Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0099/00999.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 32KB | 501 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00999}
$Pretitle{352}
$Title{Cuba
Chapter 4A.   Government and Politics}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{James D. Rudolf}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{council
state
assembly
national
president
ministers
constitution
court
government
power}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Country:     Cuba
Book:        Cuba, A Country Study
Author:      James D. Rudolf
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1986

Chapter 4A.   Government and Politics

     In 1985 Cuba had an authoritarian political system that combined a highly
restricted structure of policymaking authority in which some 22 individuals
participated regularly in setting national policy and a decentralized system
of policy implementation that involved substantial popular participation at
the local level. After several years of devolving administrative
responsibilities to middle-level managers, a 1981 administrative
reorganization reconcentrated authority at the highest levels of the system.

     Continued poor economic performance caused dissatisfaction with
government policy during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In response, the
government exported many of its opponents during the Mariel exodus of 1980,
mobilized its bases of support through the mass organizations, and tightened
controls over the judiciary.

     Fidel Castro Ruz remained the center of the political system in early
1985. He was the only individual whose name appeared in the 1976 Constitution
and was not only the chief of state and the chief of government but also the
commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and first secretary of
the Communist Party of Cuba. He also had the authority to assume personal
management of any government ministry or other administrative organization.
After losing some of his power during the 1970s, he successfully reasserted
his personal authority after 1980, removing many officials of the Communist
Party of Cuba and packing the highest decisionmaking bodies with his
supporters. Much of his power derived from his charisma and the popular view
that he embodied the Revolution.

     In early 1985 Cuba continued to pursue an activist foreign policy,
maintaining a substantial military presence in Angola and Ethiopia, supporting
guerrilla movements and leftist governments in Central America and the
Caribbean, and seeking to act as a representative for the concerns of the
Third World through Castro's role as head of the Nonaligned Movement from
1979 to 1983. Cuba deepened its alliance with the Soviet Union during the
early 1980s but also sought to improve its relations with the United States,
leading to an agreement on immigration matters.

Constitutional Background

     The first constitution of the independent Republic of Cuba was
promulgated in 1901 by the island's United States military governor during the
first United States occupation. The influence of the United States in the
creation of this document was evident in its emphasis on the separation of
executive, legislative, and judicial powers; its provisions guaranteeing
individual rights and freedoms; and its establishment of an independent
judiciary with the power of judicial review.

     The most controversial provision of the 1901 constitution was the Platt
Amendment, which many Cubans considered an infringement on and derogation of
Cuban sovereignty. In this amendment, imposed by the United States as a
condition for its acceptance of the constitution, Cuba recognized that "the
United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of
Cuban independent, [and] the maintenance of a government adequate for the
protection of life, property, and individual liberty." Article VII of the
amendment also obliged Cuba to "sell or lease to the United States lands
necessary for coaling or naval stations, at certain specified points, to be
agreed upon with the President of the United States." In effect, this
amendment gave the United States the legal authority to regulate the form and
content of the actions of the Cuban government, which it did on numerous
occasions between 1901 and 1934, when it was abrogated by the United States.
The Platt Amendment, together with the 1898 Treaty of Paris between Spain and
the United States ending the Spanish-Cuban-American War and the Permanent
Reciprocity Treaty of 1903 between Cuba and the United States, made Cuba
effectively a protectorate of the United States, even though the country
became legally independent in 1902 (see United States Occupation and the Platt
Amendment, ch. 1).

     Following the 1933 revolution, delegates from all the major political
forces in the country, including the Moscow-oriented Popular Socialist Party
(Partido Socialista Popular-PSP), drafted a new constitution, which was
promulgated in 1940. The 1940 constitution retained most of the provisions of
the bill of rights from the 1901 constitution but completely changed the
structure of the government into a semiparliamentary system with a president,
elected by universal suffrage, who was assisted by a cabinet that was led by a
prime minister. The cabinet was directly responsible to the Congress, which
could remove any minister or the entire cabinet by a vote of no confidence.
The Supreme Court had the power to declare law unconstitutional.

     The 1940 constitution also required the nation to "employ the resources
within its reach to furnish employment to everyone who lacks it" and to assure
workers of "the economic conditions necessary to a fitting existence." It also
recognized the right of workers to unionize, bargain collectively, and strike.
The entire labor code, including minimum wage rules, maximum weekly working
hours, maternity leave for women, and workmen's accident insurance, was
incorporated into the document. The state's powers in national development,
public administration, and fiscal and monetary matters were greatly enlarged.
Although many of its far-reaching provisions were never implemented, the
document served as a codification of Cuban aspirations for economic and social
development and remained a rallying point for the opposition throughout the
dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar. Its reenactment was the stated
goal of Castro's revolutionary movement and remained the goal of Cuban exiles
living in the United States in early 1985 (see The Revolution of 1933 and Its
Aftermath, ch. 1).

     In February 1959 the revolutionary government promulgated the Fundamental
Law of the Revolution. This document, which the government claimed was merely
a revision of the constitution of 1940, served as the country's basic law
until it was superseded by a new constitution in 1976. The Fundamental Law
retained most of the sections of the constitution of 1940 concerning social
and economic matters but made substantial alterations in the structure of
government. Legislative, executive, administrative, and constitutional powers
were concentrated in the Council of Ministers, again led by a prime minister.
The president of the republic was retained as head of state, but his position
was changed into a largely ceremonial one. The Senate and Chamber of
Representatives were eliminated, their legislative duties becoming functions
of the Council of Ministers, and the Supreme Court was made accountable to the
council.

     The Council of Ministers enjoyed unrestricted authority under the
Fundamental Law. It issued laws that were nominally subject to judicial
review, but because it also had the power to amend the Fundamental Law by a
two-thirds majority vote, it simply did so whenever the judiciary invalidated
its actions. This procedure was particularly common in the early years of the
Revolution, when the Fundamental Law was modified 19 times between May 1959
and December 1962.

     Members of the Council of Ministers were appointed and removed at the
discretion of the president (a provision retained from the constitution in
1940). In practice, the president followed the wishes of the prime minister in
this matter, making the prime mi