Reform That Cannot Be Postponed

Reform That Cannot Be Postponed / Fernando Damaso
Posted on May 5, 2013

In the 1950s one of the principal objectives of the fight against the
dictatorship was the full restoration of the constitution of 1940, some
of whose articles had never been fulfilled. Once the new regime was in
power, however, it ignored this constitution and the country began to
ruled according to the so-called Fundamental Law, which legalized a
priori any action carried out by authorities based on the principle that
"the revolution was the source of power."

It was not until 1976 that a new constitution was drafted, one with a
new socialist character, modeled largely on the USSR's Stalinist-era
constitution, which by then had already itself been revised. It was
drafted by a commission created expressly for this purpose rather than
by a constituent assembly, which would have included representatives
from the country's entire political spectrum. Upon completion it was
submitted to a national referendum (whose participation was more formal
than real) and was approved by referendum with few significant changes,
the way things always get approved in Cuba.

This constitution — amended and ratified in 1992 and 2002 — is the one
now in force, although it remains unfamiliar to the majority of the
population and even to the authorities, who take it out only to
highlight a few of its articles when they find it politically
convenient, ignoring some and violating others. For most citizens the
constitution is really just one more document without any practical
application for solving their day-to-day problems and, therefore, useless.

In addition to other absurdities, archaic articles and inconsistencies,
this constitution decrees one-party rule, the exclusivity of state
organizations as the only legal avenues for expression, and the
irrevocability of socialism. It also enshrines the idea that none of the
freedoms for citizens recognized in its text can be exercised to oppose
anything stipulated in the document or in its laws, or in opposition to
the existence or aims of the socialist state, or against the decision of
the Cuban people to build socialism and communism. Once again everything
is ideologically generalized, ignoring the fact that the so-called
"Cuban people" are not made up only of sympathizers of the regime, but
also of many thousands who are not, and who have and hold, as Cubans
with equal rights, other political, economic and social viewpoints.

If we hope to have dialogue and peaceful means of resolving our
problems, it is necessary to have constitutional and political reform
which permits the decriminalization of the opposition and expansion of
civil liberties. This must not be seen as something contrary to economic
reform or as an objective to be achieved after such reform. It is rather
something that cannot be postponed, a necessity brought about by the
appearance of new constituencies that are not being legitimately
represented by current state institutions.

4 May 2013

http://translatingcuba.com/reform-that-cannot-be-postponed-fernando-damaso/