Fidel Castro

[stray bullet]

Vote 100%?

Heh, Saddam was pulling those numbers too.

 

[CCGirl]

Cuban constitution

Since the National Assembly is the supreme body of the state power and since the legislative, executive and judicial functions, are subordinated to the Assembly, the Head of State and of Government can not dissolve it.

 

[CCGirl]

Vote 100%?

Heh, Saddam was pulling those numbers too.

The 100% vote was the parliamentary vote!

On voting:

Total fairness and transparency in the elections. The ballots boxes are guarded by children and youths, members of the Pioneers organization, sealed before the population, votes are publicly counted as national and foreign press, diplomats, tourists and everyone willing to, can freely oversee the counting.

 

[CCGirl]

Voting in Cuba and how GrassRoots Democracy Works!

Free of charge, automatic and universal inscription for all the citizens with right to the vote starting from 16 years of age.

Candidates are directly postulated by the own voters in public assemblies (in many countries the political parties are those that nominate the candidates).

Nonexistence of discriminatory, millionaire, outrageous, defaming and manipulated electoral campaigns.

Total fairness and transparency in the elections. The ballots boxes are guarded by children and youths, members of the Pioneers organization, sealed before the population, votes are publicly counted as national and foreign press, diplomats, tourists and everyone willing to, can freely oversee the counting.

It is compulsory to be elected by majority. The candidate is only elect if he or she obtains more than 50% of the emitted valid votes. If this result is not reached in the first round, the most voted candidates will go to a second one.

The vote is free, equal and secret. All the Cuban citizens are entitled to choose and to be chosen. As there is not list of parties, the vote is directly emitted for the elected candidate.

All the representative bodies of the State Power are elected and renewable.

Every elected person is accountable for its actions.

All the elected candidates can be revoked at any moment of their term.

Parliament members and delegates are not professional, therefore they don't earn a wage for this work.

High participation of the people in the elections, about 95%.

Parliament members are chosen for a 5-year term

The composition of the Parliament envisages the broadest possible scope of sectors in Cuban society.

A member of the Parliament is elected by each 20 000 inhabitants. All the municipalities are represented in the National Assembly, and the grass-root foundation of the system, the constituency, is actively involved in its composition. Each constituency will elect at least two deputies, and starting from that figure, deputies will be elected in direct proportion with the number of inhabitants. 50% of the deputies must be delegates elected at the constituencies, and they have to live in the same territory they represent.

The National Assembly elects, among its members, the Council of State and its President. The President of the Council of State is Head of State and Head of Government. Therefore, the Head of the Cuban government has to undergo two electoral processes: first, he or she has to be elected as parliament member by the population, through free, direct, and secret vote, and later by the rest of the members of the Parliament.

Since the National Assembly is the supreme body of the state power and since the legislative, executive and judicial functions, are subordinated to the Assembly, the Head of State and of Government can not dissolve it.

The legislative initiative is a prerogative of multiple sectors of the society, such as unions, organizations of students, women, social organizations and individual citizens. It is not restricted to Parliament members, the Supreme Court and the Attorney General Office, any initiative requires the support of 10 000 voters at least.

Bills have to be submitted and passed by the majority vote of Deputies. The specificity of the Cuban method is that a bill is not taken to discussion at the Plenary until, by means of reiterated consultations with members of Parliament and keeping in mind the proposals they have made, it is unequivocally asserted. The realization of this concept gains greater relevance when the population actively participates, together with Parliament members, in the evaluation and discussion of strategic issues. In those occasions the Parliament moves to working places, schools and rural areas, making direct and participative democracy a reality.

 

[horuhe00]

Anyone want to tell me when, in the last 50 years, Parliament vetoed Castro?

When was the last election held for President?

Anyone?

When was the last election held for President of the United States?

Answer: NEVER

The American people have been fooled for 200+ years, leting them belive they are this great democracy with freedom to chose and all that good stuff.

There is no democracy in the United States like Americans belive.

Case in point: 2000 elections. The majority of voting Americans voted for Al Gore. George Shrub got to be president.

 

[SallyNow]

The Florida ex-Cubans need to take a flying leap .....you know what I mean! Talk about terrorists!

Cuab is a wonderful, beautiful country, I love to go and hang out with the people!

It is far from the "oppressive, brutal regime" mentioned by a few on this thread!

Really, if you were allowed by your govt to visit the island, you would know that the lies perpetuated on the US people were astounding!

I had my wedding in Cuba in solidarity with the people in their struggle against US imperialism.

Most people I talked to said they would defend the revolution with their lives if invaded, and they are rightly very suspicious of US intentions.

Raoul is too old to take power, they do have eledtions there, i know this will come as a suprise to most US ers, but we who freely go to Cuba know the truth!

My family is looking into emigrating there to work with the people!

Wow...interesting post!

When he dies (since last time I checked no human can live forever lol ) what kind of govenment do you think Cuba will become? Or do you think that the US will seize Cuba?

Hmm, well, I really don't know what sort of government Cuba will end up having after Castro dies. It may end up with a democracy, or perhaps a republic. It may take some time, though. Perhaps it will be a socialist democracy, or perhaps a liberal republic. It's something to really look into, though!

I doubt the USA will seize Cuba. America's government has had a long-standing resentment with Cuba, and Cuba doesn't have any commodity that America really needs, such as oil, large freshwater reserves or large tracts untouched farm land. ( cigars don't count) Also, the people of Cuba have their own culture, and are a truly resiliant, creative bunch, living and even sometimes thriving despite a non-democratic government and economic sanctions. Cuba isn't a paradise, but it certianly isn't one of the worst countries out there, and I don't think it will need to hook on to another nation to thrive after Castro has departed from office.

Cuba is its own nation, and it's probably going to stay that way for a long, long time.

 

[SisterGeoff]

When was the last election held for President of the United States?

Answer: NEVER

The American people have been fooled for 200+ years, leting them belive they are this great democracy with freedom to chose and all that good stuff.

There is no democracy in the United States like Americans belive.

Well you are half right, we are a republic, not a democracy.

Case in point: 2000 elections. The majority of voting Americans voted for Al Gore. George Shrub got to be president.

Electoral college, look into it some time.

 

[horuhe00]

Electoral college, look into it some time.

Exactly. That is not "One Man, One Vote", therefor, it is not a democracy. But, oh, how they love to hear themselves speak of liberty and right to choose and all that good stuff.

 

[SisterGeoff]

Exactly. That is not "One Man, One Vote", therefor, it is not a democracy. But, oh, how they love to hear themselves speak of liberty and right to choose and all that good stuff.

It's one man, one vote with provisions made so that small states still have a say in federal matters and we do have liberty but don't let the facts or the bill or rights get in your way.

 

[horuhe00]

It's one man, one vote with provisions made so that small states still have a say in federal matters

Whatever floats your boat

 

[jamesrwright3]

Whatever floats your boat

It's rule by the people. No, it's not a pure democracy, but the people have the final say.

 

[horuhe00]

It's rule by the people. No, it's not a pure democracy, but the people have the final say.

Yes. The people in the Legislature have the final say.

 

[SisterGeoff]

Yes. The people in the Legislature have the final say.

Have you redefined democracy to exclude anything other then direct democracy?

 

[horuhe00]

Have you redefined democracy to exclude anything other then direct democracy?

Well, democracy is "One man-one vote". The representatives in the USA Legislature aren't obligated to vote how their state voted. It has even happened a few times before in your history.

Every state can vote for one person and, if the representatives darn well please, they can all put Pat Buchanan as president and it's perfectly legal.

Now, that's not much of a democracy, is it?

 

[RiverSalado]

I think it will remain a Communist led dictatorship.

I think that a pro U.S. government, or a centrist government, or even a center left government like that in Brazil that is in reasonably good terms with the United States, will be positive to the region, what the U.S. cannot tolerate is a Somalia or an Afghanistan in its own backyard, which can turn into a breeding ground for drug shipments, or even terrorist groups, not to mention that Cuba stradles major shipping routes out of the southern United States, and out of Mexico as well, the United States should also be wary of China turning Cuba into a client state, since it is only ninety miles from the U.S. after all, so the U.S. has no choice but to intervene if things turn ugly in Cuba afer Castro's death, Cuba is not Haiti, you do not have any buffer states to guard against a Cuba that implodes.

 

[SisterGeoff]

Well, democracy is "One man-one vote".

Again this is a type of democracy, direct democracy, where as in the US and all other democratic states that I am aware operate under indirect or represative democracy. Unless there is some state you can point out where each and every decision of the state is decided by direct popular elections.

The representatives in the USA Legislature aren't obligated to vote how their state voted. It has even happened a few times before in your history.

The electors are not members of the Legislature, however you are correct that they are not required to vote along with the popular vote in most states while some have passed laws forcing them to do so.

Every state can vote for one person and, if the representatives darn well please, they can all put Pat Buchanan as president and it's perfectly legal.

While this is a major flaw in the way the system is set up some states have passed laws removing this issue by requiring the electors to follow the popular vote. In my life time, to my knowlage, there has been exactly one elector who did not follow the popular vote. Not one state, one elector and their one vote. Hardly an issue if you look at the facts rather then just jump to breathless conclusions.

Now, that's not much of a democracy, is it?

One of the better ones actually.

 

[horuhe00]

While this is a major flaw in the way the system is set up some states have passed laws removing this issue by requiring the electors to follow the popular vote. In my life time, to my knowlage, there has been exactly one elector who did not follow the popular vote. Not one state, one elector and their one vote. Hardly an issue if you look at the facts rather then just jump to breathless conclusions.

Oh, I agree with you that there is a very small chance of this happening. However, until all representatives are required to vote how the people of the state voted... It's not a democracy. They have just agreed to do the people a favor and vote how they wanted.