At 10:13 PM 14/11/00 -0800, Michael wrote:
>Let me ask a different type of question. Suppose Castro were to hold an
>election. Suppose he had every intention of making it free and
>fair. Wouldn't
>it be a disaster? It would be open season for the CIA to try to do everything
>it could to muck things up.
There are regular elections in Cuba; there have been since the 1970s.
Castro is directly elected as the representative of his neighbourhood. I
believe the municipal representatives elect from themselves the members of
the national parliament. The other big difference is that candidates
_cannot_ run on political party affiliation (including CPC) -- candidates
run on their _personal_ record of ability and public service. (I think I
also recall that the law prohibits foreign financing of candidates, but I
can't be sure of that.) The debates in the national parliament are not just
for show -- they have changed things, e.g. a few years ago a proposal to
impose income taxes on wage earners was rejected. Municipal governments are
responsible for many important activities, including management of many
local state-owned enterprises. It is a different type of electoral system
but the Cuban government is still selected through elections.
Bill
