more than forty years.

CHAPTER 2: THE GUARANTEES CUBAN DOMESTIC LAW PROVIDES FOR CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS.

Some basic presuppositions

In order to discuss the institutional protection for human rights in Cuba and with that the question of the protection of civil and political rights, one must first look at some basic presuppositions:

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a legally binding legal instrument even though its general acceptance has made it the document universally referred to on the subject of promoting and protecting human rights.

By virtue of the last paragraph of it preamble, the Declaration was pronounced as “ the common ideal towards which all peoples and nations must strive, so that both individuals and institutions, constantly seeking inspiration in the declaration, promote, respect for rights and freedoms through education and teaching”.. The Declaration itself does not contain any international obligations that are binding on states; it is a foundation for a plan of action to follow in order to reach this “common ideal” through dialogue and cooperation.

The universality of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Declaration stems from the respect for diversity concerning the ways and means of guaranteeing they are respected and enforced. This universality goes hand in hand with the indivisibility and interdependence of the various categories of human rights.

The Universal Declaration would have no force nor reason to exist outside of the general framework of international law and especially the respect for the sovereign equality between states.

2.There are no privileged categories of human rights.

In the Declaration and Action Programme adopted at the Vienna World Human Rights Conference in 1993, it was reaffirmed that human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and that all categories of human rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on an equal footing and giving all the same weight.

Freedom of expression and opinion cannot exist in the fullest sense if there is no right to education. On the other hand, denying rights as basic as that to food, and access to health services would limit the enjoyment of the right to life and therefore any political or civil right.

3. Human rights are universal, but their specific content and the way the rights and freedoms of individuals are exercised and enjoyed depend on the particularities and needs of each individual society and are subordinate to the will of the people.

The protection and promotion of the rights and freedoms of all men and women was established as the responsibility and task of all states with the adoption of the UN Charter — cornerstone of our international law framework— at the San Francisco Conference. It is the responsibility of every state to provide —on the basis of the people’s sovereign will— the guarantees and resources which the exercise and protection of these rights and freedoms require. States must ensure that the laws, policies, programmes and other instruments needed to promote and protect the rights recognized in the aforementioned international documents are in place.

By virtue of article 29 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the specific content that the rights recognized by the Declaration have in each individual society is determined by that society’s legal framework .

Human rights are neither eternal nor sui generis and cannot be analyzed in the abstract or as separate from social or class categories. Domestic legislation and every state’s freely and explicitly adopted obligations lay down the legal framework within which the rights and freedoms of every individual in every society are exercised and enjoyed.

That is to say, the legal protection that these rights and freedoms enjoy in each state is central to their exercise and promotion. It would be misguided, however, to analyze a given country’s human rights situation by studying that country’s legislation alone. A decisive element in the protection and promotion of these rights and freedoms is the implementation of government policies and programmes aimed at advocating and supporting these.

The principle of the sovereign equality of states —at least de jure— bars any government from foisting its laws and legal frameworks on other nations.

National and regional particularities and the many historical, religious, legal and cultural legacies which characterize different political, economic and social systems cannot be overlooked when analyzing the human rights situation in a particular country.

4. The bourgeois conception of human rights emphasizes civil and political rights, downplaying the significance of economic, social and cultural rights.

Bourgeois human rights theory prioritizes the protection of civil and political rights. Economic, social and cultural rights are presented as goals to be reached progressively; some go as far as describing them as mere dreams for the future.

Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly establishes that “everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realisation, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organisation and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality”.

The preamble to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights establishes that “the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights, as well as his civil and political rights”.

There is no real dichotomy between civil and political rights, on one side, and economic, social and cultural rights on the other. They are an indivisible whole.

5. Human rights cannot be promoted and protected if strictly individualistic mind-sets prevail.

An unequivocally individualistic conception is pushed by bourgeois ideologues in the field of human rights. Over-insistence on the development of an individual’s potential overlooks that individual’s duties to society and even ignores the collective ambit within which some rights are enjoyed, as that of the rights of peoples to peace, development, self-determination and international solidarity.

An objective and just conception of human rights would promote and protect individual rights and freedoms and every human being’s fullest self-realisation with the understanding that individuals cannot fulfil themselves and exercise their rights outside the scope of social relations and to the detriment of society’s interests.

The recognition of rights and freedoms also delineates individual duties to society.

In article 29 (1), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes that “everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible”.

6. Western industrialized powers manipulate human rights in order to dominate others and impose their ideology on them.

Led by the United States, Western nations have manipulated international human rights cooperation mechanisms and made them instruments to serve their foreign policy and spearhead their campaigns of domination.

The distortion of Cuba’s human rights record and campaigns of misinformation and lies against the Cuban people’s revolutionary changes have been at the core of the US’ hostile policy towards the Cuban nation’s assertion of its right to sovereignty.

Human rights in Cuba’s constitutional tradition

As explained in other chapters of this document, calling Cuba’s political system into question constitutes a pillar of the United States’ anti-Cuban campaign about democracy and human rights.

Washington representatives want to prove that the political system established by Cuba’s Constitution is incompatible with internationally recognized democratic and human rights precepts; they aim to fabricate the image of an intolerant and rigid society which leaves no room for plurality and political participation.

In fact, Cuba’s democratic system is based on the people’s broadest and most genuine political participation, on plurality of opinion —opinions which influence the consensuses that determine the nation’s political, economic, social and cultural course—and on every Cuban citizen’s participation in the exercise of power. Each citizen not only participates in the exercise of political power; he or she also benefits from and co-owns the nation’s resources, wealth and main means of production. All have access to non-discriminatory basic services in education, health and social assistance and security.

Cuba’s democratic system is authentic, legitimate, just and effective.

The rights and freedoms of Cuban citizens which the Constitution of the Republic and other national legislative instruments protect and guarantee are not only compatible, in nature and scope, with the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In many aspects, the recognition and protection of those rights is much broader and more encompassing.

Apart from those contained in the Universal Declaration, the Cuban Constitution recognizes other rights for Cubans, as those established in article 8 (b), namely:

- That there be no man or woman, capable of working, who does not have the opportunity to obtain employment with which he/she can contribute to society and to the satisfaction of his/her own needs;
- That there be no person unable to work without decent means of sustenance;
- That there be no ill person denied medical attention;
- That there be no child denied schooling, food and clothing; that there be no young person denied the opportunity to study;
- That there be no person without access to study, culture and sports.

Approved with an overwhelming majority of votes in 1976, Cuba’s Constitution enshrines the ideals of democracy, freedom, equality and social justice which have guided the Cuban people in their struggle for over 150 years.

This constitutional human rights hierarchy has roots which go deep into Cuba’s history. Article 28 of the Guáimaro Constitution of 10 April 1869, the first to be adopted by the Republic of Cuba in Arms, established that “the House cannot encroach upon freedom of religion, press, peaceful assembly, petition or upon any of the people’s inalienable rights”. The Yaya Constitution of 10 October 1897 also included an extensive declaration of individual and political rights, including freedom of thought and religion, the right to claims and complaints, the right to vote and freedom of opinion, expression and association.

Cuba’s current Constitution, whose text was long debated and amended a number of times by the Cuban people before being voted on in a referendum, is based on the thought of national independence hero José Martí, who once expressed: “I want the veneration of Man’s full dignity to be enshrined as the first law of the Republic”.

This vision distances itself greatly from the individualistic reading of human rights which prevails in bourgeois thought. José Martí’s understanding of human rights bases itself on a vision of solidarity, a republic which would be founded by everyone and for the benefit of everyone.

Through clearly and precisely formulated articles, the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, promulgated on 24 February 1976, recognizes and protects each and every human right proclaimed by the Universal Declaration.

Enshrined in Cuba’s Constitution is the principle of the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights categories. No analysis which sets out to evaluate the promotion and protection of civil and political rights in Cuba as independent categories can be encompassing or complete. However, since these are the categories which the anti-Cuban lies and disinformation campaigns undertaken by Washington authorities emphasize, this chapter will mostly limit itself to explaining how the Constitution and other Cuban laws regulate civil and political rights.

Civil and political human rights in Cuba’s legislation

An analysis of Cuban legislation immediately reveals that the Constitution is not the sole instrument which legally protects human rights; these are duly formulated and guaranteed by domestic substantive law. The Penal Code, the Social Security Law, the Family Code, the Youth and Childhood Code and many other instruments complement and guarantee the exercise of all human rights, including political and civil rights.

What follows is a summary of the constitutional and other laws in Cuba which legally guarantee the civil and political rights recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The list is not exhaustive, nor could it be in a document of this nature. The information is presented in the same order as the articles of one of the most universal international human rights instruments. The various articles in the Declaration referring to civil and political rights are compared with the corresponding articles of Cuban legislation which recognize and protect the latter.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 58 of the Constitution
- Article from 261 to 278 and from 279 to 286 of the Penal Code.

Respect for the right to life, freedom and security of person is a guiding principle of Cuban society and the way its authorities function.

There is no true freedom to speak of in a society where exploitation by classes and oligarchies prevails, where inequality and subjugation are conditions for survival and progress, where a person’s full self-actualization does not depend on merit, talent or effort.

Cuban law ordains severe measures to prevent any arbitrary deprivation of freedom and to judge and punish those responsible for any such action.

Although the law punishes all conduct that places human physical integrity and life at risk, the Cuban Penal Code in fact establishes harsher punishments for those who commit such crimes in abuse of their power or authority or take advantage of a person’s defencelessness.

In addition to being an offence, violence against human beings is prevented through education and restrictions on the use of any instrument that could encourage extreme violence or put the lives of human beings at risk. In this connection, it is worth mentioning that rigorous controls and far-reaching restrictions on the use of fire arms —declaring their purchase or sale illegal and considerably limiting their possession— are in place in Cuba.

Members of the armed forces, since they are not responsible for maintaining the country’s internal social order, for instance, are permitted to carry and use their weapons only in the performance of their duties within military units, in situations and in the way established by the regulations.

With respect to the penal code, members of the Ministry of the Interior, including police officers, are considered military personnel and subject to military penal and procedural law.

With respect to the death penalty, it should be mentioned that, even though it is included in Cuba’s national legislation, it is and has been applied only in highly exceptional cases. It is handed down by the competent court only for the most serious cases of those crimes for which this sentence has been established (See: Title III, Section I, article 29 of the Penal Code and Law Against Acts of Terrorism).

In 1999, the National Assembly of the People’s Power modified the Penal Code with the adoption of Law No. 87, prescribing life imprisonment for various crimes with the chief aim of replacing the death penalty more and more with this alternative form of punishment.

Both at a legislative and practical level, Cuba respects and rigorously complies with UN safeguards designed to protect the rights of death row inmates (Resolution 1984/50 ECOSOC); among these, we could mention the exoneration of individuals because of age or mental state, the handing down of life sentences as alternative punishment, the right to appeal, etc.

It is well worth emphasizing that the death penalty has been resorted to in Cuba to defend its national security, not only against numerous external acts of aggression but also against terrorist actions and crimes aimed at destroying the Cuban state or the lives of its citizens.

An important factor which has discouraged the Cuban government from abolishing the death penalty has been the continuation and redoubling of the policy of aggression and terrorist actions against the Cuban people, which the United States has either promoted or tolerated.

Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 1 and 9, sub-article a) of the Constitution
- Articles 116 and 120 of the Penal Code

No one can be enslaved in Cuba. Slavery, or any form of servitude, are vehemently repudiated at the political and social level. Cuba was the last Spanish colony to achieve independence in the American continent, and slavery was abolished only in 1886.

Articles 116 and 120 of the Penal Code prescribe ten to twenty years imprisonment or the death penalty for those who attempt to partially or completely destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group or to subject the group to conditions which threaten to exterminate the group or some of its members. Article 120.1 establishes a sanction of ten to twenty years imprisonment or death for those who, aiming to establish or maintain the domination of one racial group by another, promote policies of extermination, segregation and racial discrimination.

Cuban law safeguards the dignity of prisoners and prevents conditions of servitude from being imposed upon them or any other person. Article 30.11 of the Penal Code states that the “prisoner cannot be the object of corporal punishment nor may any measure which entails humiliation or undermines his dignity be taken against him”.

Cuban legislation does not envisage any prison sentence involving forced labour.

Prison regulations establish the right of prisoners to receive technical and professional training and schooling and to perform socially useful labour, receiving the same salary they would earn for that labour were they not in a penitentiary institution.

It is well worth clarifying the circumstances surrounding the work of young people who are members of the Youth Work Brigades and students in country boarding schools, as these have been the target of numerous anti-Cuban campaigns of disinformation and lies promoted by the United States.

To ensure that a citizen’s conscientious objection to military service is respected, Law No. 75 of 21 December 1994 (or the Law of National Defence) establishes alternatives to military service in the Armed Forces which take a citizen’s particular situation into account.

Legislation stipulates that every young person who is conscripted must be given a preliminary interview to assess his/her opinions, his/her inclinations and preparedness and to offer him/her the opportunity to voice any moral objections. This mechanism is in place to ensure a timely decision regarding their case is made and an appropriate assignment within the national service is guaranteed, sparing the conscript the use of weapons (if he/she objected to this) and respecting his/her religious and moral obligations.

In the case of the Youth Work Brigade —one of the alternatives to military service— Recruitment Commissions (Article 70 of Law 75) makes use of a consultation mechanism to find out which of the 11 specialties offered appeal to the young conscript.

The Youth Work Brigades offer young people advantages such as high salaries and the right to paid holidays, making these an especially attractive and highly popular way of doing military service. The work carried out by the Youth Work Brigades chiefly consists in the gathering of fruits and agricultural products during the peak harvest season. These products are used primarily to supply the troops; all excess products are sold to nearby populations at reduced prices.

Country boarding schools were conceived following the teachings of Cuba’s independence hero. José Martí always insisted on the importance of linking study and work in the education of the young. The Cuban government developed a model designed to prepare and educate its citizens from the earliest age. Wherever possible —and provided students (7th grade and up) are fit in this connection— work is linked to free education which is accessible to everyone.

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 8, sub-article a), third paragraph and Articles 59 and 60 of the Constitution.
- Articles 141, 272 to 274 and 286 of the Penal Code.

Cuba’s revolutionary government has never resorted to the violent or humiliating treatment of a single prisoner or citizen.

The Cuban revolution was born as a struggle against injustice and tyranny. A deep-seated hatred towards all forms of abuse and arbitrariness, towards physical and psychological violence against people or prisoners, took shape in Cuba.

To never subject a prisoner to violent or humiliating treatment was a principle which, in the strictest sense, guided the Rebel forces who fought in Cuba’s liberation struggle. This precept continues to stand as an inviolable norm for Cuban authorities.

The more than 1,200 mercenaries who were taken prisoner during the Bay of Pigs Invasion were tried by revolutionary courts in April 1961. Not one of them was able to claim ill-treatment or torture by Cuban troops. On the contrary, Cuban authorities returned the mercenaries to US soil in exchange for a shipment of food and medicines which were distributed to the Cuban people.

No one can point to a single case of torture, extra-legal execution or forced disappearance in the history of the Cuban revolution. Neither can anyone speak of a single public demonstration attacked or repressed by the police, or the use of tear gas, fire arms or rubber bullets on the population by Cuban authorities.

Cuba has developed a penitentiary system which gives prisoners the opportunity to correct their behaviour and re-insert themselves into society. The features of this system and the new programmes that have been undertaken in this connection are dealt with in a chapter devoted to this topic.

Respect for a person’s physical and mental integrity is a sacred principle of the Cuban social ethos. Violation of this principle is punished with the utmost severity. These guarantees appear in the Constitution in Articles 59 and 60.

Article 141.1 of the Penal Code states that any government official who implements or calls for a safety measure without an order issued by a competent court incurs a prison sentence. Similarly, articles 272 to 274 regulate sanctions to be applied in cases which result in injury to others. Article 286 deals with the crime of coercion, defined as compelling someone to do something through the use of violence or threats.

The Law of Military Offences establishes severe punishments for all crimes against a person’s physical integrity, even those perpetrated in the guise of disciplining measures; it prescribes prison sentences for officers who use excessive force or perform their duties unbecomingly.

Cuba’s penitentiary regulations strictly prohibit agents from using violence or coercion to obtain confessions from prisoners during interviews or interrogations.

Article 63 of the Constitution establishes that all citizens have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the pertinent authorities and to receive an answer within a reasonable period, as per the law.

In light of the sensitive nature of cases involving officers from the Ministry of the Interior, the latter has created a department, separate from the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office and directly subordinate to the Secretariat, to handle complaints from the population.

All complaints must be verified and responded to within the established periods, justly and impartially. The individuals or entities about which the complaint is made cannot be involved in the legal procedures, investigation or decisions surrounding the facts or claims of the complaint.

Prisoners are also guaranteed the right to make claims or register complaints. The Penitentiary System’s Regulations establish that all prisoners have the right to register verbal or written complaints with penal authorities and to receive a response to these. Prisoners also have the right to pursue legal procedures with a lawyer or the head of the penal institution.

Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 9, sub-article a), paragraph three of the Constitution.
- Articles 24, 25, 28, 29 and 38 of the Civil Code.

Cuba’s legislation recognizes the human being’s right to a legal status; article 24 of the Civil Code provides that this status is granted at birth and expires at the time of death. In the same fashion, article 25 of the Civil Code confers all rights and guarantees on newborns, with the proviso that they are born alive.

Citizens acquire full legal capacity at the age of 18 (article 29 of the Civil Code).

The law provides for those who have no legal capacity (article 31 of the Civil Code); these are children under 10 and elderly individuals who have been declared incapable of taking care of themselves or their property.

The inalienable rights of a citizen include the right to request an immediate end to a crime against one’s person, the recanting on behalf of the offender and to repair for resulting damages or injury.

Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 41, 42 and 43 of the Constitution.
- Article 295 of the Penal Code.

An entire chapter of Cuba’s Constitution establishes equal rights and duties for all citizens, outlaws discrimination and makes it punishable by law.

All citizens are considered equal, regardless of race, skin colour, gender, religious beliefs, national origin or any condition affecting him/her as a human being. In this connection, all Cuban citizens enjoy rights such as:

- Access, according to merit and ability, to all government, public administration, production or services positions or jobs.
- The right to enlist in and be promoted to any rank within the Armed Forces and public order institutions, according to merit and ability.
- The right to receive the same salary others receive for the same work.
- The right to enjoy all levels of free, quality education.
- The right to receive free services in any medical institution.

Article 295 of the Penal Code provides for crimes against the right to equality, establishing that whoever discriminates another person or promotes or incites discrimination, incurs a prison sentence of six months to two years, a fine anywhere from two to five hundred quotas, or both.

Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 26 and 63 of the Constitution.
- Articles 393, 401 and 654 of the Law of Civil, Administrative and Labour Proceedings.

By virtue of the Constitution, anyone who unjustly suffers damages or injury because of actions undertaken by state officials or agents in the performance of their duties, has the right to register a complaint and to obtain the compensation that the law establishes. The Constitution also establishes the right to direct complaints and petitions to authorities and to receive the pertinent attention or response, as per the law.

Cuba’s political system is not divided into the executive, judiciary and legislature; it is the people who wield the one, existing power. Consequently, the one body vested with constitutional authority is the highest government institution in Cuba: the National Assembly of the People’s Power. There is no higher institution that can assess the constitutional validity of its actions.

In Cuba’s political system, ordinary courts are not empowered to review or hand down a ruling in connection with cases involving human rights violations as such, unless such cases consist in crimes or infractions for which proceedings may be instituted and fall within the court’s jurisdiction. Nevertheless, if the court is aware of any violation of these rights at the time it is to hand down a ruling, it is obliged to obtain testimony and to make it known to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

All Cuban citizens may resort to the following instruments in defence of their individual rights:

I. Habeas Corpus, contained in the Law of Penal Procedure and handled by penal courts, designed to protect personal freedoms. Article 467 of this Law establishes that anyone who has been imprisoned without the formalities and guarantees stipulated by the Constitution and law, must be released on his/her request or that of any other person through a summary process of Habeas Corpus. Similarly, a ruling admitting a Habeas Corpus cannot be appealed. If the Habeas Corpus were turned down, this ruling may be appealed before the People’s Supreme Court.

II. The procedure to be followed in civil suits and, among these, that known as possession, of which proprietors or owners may avail themselves, established by the Law of Civil, Administrative and Labour Procedure and handled by civil courts.

III. The forced expropriation procedure, established in the abovementioned Law and handled by civil courts. As its name indicates, it is designed to protect property rights, established in article 25 of the Constitution. This procedure is elucidated in article 425 of the Law of Civil, Administrative and Labour Procedure and may be pursued when the owner of the good in question does not agree with the manner in which it is administered and taking the matter to court becomes necessary.

IV. The administrative procedure, through which state administrative procedures which are considered violations are challenged to obtain redress and compensation for damages caused. This procedure, first established in article 26 of the Constitution, is contained in the Law of Civil, Administrative and Labour Proceedings.

V. The penal procedure, designed to protect human rights already protected by the Penal Code, including the right to life and physical integrity, the inviolability of the home, confidentiality, freedom of thought, peaceful assembly, demonstration, association, complaint and petition, religion, equality, etc. This instrument may be used provided the alleged violations do not entail crimes included in the Penal Code.

VI. The labour procedure, regulated by the Law of Civil, Administrative and Labour Procedure, designed to protect the labour rights of workers, which is limited to matters which may be handled by the court and may be instituted after the labour institutions in place acted in this connection.

We can appreciate that a well-developed system for the protection of human rights is in place in Cuba. This system is complemented by legal provisions that, as we shall later see, bestow on the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic specific functions aimed at offering citizens wider-ranging protection of their rights.

Through article 8 (c) of Law No. 83 of 1997, the Public Prosecutor’s Office was given the express task of attending to citizen complaints regarding supposed violations of their rights; article 24 (2) of the same Law empowered the public prosecutor to issue resolutions to restore legality. That is to say, in his capacity to act and decide, he is vested with more authority than an ombudsman.

In Cuba, anyone —citizen or foreigner— can resort to the courts or competent authorities to pursue the defence of his/her rights.

Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 58 and 59 of the Constitution
- Articles 109 and 245 of the Law of Penal Proceedings
- Articles 279 to 283 of the Penal Code

Article 58 of the Constitution establishes that “personal freedom and inviolability are a guarantee for all who reside in the national territory. No one can be detained unless for a crime, in the way and with the guarantees prescribed by law. The personal integrity of the detainee or prisoner is inviolable”.

Article 59 establishes that “no one can be tried or sentenced if not by a competent court, by virtue of the law in effect before the crime was committed and with the guarantees and formalities that it establishes”.

These constitutional precepts offer the highest level of legal protection to a human being’s right to personal inviolability and lay the bases for preventing the violation of people’s freedoms, making procedural law the sole instrument that can authorize their detention.

The Law of Penal Procedure establishes the cases in which officials or agents must proceed to detain a person.

The Penal Code complements regulations in this area; it prescribes imprisonment for anyone who carries out an arbitrary detention and a more severe sentence for cases in which this detention results in the death of the victim.

Any official or agent who does not release a detainee or hand him or her over to the competent authority within the legally established period, or who wrongfully delays implementing a resolution calling for this detainee’s release, is also subject to punishment for this crime. The head of a penitentiary institution who receives anyone as prisoner without an order issued by competent authority or court, or who does not see to the release of a detainee or prisoner requested by virtue of a writ of Habeas Corpus or any like instrument, is also guilty of this crime.

By virtue of article 109 of the Law of Penal Procedure, the Public Prosecutor’s Office must ensure that the dignity of the accused is respected and that, under no circumstances, his or her rights are encroached upon; the article makes this institution responsible for ensuring strict compliance with the law during the case’s investigative phase.

Article 245 of the Law of Penal Procedure establishes that the police cannot detain a person for more than 24 hours without presenting the judge with a full account of the case; the latter must see to the detainee’s release within the next 72 hours or have him/ her handed over to the public prosecutor.

Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 120 and 121 of the Constitution
- Article 2 of Law No. 82 of the People’s Courts

Cuba’s Constitution and Law of the People’s Courts establish that justice must be dispensed on the basis of the principle that all citizens are equal before the law and the courts and that the accused has the right to a defence. No one can be tried or sentenced if not by a competent court, by virtue of the law in effect before the crime was committed and with the guarantees and formalities that it establishes.

The Constitution establishes the fundamental principle that judges, responsible for dispensing justice, are autonomous and owe obedience to nothing except the law.

Collegial courts —rather than pernicious courts presided by only one judge— are the foundation of the Law of the People’s Courts. In the selection of the judges, no one can be excluded for their political affiliation. This sacred function can be performed only by citizens of proven moral and ethical standing and the required aptitude and ability.

In Cuba, the judicial function is above government and administrative functions, something guaranteed by the Constitution and law, which establish that court rulings and decisions —those they are empowered to hand down or adopt— must always be complied with by government entities and citizens.

Article 41 of the Constitution guarantees equality before the courts. It establishes that all citizens enjoy equal rights and have the same duties. The Law of Penal Procedure identifies the specific fora where political, legislative, government and judicial authorities are tried —without encroachment upon the rights and guarantees they enjoy as citizens and without individual privileges— and which ensure no form of impunity prevails. No one in Cuba is outside or above the law.

The laws which make up Cuba’s judicial system conceive of an accused’s civil rights as separate from the criminal charges brought against them. Civil and political rights are thus legally protected, such that their violation constitutes a crime which is prosecutable as a matter of course or at the request of the offended party. An entire title of the Penal Code (articles 279 to 295) is devoted to mechanisms set up to protect these rights.

Article 305 of the Law of Penal Procedure establishes that trials are public unless, for reasons connected to state security, morality, public order or respect for the offended party or his/her relatives, make it advisable to hold a closed trial. Only the parties, their representatives, the defence, auxiliary personnel and individuals authorized by the court may participate in closed trials.

Rulings handed down by the courts are made public and notified immediately to the parties and their representatives. The Law of Penal Procedure protects all of the citizen’s constitutional rights with respect to the dispensing of justice.

This law requires that the accused be presumed innocent until his or her guilt is proven. Proof separate from the testimony of the accused, his/her spouse and relatives (up to and including fourth-degree relatives), must be produced. The obligation to prove the guilt of the accused falls on the prosecution.

Article 305 of this law guarantees that witnesses testify in person and that proceedings remain open to the public during the trial.

Article 346 of the Law of Penal Procedure prohibits trials in absentia; it is a right of the accused to take part in his/her trial and no trial can be held in his/her absence.

The accused also has the right to challenge members of the jury for any of the reasons established by article 23 of procedural law.
Article 59 of the Constitution establishes the right of the accused to a defence. The law recognizes collective law firms as autonomous organisations that serve the people and establishes the right of the accused to designate his/her attorney; if the accused does not designate an attorney, the court appoints one for him/her.

By virtue of Cuban procedural law, all rulings may be appealed before higher courts. A special appeal process with additional guarantees exists for the death penalty.

Cuban penal legislation also allows for the review of rulings. Numerous factors justify the review of a ruling. This procedure may be initiated as a matter of course by the Ministry of Justice, the Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court or the Director of Public Prosecutions when an inspection or any aspect of the trial reveals reasons to review the ruling.

There are no courts for the trying of minors in Cuba. Cuba’s Penal Code establishes that a person becomes legally accountable at the age of 16. Any minor responsible for an action which would constitute a crime were he/she an adult, or who manifests behavioural traumas, is attended to by the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of the Interior, through a system based on progressive pedagogical, sociological and juridical conceptions.

Article 17 of the Penal Code provides additional legal protection for young people by establishing that the minimum and maximum prison sentences for crimes committed by anyone between the age of 16 and 18 can be reduced by half; as for those between the ages of 18 and 20, the sentence may be reduced by one third, in the interests of re-educating the young person, giving him/her job or vocational training and teaching him/her respect for the legal order.

The law’s general aim is to help minors and young people in the development of their personality.

Re-education centres run by the Ministry of the Interior take up recidivists and those who are very dangerous to society, are reluctant to participate in rehabilitation work and for whom family, school and community-based efforts have yielded little results. These institutions are equipped with classrooms, workshops and areas for sporting and cultural activities.

Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 59 and 61 of the Constitution
- Article 2.2c) of Law No. 82 of the People’s Courts
- Article 3 of the Law of Penal Procedure
- Articles 2 and 3 of the Penal Code

These are the in dubio pro reo and nullum crimen sina previa lege penale rights. According to Cuban penal doctrine, these constitute objective rights of the accused.

Cuban law ensures that the accused is presumed innocent until he is convicted. Proof of the crime separate from the testimony of the accuser, his/her spouse and relatives, must be produced. Consequently, declarations do not exempt the accuser from the obligation of producing the evidence needed to prove the facts.

Furthermore, as per the procedural law in effect, anyone who commits a crime is to be tried by a competent court (whose jurisdiction corresponds to the nature or seriousness of the crime), by virtue of laws which were in effect before the crime was committed and in observance of the guarantees and formalities these establish.

A constitutional precept of Cuban legislation establishes that no law can be retroactive. Article 61 of the Constitution establishes that the only retroactive effects of a law which are recognized are those which are favourable to the defendant or convicted.

Article 3 of the Penal Code lends further weight to this principle by establishing that the only penal law applicable is that which is in effect before or at the time the crime is committed and that a new law can be applied for a crime which was committed before it came into effect only when this favours the convicted. This means that if, by virtue of the new law, the action punished by law ceases to be punishable as a crime, the conviction and all its related effects are cancelled by right.

Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 56, 57 and 58 of the Constitution
- Article 126 to222 and 126 al 222 of the Law of Penal Procedure
- Articles 286 to290 of the Penal Code

Article 57 of the Constitution enshrines the inviolability of the home. No one can enter a domicile against the will of the dweller, except when the law prescribes such an entry.

Article 57 establishes that the confidentiality of correspondence is inviolable and only in such cases as established by law can it be examined; this article also establishes that the motives for examining someone’s correspondence are to be kept confidential as well.

Article 58 guarantees personal freedom and inviolability for all who reside in Cuba.

Articles 215 to 227 of the Law of Penal Procedure regulate the authority agents have to enter private domiciles. Agents may enter a residence only with the consent of the citizen; without said consent, they require a warrant from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Internal order laws and regulations make respect for the dignity of people obligatory.

To establish mechanisms to protect these individual rights, the Penal Code refers to:

- Crimes against personal freedom (articles 279 to 282). Anyone who deprives another of his/her personal freedom incurs a prison sentence. The sentence is more severe if such an action is motivated by revenge or if it is committed against a civil servant or minor.

- Threats (articles 284 and 285)

- Coercion (article 286). Anyone who attempts to obtain a declaration through the use of violence or threatens another in order to compel him/her to do something, lawful or unlawful, or who tolerates this behaviour in another, incurs a prison sentence from six months to two years.

- Interference with the home and illegal searches (articles 287 and 288)

- Revealing contents of correspondence and breach of confidentiality (articles 289 and 290)

- Encroachment on freedom of thought (article 291)

- Violation of the right to assembly, demonstration, association and to issue complaints and petitions (article 292)

- Violation of the right to property (article 293)

- Encroachment on freedom of religion (article 294)

Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 43 of the Constitution
- Articles 2 and 15 of the Law of Migration, Law No. 1312 of 28 September 1976
- Articles 43 to 48, 57, 123, 124, 126, 131 and 135 of the Migration Law Regulations (Decree No. 26 of 19 July 1978)

As the listed articles and laws demonstrate, the Cuban Constitution and legislation provide the legal framework indispensable to the protection of the rights established by article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We must bear in mind, however, that Cubans’ freedom to travel has been irregularly and arbitrarily encroached upon as a result of the political manipulation of migratory relations with Cuba that different US administrations have been responsible for (an entire chapter is devoted to this topic).

The impunity with which Cuban-born terrorists residing in the United States operate has also forced Cuban authorities to establish special control mechanisms to regulate the entry of Cuban-born US residents into the country.

In spite of the enormous obstacles and challenges on the way —and thanks to the commitment of Cuban authorities— Cuba heads unstoppably toward the complete normalization of relations with its emigrants.

Since 1 June 2004, Cubans residing abroad must no longer request an entry permit to visit Cuba. All Cubans residing abroad who have a valid passport can visit Cuba as many times as they wish. Cubans residing in the United States, however, have been deprived of this freedom through new restrictions placed on travel to Cuba by President Bush.

Cuba recognizes the rights of its citizens to leave the country, temporarily or permanently, establishing only minimal restrictions for individuals who hold important secrets or highly sensitive information, professionals who provide vital health services to the people and must wait for replacements to be trained or those subject to court orders or sentences.

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 13 of the Constitution

By virtue of the Constitution, Cuba is bound to give asylum to anyone who is persecuted for: struggling for the democratic rights of majorities and national liberation; against imperialism, fascism, colonialism and neo-colonialism; for the suppression of racial discrimination; for the rights and claims of workers, peasants and students; for progressive political, scientific, artistic and literary activities.

Hundreds of Latin Americans persecuted by dictatorships supported and promoted by the United States were given asylum in Cuba.

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 28 to 33 of the Constitution

Chapter II of the Constitution describes the ways through which Cuban citizenship is obtained, namely, through birth or naturalization.

The Constitution states that neither marriage nor its dissolution affects the citizenship of the spouses or their children. Similarly, it establishes that Cubans cannot be deprived of their citizenship unless for legally established reasons.

Double citizenship is not permitted and citizenship may be re-obtained in those cases and through ways established by law.

Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 35 to 38 of the Constitution
- Articles 2, 3, 6, 24 to 28, 48 and 43 of the Family Code

The right of the family to receive protection from society and the state is established and guaranteed in Cuba.

The entire title that Cuba’s Constitution devotes to the family is an expression of the legal guarantees the Cuban state offers the latter. A reflection of Cuban society, the fundamental trait of family law precepts in Cuba is their progressive nature.

Article 35 of the Constitution establishes that the state protects the family, motherhood and marriage.

In addition to establishing divorce regulations, the Constitution establishes that all children have the same rights, be them born in or out of wedlock. Cuba has abolished the practice of characterizing filiation. Unlike in other countries, no remarks concerning the marital status of the parents are registered —neither in birth certificates nor any other like document— to differentiate births.

Though a marriage must be formalized at the registry office for legal purposes, Cuban law does not forbid the holding of religious ceremonies which respond to the convictions of the couple.

The law is clear with respect to the equality of spouses in their rights and responsibilities. The law protects both spouses by establishing equal rights with respect to the matrimonial estate, effective from the time the marriage is formalized to the time it is dissolved, if this ever came about.

In Cuba, a woman preserves her maiden name after marriage. Neither marriage nor its dissolution, as per the Constitution and legislation, affect the citizenship of the spouses.

Cuba understands that legal guarantees do not suffice and that ethical and moral values and principles must be promoted to bring about equality within the family; this has been progressively achieved through policies and programmes aimed at the full emancipation of women.

Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”.
Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 15, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 of the Constitution
- Article 293 of the Penal Code
- Articles 156, 157, 158 and 161 of the Civil Code

When the revolution came to power in 1959, 8% of landholders owned 70% of the lands, including those which belonged to US transnational companies.

The First Agrarian Reform Law of 1959 handed ownership of the land over to more than 100,000 small lessees, tenant farmers, sharecroppers and squatters who worked it and placed vast expanses of land —which had not been divided into plots and were administered by landowners— in state hands, making them the property of the nation and people.

Small farmers were exempted from paying any kind of rent and freed from the exploitation of intermediaries; they received aid in the form of investment, repair and development credit and new roads, medical services and education.

Large stockbreeding estates and sugar plantations were transformed into people’s farms and cooperatives which are still in existence.

With the Agrarian Reform Law of 1963, the state became the owner of 70 % of the country’s agricultural surface.

Before 1959, the immense majority of Cubans had nothing except their misery, their illnesses, their hopelessness and their ignorance.

The Cuban people does not work to add to the riches of an exploiting minority. The surplus of their labour does not end up in the pockets of millionaires or transnational companies. It belongs to society, it is invested in the reconstruction of schools, production centres, hospitals, roads and public works, as part of a planned economy aimed at raising the standard of living of all Cubans.

With the Law of Foreign Investments, new forms of property are now recognized in Cuba and even enshrined in the Constitution. Article 23 of the Constitution establishes that the state recognizes the property of joint venture companies, societies and economic partnerships which have been legally incorporated. These new forms of property are added to already existing forms, which include cooperative and private.

The Penal Code establishes regulations for crimes against the right to property; these are designed to prevent a government official from ordering the forced expropriation of any property, making such an action punishable with a prison sentence of anywhere from three months to a year, a fine of anywhere from one to three hundred quotas, or both.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 8, 42 and 55 of the Constitution
- Article 294 of the Penal Code

Cuba’s revolutionary government has respected all churches and all religious beliefs, without any discrimination whatsoever. The Cuba state protects the freedom of religion and the Constitution enshrines the strictest separation between church and state.

Article 8 of the Constitution establishes that the state recognizes, respects and guarantees freedom of religion (the right to have religious beliefs or change them and to worship, or to have no religious beliefs and not to worship), validates the separation of religious institutions from the state and confirms that all belief systems are equally considered.

In 1992, any mention of scientific atheism as the guiding doctrine of the state and its institutions was eliminated from Cuba’s 1976 Constitution when a number of its articles were modified. There was a transition from an atheistic to a secular state. Full guarantees for religious freedom were consolidated.

In 1997, 25 December was celebrated as a public holiday for the first time; it has been a public holiday since 1998.

In 1998, the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II was received in Cuba. In 1999, protestants had their own celebration in Cuba. The main religious activities of both celebrations were held in the open; the people gathered in the main squares of the nation, including Revolution Square, and their activities were followed live by radio and television.

Religious institutions freely choose their functionaries and assign them to different regions in the country; they organize an important number of religious activities, at the local, national and international level and systematically receive international representatives and religious literature.

A significant number of religious institutions publish journals which are officially registered at the Cuban Book Institute. The media provide information on the most important events of these institutions.

During religious festivities, the faithful hear messages from catholic bishops and protestant pastors over the radio.

Over 1,000 temples, chapels, parish and pastoral houses have been repaired during the last 10 years. More than a hundred buildings, to be used as churches and places of worship, and hundreds of vehicles and other facilities destined to religious activities have been allotted, an effort commensurate with the country’s possibilities.

African religions, spiritualism, Judaism, and the church of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are other important religions that maintain relations with the Cuban state, even though they are not legally recognized.
Christianity is represented by Catholic and protestant churches (50 denominations across the country).

The Catholic church possesses 11 dioceses and 10 diocesan bishops, and an assistant bishop, one of whom was promoted to cardinal in 1994. One position is vacant due to death. It is made up of 1,123 diocesan priests, friars, nuns and deacons grouped in 24 male and 56 female religious orders. Approximately 60 % of religious functionaries are foreign, of 36 different nationalities.

The institution is made up of more than 600 temples and more than 500 missions, 2 seminaries for the religious education of diocesan priests and a number of similar centres belonging to religious orders.

A total of 50 Protestant denominations practice their faith in over 900 churches, more than 1,000 houses of worship (homes used as churches) and 9 seminaries, one of which is inter-denominational.

Cuba’s Council of Churches, grouping 24 denominations, is Cuban Protestantism’s most representative ecumenical organisation. It was founded in May 1941.

50 % of Protestant churches are Pentecostal. Of the thousands of pastors and ministers belonging to these churches, around 100 study or offer religious services abroad. The Cuban government places no obstacles in this connection.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have a nationwide presence, practice their faith as do other denominations. Members gather, receive religious literature and have been visited by world religious leaders.

The Cuban Jewish Community is composed of nearly 1,500 members, though not all members practice the religion. It is made up of 5 synagogues, where religious and social activities are held. There being no Cuban rabbi (religious leader), an Argentine visits the country regularly to assist in religious matters.

In Cuba, there are three main religions of African origin: Santería or Regla Ocha and Palo Monte or Regla Conga, both practiced throughout the country. The third is the Abakuá Society, based in Havana and Matanzas and grouped into two provincial bureaus and a supreme council.

Some who practice the Santería faith are affiliated to the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, currently creating managing committees to open provincial branches of this society. Before the revolution came to power, though having numerous followers, these religions were outlawed. The revolution recognized them and eliminated all precepts that prescribed punishment for religious beliefs.

We may assert that:

• Not one church has been closed down in the country.

• No church or religious belief has ever been persecuted.

• No priest or religious Minister has ever encountered obstacles in the performance of his religious functions.

• There hasn’t been a revolutionary process as radical and profound as the Cuban revolution which has had less conflicts with religious institutions.

• Normal relations currently exist with the different religious institutions.

• Mutual respect and cooperation in social field prevail between the State, the churches and religious creeds.

The constitutional reforms of 1992 broadened the legal bases for the full protection of religious freedom in Cuba.

Article 42 of the Constitution states that discrimination because of race, skin colour, gender, religious beliefs, national origin or any condition affecting an individual as a human being is forbidden and punishable by law.

Article 55 of the Fundamental Law establishes that the state recognizes, respects and guarantees freedom of thought and religion, the freedom of every citizen to convert to any belief system or belong to none and to practice the faith of his/her choosing (while respecting the law).

Similarly, article 294 of the Penal Code establishes a prison sentence of up two years as punishment for crimes against religious freedom, when the perpetrator is a civil servant.

The state provides general, free education based on the discoveries and contributions of science. Parents are free to give their children the religious and moral upbringing that they deem congruous with their convictions; this may take the form of religious instruction given at home or in theological seminaries.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 53 of the Constitution
- Article 291 of the Penal Code

The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba tacitly recognizes the right of citizens to freedom of speech and press, adjusted to ends determined by the Cuban people.

The social ownership of the press, radio, television, cinema and other media —or their control by social and political grassroots organisations— provides the material bases for the exercise of these rights. These media cannot, under any circumstance, be privately owned, something which guarantees they are used exclusively to serve the interests of working people and of society in general.

Article 291 of the Penal Code establishes sanctions for those who commit a crime against the right to freedom of thought. Whoever in any way encroaches upon another’s freedom of expression or press as guaranteed by the Constitution and law incurs a prison sentence of anywhere from three months to a year, a fine of one to three hundred quotas, or both. If the crime is committed by a civil servant who abuses his/her power, the sanction consists of a prison sentence of anywhere from six months to two years, a fine of two to three hundred quotas, or both.

For Cuba, freedom of expression is indispensable to consensus-making, which guarantees the Cuban people’s unity of action against the policy of hostility, aggression and blockade of the US government.

The Cuban people’s unwavering confidence in and genuine commitment to their nation’s leadership, the unequivocal sense it is participating in and being represented by this leadership, are the only things which have sustained the support of the overwhelming majority for a revolution which struggles for their independence and very existence as a heroic people, which has held its ground and continues to make progress in spite of the adversity of the most aggressive and powerful empire that has ever existed.

The sole limits to freedom of opinion and expression in Cuba are those which the Cuban people’s right to independence, national sovereignty and self-determination impose.

The Cuban people only curtails the “freedom” of opinion and expression of the few mercenaries who sell their services to the government of the United States in its policy of hostility, aggression and genocidal blockade. Cuba imposes such restrictions not only by virtue of its national legislation but also of numerous international human rights instruments and successive resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, which have demanded respect for the self-determination of peoples and an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the government of the United States.

As known, international human rights instruments themselves recognize the legitimacy of certain restrictions on the individual’s right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Article 19.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that the right to freedom of opinion and expression carries with it certain duties and responsibilities and that, consequently, may be “subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: 1. For respect of the rights or reputations of others; 2. For the protection of national security or of public order or of public health or morals”.

The most diverse political, economic, social and cultural topics —relating to the nation and world— are debated on in Cuba.

Cuba’s broad variety of publications and artistic productions attests to the freedom of creation and discussion which is promoted in the intellectual, cultural and academic spheres.

All Cubans have guaranteed access to institutions, mechanisms and media which ensure that their opinions and points of view have an effective impact on the process of formulating, deciding on and executing policies and programmes in the most diverse spheres.

Spaces for participation include: parliamentary and parliamentary commission debates; report assemblies headed by representatives of the people’s power in different constituencies; the more than two thousand political, grassroots, student, social, professional, religious, cultural and fraternal organisations —to name only some— that have a decisive say in the nation’s activities; diverse and numerous spaces for academic, cultural and intellectual participation and debate; regular union meetings and workers’ participation in administration through production and services assemblies; numerous political, administrative and legal mechanisms designed to channel the people’s concerns, complaints and suggestions.

Numerous foreign press correspondents —including representatives of the main international cable agencies— are accredited in the country. Films from many different countries, chiefly the United States, are shown in Cuba; music of every kind, produced by artists of every nationality, is disseminated; Cubans have unlimited access to numerous libraries, archives and information centres; the works of authors from all currents and of all philosophical standpoints and aesthetic tendencies are published. Radio and television broadcast informational segments from US and Hispanic stations, to mention only some.

Cubans have access to the best universal works. Any restrictions in this connection stem, from the most part, from the US policy of blockade towards Cuba. The Bush administration has deliberately and viciously curtailed academic, cultural and scientific exchanges between Cubans and their US colleagues and so-called “people to people contacts”.

What’s more, it has redoubled aggression through radio and electronic means and its campaigns of misinformation against the Cuban revolution, manipulating transnational media companies. The United States broadcasts over 2,200 weekly hours of radio and television programmes loaded with hatred and lies. These radio and television stations call for the overthrow of Cuba’s constitutional order, terrorist actions and illegal emigration.

No one has ever been sanctioned in Cuba for merely expressing opinions or points of view that are different or even contradictory to those of the authorities. Penal law very precisely defines those actions which are punishable by law.

Penal law conceives of a political prisoner as a person who is detained or convicted for working for progress and social betterment and for struggling for social justice, freedom, equity, solidarity, democracy, human rights, in brief, for the well-being of people, the community and humanity as a whole. No one has been detained, tried or convicted for any of these actions in Cuba.

In today’s world, they would have us believe that the freedom of transnational power centres —who control and own the press— to impose their interests and agendas on us constitutes freedom of the press. The so-called “free flow of information and ideas” conceals the enormous lopsidedness which prevails in the exchange of ideas and political, economic and cultural thought between and within nations. A handful of fat-pocketed individuals in a few Western industrialized nations supply and control the immense majority of ideological messages and schemes that circulate around the world.

The same few power groups who call for a supposed free flow of information and ideas in the sphere of ideology —in order to maintain the neo-colonial domination of the world’s peoples through control of the media— are, however, vehemently opposed to the free flow of information, ideas and knowledge in the spheres of production, science and technology. In this field, they have forcibly set up an unfair international system of patents which blocks access to the knowledge and top achievements of South peoples.

The fanatically individualistic defence of freedom of opinion and expression cannot be a pretext for tolerating criminal behaviour such as racism, xenophobia and the activities of neo-fascist groups. Groups and opinions of this kind are prohibited by Cuban law.

Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Article 54 of the Constitution
- Article 292 of the Penal Code

A distinctive characteristic of Cuban society is the highly communicative and sociable nature of its members; community ties and a deep-rooted spirit of cooperation prevail and find expression in the political, labour, social and family spheres, as well as in a broad range of organisations.

Article 54 of Cuba’s Constitution recognizes the rights of manual workers, intellectuals, peasants, women, students and other sectors of the working class to gather, demonstrate and associate. Grassroots organisations have every resource at their disposal to carry out their activities and their members enjoy full freedom of expression, based on respect for individual initiative, freedom of opinion and criticism.

Article 292 of the Penal Code protects this right, prescribing a prison sentence or fine for anyone who prevents a legally constituted association from functioning or a person from belonging to one, or who prevents a legal gathering or demonstration from taking place or anyone from belonging to or participating in one.

Similarly, article 14 of the Labour Code establishes that workers have the right to gather and to freely discuss and express their opinions about all matters that affect them.

Article 209 of the Penal Code establishes restrictions on gatherings or demonstrations by illegal organisations.

Freedom of association in Cuba is limited in connection with matters surrounding the defence of national security, sovereignty and independence.

Like freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association and peaceful gathering may be legitimately restricted by virtue of international human rights instruments.

Articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights establish that these freedoms may be restricted in a democratic society —as per the law— in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

The triumph of the revolution in Cuba on 1 January 1959 brought a democratic system where all who are committed to the values of freedom, independence, social justice, equity and solidarity among Cubans participate actively.

The politicos of old, subordinate to and dependent from Washington, disappeared and one party emerged to unite all Cuban revolutionaries: the Communist Party of Cuba. The Party organizes fora for analysis and seeks to create consensuses through social debate, ensuring that all sectors of the population and all citizens have the right to be attended to and heard. The existence of only one party does not represent an obstacle —nor does it establish limits —to democracy.

In Cuba’s case, faced with an undeclared war waged by the United States, the unity of all revolutionary forces becomes a decisive factor for perseverance and victory. The political plurality of a country is not determined by the number of parties it has, but rather by the extent to which the most diverse sectors of society and the overwhelming majority of citizens participate and are represented in the administration of the nation’s most important matters of public interest.

Cuba’s own history clearly shows us that formal liberties can not only co-exist with social injustice indefinitely, but also promote and conceal the latter. At no point in Cuba’s pre-revolutionary history was the multi-party system able to achieve democracy and social justice. The more parties Cuba had during its first 56 years of republican life, the more dependant was it from the United States and the more corruption, theft, frustration, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of medical services, inequality, racial discrimination and scepticism the country had —consequently, less political plurality.

The consensus of the majority legitimates the one-party system as the political representative of the workers’ and the entire nation’s vital interests. This party not only respects differences of opinion, but also dissent. It only asks for unity of action with respect to those decisions that are made.

The Constitution and law protects the country’s more than two thousand associations.

The Law of Associations and its regulations, Law No. 54 of 27 December 1985, establishes that the Cuban state guarantees the right to association as a means to carrying out different activities which contribute to the development of science, culture, sports, creative initiatives, leisure and recreation activities and human friendship and solidarity associations, as well as other kinds of organisations which benefit society.

The reasons why the request to create an association can be turned down are described by law. This decision, however, can be appealed before the Ministry of Justice and the results of such an appeal can be legally challenged.

The right to unionize is fully protected by Cuban law; the Labour Code guarantees this.

In Cuba, there are 29 unions grouped under a central union, the Worker’s Federation of Cuba (CTC), whose principles, statutes and regulations are democratically discussed and approved by workers in their assemblies, from the workplace level to the organisation’s Congress. The Constitution recognizes the right of the CTC to legislative initiative.

Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”.

Provisions establishing and protecting this right in Cuban legislation:

- Articles 131 to 136 of the Constitution
- Article 4 of the Electoral Law, Law 79 of 2 November 1992

Down to the constitutional order, Cubans have created a society which befits their history, culture, idiosyncrasies and reality, wedding development to equity and transformation to social justice and aimed at achieving harmony between collective and individual interests.

What is being constructed is a society whose citizens produce more economically, participate more politically and show more solidarity socially.

Periodic electoral processes do not suffice to promote the people’s true participation in democracy. Democracy is not achieved through illusory formal mechanisms that merely endorse a false system of representation, laden, many a time, with illegal practices such as fraud.

A more encompassing and unprecedented model of political participation has given the majority of Cubans the opportunity to express itself as a political majority and has made organic ties between government authorities and the people the basis of democracy in the island.

A state divided by functions —and not into the executive, legislature and judiciary— is the basis of this system. Power is indivisible and belongs to the people; it is exercised through a system that is organized to make citizens active participants in the nation’s political life. All functionaries are subordinate to their electors and all executives to their collegiate organs.

Cuba’s experiences during its existence as a republic all but discredited the presidential government as a form of political organisation; an assembly system which does away with political parties and gives the people and its social organisations the power to nominate candidates is thus promoted and developed.

Direct and universal suffrage characterizes the periodic elections of assembly organ members, who must receive more than 50% of the votes (every two and a half years for municipal organs and every five for provincial organs and the National Parliament), as per the Constitution and the Electoral Law.

The characteristics of Cuba’s political system and the ways citizens participate in the nation’s leadership are expounded on in Chapter 1 of “Cuba and Human Rights (2005)”.

A number of conclusions may be drawn from the comparative analysis we have undertaken:

I. Criticisms levelled at Cuba with respect to restrictions on the civil and political rights of its citizens stem from the dogmatic and fundamentalist stances of ideologues in the world’s power centres and Western industrialized nations.

II. These criticisms ignore or trivialize the precarious nature of Cuba’s existence as nation and the continuation and redoubling of the policy of hostility, aggression and genocidal blockade which the United States imposes on Cuba.

III. There are enough legal arguments and practical examples at hand to refute such criticisms and the lies and distortions of those who attempt to conceal the truth about their own political systems and about the high levels of protection of civil and political rights that all Cubans enjoy.

IV. The restrictions the law places on some political rights in Cuba are the minimal and fundamental restrictions which are needed to guarantee the people’s right to self-determination, peace and life, in response to the empire’s growing aggression towards Cuba.

V. No democracy can exist without social justice. Cuban democracy is not a formal or abstract concept; it is guaranteed by the full participation of citizens in all public matters and through the satisfaction of the people’s material and spiritual needs. Democracy is the government of the people, for the people and by the people. The Cuban people marches on in its revolutionary struggle to make democracy more profound and the people’s participation more extensive.

VI. We do not aim to portray a unanimity of opinion among Cubans; on the contrary, a broad range of different ideas and initiatives, and different ways to channel these, exist.

VII. It has yet to be shown that a plutocratic and imperialist regime like the one in the United States can promote the democracy and human rights that it does not guarantee within its own borders to its own citizens, beyond those frontiers.

VIII. The history of the Cuban people has been one of an unceasing battle to provide all human rights to all of its men, women and children. Perhaps no other people has had to sacrifice and suffer so much simply that its people may have the right to live in a free, independent and democratic country where justice and well-being prevail.

IX. Cuba has had to battle against the obsessive attempts of successive US governments to create a fifth column of mercenaries in Cuba, which would serve its interests and facilitate the annexation of Cuba to the United States or at least serve as a pretext for a military invasion. Cuba will continue to unmask each and every of the anti-Cuban lies and false accusation concocted by the US government’s infernal propaganda machine.

CHAPTER 3: A PRODUCTIVE YEAR IN THE FACE OF SETBACKS AND CHALLENGES

During 2004, the Cuban people faced difficulties and challenges of various kinds and of exceptional magnitude. It is hard to image a scenario less propitious for progressing Cuba's plans for national development and security than that which prevailed during the last twelve months.

The more severely adverse influences included:

? An active hurricane season marked by ten tropical storms and two hurricanes. These latter caused losses totalling 2,146 million pesos and damaged 100,266 homes, of which 5,360 were totally destroyed.

? One of the worst droughts in living memory in the eastern provinces and Camagüey, which led to the loss of 28,160 hectares of crops and affected another 39,972 hectares. The corresponding financial loss in the year amounted to some 834 million pesos. The resulting emergency necessitated costly measures to ensure continuity of water supply to the major centres of population in Holguín, Las Tunas y Camagüey.

? Unpredictable breakdowns and vulnerabilities within the national electrical supply system resulted in a sharp drop in generating capacity, necessitating shutdowns at major industrial and service installations and more frequent interruptions in supply. The associated losses amounted to 200 million pesos.

? Record prices in the international oil market, which touched $56 a barrel and averaged over $40.

? Intensification of the Bush Administration's aggression towards Cuba. Absurd measures were adopted to sharpen the impact of the genocidal embargo imposed on the Cuban people. More explicit threats of direct military action led to increased spending on the country's defenses.

In the face of the many adversities, revolutionary Cuba again demonstrated its ability to rise above difficulties and limitations on resources, to undertake major programmes and even improve important indicators of its people's social and economic well-being.

General mobilization in response to the year's natural disasters involved absolute priority for saving lives and sought to protect essential material resources. Rehabilitation and recovery efforts were undertaken immediately.

Once again, revolutionary Cuba showed that in Cuba no-one is abandoned to their fate, even under conditions created by the worst disasters wreaked by nature or caused by Man. The sense of human solidarity that is deeply rooted in the Cuban character was especially apparent at the moments of greatest difficulty, when it was necessary to provide rapid aid to those hit by the fury of the hurricane winds and rain.

The same hurricanes which killed hundreds in the Caribbean and dozens in the United States, caused minimal human losses in Cuba, thanks to measures on a massive scale to prepare and mobilize, involving the entire population, under the guidance of the Civil Defense organisation, and to mass evacuations to safer areas in several provinces.

A set of measures based on experience obtained in dealing with the effects of these natural phenomena have placed the country in an even better position to react effectively to the exigencies and challenges of the next hurricane season. According to the forecasts, such tempests are set to worsen in frequency and intensity over the next few years. Since 2001, natural disasters of this kind have affected a total of 402,155 dwellings, including 45,198 which were totally destroyed.

During 2004, the Cuban state continued to focus on improving the dietary status of the population. The annual report of the UN's Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published in December 2004, cited Cuba as the country that had made the most progress in Latin America in the campaign against malnutrition - despite the effects of a severe drought in various provinces and the hurricane-caused devastation of crops in some of the country's most productive agricultural areas.

Increases in agricultural output in both rural and urban areas and an upturn in food imports were associated with an average daily intake per capita of 3,305 kilocalories and 85.5 g of protein, exceeding the standard set by the FAO.

These are not abstract indicators or sterile statistical averages, as is the case in other societies characterized by inequalities of consumption. In Cuba, these figures are a reflection of the real effect of a school meal or snack provided free to 467,310 secondary-school pupils and 49,874 workers in this segment of the educational system; of special quotas to supplement the diets of low-income and the more vulnerable sections of society, including supplementary foods for 1,363,297 children under fifteen and for the over-60s in the eastern provinces; of the 444,019 quotas for expectant mothers, nursing mothers, the elderly and the disabled; of the supplements for 71,000 underweight or undersize children; of the extra food supplies to boroughs in the provinces of Pinar del Río and La Habana and the Isla de la Juventud, lashed by successive hurricanes, and the eastern provinces hit by drought; and of the provision of special diets for those with particular illnesses or conditions.

As regards economic performance, GDP grew by 5% in 2004, reaching 36,453 million pesos at constant prices. This was the product of enormous efforts by the Cuban people in difficult conditions, and showed the world how much can be done with scant resources, where these are used properly so as to meet the primary needs of the population and support development.

Of the 22 industrial sectors, 10 reported growth. The mining and non-ferrous metals industry increased output by 10.7%, while the electronics sector grew by 4%.

Sugar production was up by 14.4%, a performance accompanied by efficiency indicators that also improved on the previous year. The prospects for the present year are less encouraging however, due to the effects of the prolonged drought and other factors.

Output of nickel rose by 6.9%, while good prices were obtained in the international market. Cuba confirmed its position as the world's fifth-largest producer of the metal and holds reserves of nickel that are among the most substantial in the world.

The energy sector was again accorded priority status. Production of crude oil declined, while that of natural gas increased. Reflecting this situation, the proportion of total electricity generated using domestic crude declined to 81.7%, resulting in the need for increased fuel imports at high prices.

The volume of housebuilding remains unsatisfactory. Some 14,700 homes were completed during the year, including 8,000 built by the state. Conservation and refurbishment projects totalled 95,506.

In the transport sector, there were significant efforts to offset the restrictions on public transport by using alternative means. Given the difficulties faced by the railways and the trucking industry, financial and other resources have been committed to improve the situation.

Growth of 12.5% in the communications sector reflected a 58.5% increase in television-signal transmission power, coupled with the launch of a second educational TV channel.

The number of telephone lines in operation grew by 7.3%, while digitalization of the telephone system as a whole reached 84%. An additional 44,300 homes were connected to the electricity grid and progress was made in the national gasification programme.

2004 saw significant restructuring of Cuba's foreign trade. Changes included: a shakeup among the firms accredited in this connection; centralization of purchases of strategic goods; and review of the terms of trade with foreign firms, intermediaries and associations, aimed at maximizing efficiency. This process will be taken further during 2005.

Accompanied by an export promotion campaign and a search for the best market prices, these measures contributed to a 32.5% rise in exports, which passed the 2-billion dollar mark. Products whose export performance improved included nickel, lobsters, fruit juices, rum and honey.

Imports also grew, by 14.3%.

Tourism, the economy's most dynamic sector in recent years, grew by 7.6% in terms of the number of visitors, which reached 2.05 million. Revenues increased by 15%. These gains were achieved despite the measures adopted by the United States, imposing further restrictions on visits to Cuba by American citizens and US residents of Cuban origin, as well as the effects of natural disasters and interruptions to electricity supply during the second half of the year.

Structural and organizational changes within the sector, coupled with greater discipline and control, have led to improved efficiency and the identification of significant reserves, on which work is still underway.

All these economic advances were accompanied by the progress made in the fifth anniversary of the battle in the field of ideas being fought by our people. The associated programmes amount to a real revolution within the Revolution.

Important results were also achieved by Cuban athletes in the Athens Olympic Games in the summer of 2004. Cuba consolidated its position among the great sporting nations, finishing in an outstanding 11th place, having won 9 gold medals, 7 silver and 11 bronze.

2004 was marked by a sharp escalation of hostility towards the Cuban nation on the part of the United States. Two further attacks were launched on the national economy. The first was a set of additional restrictions on the sending of remittances and taking of trips to Cuba, involving arbitrary definitions of the classes of relative that may be visited or receive financial or other forms of aid (including medicines) from US residents of Cuban origin.

This perverse measure severely damaged personal and economic relations within Cuban families and confirmed the view that in pursuing its vindictive and aggressive policy towards the Cuban nation, Washington is has no hesitation in overstepping the bounds of both rationality and humanity.

The second blow was the application of measures designed to prevent Cuba from depositing dollars - entirely legitimately earned from tourism and similar sources - in foreign banks, and using these for its international settlements. Washington threatened and fined foreign banks for their dealings in dollars with Cuba and unleashed an shameless campaign of lies about alleged Cuban participation in money-laundering operations.

The only significant effect of this hostile manoeuvre was to prompt a decision by Cuba to take the dollar out of circulation nationally, consolidate the convertible Cuban peso as the principal currency and confirm the country's monetary sovereignty. An operation was mounted to enable all citizens holding dollars to exchange these for convertible pesos - a large-scale exercise completed with great efficiency by the Cuban banking system, with the support, trust and understanding of the public.

The net result for the United States of its stratagem aimed at provoking a deep crisis in Cuba's financial reserves and purchasing power was pitiful. With the elimination of the dollar from circulation, they lost the weapon they planned to attack us with, while helping to bolster Banco Central de Cuba's capability for managing the money supply. They were also able to bear witness to the country's prestige abroad, reflected in the complete understanding and trust with which the decision to withdraw the dollar was received.

Economic growth is expected to be maintained during 2005 at a similar rate to that in the previous year; social and economic development are planned to continue.

Key forecasts for the present year include the following:

? Upgrading of defense capability to meet a possible military intervention.
? Maintenance of the dietary support system and a continued upward tend in consumer demand.
? Guaranteed supply of fuels essential to the national economy and for consumer use; continued re-design of energy policy.
? Continuity of support for the social programmes accompanying the Battle of Ideas.
? Commitment of the resources needed to deal with any natural disasters that may occur.
? Accelerated restructuring of national economic activity to reflect the country's needs.

As an expression of revolutionary Cuba's readiness to continue the process of improving its people's quality of life, keeping the human being as the focus of its strategy for development even in the most difficult times, the 2005 National Budget Law allocates 10.584 billion pesos, or 68% of total spending, to education, public health, social security and welfare, culture, sport and science and technology.

Cuba will be spending 4.117 billion pesos on continued implementation of educational programmes, 11.3% more than in 2004.

Keeping the ground gained in public health and funding new programmes in this sector involves planned expenditure of 2.355 billion pesos, up on the corresponding total for 2004 by 9.4%.

The total forecast for pensions under the social security and welfare system amounts to 2.306 billion pesos, higher than in 2004 by 7%. Given an estimated 1.680 billion pesos in contributions, the budget will need to cover a shortfall of 626 million (up by 6.6% on the corresponding estimate for 2004).

272 million pesos has been allocated to sports and related activities, both as practiced by our top athletes and those aimed at encouraging participation by the public at large. Funding for national competitions and international events in Cuba will be underwritten, as will that for participation by Cuban athletes in competitions abroad.

The sector representing science, technology and environmental matters will receive funding of 248 million pesos in 2005.

Increased budgets have been set for the defense and home affairs sector, with the aim of further upgrading the nation's defensive capability, given the imperative need for readiness to respond effectively to any act of aggression.

In 2000, a meeting at the UN of heads of state and of government adopted the Millennium Declaration, which set short-term goals for development. These included targets to be reached by the year 2015 in the fields of education, public health, nutrition and environmental protection and in other basic social indicators.

In a press interview in December 2004 to discuss progress on these goals, the UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America & the Caribbean commented that Cuba and Barbados were the only countries in the region making progress towards meeting these aims.

With honorable exceptions, Latin America's performance in matters of social development during 2004 was deplorable. Marked by neoliberalism, it remains the worst region in the world in terms of distribution of incomes, is burdened with a level of foreign debt (782 billion dollars) that involves constant re-negotiation by the countries concerned under the IMF rules and conditions, and has social indicators that include 60% of children living below the poverty line and 53 million starving inhabitants.

Latin America today is living proof of the bankruptcy of neoliberalism and of the need for true integration based on solidarity and cooperation that provide genuine mutual benefits to the participants

In this context, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas proposed by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, encapsulates the dream of integration and the ideals of the heroes of Latin America's historic struggles for independence. It is an alternative to Washington's plan for 'integrating' Latin America as an offshoot of the United States, through the operation of the FTAA mechanisms or bilateral free trade deals of a similar nature and with similar aims.

We are confident that a Better World is Possible and that this century will be the century of hope and of resurrection of the dream shared by Bolívar and Martí, of a Latin America revitalized in its struggle for democracy, for equitable development, for unity among its peoples, and for solidarity and social justice.

Subir