Speech delivered at the public forum “Elections and Democracy in Revolutionary Cuba” in Vancouver, Canada on April 3rd, 2018. For a report from the event click here.
Good evening everybody. First of all, we would like to thank all of the solidarity groups that have made this cross-Canada tour possible from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I also thank all of you who are present here tonight. Events such as this in solidarity with Cuba are very important for us. In this room, we have felt a lot of warmth and love for Cuba and the essence of our homeland. Flags for us are the essential symbols of our nationhood and above all, a symbol of your solidarity work.
There is the struggle to lift the genocidal blockade that has been imposed on our country; the struggle for the return of the illegally occupied territory in Guantanamo. The struggle for the return of Elian Gonzalez; the struggle for the return of the Cuban 5 that, thanks to your solidarity, are already in Cuba. The solidarity that the Che Guevara Brigade has shown for many years towards our country, where you work directly with our people and when we see the Canadian flag marching along with our people in the May Day parade. Our country is very proud of all this solidarity. On behalf of the Cuban people and our Parliament, we thank you.
Since the Cuban war for Independence began in the 19th century, solidarity has been one of the principles of the Cuban revolution. With our hands, Cuba helped to defend people around the word and in turn, people from around the world have joined in the fight for Cuba’s independence. Several combatants from Canada went to Cuba in the 19th century to fight in our independence war.
José Martí, our national hero, organized our project of liberation in the late 19th century, of course, also under the basis of solidarity.
To understand our social process, to understand our electoral system, and to understand the unity of the Cuban people, we need to understand the revolutionary process in all its continuity.
Martí made great strides towards the unity of the Cuban nation and the Cuban revolution. He left with us the legacy of a single political party model. As he used to say: with all and for the well being of all, without any discrimination based on class, or race. He also warned us about the threat of imperialism which would later become a reality when the United States invaded Cuba. Our Independence War finished with an occupation by the U.S. army.
A two-party system was imposed in Cuba. An amendment to the 1901 Cuban Constitution, known as the Platte Amendment, was also imposed on us. The Platte amendment granted the United States the right to create military bases in Cuba and to invade our country any time they wanted.
From 1902 to 1958 the United States constantly intervened in Cuba. In the first election, they imposed their candidate. The 1906 elections were a fraud, and they had to intervene in Cuba. That is the model that they imposed on our people. In 1917 and 1933, once again they intervened. They interrupted the revolutionary process that was taking place.
They created alliances with the bourgeoisie and with a military group led by Batista. So, those elections were characterized by misinformation, fraud and the imposition of political parties. This is how the years of the Republic passed, until 1953 when Comrade Fidel began the revolutionary process for our society that resulted in the attack on the Moncada military garrison. Fidel explained how the Cuban revolution was based on popular democracy and, as he explained in “History will absolve me,” how international solidarity is also fundamental to the Cuban revolution. Following this, we witnessed the landing of the Granma and the struggle in the Sierra Maestra mountains.
It was an epic struggle. Planes would take off from the naval base in Guantanamo and drop bombs that were labelled “Made in the USA” on the rural population which was struggling for freedom. Under these circumstances, the Cuban revolution triumphed on January 1, 1959, and became a lighthouse for the people of Latin America.
For the first time, we were free. Were we going to return to the multi-party system? Of course not. Instead, we carried out a program of power for the people. The Cuban revolution was the first fountain of people’s power in Cuba. Fidel consulted the Cuban people about all major decisions. People were consulted in public squares, in neighbourhoods, and everywhere.
Under the pressure of imperialism, remember the Bay of Pigs; with the creation of counter-revolutionary gangs all around Cuba, financed and armed by the CIA; under threat of nuclear war with the Cuban missile crisis of 1962; the will of our people was forged in the struggle against imperialism. In that context our revolutionary mass organizations were formed. The Central Trade Union was founded to bring together all Cuban workers, and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and mass organizations for peasants and women were formed.
The Cuban revolution matured for 15 years until 1976, the year that our system of people’s power was planned and tested, with an initial experiment conducted in the Province of Matanzas. Then, in the year 1976, there was a process of consultation with the people and a vote for a new constitution. 98% of our population voted for the Constitution, and 97.7% of those people voted in favour of socialism.
Within this new Constitution, a project based on two fundamental elements was approved. These elements are the unity of the Cuban people in support of the revolution and the right of the Cuban people to nominate and elect those that are going to represent them.
The structure of popular power in Cuba contains three interrelated elements: the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power and the National Assembly of People’s Power. This is the process that we have been developing.
The electoral laws in the Cuban Constitution allow for the convocation of two types of elections. Every five years there are general elections, and every two-and-a-half years there are partial elections. The process that we are in right now is the general election, which was convoked in September. The elections for the Municipal Assembly took place on November 26, and the representatives were officiated on December 17. This is a very important process because it directly represents the will of the Cuban people.
In all the country, there are over 12,515 delegates to the Municipal Assemblies. How were these delegates chosen? There are five fundamental steps: first, an electoral commission and a nomination commission is set up at each level. Our Constitution has established that people over 16 years old can vote. At nomination meetings, everyone has the right to nominate or to be nominated as candidates. People are put forward freely, and democratically.
There are no forms of political campaigning; rather there is a picture and short biography posted in a public place. There is no money spent in elections. As is outlined in our Constitution, each person has a single vote, and people don’t have to vote if they do not want to. This means that when the day comes, people present themselves voluntarily at the voting stations. Today our voting stations are guarded by children who are members of the Pioneers organization; they are no longer guarded by soldiers as was done before the revolution.
The right to vote is a civil right that is also established in our Constitution. We also believe that it is a patriotic duty. The Cuban people are the ones that control who they elect as their delegates, and after they are elected, it is their very own neighbours that make sure they fulfil their duties. The Cuba people can also recall their elected delegate if they believe that they are not doing a proper job, or if they violate any laws.
All elected members must hold a meeting in their constituency at least twice a year and be responsible to the people that they represent. People are elected based on their merit, their capacity and for their work, for their level of sacrifice and their level of commitment to taking care of the community is essential.
The elections to the Municipal assemblies are important because many of the delegates to the Provincial Assemblies and the Cuban Parliament, or National Assembly, will be nominated from the Municipal assemblies. In this way, it is important for delegates in the higher assemblies are accountable to the base.
50% of the delegates to National Assembly were first elected to the Municipal assemblies in community meetings. The other 50% of the delegates to the Natonal Assembly are nominated by the mass organizations through the nomination commission. There are six mass organizations that put forward candidates through the nomination commission: the Central Cuban Workers (CTC); the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP); the University Students’ Federation (FEU); the Intermediate Level Students Federation (FEEM); and the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR). The proposals to the nomination commission are made in consultation with the people, who have direct input and create the criteria for those that are nominated.
Now I am talking about the elections that we had on March 11 of this year, where we voted for the 605 members of Cuba’s National Assembly. Constitutionally, each candidate must receive over 50% of the votes in order to be elected. On March 11, 85.65% of eligible voters in Cuba came out to vote. More than 7,399,000 Cubans voted. 94.42% of the votes cast were valid. This demonstrates the confidence of the people in the revolution and the strength of the electoral system, as well as the strength of the form of democracy that has produced these elections in Cuba.
What is the composition of the 605 deputies to the National Assembly? 322 of the 605 deputies or 53.322% of the National Assembly deputies are women. Women from all sectors of society, they are ministers, doctors, intellectuals, nurses, and production workers.
By law, to be elected to Cuba’s National Assembly you must be 18 years old. The youngest member is 19-year-old from Matanzas. There are young people of 21, 22, 23 years, a bit more than 13% of the elected deputies are young people. 294 of the seats are workers, farmers or self-employed. All the social sectors are represented in the National Assembly. There are deputies from different religions and cultures. More than 40% of Parliamentarians are Black or of African descent. 338 deputies are people that have been elected for the first time.
During the vote of the March 11 the people of Cuba demonstrated their confidence that they were voting for people that will represent them, people that will carry forward the destiny of our country. There are two ways that we Cubans can fill out the ballot; one is the united vote, which is a single vote for all the candidates, the other is a selective vote, which is a vote for each candidate. 80% of the votes cast were for the united vote for all the candidates. Candidates received between 69% and 98% of the vote. The candidate that received the most votes was Raul Castro Ruz, who received over 98% of the votes.
Now the 605 deputies have the responsibility to conclude the elections process by April 19, where they will vote in the highest election in our organizations for popular power, for the President, Vice-President and the Secretary of the of the National Assembly. They have the duty also to elect the Council of State, made up of 31 members, as well as the President, the First Vice-President, and the five Vice Presidents of Council of State and Ministers.
The 605 deputies all have an equal opportunity to be elected to the Council of State, or to any of the other positions. We understand as delegates that we have the historical responsibility to maintain the continuity of the revolution that began with Fidel continued with Raul and now is going to continue with the new generation.
Under what conditions did the elections happen in Cuba? I would like to establish the context.
This year, Cuba faced a huge hurricane that affected 12 of our Provinces. This limited our access to fuel and other important resources and ruined 179,000 homes in our country. The cost of these damages was more than $13 billion.
The people of Cuba demonstrated their capacity for struggle and resistance. In 20 days all electricity and water services were restored. In 62 days all the touristic infrastructure of the country was restored. We repaired 2,900 health, cultural and community centers, all in the middle of our election process.
As compañero Raul said, “No Cuban is going to be left behind.” We created a program of subsidies and assistance to help people recuperate all that was damaged. Now we see the faith that Cubans have in their revolution and their electoral process. Cuba has spent millions of dollars for reconstruction. In this context, the United States administration has brought new attacks against the Cuban revolution. This administration has strengthened the U.S. blockade against Cuba. The Trump administration has already fined different companies for violating the blockade, add up to more than during the entirety of the Obama administration. There are new restrictions in diplomacy and migration.
Today there are more threats against our brothers and sisters in Latin America, especially the people of Venezuela. The U.S. government threatens the condition of peace in Latin America and the Caribbean. On March 5th at the ALBA-TCP meeting in Venezuela, compañero Raul Castro denounced the non-conventional war and the military threats that have been made against Venezuela.
Again, it is in this context that elections were held in Cuba. This demonstrates the strength of the Cuban people and the legacy of Fidel; remember that this was the first election held in Cuba since the passing of Fidel.
The Cuban people know very well what the strategy of our enemies against the revolution is. The new U.S. administration has augmented their subversive campaign against the Cuban revolution, especially through the internet. This demonstrates their high level of hostility against our socialist project. This is why the unity of the Cuban people and people’s power is so important.
The elections have also occurred in the context of a strengthening of the institutionalization of socialism. The past two Congresses of the Communist Party have passed economic and social guidelines for our current and future work. These are the guidelines for the deepening of our socialist model. Our vision for the future is one of always strengthening our socialism.
We have a plan for economic and social development until 2030. The growth of socialist production is fundamental for our economic development. In the middle of all of the hardships we have encountered, the economy grew by 1.6% in 2017. We are planning for a 2% increase this year.
What we have been doing is very important, especially with the most recent steps we have taken towards the consolidation of our socialism. Because, above all, the victory of the Cuban people is a victory for all of the people of the world.
We have chosen to open our new National Assembly on April 19th because this is the day of our triumph over the United States at the Bay of Pigs. This April 19th will be another victory for our unity and the power of the Cuban people. We will educate the young people of Cuba in the principles of the struggle of Fidel, Raul, and the history of our country. Because of this, we have confidence in the continuity of the democratic electoral process and the Cuban revolution.
Within the 605 members of the National Assembly, there are two of the five heroes of the Republic of Cuba that you fought so hard for, Fernando and Gerardo.
In reality, it is hard to synthesize this complicated process in such a short time. You can find books and writings here in this room that explains very well the fundamentals of this process.
However, it is very important that we continue discussing the fundamentals of the democratic process in Cuba. For example, it might seem strange to you that Cuban Parliamentarians do not receive a salary for their work in Parliament. They continue receiving the same wage that they received from their job either as a professional or as a worker, before being elected. The work of the Cuban Parliamentarian is in the service of the people of Cuba and demonstrates their dedication to this project that we are building together.
Thank you very much.
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