The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law by FIU

VÁCLAV HAVEL PROGRAM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS & DIPLOMACY

THE ROAD TO FREEDOM, GROUNDED IN THE RULE OF LAW Jason Poblete, Esq., President, Global Liberty Alliance

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

Letter from the director As the Director of the Václav Havel

Diplomacy was adding an important element to what was already

Program for Human Rights and

stored under its “roof”—cooperating for years with a number of

Diplomacy, I am pleased to present

entities and initiatives, domestic and international, engaged in one

the timely analysis contained in this

way or another in the “Cuban question.”

document The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law, by Jason I. Poblete. The text offered here to the readers is another part of our Cuba Initiative—a joint project of the Václav Havel Program and Inspire America Foundation, a Miami-based charitable and educational NGO, operating in the “hot” environment of the Cuban American community in Florida that set for itself a challenging goal in its mission statement: “inspiring freedom and democracy in Cuba and the Americas.” First, I will offer a quick explanation of the basic aim of this project. The Cuba Initiative is a project dedicated to the research, exploration, and dissemination of alternatives for Cuba’s future. It aims to engage the United States, the international community, and Cubans seeking democratization in an ongoing dialogue about all the issues of common concern. It speaks directly to the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy’s goal of creating opportunities for conversation and exchange about democratic transitions, utilizing in the first place the transformations of

It is clear that the answer to this fundamental question must first depart from the uniqueness of the Cuban case, from the specificity of the Cuban historical experience. What belongs to our starting point is also the clear awareness that we, who are not Cubans, should refrain from intervening into the domestic Cuban matters and adopt a position of engaged observers instead. What must be taken into consideration at the same time, however, is the larger context in which Cuba is finding itself in the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century. What can and should be used as a source of inspiration are the transitions from autocratic forms of government to democracy that took place in the other parts of the world in the past: in Spain and Portugal in the 1970s, in Central Europe in the miraculous year of 1989, and of course, in Chile at the end of the same year, after Augusto Pinochet was replaced in the presidential palace in Santiago de Chile by Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin as the result of democratic elections. There are four areas that we have been identified as key components of our cooperation with Inspire America Foundation: law, economics, diplomacy and “the presence of the past,” i.e., the

Central European countries—Vaclav Havel’s home turf—after the

“Cuban question” in its larger historical context.

fall of communism as its experiential basis, both good and bad,

So here is one of the timely and important results of our legal

for seeking and promoting viable paths to Cuba’s return to the

discussion that started in the spring of 2020 in the virtual

community of democracies.

seminar Models for Implementing Cuba’s Future Transition to

It is also important to note that, in the moment when the Cuba

Democracy: Reforming the Cuban Legal System. There are three

Initiative of the Václav Havel Program at Florida International University was launched—in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in September of 2019—it was not starting from “zero”. Instead, it has had its solid and historically tested foundations in the Central European experience of resisting communism in the 1970 and the 1980s. It could depart

main issues we were dealing with in this debate: First, the question of value-anchoring of the future Cuban Constitution and how to get there from the status quo; second, the question of human rights obligations and the Cuban international responsibility erga omnes; and third, the question of separation of powers and how to make the Cuban judiciary independent

from the lessons in transition from totalitarianism to democracy

from two other branches of government.

enabled by the Velvet Revolution of 1989, from Václav Havel’s

So, enjoy the reading.

“legacy”, from its rich history of engagement in Cuban matters, and also from past Czech diplomatic experience in this area (going

Yours respectfully,

back to the moment when I was dealing with the “Cuban question” in my capacity as head of the Czech delegation at the annual

Martin Palouš

meetings in Geneva of the UN Commission for Human Rights

Director, Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy,

between 1999 and 2001).

Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

When planning its activities in the context of this brand-new

Florida International University

cooperation, the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and

Miami, Florida

May 20, 2022

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

A. Executive Summary The majority of Cuba’s future leaders have never lived in a democratic state. “The majority of my people are ‘products,’” of the Communist system, says one prominent Cuban lawyer on the island; the path to constitutional democracy remains long and, at this juncture, illusory. Advocates of constitutional reform within the current Communist construct, and those who want to start over from past permutations or to build a completely new structure both agree that political change must come before tackling constitutional and structural legal changes. While we undertook several efforts to include the views and input from lawyers who practice within the Cuban government system, the majority said no or ignored our requests. However, there are many independent lawyers in Cuba who, for a plethora of reasons, are eager to engage in the profession, despite the challenges, and to share their ideas, based on tangible experience, on what needs to be done to move forward. A few civil society organizations on the island were also consulted, and although the vast majority requested to remain anonymous, their defense of fundamental rights, free enterprise, and the rule of law is nothing short of heroic. The COVID-19 pandemic proved a great deal more challenging than anticipated, as did the voluminous amount of material, on and off the island, that we had to work with to prepare the monograph. The Cuban legal system and its four constitutions—this data point does not include the colonial era-models: the Guáimaro, Jimaguayú, or La Yaya documents that are called constitutions—were studied, and studied, and studied again. Learning from history, heeding its lessons to avoid a repetition of past errors is a worthwhile endeavor. However, as the free world witnessed in July 2021 and then essentially looked away, the Cuban people want action, less study. The recurring theme among the lawyers and civil society leaders who contributed to this effort is Acta, non verba. Recommendations for future work, especially on the island, are provided at the end of the monograph. The Global Liberty Alliance thanks Florida International University, in partnership with Ambassador Martin Palous, senior fellow at Florida International University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and director of SIPA’s Václav Havel Center for Human Rights and Diplomacy initiative. Ambassador Palous’s commitment to a peaceful transition in Cuba and his steadfast support of the rule of law efforts in Cuba are welcomed and much appreciated by colleagues on the island. Finally, a special thanks to the current and former members of the Global Liberty Alliance team, including Mauricio Tamargo, Arthur Freyre, Cara Di Silvio, Dr. Veronica Mayer, Mariana Tejeida Olvera. We also salute the lawyers and civil society leaders in Cuba who work tirelessly to defend fundamental individual rights, free enterprise, and the rule of law. 4

B. Background and Purpose of the Monograph Among decades of conferences, discussions, blue-ribbon commissions, and other analyses of transition models at the end of the Cold War and their applicability to Cuba, one aspect of Cuba has received little attention: the reunification of the Cuban nation. Fortunately, Ambassador Palous has written about this idea, including in a paper he presented first at the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), which raises questions about the steps that need to take place, the actors and stakeholders who should be involved, and the instruments to be utilized in the immediate and longer term to achieve such a lofty goal. The preponderance of studies on constitutional issues and the rule of law in a future Cuba have focused on the Diaspora. The contributions and views of those who experienced and suffered under Cuban Communism memorialized in prior efforts are immensely valuable. Yet, most of these analytical endeavors are outdated and do not accurately reflect the realities of life on the ground in Cuba nor the impact that over six decades of Cuban Communist control has had on the nation, its people, and their views and perceptions. This is why the focus of the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) and this monograph is on the island where GLA has been working with independent lawyers and civil society leaders (and clients) for the past few years. By relying on practitioners, this monograph hopes to contribute to existing literature and discourse while distinguishing itself through its reliance on firsthand experience and real-time assessments of the current landscape, with a view toward action and the future, that should include the reconstitution or return of the practice of law outside the Communist Party-controlled system. When we use the term “independent lawyers,” we refer to legal practitioners who are not working for or associated with the state-controlled law firm system, a creature of the Central Committee that essentially rubber-stamps whatever party leaders at state-owned enterprises or administrative agencies send their way. Criminal defense lawyers working for the state system fare no better. Even if they wanted to do so, they do not have the freedom to practice their profession. A martyr and the patron saint for lawyers, St. Thomas More wrote, “You wouldn’t abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn’t control the winds.” Yet the free world did just that last year; however, there is still time to make this right, and there are future leaders on the island working hard every day to bring about change. This monograph is the first of what we hope will be a series of papers and conferences, including in Cuba, about its constitution and legal system. It is about action, not just words, because it is through action, listening, and talking

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

that we can attain that seemingly impossible reunification that Ambassador Palous correctly argues is needed to move toward a new chapter in Cuba’s history. When we set out on the project, the pandemic was in full swing, the July 11, 2021 uprising was not a factor at the time, and we were busy focusing on things other than Cuba’s Constitution while working cases with lawyers on the island At that time Ambassador Martin Palous, a champion for liberty and friend of the people of Cuba, and I were working to bring together a wide range of legal minds in Cuba to hash out so many issues that we know the lawyers of Cuba were eager to deal with but could not, for reasons that are best left to them to answer. Over the course of the past four years, we engaged with fellow lawyers in Cuba to advocate for a wide range of cases in a legal system that, according to one former government lawyer, is a “legal system in name only.” Yet he added, “It is what we have, and we are duty-bound to do the best with it so that, someday, the people will know that the law can be a powerful tool for our nation.” A review of legal and academic literature since 1959 generates a sobering number of papers related to Cuba’s Constitution and system. There is no need, at this juncture, to rewrite or rehash the many historical, political, and legal papers available for review by anyone with access to the internet. Yet, the long list of reference materials at the end of this monograph guided us from the onset. We set out to produce more than an academic piece; this work would not be a law review. Instead, we approached the monograph from the point of view of legal practitioners. The work product you are reading includes input from a former judge in Cuba who is now working as an independent lawyer, several human rights litigators, two former political prisoners and dissidents, and non-lawyer civil society leaders who are on the frontlines of the liberty movement on the island. This is a first, we hope, of what will be additional practical exchanges by some of the best and the brightest lawyers I have been honored to work with. These men and women, despite the great odds stacked against them and living in some of the most difficult political and economic circumstances, still cling to the notion that the law can be a force for good. Recall that lawyers were targeted at the onset of the socialist communist revolution, private law firms were shuttered, and the accounting has yet to be done as to how many lawyers perished during those early years. My grandfather, Gonzalo Ferreira, was a lawyer in Cuba who witnessed Fidel Castro’s antics and thirst for absolute power early on: they were students together at the University of Havana’s law school. My grandfather and many others used the law to defend fundamental freedoms as long as possible. until they were forced to leave their homeland and the profession.

Gonzalo’s story and that of other lawyers in and out of Cuba, and those practicing today, bring to mind a book by Simone Ladwig-Winters, Lawyers without Rights, which is about the persecution of lawyers by the Third Reich. While the Cuban experience is much different than the fate that befell Jewish lawyers in Europe during World War II, the Communist Party and its vanguard in Cuba have decimated the legal profession, and it will take time, patience, and a lot of hard work to rebuild it. The political future of Cuba is up to the people of Cuba who live in Cuba. There will be, at some juncture, a role to play for those on the outside, especially members of the Cuban Diaspora in the United States and other nations. Yet, for the legal and political future of the island, it is essential that current and future political leaders of Cuba in Cuba pave the way forward. As an American lawyer, my contributions to this project were minimal: I was more guide than lawyer; however, the subject of American law and politics would frequently surface when engaging with colleagues on the island. As an American who cares deeply about what happens 90 miles away and who also shares a passion for the law felt by my brothers and sister in Cuba, I provide several recommendations anchored, in part, on U.S. law delineating U.S.-Cuba policy; these are meant to educate the outside world while empowering and supporting the paraclete on the island. They are not a silver bullet or an attempt to dictate what construct the Cuban people should use for constitutional and legal changes in the future. By design, the two main sources for the monograph came from two on-island groups and sets of leaders. The Citizen’s Aid Legal Group consists of an exceptional team of lawyers, including Dr. Julio Aleaga Pesant, Dr. Edilio Hernández Herrera, and Dr. Julio Alfredo Ferrer Tamayo. The Emily Project, led by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, provides another approach to reach the same goal of a free and democratic state, one that is modeled, in part, on the U.S. constitutional convention system but adapted to Cuban realities. We also drew lessons and inspiration from hundreds of cases on our Cuba case docket and training modules prepared by on-island Cuban lawyers such as Dr. René de Jesús Gómez Manzano, among many others. This is the first phase of this project. We look forward to consulting with even more practitioners in Cuba to assess how independent and dependent variables, and internal and external developments are modifying the legal landscape, views, and perceptions. The lawyers and others who are part of the Global Liberty Alliance network throughout Cuba cannot, for security reasons, be listed in the report. We remain in contact with them and look forward to continuing the collaboration. In addition to lawyers, we collaborated or consulted with a broad cross-section of on-island civil society organizations and individuals who are eager for a new way forward 5

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

economically and politically. Yet it is also clear that after sixty-three years of a Communist system—with most at that time spent living under a complete break from the old constitutional order and operating under socialist constitutions and a system of laws where rule by law is the norm, not the rule of law—the challenges that lay ahead for constitutional reform and political change if the Cuban people desire to change that system are significant. To all the lawyers in Cuba whom we have worked with, and the others whom we hope to meet and work with someday, thank you for your contributions, your work, and your dedication to the practice of law even in the most difficult of circumstances given the prohibition of the independent practice of law. Hanging your shingle today may be outlawed, but that, too, will pass, and the work that you are doing today behind the scenes is sowing important seeds for the future. The Global Liberty Alliance has proposed to colleagues in Cuba—both independent lawyers and a few brave lawyers who are part of the Communist system—that there be a debate of legal ideas on the topics discussed in this monograph. Why? Because they are the most immediate and most important stakeholders in this process. Legal reform comes along with political change. The Global Liberty Alliance has thus offered, in collaboration with colleagues in Cuba, to mediate a frank discussion among the parties in a pair of legal exchanges in Cuba and the United States.1 It is highly unlikely that system lawyers in Cuba will be allowed to participate or that lawyers in the United States will be granted visas to travel to Cuba to participate in these sessions; however, we are open to doing so, as are the independent lawyers we have worked with in Cuba. This monograph focuses on issues around the Cuban Constitution, but colleagues in Cuba have asked us this question many times: What is the U.S. position, and can it help the Cuban people move forward? Some policy experts claim there is not a clear answer to this question, but legally

the U.S. position since the end of the Cold War has been to work toward a peaceful transition and what that means is also delineated in the law. Is it perfect? Far from it, yet its most important feature is that this position is undergirded by the will of the American people, as expressed through Congress. As a practitioner in this space, it is frustrating how the laws have been poorly implemented by policy makers these past few years and, in some cases, ignored or broken. We have discussed this with our colleagues on the island who, when they first hear about it, are perplexed but understanding. The Trading with the Enemy Act,2 the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992,3 the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996,4 the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000,5 form the foundation of the U.S. approach toward Cuba. Of course, the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR),6 and the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Export Administration Regulations (EAR) also determine the U.S. approach.7 It is a policy anchored in a world that no longer exists, but it also looks forward to a relationship based on ideas and principles that traditionally bound our two nations. While Cuban officials will strongly disagree, Cuban lawyers we work with affirm that the U.S. approach is of invaluable assistance to the Cuban people, because it lays the foundation for better relations between our peoples, underscores the power of the rule of law, and explicitly puts peace as the driver of the policy. The politics of Cuba in U.S. politics, at times, glosses over this important driver of change. One side rails against a system that no longer exists, while the other advocates for a system that will never be. There is zero doubt that special interests on all sides of the Cuba debate have exploited weaknesses in the legal framework. Laws have been and continue to be broken, and the policy has been pushed to the limits by both sides, with

1 The Global Liberty Alliance has been working on approximately 120 fundamental rights cases in Cuba. GLA lawyers in Cuba cover work in 10 provinces across the island, although tmajority of cases are currently in Havana, followed by Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. As GLA does in other nations and in the United States, it is collaborating with lawyers in Cuba to expand its legal network to underrepresented areas where there has been a demand in requests for various forms of legal services and counsel. 2 50 U.S.C. Ch. 53, § 4301-4341, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter53&edition=prelim#:~:text=4307.,order%2C%20rule%2C%20or%20regulation (last accessed May 26, 2022). 3 22 U.S.C. (Ch. 69) §§ 6001-1010 available at http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter69&edition=prelim (last accessed May 20, 2022). 4 22 U.S.C. (Ch. 69A) §§ 6021-6091 available at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter69A&edition=prelim (last accessed May 20, 2022). 5 22 U.S.C. (Ch. 79) §§ 7201-7211, available at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter79&edition=prelim (last access May 20, 2022). 6 31 C.F.R. Ch. 5, Part 515, et. seq., available at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-515 (last accessed May 26, 2022). 7 15 C.F.R. Subtitle B, Ch. VII, Subchapter C, Part 746, et. seq., available at https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-15/subtitle-B/chapter-VII/subchapter-C/part-746/section-746.2 (last accessed May 26,2022). 6

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

the Cuban government gaming our system as best it can to move product one way or the other. A former judge who served in courts in Cuba during the Cold War told me a few years ago, “It is an honor for me that your people take such interest in laws, and debate disagreements, on issues that impact us right here. I wish we had that freedom. The freedom to debate, Cuban with Cuban, about our laws and how we have organized ourselves. Maybe we will someday.” We have distilled two years of experiences, training, brainstorming sessions, cases, and ideas in this monograph, based on an ongoing conversation that the Global Liberty Alliance continues with on-island friends and colleagues and with other interested parties and stakeholders.

C. Project Emily: A Constitutional Convention of Provinces (TRANSLATION) Project Emily (Projecto Emilia) is an initiative led by former Cuban political prisoner and U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and a team of civil society leaders in Cuba. The following is based on in-depth interviews with sources within and without Project Emily. Additionally, with Dr. Biscet’s permission, we use information that Project Emily has published online.8 We also include a series of excerpts from discussions that we have with Dr. Biscet and legal practitioners involved with or supportive of the project. The current directors of Project Emily include Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González, his wife Elsa Morejon, Carlos Manuel Pupo Rodríguez, Jorge Omar Lorenzo Pimienta, Angel Pablo Polanco García, Agustín Figueroa Galindo, and Roberto Azcuy y. We focus on Dr. Biscet and the revolution’s efforts for decades to create the “New Man.” Dr. Biscet was born July 20, 1961, in Havana. Despite living in a Communist nation where the party controlled all of society, including religion, Dr. Biscet was raised in a home where God was worshiped and the love of one’s neighbor was put into action. Born just two years into the 1959 socialist takeover of Cuba, Dr. Biscet was a child of the revolution and received all the best that the system was able to provide. Little did he or his family know then that Dr. Biscet would be thrust into the civil society and political space and become one of the leading voices for a peaceful transition and advocate for a constitutional process modeled after the U.S. Constitutional Convention organized around states or, in Cuba, provinces. In 1985, he received his medical degree, with a specialization

in internal medicine. In 1987, he began practicing his profession and teaching medicine at the Hospital ObstétricoPediátrico Hijas de Galicia in Havana. Toward the end of the 1980s, Dr. Biscet, guided by his Christian upbringing and experiences as a medical doctor in Cuban civil society, openly opposed the Communist Party. The rule of law is, at best, illusory in Communist Cuba and in any communist nation. For his civil disobedience and resistance to the system in 1994, Cuban authorities opened an official case, and Dr. Biscet was accused of carrying out “dangerous activities.” Under Cuba’s legal system, “dangerous activities” are deemed as anything that the party decides is counter-revolutionary and carry very stiff penalties. After several years of Communist Party intimidation and what turned out to be a fruitless attempt to change Dr. Biscet’s ideas, he was unjustly detained on November 3, 1999, and officially accused of crimes such as “dishonoring national symbols,” “disorderly conduct,” and “inciting to delinquent conduct.” Dr. Biscet was sentenced to three years in prison, which he served in a penitentiary located in the vicinity of Holguín, in the Province of Oriente in easternmost Cuba. Yet this was just the beginning of Dr. Biscet’s ordeal and conflict with the Communist Party intimidation machine. After having served his three-year sentence, Dr. Biscet was released and allowed to return home in late 2002. A month later, he was again arrested and accused of dangerous activities against the security of the state. This time, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, many of which were served in conditions of absolute isolation in a gulag prison in the province of Pinar del Río, Cuba’s westernmost province and about a two-hour drive from Cuba’s capital, Havana. During his time in prison, an international campaign was waged to raise awareness of Dr. Biscet’s plight in Cuba’s gulag prison system. American and other policy makers from around the world, religious and human rights organizations, and other civil society leaders were instrumental in helping secure the conditional release in March 2011 of Dr. Biscet and other political prisoners and dissidents of the Primavera Negra (Black Spring). On January 9, 2013, Dr. Biscet and ten other Cuban dissidents announced the launch of Project Emily. The group denounced oppression and violations of fundamental individual rights and other human rights, as well as demanded a transition to a democratic system based on representation. Dr. Biscet’s courageous defense of liberty for Cuba has earned him the respect of people and organizations around the world. Among the awards he has received are the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, Paladín de la Libertad (Champions of Liberty) by the Partido Nacionalista Democrático de Cuba (Nationalist Democratic Party of Cuba),

8 Available at http://www.cubalibreconemilia.org/proyecto-emilia-eng.html (last accessed May 20, 2022). 7

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

Premio Derechos Humanos de la Fundación Hispano Cubana (Human Rights Award of the Hispanic Cuban Foundation), Premio Defensor de la Vida (Defender of Life Award) by the Centro Internacional Para la Defensa de la Vida (CIDEVIDA; International Center for the Defense of Life), and Doctor Honoris Causa, Miami-Dade College. Currently, Dr. Biscet and other members of the Emilia Project are routinely arrested, harassed, and watched by the members of State Security of the Cuban Communist Party. The Communist Party continues to put pressure on Project Emily advocates in the hope that they will leave the island, as hundreds of thousands of Cubans have done since 1959. This state-sponsored political persecution, which is designed to target individuals who politically disagree with communism and socialism, is a crime against humanity and violates universally accepted civil and political rights. Despite these challenges, these courageous Cubans flatly refuse to leave, stating that, as long as they are physically able to do so, they will remain in their homeland. Dr. Biscet has repeatedly stressed that he will not cave to pressure and intimidation in the exercise of his fundamental individual rights and that he intends to work, peacefully, with Cubans in Cuba and the Diaspora to advance Project Emily. 1. Six Stages of Project Emily The project is deployed in six stages. Stage 1: Initiate an education and awareness phase. Stage 2: Organize resources to deploy the project throughout the island and perhaps someday, the Diaspora. Stage 3: Promote strategies to organize an assembly of people from all parts of the island. Stage 4: Encourage parties to meet and discuss political and economic ideas that they would like to see in a free and democratic Cuba. Stage 5: Consolidate the framework for Project Emilia and implement the program agreed to in Stage 4. Stage 6: Initiate a period of transition toward the consolidation of democracy and liberty in Cuba.

2. Project Emily Vision and Goals Project Emily is steeped in a deep love of country and takes its name from a Cuban hero, a woman who dedicated the best part of her fruitful life to the struggle for Cuban freedom and independence. Her name was Ms. Emilia Teurbe Tolón. In 1950, on the one-hundredth anniversary of our national flag, she was given the title, “Embodiment of the Cuban Woman,” by the Congress of the Republic of Cuba. Emilia was the first Cuban woman to be forced into exile due to political reasons. She also had the honor of sewing the first Cuban flag, which was designed by her husband, poet Mr. Miguel Teurbe Tolón, at the request of General Narciso López. Coming from a wealthy family, Emilia donated her fortune to the education of the poor. The directors and supporters of Project Emily endorse this document and approach. It is inspired by Teurbe Tolón’s patriotism and its essential objectives are to ensure the protection of basic human rights, democracy, and liberty for the Cuban people. We start from the premise that Cuba’s Communist regime bases its legitimacy on the 1976 Constitution and its 2002 amendments, as well as the 2019 Constitution that we are reviewing, and expect the outcomes will be the same as the analysis done of the 1976 Constitution with the 2002 amendments. We will update this soon to reflect recent changes to Cuba’s constitutional changes. In article 69, the 1976 Constitution designates la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) as the state’s entity of power. It adds that said assembly represents the sovereign will of the people. Article 70 affirms that the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) is the only entity with constitutional and legislative power in the Republic of Cuba. For years we have repeatedly stressed, with examples and by their actions, that the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has transgressed by relinquishing its sovereign rights and powers to the Council of State as the state’s seat of power. We have verified that the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has passively complied with and given legal power to all the decree-laws adopted by the Council of State. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has lost its sovereign power by accepting the control of the Council of State in convening extraordinary sessions. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has worked against our people’s liberty by allowing the Council of State to declare ideological, social, and political ideas that are contrary to the interests of the Cuban people as irrevocable in the National Constitution.

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has not allowed for points of view from political minorities or other points of view contrary to the Communist Party, although most advanced constitutions in the world respect minority rightsand grant extreme power to compliant majorities. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly for the People’s Power) has violated the constitutional principle of separation and independence of powers; it has given the Council of State the power of setting guidelines and imposing decisions on the Judicial Power. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly for the People’s Power) has disregarded the will of the people and limited the freedom of citizens by subordinating to itself the Asambleas Locales del Poder Popular (Local Assemblies of the People’s Power). The Asamblea Nacional del Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has stipulated that the Asambleas Locales del Poder Popular (Local Assemblies of the People’s Power) are subordinate to the Council of State. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has suffocated freedom of expression, assembly, speech, and press for those not in alignment with the politics and ideology of the State. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has given the government the authority to strip away citizenship from Cubans born within the national territory. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power), by ignoring the measures that have plunged our people into misery and despair, has become an accomplice to this infamy. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) has exalted a party above the state and nation.

the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations. We agree to declare illegitimate the Communist Constitution, the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power), and all its representative bodies of state power. We call on the Cuban people to support this project and take steps toward a sovereign, democratic, free, and just Cuba. We proclaim that the new democratic and free Parliament, risen from these demands, be declared a Constituent Assembly and that it draft a Constitution that respects the dignity of all Cubans. We insist that the constitution contain the foundations of democracy and freedom for which so many of our compatriots have struggled and offered their life since our wars of independence. We demand that the legal order of our homeland has as its basis the democratic principles that prevail in other nations of the civilized world. These include the sovereignty of the people, majority rule, rights of minorities, a guarantee of basic human rights, free and transparent elections, equality before the law, due process under the law, constitutional limitations to government, a balance of independent powers, and social, economic, and political pluralism, as well as the values of tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation, and compromise. Unfortunately, we have witnessed throughout more years than we wish to remember how the Cuban communist regime has not conceded an atom of freedom and has in an arbitrary and rigid manner resisted any change that guarantees a dignified life for our people. Therefore, we have no alternative but to set in motion a peaceful political challenge to make the freedom of our people a reality. For that, we plead your help and God’s protection. As well, we ask for the Creator’s guidance in this just cause of attaining liberty and prosperity for the Cuban people. LONG LIVE FREE CUBA!

We declare that these laws compiled in the Constitution of 1976 [and more so in subsequent constitutions under study] constitute an abuse of power and a flagrant violation of the dignity of Cuban citizens. The Constitution of 1976, amended in 2002, permanently institutionalized the communist regime of Cuba. The Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power) lacks all validity and ceases to be the expression of the will of the Cuban people by granting to the Council of State all the prerogatives consecrated to the Cuban Constitution. We believe that the current Communist Constitution violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 9

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

D. Reform under the Current Constitution: The Citizen’s Aid Legal Group (TRANSLATION) The Citizen’s Aid Legal Group is led by Msc. Julio Aleaga Pesant, Dr. Edilio Hernández Herrera, and Dr. Julio Alfredo Ferrer Tamayo.9 1.

Democratic Transition under the Current System

Can the current Cuban Constitution allow a transition to a democratic government or not? Why and what would that process look like? We will begin our exposition with these questions, to which most compatriots, jurists, intellectuals, politicians or not would respond with incredulity, explaining their decision with simple or complex arguments. And in their respected criteria, they are right because, at first glance, the Cuban Constitutions of 1976, 2002, and 2019 have cut off the possibility of a democratic change in Cuba by eliminating the right to form political parties, one of the fundamental components of a democratic society, which was included in the 1940 Constitution and the Fundamental Law of 1959, Article 10: “A citizen has the right: (a) to reside in his homeland without being subject to any discrimination or extortion, no matter what his race, class, political opinions or religious beliefs maybe.” And in Fundamental Law of 1959, Article 102: “The organization of political parties and associations is free. However, political groupings of race, sex or class may not be formed.” However, with much respect and at the risk of being at odds with some of my esteemed colleagues, we would like to demonstrate, that YES, political change is possible at a constitutional level under the current legal system because, in the experience of several totalitarian or militarized countries, the processes of transition to democracy show that in most cases, they were made taking advantage of the existing institutions and imposing the new interpretations that the Law can give. By Law, we mean the work or products of the Supreme Courts or political decisions of the parties (such as decree-laws in

the Cuban case); only later were they called to a Constituent Assembly and/or even with the same Constitutions, a set of norms were added or those incompatible with the democratic system were eliminated. Most authors point out that the main changes that lead to democratic transition processes take place in other scenarios of the society. Development of the economy and infrastructure; processes of social mobility, such as the increase in the size of the middle class or the educational and cultural level of the citizens involved in the process; and the stability of the pro-transition institutions can be stronger agents of change than the call for a Constituent Assembly. That is why it is important to strengthen institutions such as churches, unions, political parties, social movements, or other trade or community organizations.

International Experiences with Constitutional Change and Transitions to Democracy

In Spain and Chile, the Constitutions were reformed after the process of change had begun, and more as a way of strengthening the line of development. In Chile, for more than 40 years, the Constitution that guaranteed power to the military junta had not yet been changed; moreover, the Supreme Law itself contained the elements for entry into the democratic system. In Spain, on the other hand, the legal readjustment came when the main political and cultural obstacle was solved— the presence of the king as the head of state—and other political parties were recognized, a sine qua non condition for the democratic enthronement in 1977. The history of Spain in the period of democratic transition is reflected in the way in which political consensus is articulated. It was a relatively short process in which the leaders of the three most important forces agreed to move forward, even at the cost of previous prejudices, to negotiation. This process of agreements is divided into three parts: The first, from November 1975 to June 1976, begins with the death of Francisco Franco. It is the period in which Carlos Arias Navarro continues to head the government and Franco’s bureaucratic immobilism prevails. In the second period, from June 1976 to June 1977, the courts approved the Political Reform Law, the first general elections were held, and the Communist Party was legalized. In the third period, from

9 A former judge who was jailed for eight months in 2015 by the Communist Party, Dr. Ferrer graduated from the University of Havana School of Law in 1985. His wife, Marienys Pavó Oñate, was also unjustly detained and arrested in 2012. After graduating from law school, he began his legal career in the state-run Cuban legal system. He was appointed judge of the Municipal Court of Guanabacoa, and a year later he was promoted to the Fifth Criminal Chamber of the Provincial Court; he later became president of the Sixth Criminal Chamber in Havana. From 1994 until 2004 he worked at a Cuba state-owned law firm but was let go after disagreements about the practice and about the ethics of the state-run system. After repeated disagreements with the Party, in 2008 he and colleagues formed the Cuban Legal Association; since then, he has worked as an independent lawyer in Havana. 10

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

June 1977 to October 1982, the 1978 Constitution was promulgated, and two general elections were held, in 1979 and 1982. The latter was important because of the change of government to the (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE+, which represented the peaceful return of the losers of the Civil War.10

some of the transitions of the third wave would not have occurred, and many others would have occurred later. In some countries, the choice between democracy and authoritarianism was epitomized by the conflict between the cardinal and the dictator.”12

Similar elements can be seen in other transitions, such as in Hungary, Angola, the Czech Republic, and Russia.

A review of two well-known books, Democracy’s Third Wave and Political Order in Changing Societies, both by Samuel P. Huntington, helps us analyze these processes at the global level. In more complicated scenarios such as the Soviet, Asian, or South African ones, it is feasible to observe how the processes of system change were only accompanied by specific changes in their constitutions.

The process of democratic transition is complicated in our country because opposition parties or groups are outlawed. In addition, the Cuban government has not had the political will to guarantee and protect the rights of expression, demonstration, association, assembly, and press, although they are recognized in the Constitution.

An example of a post-change constitution is the Russian case. The fundamental law was adopted by referendum on December 12, 1993, after the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993.11 It replaced the previous Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which came into force on April 12, 1978, in the middle of Brezhnevism. The same is true in Latin America. In the case of Chile, Brazil, or Argentina, just to cite three examples, the political transitions were made, to varying degrees, from the same constitutions that protected the military dictatorship; in the case of Chile, for example, the constitutional referendum process and mechanisms were developed by the dictatorship. In Brazil, the dictatorship was established in 1963, and had its own law from 1967 until 1988. However, democracy arrived in 1985 with the election of Tancredo Neves. Farther south, in Argentina, there was the Peronist constitution (1949–1994). During this period there were several de facto governments, including the repressive National Reorganization Process (1976–1983). Democracy arrived with the election of the radical Ricardo Alfonsín, who assumed the presidency in 1983. It is no less true that ideal conditions, such as the construction of a “tailor-made” constitution embodying the necessary changes. would make the process expeditious. But there are differences between reality and utopia. As Huntington theorizes, and only as an example, “If it were not for the changes in the Catholic church and the consequent actions of the church against authoritarianism,

What Would Be Missing to Make Possible the Transition to Democracy in Cuba?

But a deeper analysis of Cuba’s complementary laws and the articles themselves that recognize fundamental rights reveals the following. For example, the Cuban Constitution, Articles 54–57 contain other essential components for a democratic scenario. Let us first analyze Article 54. Article 54: The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees individuals freedom of thought, conscience, and expression. Conscientious objection may not be invoked for the purpose of evading compliance with the law or preventing another from complying with it or exercising his or her rights. It is quite clear that these rights are prohibited according to state and/or Communist Party decisions. Or consider Article 55: Article 55: Freedom of the press is recognized. This right is exercised in accordance with the law and the purposes of society. The fundamental means of social communication, in any of its manifestations and supports, are the socialist property of all the people or of the political, social, and mass organizations; and cannot be the object of any other type of property. The State establishes the principles of organization and operation for all the means of social communication. This is perhaps the most controversial because its significance is clear in the first sentence, yet there are lowerlevel laws and rules that restrict the freedom of information and press of Cuban citizens, such as these unlawful laws:

10 Áurea Matilde Fernández, España, Franquismo y Transición (Spain, Francoismm and Transition) (Havana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 2002), 130. 11 The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 refers to the events in Russia between September and October of that year. The crisis began when President Boris Yeltsin decreed the dissolution of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Soviet of Russia, bodies that were an obstacle to the realization of neoliberal reform. After the crisis, he ordered the endorsement of a new constitution, the Constitution of the Russian Federation. 12 Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), 87. 11

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

Law No.80/1996 “Reaffirmation of Cuban Dignity and Sovereignty”

Law No.88/1999 “Protection of the National Independence and Economy of Cuba”

Decree-Law 370 “On the Informatization of Society in Cuba”, dated Dec. 17, 2018; on contraventions associated with information and communication technologies

Decree-Law 389, dated October 8, 2019, amending the Criminal Code, the Law against Acts of Terrorism, and the Law of Criminal Procedure.

Let us review the following two articles: Article 56: The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association, for lawful and peaceful purposes, are recognized by the State provided that they are exercised with respect for public order and compliance with the precepts established by law. Article 57: Everyone has the right to profess or not religious beliefs, to change them and to practice the religion of his preference, with due respect for others and in accordance with the law. Similar to the article on freedom of expression, these two literally expose the rights granted to the parties and free associations such as of lawyers, intellectuals, engineers, workers, or other types that represent intellectual and peasant sectors of society, in Article 6 of Law No. 54 of December 27, 1985, “Law of Associations,” and in Articles 10, 12, 13, 16 and 17 of Resolution No. 53 of July 1986 of the Minister of Justice, “Regulations of the Law of Associations.” This means that 36 years ago, the Cuban state prohibited the guarantee of these rights endorsed in the Constitution and, due to political interests, has not allowed it. But the expeditious way to recognize them and be part of the democratic change for our impoverished country is real and affordable. We all know the constant refusals throughout all these years to guarantee these constitutional rights in parties and associations such as PDC, MONR, UNPACU, Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), Asociacion Juridica Cubana (Cuban Judicial Association), Cubalex, ICLEP, ASIC, HabanaPress, Estado de Sats,13 and GJAC, among others. Another limiting issue and premise for the defenders of

the impossible democratic change in Cuba with the current Constitution and the current dictatorial regime are its controversial Articles 4 and 5, due to their anti-doctrinal and unconstitutional wording (since no Magna Carta refers to any parties or social-economic system in its articles). Article 4 states, “The socialist system endorsed by this Constitution is irrevocable.” A cursory reading of Article 4 can provide another interpretation because, although the Cuban government has not defined conceptually what Cuban socialism is, the previous and current highest representative of the country and of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) did so when it publicly and officially expressed “that our Socialism is prosperous, sustainable and sustainable.” Therefore, theoretically, it is human to aspire to those dreams. In the same way, Article 5 which mentions the PCC, states, “The Communist Party of Cuba, unique, Martiano, Fidelista, Marxist and Leninist, organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, sustained by its democratic character and the permanent link with the people, is the superior leading political force of society and the State.” Literally, this statement does not exclude the existence of other parties; although its wording expresses that the Communist Party is the supreme party, it also contradicts the functioning of the administrative institutions of the state and the content of Article 7: The Constitution is the supreme legal norm of the State. Everyone is obliged to comply with it. The provisions and acts of the organs of the State, its directors, officials, and employees, as well as organizations, entities, and individuals are in accordance with what it provides.

Summary of Findings

This modest yet comprehensive analysis [one that includes the collective wisdom of several on-island lawyers and practitioners] explains that the content of the Cuban Constitution ,despite being a rigid text and adjusted to shield the permanence of the power of the dictatorship by the ideological and exclusionary imposition of the Communist Party, is not what defines or hinders the change to a democratic transition in our country. Therefore, in the Cuban case, any opportunity for interpretation of the Law must come from the officialdom; that is, from those who control political power and the enforcement of the laws. For the construction of a consensus that leads to a new interpretation of the law

13 Estado De Sats, led by one of Cuba’s leading civil society leaders, Antonio Rodiles, produced in 2019 a nine-part series about Cuba’s constitution and the constitutional process that was taking place on the island that year. The series, “Constitución o testamento castrista” (Constitution or Castro’s Will) is available at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXo4Ud3Hi22M6cFxH5rBHAvnoMn86YBo5 (last accessed January 20, 2022). 12

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

itself to become a reality, the will for democratic change cannot only be in the hands of civil society and its activists. And since it is human beings who control the legal, constitutive, legislative, and military power, they should be convinced of the opportunity to reformulate their perception of the law and so obtain the benefits of a democratic transition. The Constitution states that the approval of political and constitutional reforms must be granted by two-thirds of the Parliament. And knowing the biased behavior in the application of the law by the Communist Party of Cuba, which in practice interprets the Laws to suit its own convenience and interests, it could also act, when the time comes, to build a political consensus in favor of making the expected changes possible, presenting decree-laws, decrees, and other ministerial norms that facilitate such transition. It is the institutions of the state together with the private economy and civil society, who with political will and approval of simple legal norms, would agree to determine regulations that stimulate investments, finances, the liberation of productive forces, banking, and customs facilities, allowing Cuba to advance positively in a democratic transition. To that end, we propose to make these changes possible within the current Constitution: a.

Legalize new political parties, civic projects, union organizations, etc., with the current Law of Associations or the one projected to be approved

Repeal the rules that restrict freedom of expression

Repeal laws that muzzle freedom of the press and information

Issue rules that protect the right to property and the existence of other groups of power in economic activity; also, create a system of laws that protect the most vulnerable sectors of society

Facilitate consensus-building by using the referendum to evaluate the possibilities and potential for the incorporation and/or repeal of norms that will advance the process, for example: i. Pass decree-laws that modify the articles of the Electoral Law, where the candidacy commissions would also be modified. ii. Modify the functioning of the Parliament by dividing it into a legislative bloc and a constituent bloc. Furthermore, in this Parliament, there would be a representation of different political parties or other social groups.

iii.Modify the Law of the Courts to establish a Constitutional Court and a Judicial Court. iv. Amend the Constitution so that the active military would not be part of Parliament The proposed reforms and other changes could be pursued under Law 131/2019 “Law on the Organization and Functioning of the National Assembly,” such as the following: 1.

Referendum, Article 227 of the Constitution, and Article 244 of Law 131

Referendum, Article 228 of the Constitution, Article 218 of Law 131, and Articles 257–260 of Law 127/2019 “Electoral Law”; or

Plebiscite, Article 257 of the Electoral Law and article 233 of Law 131.

We would recommend, in the process of change and modernization of society, the participation of a group of lawyers and other professionals capable of advising the political actors ready to build a new scenario of democracy, peace, justice, and freedom.

E. Analysis Whether to press forward under the current system, as Grupo Juridico posits, or break from the current legal construct, as posited by Project Emily, the advocacy groups seem to agree that the current system has failed and that there needs to be political change to create the conditions necessary for constitutional change, reform, modification, or overhaul. Most importantly, they are eager for primacy of the rule of law in both word and deed and for fundamental individual rights to be protected and defended in both word and deed. What such a construct will look like and how they arrive at such a government and constitutional framework are ultimately political decisions for leaders yet unknown. Those interviewed and consulted for this monograph, many with whom GLA has worked on the island for years, concur that political change and the development of a constitution for a new democratic Cuba require, in the immediate term, a grassroots bottom-up approach to the education of the Cuban people of their rights and the defense of those rights by legal practitioners from the local to the provincial and, potentially, the national level. This, in turn, will lead to a greater protection for and exercise of fundamental rights therein and could have far-reaching impact.14 Similarly, for a future democratic government in Cuba to

14 One of several efforts undertaken in Cuba via GLA’s legal network was to provide fundamental rights education and defense at the grassroots and online. Due to attorney–client considerations and for security reasons, we must limit the details of these efforts. 13

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

ensure that constitutional requirements and legal protections are upheld and defended, the cadre or arsenal of lawyers and advocates for the individual client—not for the Communist state—must grow, be nurtured, and supported. This will reinforce efforts already undertaken by GLA and its network of lawyers. Even at the grassroots level, significant challenges exist. These changes will take place in an arena of competing interests and power players that have retarded Cuba’s political struggle from within and from without. The United States has a special supportive role to play in this regard. Our laws and regulations make our intentions and commitment clear. Our history of helping the Cuban people break free from foreign or domestic oppressors is one to be proud of. Nevertheless, shifts in U.S. policy causing unpredictability or concern about the American stance regarding Cuba’s democratic future—combined with, at best, tepid responses to significant and potentially seminal developments in Cuba—undermine trust and cause a re-evaluation of whether risks are worth taking in light of U.S. actions and their effect on the ruling government and system. This retards both immediate, tactical efforts and prolongs political change. It could have a deleterious effect on endeavors seeking a complete constitutional and systemic overhaul. Our response to the massive uprising of July 2021 is a case in point. We can and must do better. But the U.S. variable is but one of many. During the founding of the American Republic, had there been an international rules-based order, even in concept, and had entities such as the United Nations, Organization of American States, the International Court of Justice, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court, existed, as well as the libertyand sovereignty-eroding global enterprise of nonprofit organizations and nongovernmental organizations, America as we know it, with our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, may have never come to be. Many consulted for this monograph agree the international system has been a significant factor in Cuban civil society’s struggle to achieve consensus on how to change the system. The lawyers with whom GLA has worked the past few years and lawyers and nonlegal practitioners interviewed for this monograph have repeatedly expressed frustration with both the Communist Socialist legal system and the international system. As previously mentioned, most have little, if any, awareness or understanding of the rule of law or of past Cuban Constitutions. This is why conversations have invariably come back to the United States and our approach toward Cuba. The question that lawyers and non-lawyers in Cuba ask most often is why the United States has tolerated a police

state 90 miles from its shores and has allowed foreign powers to meddle in Cuban affairs to the detriment of American interests. U.S. policy makers have powerful tools of state and laws at their disposal to effect change in Cuba, but with the exception of the ad hoc use of economic sanctions and foreign assistance programs, as well as rudderless diplomacy (e.g., the 2015 reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana comes to mind), America has ceded the Cuban space to foreign powers such as China and Russia, and even to allies such as Spain and Canada, among others. According to lawyers in Cuba, this sends exactly the opposite message to potential change agents within and outside the Cuban government. Since the end of the Cold War, American policy makers have been making statements along these lines: “efforts to suppress dissent through intimidation, imprisonment, and exile have accelerated” and Cuba’s economy’s “evident inability to survive current trends, provide the United States and the international democratic community with an unprecedented opportunity to promote a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba” (1992; 22 U.S.C. § 6001). Detailing the usual, and accurate, parade of horrible acts committed by Cuba, in 1996 Congress declared that “the consistent policy of the United States towards Cuba since the beginning of the Castro regime, carried out by both Democratic and Republican administrations, has sought to keep faith with the people of Cuba, and has been effective in sanctioning the totalitarian Castro regime.” It emphasized that “the Cuban people deserve to be assisted in a decisive manner to end the tyranny that has oppressed them for 36 years, and the continued failure to do so constitutes ethically improper conduct by the international community” (22 U.S.C. § 6021). That was in 1992 and 1996. And ever since there have been scores of congressional hearings, international conferences, press releases and press conferences, litigation in U.S. and international courts and tribunals, and media interviews. On the island, more leaders and advocates of freedom and change in Cuba have been killed or unjustly imprisoned; former political prisoners have been forced into exile; conditions are becoming more and more dire. A new generation clamors for freedom but needs dissidents and civil society leaders such as independent lawyers to hang on a little longer. For this to happen and to build momentum for democratic change and for constitutional reform, the focus and support must be on the island, and less on the Diaspora or international forums. U.S. efforts and funding must verifiably advance the overarching objective of U.S. policy as affirmed in U.S. law: to precipitate a peaceful transition to democracy.

However, part of this strategy includes the “Know Your Rights” campaign that distills complex legal issues into actionable and readyto-use tools for Cubans on the ground in Cuba. See https://www.exigirjusticia.org/ (last accessed May 12, 2002). 14

Václav Havel Program for Human Rights & Diplomacy Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

July 2021 may still be Cuba’s 1989, but only if the free world, led by the United States, embraces “Acta Non Verba” as the policy battle cry. The lawyers in Cuba have stressed this to us repeatedly. In what was likely the first mass uprising in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, the post-July 11, 2021, legal landscape has become even more challenging. Independent lawyers in Cuba are struggling to keep up with their casework.

F. Recommendations and Next Steps The following recommendations are provided to stakeholders based on input from the aforementioned sources and contributors. We thank Florida International University for the opportunity to prepare this monograph and hope it can contribute to the ongoing discussion about the path to a democratic future for the Cuban nation in which Cuban lawyers can play a more active role now and when the dream is realized. 1.

Cuban lawyers on the island on opposing sides of the reform process should hold a debate: one session could be in the United States, perhaps sponsored by the Federalist Society, and one session could be held at the University of Havana Law School (so long as all lawyers who wish to participate in Cuba are allowed to do so and without repercussions). Ideally, the sessions would be transmitted via a variety of media to help ensure the Cuban people are able to hear or see the exchange. There should be a sustained effort with sustained funding, in which vetted, independent Cuban lawyers, working with U.S. legal practitioners with legislative experience, examine local, provincial, and national laws in Cuba that require amendment or modification. GLA’s network of lawyers have successfully used the current system’s laws against the system to defend their clients. Flaws and deficiencies in those laws—whether in the text or in execution/implementation—can be easily identified and serve as the foundation on which to build a future constitutional process.

An audit of all U.S. government civil society programs should be undertaken to ensure that they are doing what they are supposed to under U.S. law and to reorient U.S. programs to ensure there are strong rule of law components inside Cuba with groups and leaders active on the island and focused on transition issues.

A conference should be held to discuss transitional justice issues, using a format similar to that adopted in the debates in recommendation #1.

G. Exh A: Academic Papers on the Cuban Constitution and Legal Landscape since 1959 A wide range of legal and political science journals are cited in Exhibit A. This study published in 2017 in the International Journal of Legal Information 45.2 (pp. 76–188) was one of the most comprehensive and includes an extensive set of sources for further study and analysis. Page 16

H. Exh B: 1940 Cuban Constitution Page 130

I. Exh C: 1976 Cuban Constitution (with the 2002 Amendments) Page 223

J. Exh D: 2019 Cuban Constitution Page 266

K. Exh E: “Cuba and the Rule of Law,” International Commission of Jurists (1962) The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an NGO that has Consultative Status, Category “B,” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This study is essential reading for understanding the period between 1959 and 1976: it sets the stage for much of what has transpired in the weaponization of the Cuban legal system as a system of rule by law, rather than the rule of law. We find the ICJ’s 1962 observations and use of the word “melancholic” to be somewhat ironic, especially when seen in light of recent events: “The revolution was born under the sign of freedom and democracy and apparently inspired by the highest principles of constitutional government.… After the fall of the Batista dictatorship, the International Commission of Jurists had hoped for an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the revival of the Rule of Law in Cuba” (pp. vii and xi). Page 325

International Journal of Legal Information 45.2, 2017, pp. 76–188. © The Author(s) 2017 doi:10.1017/jli.2017.22

GUIDE TO CUBAN LAW AND LEGAL RESEARCH JULIENNE E. GRANT, MARISOL FLORÉN-ROMERO, SERGIO D. STONE, STEVEN ALEXANDRE DA COSTA, LYONETTE LOUIS-JACQUES, CATE KELLETT, JONATHAN PRATTER, TERESA M. MIGUEL-STEARNS, EDUARDO COLÓN-SEMIDEY, JOOTAEK LEE, IRENE KRAFT AND YASMIN MORAIS1

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Julienne E. Grant LEGAL SYSTEM AND GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE Steven Alexandre da Costa and Julienne E. Grant A. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW B. TRANSITION TO THE CURRENT LEGAL LANDSCAPE C. CURRENT LEGAL LANDSCAPE D. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW E. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY THE CONSTITUTION Lyonette Louis-Jacques A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

INTRODUCTION THE 1976 CONSTITUTION AND ITS AMENDMENTS FUTURE CONSTITUTIONAL TEXTS CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARIES CURRENT AWARENESS SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

EXECUTIVE POWERS Julienne E. Grant A. B. C. D. E. F.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS FIDEL CASTRO’S ROLE: POST-2007 RESEARCHING THE COUNCILS OF STATE AND MINISTERS IN SPANISH RESEARCHING THE COUNCILS OF STATE AND MINISTERS IN ENGLISH SOURCES FOR THE CASTROS’ SPEECHES, INTERVIEWS AND WRITINGS

LEGISLATION AND CODES Marisol Florén-Romero and Cate Kellett A. B. C. D. E. F.

OFFICIAL GAZETTE COMPILATIONS OF LAWS CODES ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS OF CUBAN LAWS ONLINE RESOURCES FOR CODES AND LEGISLATION SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LEGISLATION, CODES AND COMMENTARY

© 2017 Julienne E. Grant, Marisol Florén-Romero, Sergio D. Stone, Steven Alexandre da Costa, Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Cate Kellett, Jonathan Pratter, Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns, Eduardo Colón-Semidey, Jootaek Lee, Irene Kraft and Yasmin Morais.

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THE JUDICIARY Marisol Florén-Romero A. B. C. D. E.

INTRODUCTION THE JUDICIARY PROCEDURES THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW Jonathan Pratter A. THE NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK B. CUBA IN THE FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW C. U.S. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CUBA D. FUTURE E. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY CUBA IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns A. B. C. D. E. F.

INTRODUCTION BRIEF HISTORY TREATIES HUMAN RIGHTS INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS RESOURCES

THE LEGAL PROFESSION Eduardo Colón-Semidey and Julienne E. Grant A. B. C. D. E.

INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND LEGAL EDUCATION BUFETES COLECTIVOS (COLLECTIVE LAW FIRMS) ORGANIZACIÓN NACIONAL DE BUFETES COLECTIVOS (ONBC) (NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTIVE LAW FIRMS) F. UNIÓN NACIONAL DE JURISTAS DE CUBA (UNJC) (NATIONAL UNION OF CUBAN JURISTS) G. ABOGADOS INDEPENDIENTES (INDEPENDENT LAWYERS) H. JUECES (JUDGES) AND FISCALES (PUBLIC PROSECUTORS) I. NOTARIOS (CIVIL LAW NOTARIES) J. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY SECONDARY SOURCES Sergio D. Stone

A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H.

REFERENCE SOURCES PRE-1959 TREATISES POST-1959 TREATISES PRE-1959 JOURNALS POST-1959 JOURNALS RESEARCHING U.S. SANCTIONS AND THE ECONOMIC BOYCOTT OF CUBA CUBAN LAW COURSES AND INITIATIVES AT U.S. LAW SCHOOLS SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

LEGAL INFORMATION

[Vol. 45.2

ONLINE RESOURCES Jootaek Lee A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND STATISTICS RESEARCH GUIDES LEGISLATION NEWS AND CURRENT AWARENESS SOURCES INDEXES OTHER SUBSCRIPTION-BASED LEGAL DATABASES OTHER FREE WEBSITES AND REPOSITORIES HUMAN RIGHTS

NON-LEGAL SOURCES Irene Kraft A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS ACADEMIC INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS BLOGS CUBAN STATE AGENCIES MAGAZINES NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER ONLINE MEDIA

CUBAN LEGAL MATERIALS IN U.S. AND CANADIAN LIBRARIES Yasmin Morais A. U.S. LIBRARIES B. CANADIAN LIBRARIES C. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION JULIENNE E. GRANT

Havana — “Paris of the Americas”– offers, throughout the year, its continental diversions, nightclubs, casinos, race tracks, a cultural life, fashionable beaches — all in the peculiar atmosphere of a colonial city and a modern metropolis. Beyond…the enchanted island: gorgeous Varadero, spas, all sorts of open-air sports, many interesting cities, etc. Easy, regular means of transportation by air, train and bus through incomparable landscapes. “Cuba: The Tropical Holiday Isle,” brochure published by the Cuban Tourist Commission — Government Department, Havana, Cuba, circa 1949. On June 5, 1949, my maternal grandparents and their three daughters boarded an Aerovías Q flight in Key West, Florida, bound for Havana, Cuba. The flight cost $10.00 U.S. per person and lasted 30 minutes. Like many other Americans at that time, my grandparents were drawn to Cuba for its intriguing history, beautiful beaches, tropical weather and Havana’s dazzling nightlife. Indeed, my mother, who was then 13 years old, vividly recalls a visit to a glamorous Havana nightclub with her 16-year-old sister and my very liberal grandfather. 19

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My grandfather’s interest in Cuba continued after that memorable journey; in early February 1953, he purchased 200 shares of stock in the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Company2 for a sum of about $2,300.00 U.S. My grandfather was just one of countless U.S. citizens and corporations that invested in Cuba in the mid-20th century, intending to earn sizeable profits.3 Little did my relatives and other Americans realize what was brewing then in Cuba, and how they were contributing in their own way to the seeds of revolution. Some of those seeds were being planted in the late 1940s at the Universidad de La Habana where a law student, Fidel Castro Ruz, was becoming increasingly obsessed with radical politics.4 Newly introduced to various political and economic ideologies, Castro began to immerse himself in efforts that he believed would crush the political elite and lead to an egalitarian society—locally and regionally.5 Castro primarily blamed the United States for his own country’s social and economic woes, as well as for those of Latin America in general.6 After graduating from law school, Castro continued his revolutionary leanings and dedicated himself to forcing out the corrupt Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar, who had come to power in 1952 through a coup d’état. On July 26, 1953, just five months after my grandfather purchased his stock, Fidel (with his younger brother, Raúl, in tow) unsuccessfully led an attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba. On trial for his role in the attack, Fidel eloquently defended himself and made his agenda clear; he wanted radical change in Cuba. In his now famous speech in court (“History Will Absolve Me”), Castro denounced the Batista regime as illegitimate and proclaimed his intent at Moncada had been to spark a populist movement: Why were we sure of the people’s support? When we speak of the people we are not talking about those who live in comfort, the conservative elements of the nation, who welcome any oppressive regime, any dictatorship, any despotism, prostrating themselves before the masters of the moment until they grind their foreheads into the ground. When we speak of struggle and we mention the people we mean the vast unredeemed masses, those to whom everyone makes promises and who are deceived by all; we mean the people who yearn for a better, more dignified and more just nation;…7 Although the Castro brothers and the other surviving Moncada rebels were sentenced to prison for the attack, Batista, under pressure, granted them clemency in May 1955. Fidel and Raúl, though, did not abandon their goal of overthrowing the Batista government, which the United States heavily supported.8 They went into exile in Mexico, secured financial backing and arms, and then led a small group to Cuba in December 1956 on a refurbished boat called Granma. On board were about 80 men, including the Argentine physician and revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara. That effort failed, however, resulting in the deaths of most of the rebels in the hands of Batista forces. The few survivors, including the Castro brothers and Guevara, made their way to the Sierra Maestra mountains in southeastern Cuba. 2

The Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. was formed in 1935 by a group of U.S. banks that had purchased the assets of the bankrupt Cuba Cane Products Co. (formerly Cuba Cane Sugar Corp.). Hershey’s sold its holdings in Cuba to Cuban Atlantic in 1946. The now defunct Wall Street brokerage firm Loeb, Rhoades & Co. acquired a controlling stake in 1956, but sold out before Fidel Castro took power in January 1959. For an in-depth overview of the pre-revolutionary Cuban sugar industry, see Mary Elizabeth Speck, Let There be Candy for Everyone: the Politics of Sugar in Cuba, 1902–1952 (Dec. 2008) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University). 3 See Eric N. Baklanoff, A Bountiful Legacy: U.S. Investment and Economic Diversification in Cuba During the 1950s, ASS’N FOR THE STUDY OF THE CUBAN ECON. (ASCE), 19 CUBA IN TRANSITION: PAPERS AND PROC. OF THE NINETEENETH ANN. MEETING, July 30–Aug. 1, 2009, at 330–331, http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v19-baklanoff.pdf. 4 Anthony DePalma, Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied U.S., Dies at 90, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 26, 2016, http:// www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/world/americas/fidel-castro-dies.html. 5 Along with his involvement in university politics in the late 1940s, Fidel Castro participated in an abortive attempt to overthrow the Dominican Republic’s Rafael Trujillo (the Cayo Confites Expedition, 1947) and in anti-government riots in Bogotá, Colombia (the ‘Bogotazo,’ 1948). For more on Fidel’s university years, see FIDEL CASTRO & IGNACIO RAMONET, FIDEL CASTRO: MY LIFE: A SPOKEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY 83–103 (Andrew Hurley trans., Scribner 2007). 6 Tim Padgett, Fidel Castro, 1926–2016, TIME, Dec. 12, 2016, at 42; see also Id. at 123. 7 FIDEL CASTRO, HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME 23 (The Ctr. for Cuban Stud. Bilingual Ed., n.d.). 8 See Herbert L. Matthews, Old Order in Cuba is Threatened By Forces of an Internal Revolt, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 26, 1957, at 13.

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From there, Fidel expanded his “26th of July Movement” (named after the failed 1953 Moncada attack), attracting local resistance fighters. He directed two years of guerilla warfare against the Batista regime while crafting his own global image of a revolutionary.9 Castro also made it clear that, along with Batista, he viewed the United States as the Cuban people’s enemy. In a 1958 letter, Castro asserted, “When this war ends, a much longer and greater war will begin for me: the war I’m going to wage against them [the Americans]. I realize that is going to be my true destiny.”10 Castro and his rebels forced Batista to flee Cuba on January 1, 1959. The overthrow of Batista launched a complex and controversial experiment with socialism, first orchestrated by Fidel Castro, and now by Raúl. Although not openly embracing Marxist-Leninist ideology initially, Fidel began to align Cuba with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. Castro also quickly started to wage his earlier-declared war against the United States, utilizing the Soviet Union as a “protective umbrella” of sorts to realize his ambitions.11 In response to the United States’ reduction of Cuba’s sugar quota on July 6, 1960,12 the Cuban government passed Ley No. 851 (Law No. 851),13 which sanctioned the expropriation of all U.S.-owned businesses in Cuba. U.S.-Cuba relations further deteriorated with the formal break of diplomatic relations (Jan. 1961), the Bay of Pigs debacle (April 1961), the imposition of a complete U.S. trade embargo (Feb. 1962) and the Cuban missile crisis (Oct. 1962). Some 50 years after the Cold War conflict between the United States and Cuba, President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro struck a deal in December 2014 to begin the process of normalizing relations between the two countries.14 The re-establishment of diplomatic relations was announced on July 1, 2015, and President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to set foot on Cuban soil since 1928 when he visited Havana in March 2016. Cuba, an island that had been so enigmatic and even demonized, suddenly found itself in the international spotlight with much of the world clamoring to learn more about it, including its legal regime. Law has indeed played an important role in revolutionary Cuba. Fidel Castro, a lawyer himself, was adept at using the legal system to rationalize and institutionalize the Revolution’s principles.15 At the core of the law’s role in this effort has been the concept of socialist legality.16 Pursuant to this concept, as author Debra Evenson explained in 2003, law performs a dynamic and positive function in creating socialism; law is effectively a transformative tool for contouring socialist behavior.17 Although law has indeed been utilized to create positive benefits in Cuba, such as universal health care and education, it has also notably been used to strip Cuban citizens of many basic human rights, such as free speech and a truly representative government.18 9

See, e.g., Herbert L. Matthews, Cuban Rebel is Visited in Hideout, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 24, 1957, at 1. Fidel Castro, Letter to Celia Sánchez, June 5, 1958. Letter from Fidel to Celia (1958) (Fragment), FIDEL: SOLDADO DE LAS IDEAS (English-language content), http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/correspondencia/letter-fidel-celia-1958-fragment. For more on this letter, see Juan Antonio Borrego Díaz, La carta “testamento” de Fidel Castro, GRANMA, Nov. 26, 2016, http://www. granma.cu/cuba/2016-11-26/la-carta-testamento-de-fidel-castro-26-11-2016-15-11-47. 11 Jaime Suchlicki, Forward to Fidel Castro on the United States, Selected Statements, 1958–2003 (Hans de Salas-del Valle ed., Inst. for Cuban & Cuban-Am. Studies, Occasional Paper Ser. Feb. 2003), http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/ iccaspapers/17. 12 Robert Young, Ike Slashes Cuban Sugar Quota, Signs Bills and Cuts Off 700,000 Tons; Raps Castro Acts, Cites Increasing Commitments to Russia, CHI. DAILY TRIB., July 7, 1960, at 1. 13 Ley No. 851, Ley de Nacionalización [LN] [Law No. 851, Law of Nationalization], July 6, 1960, Gaceta Oficial [GO], July 7, 1960. English translation at 55 AM. J. INT’L L. 822 (1960). The law vaguely referenced compensation for takings, which has never occurred. Ley No. 890 [Law No. 890], Oct. 13, 1960, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. Anual 24, Oct. 15, 1960, subsequently mandated the confiscation and nationalization of all Cuban-owned businesses. See also Jose A. Ortiz, The Illegal Expropriation of Property in Cuba: A Historical and Legal Analysis of the Takings and a Survey of Restitution Schemes for a Post-Socialist Cuba, 22 LOY. L.A. INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 321 (2000); Matías F. Travieso-Díaz, Resolving U.S. Expropriation Claims Against Cuba: A Very Modest Proposal, 22 LAW & BUS. REV. AM. 3 (Winter 2016). 14 See Peter Baker, U.S. to Restore Full Relations with Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 17, 2014, at A1, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html. 15 See, e.g., Paul Bernstein, Cuba: Last Look at an Alternative Legal System?, 7 TEMP. INT’L & COMP. L. J. 191 (1993). 16 DEBRA EVENSON, LAW AND SOCIETY IN CONTEMPORARY CUBA 10 (Kluwer Law International 2003) (1994). 17 Id. 18 See, e.g., U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, CUBA 2015 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/253217.pdf; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, WORLD REPORT 2017: CUBA, https://www. hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/cuba. 10

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Despite the important role of law in Cuba, however, information about its multiple layers and components has been notably scarce, particularly for researchers who have little or no knowledge of Spanish. Recognizing the need for a current guide in English on researching Cuban law, 12 members of the Latin American Law Interest Group of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) set about compiling this Guide in the fall of 2015.19 Such a major project on Cuban law and legal bibliography in English had not been pursued since 1944, when Dr. Crawford M. Bishop and Anyda Marchant of the Law Library of Congress published a guide to the law and legal literature of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.20 As we started the project, though, none of us could have anticipated the challenges we eventually faced. To begin with, we discovered that access to Cuba-based websites is generally unpredictable; there are periodic outages, slow connections and sometimes broken links. The digital editions of Cuba’s Gaceta Oficial (Official Gazette), for example, were not accessible when we started the project, but they suddenly became available in the spring of 2016, albeit in a cumbersome file format. We also discovered that Cuba’s government is generally not well represented on the Web; neither the Consejo de Estado (Council of State) nor the Consejo de Ministros (Council of Ministers) has its own website, and some government entities have no Web presence at all. To add to the frustration, the government websites that do exist are notoriously inconsistent with information (lists of government officials, for instance), and currency indications are uncommon. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the project, however, was trying to make sense of Cuba’s hodgepodge of legal instruments and identifying the most current versions of legislation. The 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) is the country’s highest legal norm, but things get murky from there in terms of legal hierarchy.21 Adding to the difficulty is the absence of an official source for accessing the most current consolidated versions of Cuban statutory codes and regulations. Further complicating things is the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) (Communist Party of Cuba), which operates as a parallel authority of sorts.22 In the United States, we are accustomed to a clear separation of powers between government branches, which doesn’t exist in Cuba; the line between the legislative and executive powers in particular is blurred, as is the line between Cuba’s government and the PCC. The Guide is accordingly the fruit of a laborious journey—gathering, compiling and analyzing information from multiple primary and secondary sources. Divided into 12 topics, ranging from the legal system to the legal profession, the scope of the Guide is broad. However, this broad treatment is necessary for a jurisdiction like Cuba where government transparency is lacking, and there is no systematic codification of laws. It is often secondary sources, both in the field of law and outside of it, that can prove to be crucial in the research process. And even though the Guide’s emphasis is on English-language material, many of the authors were compelled to discuss Spanish-language sources because there were no equivalents available in English. As we worked on the project, we were also keenly aware of the outside factors affecting the Guide’s content. Not only were there website access and currency issues, but the political landscape in Cuba was extremely fluid, as were U.S.-Cuba relations. During the final phase of compiling the Guide, for instance, Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th U.S. President and Fidel Castro died. In addition, 86-year-old Raúl Castro has proclaimed that his tenure as Cuba’s chief executive will definitively end in 2018.23 With so many variables affecting our targeted topics, the Guide must be viewed as a snapshot of Cuban law and research tools as they exist at the time of this writing. We publish the Guide now with the hope that it serves as a catalyst for further research on the Cuban legal system, and for collaborative efforts involving Cuban librarians and their colleagues overseas. Before closing, I want to thank all of the authors, along with my co-editors, Dr. Marisol Florén-Romero (Florida International University) and Sergio D. Stone (Stanford University). Marisol, Sergio and I worked tirelessly on this project, reviewing and editing the various drafts, and extensively researching each section’s topic ourselves. 19

The Latin American Law Interest Group functions under the auspices of AALL’s Foreign, Comparative & International Law Special Interest Section (FCIL-SIS). See http://www.aallnet.org/sections/fcil/cmtesgroups/Latin-American-Law (last visited July 24, 2017). 20 CRAWFORD M. BISHOP & ANYDA MARCHANT, A GUIDE TO THE LAW AND LEGAL LITERATURE OF CUBA, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HAITI (1944), http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015079734367. 21 See infra pp. 32–33, for a discussion of the hierarchy of Cuban legal instruments. 22 See Wilfredo Vallín & Ted A. Henken, Politics and Government, in CUBA 85, 108 (Ted A. Henken et al. eds., 2013). 23 Damien Cave, Raúl Castro Says His New 5-Year Term as Cuba’s President Will Be His Last, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 24, 2013, at A5, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/world/americas/raul-castro-to-step-down-as-cubas-president-in-2018.html.

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Marisol and Sergio, both native Spanish speakers, were also invaluable in providing accurate translations of some of the highly technical Spanish-language text we often encountered. It took collective knowledge, experience, a huge time commitment and three pairs of eyes to successfully pull this whole project together. I also want to thank Roberto M. Rojas, a Cuban attorney who serendipitously (perhaps miraculously) appeared at my office door as we were finishing the Guide in January 2017. Roberto is an LL.M. student at Loyola University Chicago and was never too busy to answer the many questions I posed—in person and via e-mail. I also want to thank my mother, Ann L. Grant, for sharing memories of her family’s 1949 visit to Cuba, and for locating the record of my grandfather’s 1953 stock purchase. I was fortunate to have recently had the opportunity to take her back to Cuba so that she could see this fascinating country as it again sits on the brink of tremendous change.

LEGAL SYSTEM AND GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE STEVEN ALEXANDRE

COSTA AND JULIENNE E. GRANT

January 1, 1959. This date continues to define the modern Cuban nation and its people; for it was on this date that Fidel Castro’s “26th of July Movement” succeeded in ousting the U.S.-backed authoritarian government of Fulgencio Batista. This defining moment in Cuban history is nonetheless gradually receding into the past and its effect on the country’s legal and government institutions is arguably diminishing as well. Cuba’s legal system24 and government framework, as they exist today, are as complex as the country itself. Like other national legal and political systems, Cuba’s reflect its historical development and political domination by outside forces. Residual elements of the country’s colonial history with Spain, for example, are still highly evident in its legal system, which adheres to the tenets of the civil law tradition.25 Also prominent, however, are the influences of the former Soviet Union and the other socialist bloc countries vis à vis the concept of socialist legality. The failure of the Soviet and Eastern European socialist models, though, has left Cuba in a unique situation as it confronts a world markedly different from the decades when the Fidel Castro regime fervently applied principles of socialist law.26 The purpose of this section is two-fold. First, is to provide an overview of Cuba’s legal system as it exists today, placing it in historical context to gain a clearer understanding of its roots. The second objective is to present a brief synopsis of the structure of the Cuban government, which is loosely separated into three functional powers (executive, legislative and judicial). All of these powers are addressed more fully in later sections of this Guide. Part D below on the country’s government structure also includes a description of the omnipotent and omnipresent Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) (Communist Party of Cuba). In essence, the PCC determines the overall direction of society, and the State provides the mechanism for implementing it.27

For purposes of this section, “…a legal system comprises a relatively effective mixture of rules and institutions that govern relations among individuals and groups in a society—typically the population of a nation-state or some other substantially autonomous polity entity—and that also regulate the role and powers of the government of that entity.” There are perhaps as many as 400 individual legal systems in the world. JOHN W. HEAD, GREAT LEGAL TRADITIONS 6 (2011). 25 Civil law is generally regarded as one of the main legal traditions extant in the world today. It has its roots in the Roman Republic and, in simple terms, rejects the notion of judge-made law, focusing instead on codified statutory law. See generally JOHN HENRY MERRYMAN & ROGELIO PÉREZ-PERDOMO, THE CIVIL LAW TRADITION: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL SYSTEMS OF EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA (3d ed. 2007). 26 “…socialist law seeks to liquidate all capitalist and feudal forms of property ownership, to consolidate socialist economic relations, to lift relations within the family from their present level of capitalist or feudal decadence and to realign political power within the society. More than anything else, socialist law is seen as an instrument of social engineering.” MARY ANN GLENDON ET AL., COMPARATIVE LEGAL TRADITIONS: TEXT, MATERIALS AND CASES 682 (1985). 27 Harold J. Berman, Comment, Impressions of Cuban Law, 29 AM. J. COMP. L. 475, 481 (Summer 1980); CONSTITUCIÓN DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA [CONST.], Feb. 24, 1976 (as amended to June 26, 2002), art. 5; see also MARY ANN GLENDON ET AL., COMPARATIVE LEGAL TRADITIONS IN A NUTSHELL 286 (1982). “The Communist Party’s influence over the administration of law

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A. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 1. Pre-Revolutionary Period Although the vast majority of Spain’s colonies in Latin America achieved independence in the early nineteenth century, Cuba remained Spanish until 1898. Consequently, Cuba profited from the “codification movement and the flowering of Spanish scholarship that accompanied it.”28 Indeed, after Cuba lost its bid for independence in the Ten Years’ War (1868–1878), Spain enacted a set of domestic legal codes that were thereafter directly applied in Cuba.29 With the implementation of the 1889 Código Civil Español (Spanish Civil Code), the final in the series, “the laws of Cuba became practically the same as those of the mother country.”30 In 1899, the United States established a transitional military government in Cuba following the SpanishAmerican War, with the island heavily ensconced in the civil law tradition inherited from its former colonizer. An observer, in a 1903 edition of The American Lawyer, noted the profound Spanish influence on Cuba’s legal system and asserted: Of the laws of Cuba, it is probably enough to say that, upon our [the United States’] assumption of the control of the island, we found established there a system of laws and legal procedure which was as well adapted to the needs and conditions of the island as the common law of England is to that country, excepting its need of such changes as were to separate it from the governmental institution of Spain.31 The U.S. Military Government, however, did not assume a completely laissez-faire attitude towards Cuba’s legal regime. A Cuban scholar, writing in retrospect, suggested that the U.S. Military Government overall “left the Spanish legal framework unchanged, but that it added advantages, such as habeas corpus, civil liberties, due process, and efficient administration of justice.” 32 During the U.S. occupation, a new Cuban Constitution was approved in 1901, which was directly inspired by the U.S. model and largely drafted by U.S. attorneys.33 According to Debra Evenson, “…the presidential system of government and the principle of the separation of powers, patterned after that of the United States, were incorporated in the first Constitution of the republic in 1901.”34 She also added that U.S. jurisprudence influenced certain elements of Cuban criminal procedure.35 Independent from Spain, Cuba adopted, amended and suspended a series of constitutions prior to the 1959 Revolution.36 Each of these documents allowed for representative governments and the liberal protection of individual rights, but none successfully provided the framework for a stable, democratic state.37 As Cuba headed towards revolution, its legal system exhibited some influences of U.S. law, but was still firmly rooted in Spanish law, with European civil law attributes.38 Dr. Guillermo de Montagú, a Justice of the Tribunal Supremo de Cuba (Supreme Court of Cuba), explained in 1949:

in a socialist state is as dominant and pervasive as it is over law-making. That role may be reduced to the three basic functions of the party as political guardian, moral tutor, and keeper of the socialist legal conscience.” 28 MARCI HOFFMAN ED., “CUBA: INTRODUCTION,” Foreign Law Guide, BrillOnline Reference Works, 2017 (country section updated March 1, 2013). 29 The Codes were applied in the following order: Penal (1879); Mortgage (1880); Monarchial Constitution (1881); Civil Procedure (1885); Commercial (1886); Criminal Procedure (1888); and Civil (1889). Note, Cuba’s Legal System, 11 AM. LAW. 205, 205 (May 1903). 30 Id. 31 Id. 32 James H. Hitchman, The Platt Amendment Revisited: A Bibliographical Survey, 23 THE AMERICAS 343, 355 (April 1967) (citing RAMÓN INFIESTA, HISTORIA CONSTITUCIONAL DE CUBA (1942)). 33 Albert P. Blaustein, The Influence of the United States Constitution Abroad, 12 OKLA. C. U. L. REV. 435, 464 (Fall 1987); The 1901 Constitution also contained the Platt Amendment, which granted the United States an oversight role in Cuban affairs. 34 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 3. 35 Id. 36 Id. For more on Cuban constitutional history, see the Guide’s next section on “The Constitution.” 37 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 3. 38 Id; See also CUBA: A LEGAL GUIDE TO BUSINESS 4 (José R. Cot & Rolando Anillo eds., 2016); For an overview of Cuban legal history, see generally HOFFMAN ED., “CUBA,” supra note 28.

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The machinery for the administration of justice in Cuba was inherited originally from Spain. Some additions were acquired during military interventions by the United States, and further modifications have resulted from political liberty, from movements of spontaneous public opinion, and from adoption of new universal concepts.39 This was the Cuban legal system that Fidel Castro and his “26th of July Movement” inherited upon taking power in January 1959. 2. Revolutionary Period Cuba’s newly installed revolutionary government acted quickly and methodically to solidify its goals through the enactment of a series of decrees and laws. The Ley Fundamental (Fundamental Law) of 195940 was based on the 1940 Constitution and provided the legal and political framework for the creation of a revolutionary society; it was modified 19 times between May 7, 1959, and December 31, 1962.41 Concurrently, during the 1959 to 1963 period, over 100 new laws were passed,42 including those related to expropriation, nationalization, and agrarian and urban reform.43 These laws were applied as a means of achieving a socialist state; that is, an egalitarian society of communal ownership where the economic levers are controlled by the State.44 Writing in 1980, Professor Max Azicri asserted: …during this process of social engineering the law constituted a creative tool in the hands of the revolutionary government, which needed effective mechanisms of social control, capable of achieving its developmental goals. Consequently, revolutionary laws were the initiators of profound societal transformation.45 In the early years of the Revolution, the Castro regime established mass organizations to promote communal involvement,46 and it also used its authority to create new types of courts—the Tribunales Populares (People’s Courts) and the Tribunales Revolucionarios (Revolutionary Courts). As Professor Luis Salas explained, two court systems emerged during this time period; one for ordinary civil and criminal cases, and another for politically sensitive cases.47 The People’s Courts reflected Soviet influence and were instituted as a kind of populist form of justice with lay citizens serving as judges.48 The Revolutionary Courts were established to try accused Batista collaborators. Functioning alongside both the newly created laws and courts, however, were holdovers from the Spanish colonial era. Specifically, the 1885 Código de Comercio Español (Spanish Commercial Code) and the 1889 Civil Code were still in force, forming the backbone of Cuban private law.49 Operating alongside the new courts was the old system of Spanish audiencias (audiences) and juzgados correccionales (correctional courts) that were organized hierarchically under the Cuban Supreme Court.50 The revolutionary government soon recognized that the 39

Guillermo de Montagú, Judicial Organization in Cuba, 32 J. AM. JUD. SOC. 166, 167 (April 1949). Ley Fundamental de la República [LF] [Fundamental Law of the Republic], Feb. 7, 1959, http://biblio.juridicas.unam. mx/libros/6/2525/38.pdf. English translation available in the World Constitutions Illustrated (WCI) database (William S. Hein & Co., Inc.). 41 Max Azicri, Change and Institutionalization in the Revolutionary Process: The Cuban Legal System in the 1970s, 6 REV. SOCIALIST L. 164, 167 (1980). 42 Id. 43 Id. at 167–168. For an overview of these revolutionary laws, see Rolando Anillo, Introduction to the Cuban Legal System, in CUBA: A LEGAL GUIDE TO BUSINESS, supra note 38, at 6–10. 44 For a Cuban explanation of socialism, see Socialismo, ECURED, https://www.ecured.cu/Socialismo (last visited July 24, 2017). See also CHRISTINE SYPNOWICH, THE CONCEPT OF SOCIALIST LAW (1990). 45 Azicri, supra note 41, at 165. 46 Examples are the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC) (Federation of Cuban Women), the Comités de Defensa de la Revolución (CDR) (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution) and the Asociación Nacional de Agricultores Pequeños (ANAP) (National Association of Small Farmers). 47 Luis Salas, The Emergence and Decline of the Cuban Popular Tribunals, 17 L. & SOC’Y REV. 587, 597 (1983). 48 Id. at 588. 49 Michael Bogdan, Thirty Years of Cuban Revolutionary Law, 15 REV. SOCIALIST L. 319, 320 (1989). 50 MARJORIE S. ZATZ, PRODUCING LEGALITY: LAW AND SOCIALISM IN CUBA 72 (1994). 40

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destruction of the old social order was occurring in a legal environment that was inadequate; more specifically, the country’s legal system was a confusing blend of old and new laws—“a variegated legal mosaic.”51 3. Institutionalization and the 1976 Constitution The decade of the 1970s was accordingly dedicated to the institutionalization of the Cuban Revolution under the rubric of Marxist-Leninst ideology, with Soviet and Eastern European legal regimes serving as models.52 The primary goals for institutionalization were: 1) the establishment of a national political organization to serve as a framework for the institutionalization of the State; 2) the reorganization of the judicial system to operate within the philosophical and cultural parameters of a socialist polity; 3) the establishment of political and legal institutions that would structurally match; and 4) the fostering of a national consensus to support a new socialist constitution and judicial system.53 The utopian goal of the Revolution, however, remained (and still remains) the realization of a communist state.54 Under the direction of the Comisión de Estudios Jurídicos (Commission for Juridical Studies),55 which was formed by the PCC, the judicial system was reorganized in 1973 (and again in 1977). A new criminal procedure code was also adopted in 1973 (superseded in 1977), as well as a family code in 1975.56 The hallmark achievement of this period, however, was the drafting and adoption of the 1976 Constitution. The Constitution is explored more fully in the next section of this Guide, but essentially it designates the PCC as the driving force in society and the State, and it recognizes the concept of socialist legality as the nation’s legal and political foundation. Socialist legality is a derivative of early Soviet legal doctrine and Marxist theory, and it assigns the legal system the role of political instrument.57 Pursuant to socialist legality, law is a dynamic force in the socialist evolution towards communism, and it is the method by which the State governs. Professor Azicri summarized the 1976 Constitution as follows: The 1976 Constitution is the foremost example of legal development in this period. It embraces, in its normative framework, the totality of Cuban society, providing a final identity to the political system in general and the judiciary in particular. Based on the principles of Marxisim-Leninism (ideology and value system), the dictatorship of the proletariat (rationale for the allocation of political power), and democratic centralism (operational foundation for decision-making processes), Cuba’s socialist Constitution seems to encompass the main political and social objectives intended during the institutionalization drive of the 1970s.58 Institutionalization measures continued into the 1980s as the colonial era Spanish Civil Code from 1889 was finally replaced in 1987.59 Professor Michael Bogdan observed that the Código Civil de Cuba (Cuban Civil Code), although displaying civil law roots, “is to be interpreted and applied in accordance with the political, social and economic fundaments of the Cuban state, as expressed in the Constitution.”60 He also noted that Cuban rules on contracts, torts and inheritance cannot be the same as in market-oriented societies, and further, that the Cuban Civil Code reflects types of communal ownership not found in capitalist countries.61 Likewise, a new 1987 Código Penal (Criminal Code),62 which replaced an earlier 1979 version, reflects the powerful role of socialism in the Cuban legal regime. One of that Code’s objectives is “to contribute to citizens’ 51

Max Azicri, Review, A Cuban Perspective on Socialist Legality, 6 REV. SOCIALIST L. 203, 203 (1980). See EVENSON, supra note 16, at 9. Concurrently noting, however, that these models were not simply copied. 53 Azicri, supra note 41, at 172. 54 MARINA GOLD, PEOPLE AND STATE IN SOCIALIST CUBA: IDEAS AND PRACTICES OF REVOLUTION 6 (2015); CONST. Preamble, art. 5; For a Cuban explanation of communism, see Comunismo, ECURED, https://www.ecured.cu/Comunismo (last visited July 24, 2017). 55 See ZATZ, supra note 50, at 54. 56 The history of the Cuban Codes is addressed in detail in the “Legislation and Codes” section of this Guide. 57 See generally Frank Negron, An Overview of Socialist Legality: From the Russkaia Pravda to Glasnost and Perestroika, 1 ST. THOMAS L.F. 89 (1988). 58 Azicri, supra note 41, at 179. 59 Ley No. 59, CÓDIGO CIVIL [CÓD. CIVIL] [Law No. 59, CIVIL CODE], July 16, 1987, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 9, Oct. 15, 1987, https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigo%20civil%20lib1.html. 60 Bogdan, supra note 49, at 328 (citing CÓD. CIVIL art. 2). 61 Id. at 328. 62 Ley No. 62, CÓDIGO PENAL [CÓD. PEN. 1987] [Law No. 62, CRIMINAL CODE], Dec. 29, 1987, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 3, Dec. 30, 1987. 52

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formation of the conscious respect for socialist legality, and the realization of the requirements and correct observance of its coexistence with socialist norms.”63 Also noteworthy in the 1987 Criminal Code is the so-called “ley de peligrosidad” (law of dangerousness), a punitive measure for purported criminal tendencies, as demonstrated by conduct deemed contradictory to socialist morals.64 Through the use of civil law instruments, Cuba has thus effectively codified its allegiance to the application of socialist legality. B. TRANSITION TO THE CURRENT LEGAL LANDSCAPE At the dawn of the Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s legal system was based almost entirely on its Spanish heritage, which was rooted in the European civil law tradition. Fidel Castro and his “26th of July Movement” quickly uprooted that system, however, utilizing the law as a means to sweep out bourgeois elements and propel Cuba to a socialist state. Much was accomplished to that end in a relatively short period of time as the regime pushed its social experiment forward, making adjustments, alterations and even complete reversals away from unproven policies.65 Indeed, as early as 1980, Professor Azicri dramatically proclaimed, “Historically, the Cuban case represents the first and only experience in the Western Hemisphere whereby a civil law jurisdiction has been transformed into a socialist one.”66 Other academics during that same decade described the heavy influence of socialist legal doctrine on revolutionary Cuba’s young legal system, although not acknowledging a complete transition to socialist law. Marjorie S. Zatz studied foreign influences on Cuban law in the late 1980s, concluding that the two major influences were the Spanish-speaking and socialist worlds.67 Similarly, Professor Bogdan, writing in 1989, asserted that the Cuban legal system had dual roots: the Spanish tradition harkening back to French and Roman law, as well as Soviet legal concepts and ideas.68 These writings were published with a backdrop of a somewhat intense intellectual debate over the actual existence of socialist law as a separate legal tradition or family.69 The demise of the Soviet bloc in 1989, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, placed tremendous pressure on Cuba as it lost its primary trading partners, as well as its economic, political and juridical models. Affirming this loss, and as part of a set of constitutional amendments implemented in 1992, Cuba removed all references to the Soviet Union in its Constitution.70 Reacting to the ensuing severe economic crisis (known as the “Special Period”), the Castro regime reversed course somewhat and used its socialist-inspired legal system to implement pro-market economic reforms during the 1990–1995 period.71 Fidel Castro, in essence, utilized elements of capitalism to save socialism.72 The current progression of the Cuban economy is still in a state of significant flux, and Raúl Castro has continued with reforms to an even greater extreme. In 2011, under his leadership, there were two notable liberalizing decrees—the first, allowing for the private sales of automobiles and, perhaps even more surprising, another permitting private ownership and sales of homes.73 Moreover, in 2014, a new foreign investment law was adopted,74 and 63

CÓD. PEN. 1987 art. 1.1 (Julienne E. Grant trans.). Id. arts. 72–74. 65 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 13. 66 Azicri, supra note 51, at 203. 67 ZATZ, supra note 50, at 140. 68 Bogdan, supra note 49, at 319. 69 See John Quigley, Socialist Law and the Civil Law Tradition, 37 AM. J. COMP. L. 781, 808 (1989) (concluding “Socialist law contains features that distinguish it from the legal systems of other countries of the civil law family. But those points of difference have not removed socialist law from the civil law tradition.”); Thomas H. Reynolds in 1992 followed the same line of thought. See Thomas H. Reynolds, Socialist Legal Systems: Reflections on Their Emergence and Demise, 20 INT’L J. LEGAL INFO. 215 (1992). 70 Ley de Reforma Constitucional [LRC 1992] [Law of Constitutional Reform], July 12, 1992, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 7, Aug. 1, 1992. 71 See EVENSON, supra note 16, at 13; Oscar Espinosa Chepe & Ted A. Henken, Economy, in CUBA 135, 157 (Ted A. Henken et al. eds., 2013). 72 Chepe & Henken, supra note 71, at 157. 73 Decreto No. 292 [Decree No. 292], Sept. 20, 2011, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 31, Sept. 27, 2011, abrogated by Decreto No. 320 [Decree No. 320], Dec. 18, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinara [GOE], No. 46, Dec. 31, 2013; Decreto-Ley No. 288 [Decree-Law No. 288], Oct. 28, 2011, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 35, Nov. 2, 2011. 74 See LIE 2014, infra note 331. 64

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foreign capital was also on Raúl Castro’s agenda at the 7th Congress of the PCC in April 2016. There, he stated, “Without underestimating in the slightest the obstacles presented by the U.S. blockade and its extraterritorial application, we must do away with archaic prejudices toward foreign investment and continue to advance with the formulation, design, and establishment of businesses.”75 These developments herald a clear move towards a more general liberalizing trend on the part of the Cuban government, at least in matters economic. C. CURRENT LEGAL LANDSCAPE Professor Juan Mendoza Díaz, Vice Dean at the Universidad de La Habana’s law school, wrote the following in 2015 regarding Cuba’s legal system: There is no doubt that the radical transformations that the Cuban Revolution introduced in the areas of ownership, the economy, familial relations, and in many other areas, signify a substantial separation from the preceding capitalist legality. But this doesn’t suggest, as Soviet doctrine claimed, that a new legal family emerged, separate and independent of the Roman-French root. That the assimilation of a new economic, political, and social system that is undoubtedly socialist, implies the creation of an independent system of law, isolated from the existing legal family, is an error of conceptualization.76 Cuba’s current legal regime is indeed based on the civil law tradition, but it operates under the broader rubric of a one-party socialist state of workers with a socialist constitution.77 The Cuban Constitution itself explicitly states that “Cuba shall never return to capitalism.”78 This regime, however, quite obviously has inherent incompatibilities vis à vis the country’s economic status and the revolutionary changes that are occurring in the world order beyond the island nation’s borders. As the original “26th of July Movement” leaders hand the reins to a younger generation, it remains to be seen how Cuba’s institutions and legal regime will continue to respond to the internal and external forces pushing for greater privatization and moves towards free(r) markets. More specifically, at issue is whether an unwavering adherence to socialist legality can successfully navigate the country going forward. D. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW The 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) sets forth the structure of the Cuban government, which is divided into overlapping executive, legislative and judicial powers.79 All of these powers are addressed in greater detail in other sections of the Guide. In basic terms, the sovereignty of the State resides in the people, from whom all state power emanates; this power is exercised directly, or indirectly by the Asambleas del Poder Popular (People’s Assemblies) and other bodies of the State derived from them.80 In practice, however, it is the 31-member Consejo de Estado (Council of State), an executive organ that is the “real decision-making institution in the Cuban government.”81 Operating alongside the Cuban government, although not formally part of it, is the PCC, which contours domestic policy and clearly drives the country’s governance. 75

7th PCC Congress Central Report, Presented by First Secretary Raúl Castro Ruz, CUBADEBATE (April 18, 2016), http://en. cubadebate.cu/news/2016/04/18/7th-pcc-congress-central-report-presented-by-first-secretary-raul-castro-ruz/. 76 Juan Mendoza Díaz, Administración de Justicia, in EL DERECHO EN CUBA 173, 179 (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo coord., 2015) (Julienne E. Grant trans.). 77 See http://www.cubagob.cu/des_soc/derecho.htm (last visited Aug. 1, 2017); CONST. arts. 1, 5; E-mail from Roberto M. Rojas, Cuban LL.M. student, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law, to Julienne E. Grant, Reference Librarian/Foreign & Int’l Research Specialist, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law Library (Jan. 30, 2017) (on file with Julienne E. Grant). “The Cuban legal system is completely civil law based, inherited from the Roman-French and with Germanic heritage (in the way of organizing the titles and chapters of the legal codes). The Constitution is socialist.” (Julienne E. Grant trans.). 78 CONST. art. 3. 79 For a useful chart of the Cuban government, see Cot & Anillo eds., supra note 38, at 28. For in-depth discussions of Cuba’s government powers, see the following sections of this Guide: “Executive Powers,” “Legislation and Codes” and “The Judiciary.” 80 CONST. art. 3. 81 Vallín & Henken, supra note 22, at 101.

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1. Executive Powers a. The Council of State is the highest representative of the Cuban government in national and international matters and is the executive organ of the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (ANPP) (National Assembly of People’s Power).82 The President of the Council of State, currently Raúl Castro, is the nation’s chief executive. The Council of State represents the ANPP between meetings and has legislative power through the promulgation of decretos-leyes (decree-laws).83 For more on the Council of State, see the later section of this Guide, “Executive Powers.” b. The Council of Ministers (“The Cabinet”) is accountable to the ANPP, but is nonetheless the highest-ranking executive and administrative body and constitutes the Government of the Republic.84 Raúl Castro is the current President of the Council of Ministers. The Council’s Executive Committee is responsible for “directing economic, monetary, and credit policy, drawing up the national budget, crafting foreign policy, engaging in international trade, providing for national defense and internal security, and protecting citizen rights, all duties theoretically subject to periodic review by the National Assembly.”85 Per Article 98(k) of the Constitution, the Council of Ministers has the authority to issue decretos (decrees). See also the Guide’s “Executive Powers” section for information on the Council of Ministers. 2. Legislative Powers The ANPP, now in the VIII Legislatura (2013–2018), is the “supreme organ of State power” per Article 69 of the Constitution. It is unicameral, meets twice annually for about a week each session, and currently consists of 612 representatives who serve for five years, but retain their regular employment.86 Article 76 specifies that the ANPP has the power to issue leyes (laws), and the ANPP in theory has the power to revoke the Council of State’s decree-laws.87 Since Cuba is a one-party state, all representatives belong to the PCC. It should be noted that the lines between the PCC and all of the People’s Assemblies (national, provincial and municipal) are blurred, and that proposed ANPP legislation “tends to follow resolutions passed by the PCC, and bills are reviewed by the PCC and other entities before being submitted to the ANPP.”88 For more on the ANPP’s legislative process, see the Guide’s later section on “Legislation and Codes.” The ANPP’s website contains the names and photographs of ANPP members, the rosters of the various commissions and transcripts of speeches made during sessions.89 The website of the Inter-Parliamentary Union has various statistics for Cuban National Assemblies from 1976 to 2008 that include breakdowns of membership by such characteristics as gender, age and profession.90 There is a useful explanation of how Cuban elections work for all levels of the People’s Assemblies in the 2013 title, Cuba, which is part of ABC-CLIO’s Latin America in Focus series.91 EcuRed (Cuba’s version of Wikipedia) has a lengthy article (in Spanish) on the Cuban electoral system that includes results from Cuban elections for various years.92

CONST. art. 89. CONST. arts. 89, 90(c). 84 CONST. arts. 95, 99. 85 Vallín & Henken, supra note 22, at 102. 86 CONST. arts. 72, 78; Martha Prieto Valdés, Estructura del Estado, Jefatura y Organización de los Poderes, in EL DERECHO EN CUBA 69, 77–78 (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo coord., 2015); Diputados, ASAMBLEA NACIONAL DEL PODER POPULAR REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/index.php/diputados/ (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 87 CONST. art. 76(ch). 88 Peter Roman, Introduction: Overview of Cuban Political Institutions, 30 SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY 30, 34 (2016). 89 See under the “Asamblea” tab for this information, http://www.parlamentocubano.cu (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 90 Cuba: Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People’s Power), INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION, http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2079_arc.htm (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 91 Vallín & Henken, supra note 22, at 108–112. For a uniquely Cuban perspective on the electoral process and the political system, see Lasonas Pipinis Velasco’s interview with Raúl Castro’s son, Alejandro Castro Espín, in The Future of Cuba, COUNTERPUNCH (Feb. 27, 2015), http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/27/the-future-of-cuba/. 92 Sistema Electoral Cubana, ECURED, https://www.ecured.cu/Sistema_electoral_cubano (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 83

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3. The Judiciary Cuba’s judiciary is subordinate to the ANPP and Council of State per Article 121 of the Constitution. It is nevertheless a significant player in a legal system wherein its function is “aimed at achievement of social justice.”93 The Tribunal Supremo Popular (People’s Supreme Court) sits at the apex of the judicial system. Subordinate to the Supreme Court are the People’s Provincial and Municipal Courts, and there is also an autonomous system of military courts. Cuba is unique among Latin American countries in that it does not have a separate constitutional court or chamber; courts play no role in judicial review.94 Another unique feature of the Cuban judiciary, more consistent with socialist models, is the use of lay judges who sit on panels in tandem with professional judges. Cuba also has a system of public prosecutors, including the nation’s Fiscalía General (Office of the Attorney General). See the Guide’s section on “The Judiciary” for more information on Cuba’s court system and its personnel. 4. The Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) (Communist Party of Cuba)95 The PCC “governs all aspects of the political system and it issues the guidelines for the work and direction of the nation.”96 Article 5 of the Cuban Constitution recognizes the PCC as the “superior leading force of the society and the State.” At the top of its organizational structure are the Secretariat, the Comité Central (Central Committee) and the elite Buró Político (Politburo). Raúl Castro is currently the First Secretary of the Central Committee. Full membership lists of these organs are listed on the PCC’s website.97 There have been seven PCC Congresses convened since the Party’s inception in 1965—the first held in 1975, and the most recent in 2016 attended by 1,000 delegates representing 670,000 PCC members.98 E. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Azicri, Max. “An Introduction to Cuban Socialist Law.” Review of Socialist Law 6 (1980): 153–163. Baerg, William R. “Judicial Institutionalization of the Revolution: The Legal Systems of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Cuba.” Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Journal 15 (Dec. 1992): 233–274. Bernal, Beatriz. Cuba y Sus Leyes: estudios histórico-jurídicos. México, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2002. Bernstein, Paul. “Cuba: Last Look at an Alternative Legal System?” Temple International and Comparative Law Journal 7 (Fall 1993): 191–216. Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo. “El Papel Activo del Juez en el Proceso de Reconstrucción Sistémica del Derecho en Cuba, a Partir de la Integración de Sus Fuentes Formales.” elDial.com. Suplemento de Derecho Procesal (March 25, 2014). Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo, and Iraida R. Tamayo Blanco. “La jurisprudencia en Cuba: reconocimiento dentro del sistema de fuentes del derecho y posibles consecuencias.” Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado 47, no. 139 (2014): 251–283. Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo, and Lianet Palacio Castillo. “Una aproximación a la creación jurisprudencial del Derecho en Cuba a partir de los tres modelos de juez de F. Ost.” Revista de Derecho (Valdivia) 27, no. 2 (Dec. 2014): 21–41. Chalbaud Zerpa, Reinaldo. El Nuevo Sistema Constitucional Socialista Cubano. Mérida, Venezuela: Centro de Investigaciones Jurídicas, Facultad de Derecho. Universidad de Los Andes, 1976. Chomsky, Aviva. A History of the Cuban Revolution. 2nd ed. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. Chomsky, Aviva, Barry Carr, and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff, eds. The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Latin America Readers. Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2004. “Cuba.” 395–401 (vol. I). In Legal Systems of the World, edited by Herbert M. Kritzer. Santa Barbara, Cal.: ABC-CLIO, 2002.

HOFFMAN ED., “CUBA: LEGISLATION AND THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM,” supra note 28. ÁNGEL R. OQUENDO, LATIN AMERICAN LAW 224 (3d ed. 2017). 95 For an overview of the PCC, see Larry Catá Backer, The Cuban Communist Party at the Center of Political and Economic Reform: Current Status and Future Reform, 8 NW. INTERDISC. L. REV. 71 (2015); See also William M. LeoGrande, The Cuban Communist Party and Electoral Politics: Adaptation, Succession, and Transition, Prepared for the Cuba Transition Project, Inst. for Cuban and Cuban-Am. Studies, U. of Miami (2002), http://www.cubaverdad.net/data/the_ cuban_communist_party_and_electoral_politics.pdf; Historia del Partido Comunista de Cuba, PARTIDO COMUNISTA DE CUBA, http://www.pcc.cu/i_historia.php (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 96 Vallín & Henken, supra note 22, at 108. 97 http://www.pcc.cu (last visited Aug. 1, 2017). 98 th 7 PCC Congress Central Report, supra note 75. 94

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de la Cuesta, Leonel A. “The Cuban Socialist Constitution: Its Originality and Role in Institutionalization.” Cuban Studies 6 (July 1976): 15–30. Dilla, Haroldo, Gerardo González, and Ana Teresa Vincentelli. Participación Popular y Desarrollo en los Municipios Cubanos. La Habana: Centro de Estudios Sobre América, 1993. Evenson, Debra. Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. 2nd ed. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2003. ———. Revolution in the Balance: Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. Farber, Samuel. Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2011. ———. The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Fernández Bulte, Julio. Historia del Estado y el Derecho en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial Félix Varela, 2005. Fernández Ríos, Olga. Cuba’s Socialist Transition: Economic Adjustment and Sociopolitical Changes. Translated by Mariana Ortega Breña. Latin American Perspectives 41 (July 2014): 48–63. Garibaldi, Oscar M. Expropriated Properties in a Post-Castro Cuba: Two Views. Miami: Miami Institute for Cuban and CubanAmerican Studies, University of Miami, 2003. Gibson, Carrie. Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014. Gott, Richard. Cuba: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. Guerra, Lillian. Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption and Resistance, 1959–1971. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Hernández Mas, Orestes. Antología de Documentos para el Estudio de la Historia del Estado y el Derecho en Cuba. La Habana: Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1976. LeoGrande, William M., and Peter Kornbluh. Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Lizón González, José Luis. Historia General del Estado y del Derecho en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial Universitaria, 2011. Matilla Correa, Andry. Estudios Cubanos Sobre Control de Constitucionalidad (1901–2008). México, D.F.: Editorial Porrúa, 2009. ———. Estudios Sobre Historia del Derecho en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2009. Ordoñez-Martínez, Francisco. La Legalidad Socialista, firme baluarte de los intereses del pueblo. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1982. Partido Comunista de Cuba. Sistema Político Cubano: atribuciones, funciones y tareas de órganos del poder popular. México, D.F.: Editora Política, 2007. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B., coord. El Derecho en Cuba. Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. Pérez-Stable, Marifeli. Looking Forward: Comparative Perspectives on Cuba’s Transition. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. Redden, Kenneth R., and William Brock. “Legal System of Cuba.” In Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia, edited by Kenneth Robert Redden, Volume 7 (1995). Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 1989. Staten, Clifford L. The History of Cuba. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara, Cal.: Greenwood, 2015. Sweig, Julia E. Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Travieso-Diaz, Matias F. The Laws and Legal System of a Free-Market Cuba: A Prospectus for Business. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1997. Vallín, Wilfredo, and Ted A. Henken. “Politics and Government.” In Cuba, edited by Ted A. Henken, Miriam Celaya, and Dimas Castellanos, 85–134. Latin America in Focus. Santa Barbara, Cal.: ABC-CLIO, 2013. Viñuela, Vicente. El Poder Judicial en Cuba. Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1991. Zagaris, Bruce, and Jay Rosenthal. “A Selected Bibliography of the Cuban Legal System, 1959–1983.” Lawyer of the Americas 15 (1983–1984): 545–578. Zatz, Marjorie S. Producing Legality: Law and Socialism in Cuba. New York: Routledge, 1994.

THE CONSTITUTION LYONETTE LOUIS-JACQUES

A. INTRODUCTION Since gaining independence from Spain in 1898, Cuba has adopted a number of constitutions and constitutional laws. The 1901 Constitution was modeled after that of the United States. A 1933 provisional law superseded the 1901 Constitution, a constitutional law was issued in 1934, and in 1935 a de facto constitution

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was adopted.99 A de jure constitution followed five years later in 1940.100 The 1940 Constitution was suspended in 1952, although some Cubans still consider it to be a legitimate and governing document.101 The 1959 Ley Fundamental (Fundamental Law) vested legislative power in a Council of Ministers.102 The current Constitution was adopted by referendum on February 15, 1976, and it went into effect on February 24, 1976. The 1976 Constitution established the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) as the supreme legislative body with the power to elect the Council of State.103 The ANPP also decides on the constitutionality of legislation.104 According to Professor Ángel R. Oquendo, “Cuba is the only jurisdiction in Latin America that has adopted this arrangement.”105 The 1976 Constitution was amended in 1978, 1992 and 2002. B. THE 1976 CONSTITUTION AND ITS AMENDMENTS In Cuba, the Constitution takes precedence over all other legislative instruments. Leyes (laws), decretosleyes (decree-laws) and decretos (decrees) are all subordinate to the Constitution.106 The Constitution is considered by some Cuban scholars to be a dynamic agent, a transformative document that not only sets forth legal norms, but also “creates the bases to propel [Cuba’s] socialist society into the future,” towards communism.107 1. Drafting History In 1969, the Comisión de Estudios Jurídicos (Commission for Juridical Studies) of the Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba (Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba), chaired by Blas Roca Calderío, began work on a draft constitution for Cuba.108 The Commission, comprising lawyers and academics, studied the legal systems of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries to fashion the new Cuban socialist legal order. However, what emerged was not an exact copy of these other legal systems, but rather an innovative legal system with a uniquely Cuban imprint.109 The draft constitution was published in Granma, the PCC’s daily newspaper, for general discussion. This resulted in some major changes, among them more centralization of power and curtailment of judicial independence.110

ROBERT L. MADDEX, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE WORLD 116 (3d ed. 2008). Id. 101 The Cuban Constitution of 1940 is “the only Cuban Constitution created by a constituent assembly that was broadly representative of the full range of Cuban political parties and social interests, including the PCC [Communist Party of Cuba].” It featured a bicameral legislature. It provided for freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of peaceful assembly and political protest, and for judicial review of the constitutionality of legislative acts. The 1940 Constitution was considered progressive and ‘truly Cuban.’ Michael B. Wise, Cuban Constitutionalism: Will There Be Changes?, 51 DUQ. L. REV. 467, 471–475 (2013). See also Rudo Kemper, Cuban Memories: The Cuban Constitution of 1940, then and today, THE BLOG (U. of Miami Libraries Cuban Heritage Collection) (Oct. 14, 2010), http://library.miami.edu/chc/2010/10/14/cuban-memoriesthe-cuban-constitution-of-1940-then-and-today/; Nora Gámez Torres, Opositor impulsa movimiento para reformar la constitución de Cuba, EL NUEVO HERALD (June 4, 2014), http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/ article2035020.html; Nora Gámez Torres, New Movement Tackles Constitutional Changes in Cuba, CUBA DEMOCRACIA Y VIDA (June 3, 2014), http://www.cubademocraciayvida.org/web/print.asp?artID=25080 (reports on movement to hold a roundtable discussion on whether or not to reform the current Constitution, reinstate the 1940 Constitution or create a new one). 102 LF art. 119. 103 CONST. arts. 67, 68, 72. 104 CONST. art. 75(c). 105 OQUENDO, supra note 94, at 224. 106 RUBENS MEDINA & CECILIA MEDINA-QUIROGA, NOMENCLATURE & HIERARCHY: BASIC LATIN AMERICAN LEGAL SOURCES 43–45 (1979). See also the discussion in the “Legislation and Codes” section of this Guide, infra p. 33. 107 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 12. 108 ZATZ, supra note 50, at 54. 109 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 9. 110 For additional information about specific textual changes to the draft constitution, see Appendix D in JORGE I. DOMÍNGUEZ, CUBA: ORDER AND REVOLUTION 527–531 (1978). 100

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2. Content The 1976 Cuban Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) has a Preamble, 137 Articles (divided into 15 Chapters) and a “Special Provisions” section. The Preamble states that “We, Cuban Citizens” are guided by “the sociopolitical ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin,” and José Martí’s wish for a constitution that serves as a “tribute of Cubans to the full dignity of man.”111 Article 1 declares that Cuba is a “socialist State of workers.” Article 3 asserts that socialism, “having demonstrated its ability to transform the country and create an entirely new and just society, shall be irrevocable, and Cuba shall never return to capitalism.” Article 5 establishes that the “Communist Party of Cuba, Martian and Marxist-Leninist, the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, is the superior leading force of the society and the State.” The current Constitution includes expansive rights provisions. Article 8 guarantees the right to freedom of religion, as well as separation of church and state. Article 9 guarantees the right to work, to human dignity, to health care, to culture and to housing. The peoples’ right to self-determination is covered in Article 12, and Articles 19 to 24 address property rights. Article 42’s equality provisions prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, sex, national origin, religion or belief, or anything offensive to human dignity. Article 43 guarantees rights to equal pay for equal work, health care and education, without discrimination. Specifically, it asserts, “Women and men enjoy equal economic, political, cultural, social, and familial rights.” Articles 50 and 51 specify that all citizens have rights to free health care and education, respectively. Article 53 guarantees the right to freedom of speech and of the press. Article 54 covers the rights of assembly and association. Article 55 guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. However, several of these rights provisions are constrained. For example, free speech under Article 53 cannot be anti-socialist: Citizens have freedom of speech and of the press in keeping with the objectives of socialist society. Material conditions for the exercise of that right are provided by the fact that the press, radio, television, movies and other organs of the mass media are State or social property and can never be private property. This assures their use at the exclusive service of the working people and in the interest of society. Further, Article 62 generally curtails the listed rights and freedoms as follows: None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary to what is established in the Constitution and the law, or contrary to the existence and objectives of the socialist State, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism. Violations of this principle can be punished by law. Indeed, one author has stated, “The protection of rights afforded in the Constitution and the practices of the Cuban government…fall far short of international human rights norms.”112 There are also noteworthy omissions, duties and unique provisions in the Cuban Constitution. For example, the document lacks a writ of amparo provision—no remedy for individuals to protect constitutional rights.113 Article 36 provides for the right of a man and woman to marry, but excludes same-sex marriage rights. Article 42 omits the explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In terms of duties, Article 38 states that it is a child’s duty to respect and help his/her parents. Article 65 makes military service compulsory, declaring, “Defense of the socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban citizen.” 111

The Preamble also mentions Fidel Castro and makes the Cuban Constitution one of the few constitutions that referred to a living figure until Castro’s death on Nov. 25, 2016. See Tom Ginsburg et al., “We the Peoples”: The Global Origins of Constitutional Preambles, 46 GEO. WASH. INT’L L. REV. 305, 315–316 (2013–2014). 112 Wise, supra note 101, at 481. See also (on Article 62) ALLAN R. BREWER-CARÍAS, CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN LATIN AMERICA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF AMPARO PROCEEDINGS 26 (2009). (“[T]his principle of the limitative character of rights can lead to extreme, dangerous situations such as the one that unfortunately still remains in the Constitution of Cuba, which leaves open an ‘unlimited’ possibility of limitations to human rights, founded on the preservation of principles that can only be determined by the established power, thus rendering the rights futile.”) 113 BREWER-CARÍAS, supra note 112, at 51–52. See also Julio César Guanche & Julio Antonio Fernández Estrada, Rights and Guarantees in Cuba: Background and a Proposal 20 (2013 SELA Conference), https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/ documents/pdf/sela/SELA13_GuancheFernandez_CV_Eng_20130501.pdf.

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The Article 66 duty to obey the Constitution and laws seems to cast a general limitation on the rights and freedoms listed, although Article 3 uniquely grants Cuban citizens the right to overthrow the government. Articles 11 and 12 contain key international law provisions. Article 11 states in part: The Republic of Cuba repudiates and considers illegal and void any treaties, pacts or concessions entered into under inequitable conditions, or those disregarding or diminishing its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The economic, diplomatic, and political relations with any other State shall never be negotiated under the aggression, intimidation or duress of a foreign power. Article 12 sets forth Cuba’s anti-imperialist and internationalist principles. It includes clauses condemning imperialism for being “the principal force of aggression and war and the enemy of the peoples,” viewing such aggression as an “international crime,” and asserting an “internationalist obligation to support the one attacked.” While Cuba provides friendship and support to countries that respect sovereignty, it: repudiates the direct or indirect intervention in the internal or external affairs of any State and, hence, armed aggression and economic blockade, as well as any other type of economic or political coercion, physical violence against persons residing in other countries, or other types of interference in, and threat to, the integrity of the States and the political, economic, and cultural components of the nations.114 3. Amendments Article 137 describes the procedure for modifying Cuba’s Constitution, although the document has not been frequently amended. That Article states: This Constitution can only be modified by the National Assembly of People’s Power, by means of resolutions adopted by roll-call vote by a majority of no less than two-thirds of the total number of members; except [where the modification] regards the political, social and economic system, whose irrevocable character is established in Article 3 of Chapter I, and the prohibition against negotiations under aggression, threats or coercion by a foreign power as established in Article 11.115 Amendments made in 1992 and 2002 made substantive changes.116 The 1992 amendments modified the 1976 Constitution to allow for private ownership of property (Articles 14 and 15); the elimination of the state monopoly on foreign trade (Article 18); and the establishment of quasi-private companies (Article 23). The amendments also improved religious freedom protections (Article 54, now 55).117 The 2002 Ley de Reforma Constitucional (Law of Constitutional Reform)118 amended Articles 3, 11 and 137, and added a “Special Provisions” section to make the socialist system irrevocable.119 Article 3 declares in the last paragraph: Socialism and the social revolutionary political system instituted in this Constitution, proven by years of heroic resistance against all kinds of aggression and the economic war engaged by the government of the mightiest imperialistic power that has ever existed, and having demonstrated its ability to transform the country and create an entirely new and just society, shall be irrevocable, and Cuba shall never return to capitalism. 114

CONST. art. 12(e). Id. art. 137. 116 There was a non-substantive 1978 amendment, the Ley de Reforma Constitucional [LRC 1978] [Law of Constitutional Reform]. It modified Article 10 to change the name of the Isle of the Pines to the Isle of the Young. See Anna I. Vellvé Torras, trans., Law of Constitutional Reform (June 28, 1978) (Cuba) (World Constitutions Illustrated, William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2010). 117 Shari-Ellen Bourque, Note, The Illegality of the Cuban Embargo in the Current International System, 13 B.U. INT’L L. J. 191, 203–205 (1995). See also the Spanish-language text of the 1992 amendment, the Ley de Reforma Constitucional [LRC 1992] [Law of Constitutional Reform] via HeinOnline’s World Constitutions Illustrated; EVENSON, supra note 16, at 18–19. 118 Ley de Reforma Constitucional [LRC 2002] [Law of Constitutional Reform], June 26, 2002, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 10, July 16, 2002. 119 See the Spanish-language text and English-language translation in HeinOnline’s World Constitutions Illustrated. 115

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The “Special Provisions” section of the Constitution states that, from June 15–18, 2002, the Cuban people expressed their unconditional support for the 2002 amendment that “sets forth the irrevocability of [the Cuban Constitution’s] socialist character, political system and social content as a worthy and categorical response to the exigencies and threats [made by] the imperialistic government of the United States [of America] on the 20 of May, 2002.” On May 20, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush, in his remarks at the White House on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Cuba’s official independence day, demanded political and economic reforms in Cuba—a regime change.120 Professor Erik Luna suggested in 2004 that the 2002 national constitutional referendum also responded to the Varela Project, which called for democratic reforms in Cuba.121 C. FUTURE The 1976 Constitution is now over 40 years old, but a new constitution or major revision requires a referendum vote with approval by a majority of eligible voters per Article 137. At the April 2016 7th Congress of the PCC, Raúl Castro announced that there would be major amendments to the Constitution. However, it is believed that the proposed changes will simply reaffirm the status quo.122 The amendments would “ratify the irrevocable nature of the political and social system endorsed in the current Constitution, which includes the PCC’s leadership role in our [Cuba’s] society.”123 Cuban political activist Manuel Cuesta Morúa believes that citizens must fight for a referendum to make fundamental changes to the Constitution (including the Article 5 provision giving the PCC a leadership role).124 However, he does not think the present government is ready to make structural changes.125 Indeed, discussion of constitutional reform appears to have stalled.126 D. CONSTITUTIONAL TEXTS The best source for locating the texts of Cuban Constitutions (in both Spanish and English-language translation) is the subscription database, World Constitutions Illustrated (WCI), available through HeinOnline. Additional sources for constitutional texts are listed below, including the subscription databases LLMC Digital and Oxford Constitutions of the World, along with several free websites. 1. Texts in Spanish WCI contains Spanish-language texts in PDF format, beginning with the draft provisional constitution of Cuba of 1851. Many of the Spanish-language versions in WCI appear as they were published in Cuba’s official government gazette, the Gaceta Oficial. LLMC Digital has Cuban constitutional texts in Spanish from 1812, to the consolidated text of the 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002). The collection is growing as part of LLMC’s Cuban Legal Patrimony Project. Free access to digitized constitutions will be available via the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). The original text in Spanish of the 1976 Constitución de la República de Cuba is published in the Gaceta Oficial of February 24, 1976, at page 3, and reprinted in the Revista Cubana de Derecho (Año 5, no. 11, 120

EVENSON, supra note 16, at 19–21; Wise, supra note 101, at 484–485. Erik Luna, Cuban Criminal Justice and the Ideal of Good Governance, 14 TRANSNAT’L L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 529, 533, 559–560 (2004); For more information on the Projeto Varela, see Varela Project (dated Jan. 22, 1998), MOVIMIENTO CRISTIANO LIBERACIÓN, http://www.oswaldopaya.org/es/up/VARELA%20PROJECT.pdf; Cubans Petition for Democratic Reforms: 1998– 2003, GLOBAL NONVIOLENT ACTION DATABASE, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/cubans-petitiondemocratic-reforms-1998-2003. 122 See Roberto Álvarez Quiñones, What’s behind the changes to the Constitution?, DIARIO DE CUBA (May 24, 2016), http:// www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1464093409_22588.html. 123 Id. 124 Rosa Tania Valdés, Cuba: el dilema de un congreso de remiendo, DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS (April 18, 2016), http://www. diariolasamericas.com/cuba-el-dilema-un-congreso-remiendo-n3756214. 125 Id. 126 Bert Hoffmann, Is Cuba’s reform going in reverse?, THE CONVERSATION (Nov. 1, 2016), http://theconversation.com/iscubas-reform-going-in-reverse-67830. 121

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Enero-Junio) at page 135. The Spanish-language text (as amended to June 26, 2002) is also available on the website of the Gaceta Oficial.127 The websites of EcuRed and CUBANET similarly include texts of the Constitution—the former, as amended to 1992, and the latter, as amended to 2002. The Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes’ “Constituciones hispanoamericanas” site includes the Constitutions of 1901, 1934, 1940, 1959, 1976 and 1976, as amended to 2002, all in HTML format. Georgetown University’s free Web-based Political Database of the Americas has the original text of the 1976 Constitution, the consolidated version through 2002, as well as separate texts of the 1940 Constitution and the 2002 Law of Constitutional Reform. The Iberius website has the 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) in PDF format, as does the World Intellectual Property Organization’s WIPO Lex database. Also noteworthy is a recent Cuban news report indicating that an iLex Android app is in development that will allow users to download the text of the current Constitution to a mobile device.128 2. Texts in English-Language Translation Current and historical versions of the Cuban Constitution can be found in English-language translation in various sources. An English-language version of the original 1976 Constitution provided by the Cuban government is published in the Revista Cubana de Derecho (Año 5, no. 11, Enero-Junio) at page 181. WCI contains the original 1976 Constitution translated into English by the Center for Cuban Studies (1976), the Presidency of the Cuban National Assembly (1981, published with the permission of the Inter-Parliamentary Union) and Anna I. Vellvé Torras (2010, edited by Jefri Jay Ruchti). An English-language translation of the consolidated Spanish-language text, as published in an extraordinary edition of the Gaceta Oficial (No. 3, Jan. 31, 2003), is also available in WCI. The aforementioned translation is attributed to Ms. Vellvé Torras and William S. Hein & Co. WCI also includes English-language translations of several historical versions, including the 1940 text. LLMC Digital has the Cuban constitutional texts in English, such as the 1940 text, the 1959 Fundamental Law and the 1976 Constitution. More easily accessible because it is freely available on the Web, and crawled by Google (also a development partner), is Constitute: The World’s Constitutions to Read, Search, and Compare. Constitute offers the 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) in HTML and PDF formats, translated by Pam Falk, Milagros M. Gavilan and Anna I. Vellvé Torras. The source of the text is Oxford University Press (OUP). OUP’s print Constitutions of the Countries of the World loose-leaf set, and online subscription product Oxford Constitutions of the World (OCW), contain the 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) in English. The OCW constitutional texts are offered in HTML format. The Comparative Constitutions Project website has the text in English as amended to 1992. ConstitutionNet offers the text as amended to 2002, and the Universität Bern Institut für Öffentliches Recht’s International Constitutional Law site links to the text from ConstitutionNet. A print resource, Constitutions of the Communist World (W.B. Simons ed., Alphen aan den Rijn, Sijthoff, 1980), has the text of the original 1976 Constitution in English. 3. Locating Constitutional Texts in Libraries Searching with keywords, uniform titles or Library of Congress Subject Headings (LC Subject Headings) in library catalogs will yield sources of the text of the current Cuban Constitution, as well as historical versions. An online catalog will allow limiting by language. Below are useful uniform titles for locating sources of texts of Cuban Constitutions in library catalogs. Part E below lists LC Subject Headings for books compiling Cuban Constitutions. • Cuba. Constitución • Cuba. Constitución (1901) • Cuba. Constitución (1940) • Cuba. Constitución (1976) 127

The version on the Gaceta Oficial’s website also includes a useful historical chronology of the development of the current Constitution, beginning in 1975 (in Spanish). 128 Nueva aplicación ofrece información jurídica desde los celulares cubanos, DIARIO DE CUBA (July 11, 2016), http://www. diariodecuba.com/cuba/1468238953_23753.html.

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E. CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARIES Commentaries on Cuban Constitutions and constitutional law are not plentiful, but they can be identified using standard sources. For periodical articles, finding tools such as the Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, LegalTrac, Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) and Dialnet may be used. Relevant journal articles may also be found in Westlaw, Lexis and HeinOnline, as well as Google Scholar and Bepress’ “Law Commons” (part of the Digital Commons Network).129 The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is useful for locating working papers and newer publications. Non-law full-text databases, such as JSTOR, Political Science Complete and SciELO are also worth searching. In addition to U.S. law reviews and non-law journals, such as Cuban Studies, articles on Cuban constitutional law have appeared in journals, such as Anuario de Derecho Constitucional Latinoamericano, Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado, Cuba in Transition, Cuestiones Constitucionales, Estudios Constitucionales, Revista Cubana de Derecho, Revista Hispano Cubana and Staat und Recht. While Spanish and English are the main source languages, there are articles published in German and Russian as well. Topics of scholarly interest in the past decade include Cuban constitutionalism generally, historical constitutions and Cuban expropriation of private property. There are not many critical, scholarly, in-depth and current commentaries on Cuban constitutional law available in English. Sergio D. Stone’s later section on “Secondary Sources” includes more detail on locating journal articles. The following LC Subject Headings may be used to locate books that analyze the Cuban Constitution and constitutional law. In general, note that Cuba is part of the larger Caribbean and Latin American regions and some valuable works may not focus on Cuba specifically. A selected bibliography of secondary works on the Cuban Constitution and constitutional law and history (in Spanish and English) is included below in Part G. • Communist countries • Constitutional history—Cuba • Constitutional history—Latin America • Constitutional law—Caribbean • Constitutional law—Communist countries • Constitutional law—Cuba • Constitutional law—Latin America • Constitutions • Constitutions—Caribbean area • Constitutions—Latin America • Cuba—Constitución • Cuba—Constituciones • Cuba—Constitution • Cuba—Constitutional history • Cuba—Historia constitucional • Cuba—Constitutional law • Cuba—Politics and government • Reforma constitucional—Cuba F. CURRENT AWARENESS No single resource effectively tracks all new developments related to the Cuban Constitution. Comparative constitutional law sources, such as the I-CONnect blog, ConstitutionNet and the International Journal of Constitutional Law cover Cuba periodically. The Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Constitucional y Administrativo (Cuban Society of Constitutional and Administrative Law) hosts conferences in Cuba and contributes to publications

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See also The University of Chicago Law School’s Chicago Unbound scholarship repository at http://chicagounbound. uchicago.edu/, which includes seven student research papers on Cuban constitutional topics. The student authors participated in the Law School’s 2015 International Immersion Program (IIP).

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on constitutional law topics.130 There are Cuban newspapers and magazines, such as Granma and Tribuna de La Habana, and more general Latin American and Caribbean news sources, such as NACLA Report on the Americas, Southern Pulse Info and The Latin Americanist. In addition, researchers may check general world news sources and major international newspapers via the Web, as well as related Twitter feeds. Other sections of this Guide also list potential sources for following developments related to the Cuban Constitution and constitutional law. G. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Álvarez Tabío, Fernando. Comentarios a la Constitución Socialista. La Habana: Ediciones Jurídicas, 1981. Azcuy, Hugo. Análisis de la Constitución Cubana y Otros Ensayos. La Habana: Instituto Cubano de Investigación Cultural Juan Marinello; Panamá: Ruth Casa Editorial, 2010. Bernal, Beatriz. Constituciones Iberoamericanas: Cuba. México, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2008. ———. Cuba y Sus Leyes: Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos. Serie Estudios Jurídicos no. 27. México, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2002. Brewer-Carías, Allan R. Constitutional Protection of Human Rights in Latin America: A Comparative Study of Amparo Proceedings. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo. “Reforma Constitucional en Cuba: ¿Un Camino para el Perfeccionamiento del Ordenamiento Jurídico?” Anuario de Derecho Constitucional Latinoamericano 20 (2014): 43–59. Campos, Pedro. “Cuba Urgently Needs a New Constitution.” Havana Times (Aug. 6, 2014). Accessed July 29, 2017. http:// www.havanatimes.org/?p=105355. Castellanos, Dimas. “La Constitución de La Yaya y la Futura Constitución Cubana.” Diario de Cuba (Oct. 29, 2012). Translated by Chabeli Castillo. “The Constitution of La Yaya and the Future Cuban Constitution.” Translating Cuba (Nov. 1, 2012). Accessed July 29, 2017. http://translatingcuba.com/the-constitution-of-la-yaya-and-the-future-cuban-constitution-dimas-castellanos/. Castro, Fidel, and Juan Rosales. Legalidad y Poder Popular en Cuba: con el Texto Completo de la Constitución Cubana. Buenos Aires: Editorial Convergencia, 1976. Constitution of the Republic of Cuba. New York: Center for Cuban Studies, 1976. (available via LLMC Digital). Cruz, Orlando, Julio César Guanche Zaldívar, Ulises Aquino, and Rafael Hernández. “Veinte Años: La Reforma Constitucional (1992–2012).” Temas, no. 81–82 (Jan.–June 2015): 111–123. (An October 25, 2012 “Último Jueves” panel with speakers Ulises Aquino, Orlando Cruz, Julio César Guanche Zaldívar, and Rafael Hernández (moderator)). See also the report by Tania Chappi. “Entre Retornos y Aspiraciones.” La Jiribilla (Nov. 22, 2012). Accessed July 29, 2017. http://www.epoca2. lajiribilla.cu/articulo/entre-retornos-y-aspiraciones. Cruz-Taura, Graciella. “Women’s Rights and the Cuban Constitution of 1940.” Cuban Studies 24 (1994): 123–140. Cuba and the Rule of Law. Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 1962 (covers Cuban constitutional legislation from 1940–1961 at pp. 78–113). Accessed July 29, 2017. http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/1962/12/ Cuba-rule-of-law-report-1962-eng.pdf. de la Cuesta, Leonel A. “Cuatro Décadas de Historia Constitucional Cubana, 1959–1999.” Cuban Studies 32 (2001): 98–119. ———. “The Cuban Socialist Constitution: Its Originality and Role in Institutionalization.” Cuban Studies 6 (July 1976): 15–30. Domínguez, Jorge I. A Constitution for Cuba’s Political Transition: The Utility of Retaining (and Amending) the 1992 Constitution. Cuba Transition Project. Miami: Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami, 2003. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jidoming/images/jid_constitution.PDF. ———. Cuba: Order and Revolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978. D’Zurilla, William T. “Cuba’s 1976 Socialist Constitution and the Fidelista Interpretation of Cuban Constitutional History.” Tulane Law Review 55 (1981): 1223–1283. Estrada, Julio Antonio Fernández, and Julio César Guanche. “Se Acata Pero…Se Cumple. Constitución, República y Socialismo en Cuba.” The Latin Americanist 53, no. 3 (Sept. 2009): 33–54. Evenson, Debra. Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. 2nd ed. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2003. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Country Profile: Cuba. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress (Sept. 2006). Accessed July 29, 2017. https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/profiles/Cuba.pdf. Fernandez, Damian J. “Democracy and Human Rights: The Case of Cuba.” In Democracy and Human Rights in the Caribbean, edited by Ivelaw L. Griffith and Betty Nelly Sedoc-Dahlberg, 97–112. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.

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The Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Constitucional y Administrativo is part of the Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (UNJC) (National Union of Cuban Jurists), and it maintains a web page at http://www.unjc.co.cu/sociedades/sociedadcubana-de-derecho-0 (last visited Sept. 15, 2017).

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Fernández Segado, Francisco, Domingo García Belaúnde, and Rubén Hernández Valle. Los Sistemas Constitucionales Iberoamericanos. Madrid: Editorial Dykinson, 1992. García Alzugaray, Miguel Ángel. “El Sistema Constitucional Cubano.” In Los Sistemas Constitucionales Iberoamericanos, edited by Francisco Fernández Segado, Domingo García Belaúnde, and Rubén Hernández Valle, 243–271. Madrid: Editorial Dykinson, 1992. Garcini Guerra, Héctor. “Constitución del Estado Socialista Cubano.” Revista Cubana de Derecho, Año 5, No. 12 (1976): 103–117. Gargarella, Roberto. Latin American Constitutionalism, 1810–2010: the Engine Room of the Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Garibaldi, Oscar M., and John D. Kirby. “Property Rights in the Post-Castro Cuban Constitution.” In Expropriated Properties in a Post-Castro Cuba: Two Views, vii-49. Cuba Transition Project. Miami: Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami, 2003. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNACW399.pdf. Gómez Manzano, René. “Constitución y Cambio Democrático en Cuba.” Cuba in Transition 7 (1997): 395–413. Papers and Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), Miami, Florida, Aug. 7–9, 1997. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v07-gomanz.pdf. Guanche, Julio César, and Julio Antonio Fernández Estrada. Rights and Guarantees in Cuba: Background and a Proposal (2013 SELA Conference). Accessed July 29, 2017. https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/documents/pdf/sela/ SELA13_GuancheFernandez_CV_Eng_20130501.pdf. (English-language translation of Derechos y Garantías en Cuba: Fundamentación y Propuesta, March 16, 2013. Accessed July 29, 2017. https://www.law.yale.edu/system/files/ documents/pdf/sela/SELA13_GuancheFernandez_CV_Sp_20130316.pdf). Gutiérrez, Nicolás J., Jr. “The De-Constitutionalization of Property Rights: Castro’s Systematic Assault on Private Ownership in Cuba.” University of Miami Yearbook of International Law 5 (1996–1997): 51–64. Guzmán Hernández, Teodoro Yan. “La Dignidad como ‘Ley Primera de Nuestra República’ y ‘Con Todos y Para el Bien de Todos’: Dos Deberes Dialécticos desde la Axiología Martiana en la Constitución Cubana” = “Dignity as ‘First Law of Our Republic’ and ‘With All and For the Good of All’: Two Dialectical Duties from Martí’s Axiology in the Cuban Constitution.” Revista Derecho del Estado: Nueva Serie 34 (Jan. 1, 2015): 127–151. ———. “Lineamientos, Constitución y Líneas para una Reforma Constitucional Anunciada en Cuba.” Iberoamericana 15, no. 57 (March 2015): 173–178. Accessed July 29, 2017. https://journals.iai.spk-berlin.de/index.php/iberoamericana/article/ viewFile/1254/906. Hudson, Rex A., ed. Cuba: A Country Study. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 2001. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Cuba.pdf. Klein, L.B. “The Socialist Constitution of Cuba (1976).” Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 17 (1978): 451–515. López Ulla, Juan Manuel. La Justicia Constitucional en Iberoamérica: Chile, Bolivia, Colombia y Cuba. Cádiz, España: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cádiz, 2011. Maddex, Robert L. “Cuba.” In Constitutions of the World. 3rd ed., 116–119. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008. Maestre Alfonso, Juan. “Cuba.” In Constituciones y Leyes Políticas de América Latina, Filipinas y Guinea Ecuatorial. Sevilla, España; ICI: Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, 1987– . Tomo 1, Vol. II. Matilla Correa, Andry, coord. La Constitución Cubana de 1976: Cuarenta Años de Vigencia. La Habana: Editorial UNIJURIS, 2016. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://www.lex.uh.cu/sites/default/files/2016%20-%20MATILLA%20CORREA% 20ANDRY%20-La%20Constituci%C3%B3n%20cubana%20de%201976%20.pdf. Mills, Jon, and Daniel Ryan Koslosky. “Whither Communism: A Comparative Perspective on Constitutionalism in a Postsocialist Cuba.” The George Washington International Law Review 40 (2008–2009): 1219–1270. Mirow, M.C. “The Cádiz Constitution in Cuba and Florida.” In The Rise of Constitutional Government in the Iberian Atlantic World: The Impact of the Cádiz Constitution of 1812, edited by Scott Eastman and Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, 194–211. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015. Patallo Sánchez, Laura. Establishing the Rule of Law in Cuba. Cuba Transition Project. Miami: Institute for Cuban and CubanAmerican Studies, University of Miami, 2003. Accessed July 29, 2017. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacs986.pdf. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B., coord. El Derecho en Cuba, 49–57 (constitution); 207–222 (fundamental rights). Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. Revista Cubana de Derecho, Año 5, no. 11 (Enero-Junio 1976). (Special issue on the Constitutional Referendum). Sartorius, David. “Of Exceptions and Afterlives: The Long History of the 1812 Constitution in Cuba.” In The Rise of Constitutional Government in the Iberian Atlantic World: The Impact of the Cádiz Constitution of 1812, edited by Scott Eastman and Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, 150–176. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015. Torres, Eduardo. “La Constitución Española de 1812: Conceptos y Aplicaciones: El Caso de Cuba.” In La Constitución de 1812 en Hispanoamérica y España, edited by Heraclio Bonilla. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño, 2012.

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Vega Vega, Juan. Cuba, Su Historia Constitucional: Comentarios a la Constitución Cubana Reformada en 1992. Madrid: Endymion, 1997. ———. Derecho Constitucional Revolucionario en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1988. Viciano Pastor, Roberto, and Rubén Martínez Dalmau. Estudios Sobre el Nuevo Constitucionalismo Latinoamericano. Estudios Latinoamericanos. Valencia, España: Editorial Tirant lo Blanch, 2012. Whittle, Daniel, and Orlando Rey Santos. “Protecting Cuba’s Environment: Efforts to Design and Implement Effective Environmental Laws and Policies in Cuba.” Cuban Studies 37 (2006): 73–103. Wise, Michael B. “Cuba and Judicial Review.” Southwestern Journal of Law & Trade in the Americas 7 (2000): 247–266. ———. “Cuban Constitutionalism: Will There Be Changes?” Duquesne Law Review 51 (2013): 467–485. Zatz, Marjorie S. Producing Legality: Law and Socialism in Cuba. New York: Routledge, 1994.

EXECUTIVE POWERS JULIENNE E. GRANT

The executive powers of Cuba’s government are vested in the Consejo de Estado (Council of State) and the Consejo de Ministros (Council of Ministers). The 1976 Cuban Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) outlines the composition, powers and duties of both. The two Councils are tightly intertwined with overlap in their leadership. Indeed, the same individual is the President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers (currently Raúl Castro). Although inconsistent with socialist models, the concentration of this much power in one individual was consistent with Latin American practice at the time the Constitution was drafted.131 As Professor Jorge I. Domínguez wrote in 1978, the Cuban presidential system was essentially “a formalized version of the routinization of Fidel Castro’s charisma.”132 Consistent with socialist models, however, is the Constitution’s recognition of the de facto control of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).133 Albeit not a formal part of the Cuban government structure, Article 5 of the Constitution specifies that the PCC is the “superior leading force of the society and the State.” As such, PCC membership is effectively a prerequisite for all government posts, including the Councils of State and Ministers.134 A. THE COUNCIL OF STATE Article 74 of the Constitution outlines the composition of the Council of State, which consists of a President, First Vice President, five Vice Presidents, a Secretary and 23 additional members. The same Article stipulates that the 31 members of the Council are elected by the National Assembly (ANPP) from among its own deputies, and that the Council’s President is the Head of State and Head of Government. Per Article 89, the Council of State acts on behalf of the ANPP between legislative sessions. This includes issuing decretos-leyes (decree-laws) that are subject to the ANPP’s review.135 Professor Andry Matilla Correa asserts that the Council of State’s decree-laws are similar in terms of legal effect to the leyes (laws) promulgated by the

131

DOMÍNGUEZ, supra note 110, at 244. Id. at 243. 133 L.B. Klein, Comment, The Socialist Constitution of Cuba (1976), 17 COLUM. J. TRANSNAT’L L. 451, 499 (1978). 134 The PCC is the only legally recognized political party in Cuba, and the government has suppressed attempts to form other parties. See U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, supra note 18, at 1, 11, 20. See also CLIFFORD L. STATEN, THE HISTORY OF CUBA 9 (2d ed. 2015). 135 CONST. art. 90(c). But see Vallín & Henken, supra note 22, at 101–102. The Council of State “is the real decision-making institution in the Cuban government, ruling largely through decree-laws that are invariably later ratified unanimously and perfunctorily by the National Assembly…In fact from its creation in 1976, [the National Assembly] has never once repealed a single decree-law or rejected a proposal set forth by the Council of State.” 132

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ANPP.136 In addition, Article 90 grants the Council the power to transmit instructions to the Attorney General, appoint (and remove) diplomats, grant pardons and ratify (and denounce) treaties.137 Article 93(j) also empowers the Council of State to issue acuerdos (agreements), which are administrative in nature. All Council decisions are by majority vote as indicated in Article 91. Article 93 lists the President of the Council’s powers and duties. The President proposes the members of the Council of Ministers, as well as substitutes for any vacancies in that body, to the ANPP. 138 He may assume the direction of any Ministry, and he performs the “Supreme Command of all the armed institutions.”139 The President convenes the Council and organizes and presides over its meetings.140 Further, the President signs the Council of State’s decree-laws and other decisions, as well as any disposiciones (dispositions)141 that the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee adopts; all of the aforementioned must be published in the Gaceta Oficial, also per Article 93.142 Article 93(k) includes a gap-filler provision for the Council’s President, vesting him with “any other [powers] attributed to him by [the] Constitution or the laws.” The Ley Electoral (Electoral Law) of 1992143 governs Cuban elections, including the election of the Council of State that occurs every five years, after the election of the ANPP’s deputies. Articles 143 and 144 of the Electoral Law address more specifically the selection procedure for members and officers of the Council of State. Articles 160 and 161 of the Law also describe the procedure if a vacancy or vacancies occur. The Council of State elections, along with the selection of the ANPP’s leaders, are completed on February 24—the date that commemorates the beginning of the Third War of Independence in 1895 under José Martí’s leadership.144 The Comisión de Candidaturas Nacional (National Candidacies Commission) organizes the elections for the Council of State and the ANPP’s officers. Canadian journalist Arnold August has written extensively on elections in Cuba, and he has interviewed ANPP deputies about how these elections actually work. His 2013 book, Cuba and its Neighbors: Democracy in Motion, includes an interesting account of what transpired in early 2008 when Fidel Castro announced he would not run for the Council’s presidency.145 Raúl Castro succeeded his brother and was elected President of the Council on February 24, 2008; he was reelected on February 24, 2013. Members of the Council are named on the ANPP’s website, as well as on Cubadebate, Wikipedia (in English and Spanish), EcuRed and Granma’s site, although the lists are inconsistent.146 Some of the current members of the Council of State, according to the ANPP’s site, are the President of the Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) (Union of Cuban Writers and Artists), the Dean of the Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas and the General Secretary of the Comité Nacional de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (National Committee of the Federation of Cuban Women).147 The site shows a total of 13 women serving on the Council, including a 24-year-old who also serves as President of the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU) 136

Andry Matilla Correa, Comentarios sobre las Fuentes del Derecho Administrativo Cubano (Excepto el Reglamento), in ARMANDO CASTANEDO ABAY et al., TEMAS DE DERECHO ADMINISTRATIVO CUBANO, 33, 71 (2004). 137 CONST. art. 90(j),(k),(n),(o). 138 CONST. art. 93(e),(f). 139 CONST. art. 93(d),(h). 140 CONST. art. 93(b). It is unclear, however, how the Council of State actually functions (how often it meets, its internal procedures, etc.). See EVENSON, supra note 16, at 30 n.56. See also Cuba Posible & Michael Fernández Pérez, Una ley para hacer las leyes, CUBA POSIBLE (Nov. 9, 2016), https://cubaposible.com/una-ley-las-leyes-en-cuba/. The procedural rules for approving decree-laws are not published. 141 Disposición is a general term for administrative provisions. See the discussion on administrative law in the “Legislation and Codes” section, infra pp. 32–33. 142 CONST. art. 93(k). 143 Ley No. 72, Ley Electoral de 1992 [LE] [Law No. 72, Electoral Law of 1992], Oct. 29, 1992, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 9, Nov. 2, 1992, https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/ley%20electoral.html. 144 ARNOLD AUGUST, CUBA AND ITS NEIGHBORS: DEMOCRACY IN MOTION 148 (2013). 145 Id. at 191–193; see also Arnold August, Do the Cuban People Have the Right to Choose Their Leaders?, TELESUR (March 17, 2016), http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Do-the-Cuban-People-Have-the-Right-to-Choose-Their-Leaders20160317-0056.html. 146 Interestingly, the Cuban government’s official website does not list the members of the Council of State. See http://www. cubagob.cu (last visited July 24, 2017). 147 http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/index.php/consejo-de-estado/ (last visited July 24, 2017) (see under “Integrantes”).

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(Federation of University Students).148 A browse through the list also reveals the considerable overlap between the membership of the Council of State and the PCC’s Buro Político (Politburo). Shortly after Raúl Castro was re-elected President of the Council in 2013, he announced that he would not be seeking re-election in 2018.149 Castro had previously advocated for a two-term limit (totaling 10 years) for political offices, a proposal that was addressed at a January 2012 PCC national conference.150 Several sources in 2013, including the New York Times, reported that Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the Council’s First Vice President, was the likely heir apparent.151 Various press reports have also indicated that a new electoral law is in the works, but the content is still nebulous.152 The 7th Congress of the PCC held in April 2016 apparently did not address a new electoral law.153 There is seemingly strong citizen interest in a reform of Cuba’s electoral system, as evidenced by an online forum hosted by the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde in February 2015. In that discussion, which lasted over three hours, readers interacted with representatives of the Comisión Electoral Nacional (National Electoral Commission)—some rather boldly suggesting direct and secret voting for the election of ANPP delegates and the Council of State.154 The Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU) (Patriotic Union of Cuba), a pro-democracy organization in Cuba, has also called on the government to reform the country’s electoral law.155 The U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices have routinely condemned the Cuban government for denying its citizens the right to vote in fair and free elections.156 Whether any changes to Cuba’s electoral system will occur before the 2017-2018 elections remains to be seen. B. THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS The role and structure of the Council of Ministers, which is essentially a cabinet, has changed over time. The 1940 Constitution, which described the Council of Ministers in Article XII, was suspended after the installation of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government in January 1959. The Ley Fundamental (Fundamental Law) went into effect on February 7, 1959, and Title 11 of the Law described the powers and duties of the Council of Ministers. Article 138 specified that a President should preside over the Council, and Article 135 stipulated that one Minister should be Prime Minister (Fidel Castro).

148

See also Ismael Francisco & José Raúl Concepción, Presidenta de la FEU elegida como miembro del Consejo de Estado, CUBADEBATE (Dec. 29, 2015), http://www.cubadebate.cu/fotorreportajes/2015/12/29/presidenta-de-la-feu-elegidacomo-miembro-del-consejo-de-estado/#.VvL6H2dIi5c. 149 Cave, supra at note 23. 150 Juan O. Tamayo, Partido Comunista aprueba apertura limitada, EL NUEVO HERALD, Jan. 30, 2012, at 1A; see also Frank Jack Daniel, Raul Castro says Cuba needs term limits for its leaders, BUSINESS INSIDER (April 17, 2016), http://www.businessinsider.com/r-castro-84-says-cubas-leaders-are-too-old-proposes-limits-2016-4. 151 Damien Cave & Victoria Burnett, As Castro Era Drifts to Close, a New Face Steps in at No. 2, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 27, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/world/americas/as-castro-era-drifts-to-close-a-new-face-steps-in-at-no-2.html; Miguel Diaz-Canel: meet the next President of Cuba, THE GUARDIAN, Feb. 25, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/feb/25/miguel-diaz-canel-next-president-cuba. 152 See, e.g., CUBA POSIBLE, Una nueva ley electoral: instrumento para un consenso sobre la Cuba actual (Cuaderno No. 14, June 2015), https://cubaposible.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Cuaderno-14.-Una-nueva-Ley-Electoral.-Instrumento-para-unconsenso-sobre-la-Cuba-actual-Cuba-Posible.pdf; Carl Gershman, What President Obama needs to say about Cuba’s elections, WASH. POST, Mar. 17, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-president-obama-needs-to-say-about-cubas-elections/2016/03/17/f7860484-ea22-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html. 153 Cubalex: ‘El PCC no responde a propuestas de la sociedad civil sobre nueva reforma electoral,’ DIARIO DE CUBA (April 28, 2016), http://www.diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1461836074_21992.html. 154 Concluyó entrevista on-line sobre el sistema electoral cubano, DIARIO DE LA JUVENTUD REBELDE, Feb. 28, 2015, http:// www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2015-02-28/que-desea-saber-sobre-el-sistema-electoral-cubano/. 155 Unión Patriótica de Cuba, A Minimal Programme and Projections UNPACU: Say No to Misery and Repression; Say Yes to the New Cuba! (May 6, 2016), http://www.unpacu.org/a-minimal-programme-and-projections-unpacu/. 156 See, e.g., U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, supra note 18, at 1; U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, CUBA 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 21, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236892.pdf.

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The Fundamental Law concentrated both legislative and executive functions in the Council of Ministers. Under the Law, the Cuban President appointed and dismissed the members of the Council of Ministers, and the Council could pass legislation by a majority vote and amend the Constitution with a two-thirds majority.157 Since that time, the Council’s composition and functions have been altered numerous times, as explained (in Spanish) on the EcuRed website.158 The Cuban Constitution and Decreto-Ley No. 272 (Decree-Law No. 272) of July 10, 2010,159 provide the current legal framework for the Council of Ministers. Articles 95 to 100 of the Constitution address the basic functions and composition of the Council. The Council of Ministers, which is the executive-administrative organ of the State, is vested with regulatory power through Article 95 of the Constitution. Per Article 98, the Council also directs foreign policy and commerce, prepares legislative bills, provides national defense and approves treaties prior to submitting them to the Council of State for ratification.160 As aforementioned, the President of the Council of State also serves as the President of the Council of Ministers.161 Decree-Law No. 272 extends the overlap in the two Councils’ membership; the Council of State’s First Vice President is also the First Vice President of the Council of Ministers.162 Members of the Council of Ministers also include Vice Presidents, government ministers, a Secretary and “other members that the law determines.”163 Decree-Law No. 272 specifies that the Council’s President may propose other Council members who are approved by either the ANPP or the Council of State.164 Both the Constitution and the Decree-Law are silent on the numerical membership of the Council, as well as term lengths. Article 5 of the Decree-Law specifies that the Council approves its own schedule of meetings or meets as convened by the President. Article 6 stipulates that more than half of the Council members must be present for a quorum, including the President or a designated substitute. As Cuba’s supreme regulatory body, the Council of Ministers implements the ANPP’s laws, and the decreelaws of the Council of State per Article 98(j) of the Constitution. The Council achieves this by issuing decretos (decrees) and administrative provisions, pursuant to existing laws.165 Decree-Law No. 272 also stipulates that the Council of Ministers transmits its administrative decisions in the forms of reglamentos (regulations) and acuerdos (agreements).166 Professor Martha Prieto Valdés attests that, in practice, the Council of Ministers’ acuerdos have the same legal effect as its decretos.167 Both the Constitution and the Decree-Law indicate that the individual members of the Council promulgate resoluciones (resolutions) related to the affairs and tasks of their own ministry or agency.168 The Decree-Law also stipulates that the individual members may issue circulares (circulars).169 Cuba’s complex web of administative instruments is addressed more fully in the following section of the Guide on “Legislation and Codes.” The Council also has an Executive Committee, which consists of the Council’s President, First Vice President, the Vice Presidents and other members designated by the President.170 The Executive Committee decides on issues delegated to the entire Council between meetings.171 Article 9 of the Decree-Law states that

157

LF arts. 123, 129, 232. Consejo de Ministros de la República de Cuba, ECURED, http://www.ecured.cu/Consejo_de_Ministros_de_la_Rep% C3%BAblica_de_Cuba (last visited July 24, 2017). 159 Decreto-Ley No. 272, de la Organización y Funcionamiento del Consejo de Ministros [DLOFCM] [Decree-Law No. 272, on the Organization and Functioning of the Council of Ministers], July 16, 2010, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 33, Aug. 13, 2010, https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/85233/95357/F325297861/CUB85233.pdf. 160 CONST. art. 98(c),(ch),(d),(g),(h). 161 CONST. art. 96. 162 DLOFCM art. 4. 163 CONST. art. 96. 164 DLOFCM art. 4. 165 CONST. art. 98(k). 166 DLOFCM art. 30. 167 Prieto Valdés, supra note 86, at 84. 168 CONST. art. 100(a); DLOFCM art. 32. 169 DLOFCM art. 32. 170 CONST. art. 97. 171 Id. 158

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the President calls the Committee’s meetings, and Article 10 requires that more than half of the Committee be present, including the President or a named alternate, to constitute a quorum. The Decree-Law denotes additional responsibilities for the Council’s President, including the execution of his decisions through decretos presidenciales (presidential decrees), resoluciones (resolutions) and instrucciones (instructions).172 Supplemental duties of the First Vice President, the other Vice Presidents and the Secretary are also specified in Decree-Law No. 272.173 Members of the Council of Ministers are listed on several websites, including Cubadebate, Wikipedia (in English and Spanish), EcuRed and those of the ANPP and the Cuban government. It is unclear if any of these lists are regularly updated, as the names and membership numbers are somewhat inconsistent across the sites. As of this writing, the Cuban government’s website shows July 2016 as the last update for its Council membership list. According to it, there are 33 members (including eight women), and the majority are government ministers (all with portfolios).174 Along with Council President Raúl Castro and First Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, five Vice Presidents are listed; it is unclear if other members of the Council are also members of the Executive Committee. C. FIDEL CASTRO’S ROLE: POST-2007 In Raúl Castro’s inaugural speech in 2008, he indicated that he would consult with his brother on various matters, particularly those pertaining to defense, foreign policy and the country’s development.175 After Fidel’s resignation, however, the extent of his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the Cuban government is unknown. Granma continued to regularly publish columns with his byline (Reflexiones de Fidel) (Fidel’s Reflections) that addressed current events and that sought to “burnish the fading allure of the Cuban [R]evolution.”176 After President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba in March 2016, Fidel wrote a scathing letter to Granma adamantly proclaiming that “we do not need the empire to give us anything.”177 According to the New York Times, the elder Mr. Castro remained influential in the PCC after officially departing as head executive of the Cuban government.178 Fidel spoke at the closing ceremony of the 7th Congress of the PCC where he backed the economic and social reforms that his younger brother had initiated.179 Fidel’s death at age 90 on November 25, 2016, however, leaves a revolutionary legacy that looms large, but perhaps may not survive the political, economic and social tides of change in Cuba. D. RESEARCHING THE COUNCILS OF STATE AND MINISTERS IN SPANISH The various legal instruments promulgated by both Councils are published in the Gaceta Oficial, which is available electronically back to 1991.180 Print collections of earlier issues may be located via a search in WorldCat. The Council of Ministers’ decree-laws are posted on the ANPP’s website, covering 1977 (Decreto-Ley No. 1)

172

DLOFCM art. 31. DLOFCM arts. 22–24. 174 http://www.cubagob.cu (last updated July 2016) (see under “Gobierno” then “Miembros”). 175 Discurso pronunciado por el compañero Raúl Castro Ruz, Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros, en las conclusiones de la sesión constitutiva de la VII Legislatura de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular. Palacio de las Convenciones, La Habana, 24 de febrero de 2008, “Año 50 de la Revolución,” http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/rauldiscursos/ 2008/esp/r240208e.html. 176 Ernesto Londoño, Still Pondering U.S.-Cuba Relations, Fidel Castro Responds, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 14, 2014, http://www. nytimes.com/2014/10/15/opinion/still-pondering-us-cuba-relations-fidel-castro-responds.html?_r=0. 177 Fidel Castro Ruz, El hermano Obama, GRANMA, March 28, 2016, http://www.granma.cu/reflexiones-fidel/2016-03-28/ el-hermano-obama-28-03-2016-01-03-16. 178 Azam Ahmed, Fidel Castro Criticizes Barack Obama’s Efforts to Change Cuba, N.Y. TIMES, March 28, 2016, http:// www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/world/americas/fidel-castro-criticizes-barack-obamas-efforts-to-change-cuba.html. 179 Victoria Burnett, In Farewell, Fidel Castro Urges Party to Fulfill His Vision, N.Y. TIMES, April 19, 2016, http://www. nytimes.com/2016/04/20/world/americas/in-farewell-fidel-castro-urges-party-to-fulfill-vision-for-cuba.html. 180 https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 173

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through 2015 (Decreto-Ley No. 335).181 Wikipedia and EcuRed contain entries for both Councils, although the sourcing is unclear. Collections of the Castro brothers’ speeches and other pronouncements are posted on a number of websites that are listed in Part F below. Cubadebate, which is described as a web forum for counteracting negative press on Cuba (“Contra el Terrorismo Mediático”), has information on both Councils and reports on Cuban government activities.182 Granma covers the activities of the Councils,183 as do various other Cuban media outlets.184 A cautionary note applies, however, as the Cuban government tightly controls the nation’s press; Cuba ranked 173rd out of 180 on Reporters Without Borders’ “2017 World Press Freedom Index.”185 Spanish-language media outlets outside of Cuba, such as teleSUR (based in Caracas, Venezuela, but with participation of the Cuban government) and El País (Madrid, Spain) regularly cover events in Cuba. The Cuban government’s website provides information on government ministries and agencies, including the name of the corresponding minister or agency head, phone number, e-mail address and website link (if existent), as well as a description of each entity’s functions.186 The content, currency and overall utility of the available ministry websites vary significantly. The website of Cuba’s Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (MINREX) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is perhaps the most populated with information, and MINREX itself has an active Twitter account with almost 45,000 followers.187 The site also includes links to various Cuban government declarations pertaining to foreign relations.188 The Ministerio de Justicia (MINJUS) (Ministry of Justice) site also offers a fair amount of information, including access to its Revista Jurídica (No. 3 of 2009 through No. 12 of 2013), as well as descriptions of MINJUS’ mission, functions and structure. E. RESEARCHING THE COUNCILS OF STATE AND MINISTERS IN ENGLISH Wikipedia includes entries on both Councils, although the usual warning applies regarding the reliability of sources. Some Cuban media outlets provide information in English. Granma’s English-language website, for example, offers Cuban news and sections on various topics, such as “Obama in Cuba” and “Cuba vs. Blockade.”189 A number of websites post collections of the Castro brothers’ speeches and other pronouncements in English-language translation; these are also listed below in Part F. The Agencia Cubana de Noticias (Cuban News Agency) and Radio Havana Cuba (the Cuban government’s international radio station) both have Englishlanguage websites.190 The MINREX website is likewise available in English,191 and the Cubadebate website also translates some of its content into English.192 Major U.S. and British news outlets, such as the Miami Herald, the New York Times and The Guardian, are currently reporting heavily on developments in Cuba. The English-language Latin American Herald Tribune (Caracas, Venezuela) covers events in Cuba. The Havana Times has Cuba-based writers and photographers, but is headquartered in Nicaragua. For additional sources of English-language news on the Cuban government, see the later sections of this Guide on “Online Resources” and “Non-Legal Resources.”

181

http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/index.php/documentos-legales/ (last visited July 24, 2017). http://www.cubadebate.cu/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 183 LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center) has a browsable and searchable index to Granma that covers 1965–1992, http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/granma/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 184 See http://www.cubadebate.cu/prensa-cuba/ (last visited July 24, 2017) for a list. 185 Reporters Without Borders, 2017 World Press Freedom Index, https://rsf.org/en/ranking (last visited July 29, 2017). 186 http://www.cubagob.cu/ (under “Gobierno” then “Administración Central del Estado”) (last update unknown). 187 https://twitter.com/CubaMINREX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw (last visited July 24, 2017). 188 http://www.minrex.gob.cu/es/sala-de-prensa/declaraciones/declaraciones-del-gobierno-de-la-republica-de-cuba (last visited July 24, 2017). 189 http://en.granma.cu/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 190 http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/ (last visited July 24, 2017); http://www.radiohc.cu/en (last visited July 24, 2017). 191 http://www.minrex.gob.cu/en (last visited July 24, 2017). 192 http://en.cubadebate.cu/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 182

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F. SOURCES FOR THE CASTROS’ SPEECHES, INTERVIEWS AND WRITINGS A search in WorldCat will yield multiple sources by and about the Castro brothers in both Spanish and English. Note that the Oficina de Publicaciones del Consejo de Estado (Council of State’s Publications Office) has produced a number of works in Spanish and English by and about the Castros, along with informational resources on the Cuban government; many of these are available in U.S. libraries. For videos of the two brothers, a search in YouTube for “Fidel Castro” or “Raúl Castro” results in thousands of hits. Below are Web-based sources for transcripts of both Castro brothers’ speeches, remarks and other commentary. Cubadebate. Artículos de Raúl Castro Ruz (Raúl Castro Ruz’s Articles). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cubadebate.cu/autor/raul-castro-ruz. Transcripts of speeches with some embedded videos. Coverage starts with Sept. 14, 2006. Spanish only. Cubadebate. Fidel: Soldado de las Ideas (Fidel: Soldier of Ideas). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.fidelcastro.cu/ es/inicio (Spanish); http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/inicio (English). Transcripts of speeches, interviews, press conferences, letters and other documents. Topical index of “Quotes” available in English and under “Citas” in Spanish. Coverage is pre- and post-1959. Spanish-language pages have more content. Granma. Reflexiones del Compañero Fidel (Comrade Fidel’s Reflections). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www. granma.cu/reflexiones-fidel (Spanish); http://en.granma.cu/reflections-of-fidel (English). First post on the English-language page (“Articles and Reflections by Fidel”) is dated Jan. 6, 2011. The Spanishlanguage equivalent on Granma’s main site has more content and starts with Dec. 14, 2009. Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC). Castro Speech Data Base. Accessed July 24, 2017. http:// lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro.html. English-language translations of speeches, interviews and press conferences. Based on the records of the United States’ Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Covers 1959–1996. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba. Sala de Prensa (Press Room). http://www.minrex.gob.cu/es/sala-deprensa (Spanish); http://www.minrex.gob.cu/en/sala-de-prensa (English). Click on “Discursos e intervenciones” for access to speeches and other materials related to the Castro brothers in Spanish and “Speeches and remarks” for English. Also available in both languages are transcripts and summaries of press conferences and statements of the Minister of Foreign Relations. For statements, select “Declaraciones” in Spanish and “Statements” in English. Spanish-language pages have more content. Radio Reloj. Discursos (Speeches). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.radioreloj.cu/es/category/discursos/. Transcripts of speeches and talks by various government and PCC officials, including Fidel and Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and José Ramón Machado Ventura. Coverage starts on January 28, 2013. Spanish only. Radio Reloj. Reflexiones de Fidel (Fidel’s Reflections). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.radioreloj.cu/es/category/reflexiones-de-fidel/. Writings of Fidel Castro, including various letters. Coverage starts on April 4, 2013. Spanish only. Sitio del Gobierno de Cuba. Discursos e intervenciones del Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, Presidente del Consejo de Estado de la República de Cuba (Speeches and remarks of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, President of Cuba’s Council of State). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/index.html.

Transcripts of speeches and writings, many with multilingual translations provided (including English). Covers 1959–2008. Sitio del Gobierno de Cuba. Discursos e intervenciones del Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros de la República de Cuba General de Ejército Raúl Castro Ruz (Speeches and remarks of Raúl Castro Ruz, President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers and Commander in Chief of the Army). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www. cuba.cu/gobierno/rauldiscursos/index2.html. Transcripts of speeches and writings, some with multilingual translations provided (including English). Coverage is 2008–2016.

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LEGISLATION AND CODES MARISOL FLORÉN-ROMERO AND CATE KELLETT

According to the 1976 Cuban Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002), the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (ANPP) (National Assembly of People’s Power) is the unicameral legislative body193 that represents the will of the Cuban people and is the supreme organ of state power.194 Some of its powers include the ability to: amend the Constitution; declare war, make peace and set foreign policies; pass, repeal and amend laws; decide on the constitutionality of leyes (laws), decretos-leyes (decree-laws), decretos (decrees) and other regulations; debate and approve the national budget and other financial policies; and oversee the electoral processes of the provincial assemblies.195 Prior to the 1992 constitutional amendments, members were selected by vote by the provincial assemblies.196 Now the Constitution states that members must be elected through popular vote197 for five-year terms.198 The ANPP meets for two ordinary sessions a year, and in extraordinary session when convened by the Council of State, and members typically ratify government bills quickly.199 The ANPP also elects from its members the entire body of the Council of State.200 Between sessions of the ANPP, the Council of State acts in its place.201 Since the ANPP only meets a few times a year, the Council of State acts as the routine legislative decision maker most of the year.202 Bills may be introduced by: ANPP deputies; the Council of State; the Council of Ministers; ANPP commissions; the Comité Nacional de la Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (National Committee of the Cuban Central Labor Union) and the boards of other national social and mass organizations; the Tribunal Supremo Popular (People’s Supreme Court), in matters concerning the administration of justice; the Fiscalía General de la República (Office of the Attorney General of the Republic), on matters within its competence; and citizens. However, in the latter case, at least 10,000 citizens must propose the initiative.203 Marjorie S. Zatz identifies three phases in the law-making process in Cuba: anteproyecto, proyecto and the alta asesoría phase.204 The draft of a preliminary bill is called an anteproyecto. The preliminary draft of the proposed law is submitted to the ANPP, which in turn distributes it for public discussion and debate to all relevant agencies, including law schools and social and mass organizations. The analysis, critiques and comments of the proposed legislation are compiled into written dictámenes (opinions) or criterios (views), and along with the draft of the proposed law, are sent to the ANPP where the different viewpoints are reconciled and a revised draft is submitted as a proyecto (bill). C. Yoel Carrillo García describes this process in a different way.205 According to Carrillo García, the process starts when a bill is submitted to the President of the ANPP, who in turn sends it to the relevant ANPP commission or

193

CONST. art. 70. CONST. art. 69. 195 CUBA: A COUNTRY STUDY 233 (Rex A. Hudson ed., 4th ed. 2002), http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Cuba.pdf. 196 Id. at 234. 197 CONST. art. 71. 198 CONST. art. 72. 199 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 233. 200 CONST. art. 74. 201 CONST. art. 89. 202 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 235. 203 CONST. art. 88. 204 ZATZ, supra note 50, at 60–65. 205 C. Yoel Carrillo García, Régimen Político y Calidad de las Leyes en Cuba, 128 BOLETÍN MEXICANO DE DERECHO COMPARADO, 650, 653. To Carrillo García, the Reglamento de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular is an internal document of the National Assembly, and it only applies to bills. He understands that the great majority of the legal norms in Cuba (decreelaws, decrees, regulations and resolutions) are not subject to any publicly known law-making regulation; see also Cuba Posible & Michael Fernández Pérez, supra note 140; see also MEDINA & MEDINA-QUIROGA, supra note 106, at 44. 194

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commissions. The commission may approve the bill, with or without amendments; it can decide if the bill needs to be submitted for public discussion and debate; or, it may return the project for further discussion or amendments. The Comisión de Asuntos Constitucionales y Jurídicos (Commission on Constitutional and Juridical Matters) studies the constitutionality of the bill, and after final approval of the text, the bill is finally placed on agenda. The agency or organization taking the legislative initiative is in charge of defending the bill on the floor of the ANPP. Laws are enacted by a simple majority of votes. Once the final text of the bill is approved, the new law is signed by the President and the Secretary of the ANPP, and published in the Gaceta Oficial. The legislative process is regulated by the Reglamento de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (Regulation of the National Assembly of People’s Power) (Dec. 25, 1996).206 The agendas of the different sessions since 1976 are posted on the ANPP’s main web page under the specific legislative term. Each legislative term lasts five years and is numbered consecutively. Currently, the ANPP is in its eighth legislative term (2013–2018). The first legislative term started on December 2, 1976, when the ANPP convened for the first time, and it lasted until 1981. During an ordinary legislative session, the ANPP discusses or approves proposals for the establishment of temporary or permanent legislative commissions; addresses legislative bills; appoints the heads of government offices; approves national social and economic guidelines and programs; provides follow-up to the implementation of PCC agreements; approves the national budget; and, it elects lay judges for the different chambers of the Supreme Court, among other duties as specified by the Constitution.207 The Council of State, or one third of the total number of deputies, may convene an extraordinary session of the ANPP to discuss specific issues. Such was the case in March 2014 when the ANPP convened in an extraordinary session to discuss the new foreign investment law, Ley No. 118, Ley de Inversión Extranjera (Law No. 118, Law on Foreign Investment).208 Cuba’s taxonomy of legal instruments is complex and difficult to decipher. The 1976 Constitution names many of these types of norms, but others are mentioned in peripheral primary legislation and regulatory directives. The previous section of the Guide on “Executive Powers” discussed the main legal instruments that are explicitly named in the Constitution. In simple terms, the ANPP is empowered to issue leyes (laws).209 The Council of State has the authority to promulgate decretos-leyes (decree-laws) between sessions of the ANPP,210 and it also ratifies tratados internacionales (international treaties) per Article 90(m). The Council of Ministers emits decretos (decrees) to implement laws and decree-laws.211 Laws, decree-laws and decrees are of a general character and scope.212 There is a panoply, however, of regulatory instruments that Cuban state organs utilize for administrative purposes. The 2004 treatise, Temas de Derecho Administrativo Cubano, offers some clarification of these types of norms, as well as general insight into the complex topic of Cuban administrative law.213 According to this work, along with multiple kinds of administrative norms, there are multiple direct and indirect sources of administrative law.214 Simply put, however, national, provincial and municipal government bodies in Cuba have the constitutional authority to regulate the organization and functioning of the areas within their jurisdictional competence.215 The regulatory instruments utilized for this purpose include acuerdos (agreements), reglamentos (regulations), resoluciones (resolutions), instrucciones (instructions), órdenes (orders) and circulares (circulars). The ANPP, for example, issues acuerdos related to its own work, such as the election of lay judges.216 Reglamentos are often attached to decretos as the regulations for a specific ley or decreto-ley, but they also 206

Reglamento de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular [RANPP] [Regulation of the National Assembly of People’s Power], Dec. 25, 1996, http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/index.php/asamblea-nacional-del-poder-popular/ (last visited July 30, 2017). 207 CONST. art. 75; see also RANPP art. 4. 208 LIE 2014, infra note 331. 209 CONST. art. 75(b). 210 CONST. art. 90(c). 211 CONST. art. 98(k). 212 Diego Fernando Cañizares Abeledo, Acerca de la Facultad Reglamentaria de la Administración Estatal, in ARMANDO CASTANEDO ABAY et al., TEMAS DE DERECHO ADMINISTRATIVO CUBANO, 220, 227 (2004). 213 See ARMANDO CASTANEDO ABAY et al., TEMAS DE DERECHO ADMINISTRATIVO CUBANO (2004). 214 See generally Matilla Correa, supra note 136, at 33–217. 215 Id. 216 The ANPP’s acuerdos from the VIII Legislature are posted on the ANPP’s website, http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/ index.php/acuerdos-viii-legislatura/ (last visited July 30, 2017).

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appear autonomously.217 Individual ministries and other state organs issue resoluciones related to their own entity’s charges per Article 100(a) of the Constitution. Professor Matilla Correa, writing in the aforementioned treatise, bundles instrucciones, órdenes and circulares together under the broader heading of disposiciones (dispositions), which he explains are directed to subordinate bodies within an institutional hierarchy.218 The term disposición also appears in the Constitution, and other Cuban legal academics use it as a generic term to refer to any type of administrative provision.219 Along with the complexity of the various regulatory instruments, the absence of a compendium of Cuban administrative rules makes researching this area particularly difficult. Of some help, however, are the websites of state organs that include administrative provisions (and any primary legislation) relevant to their organizations. Examples of this are the websites of the Cuban Central Bank and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.220 Researchers should also note that the introductory material to the texts of Cuban laws and regulatory pronouncements published in the Gaceta Oficial pinpoint the enabling legal power; that is, the specific legal norm, such as the Constitution, that the state organ is drawing upon to issue the particular document. There is not an identifiable administrative procedure act that governs how all Cuban state agencies propose and establish rules, so these enabling law citations vary. The introductory material also clearly identifies the piece of primary legislation that a reglamento, for example, is implementing. Whether there is a hierarchy among all of the Cuban legal instruments mentioned above has been a somewhat contentious issue among scholars, according to the secondary literature. There is agreement that the Constitution is the highest law of the land, outweighing all of the aforementioned types of legal norms,221 but there is no clear consensus whether there is a hierarchy among those. Authors such as Medina and MedinaQuiroga, writing in 1979, warranted the superiority of the Constitution above other legal sources, and stated that decrees are subordinate to laws and decree-laws.222 Similarly, Álvarez Tabío in 1981, in his commentaries to the 1976 Constitution, and Whittles and Santos, in a footnote to a 2006 article, claimed that there is indeed a normative hierarchy.223 In contrast, however, Cuban scholar Bruzón Viltres noted that the 1976 Constitution, and subsequent constitutional reforms, did not provide principles on which to base the order of the sources of law; according to Bruzón Viltres, these principles were left undetermined.224 Professor Matilla Correa shares the view that there is no precise hierarchy, specifying that the Constitution provides no guidance on the role of treaties in the Cuban legal order.225 Other Cuban scholars similarly claim that there is no clearly defined hierarchical relationship between Cuba’s legal instruments beyond the apex of the Constitution.226 217

See HÉCTOR GARCINI GUERRA, DERECHO ADMINISTRATIVO (1982) for a comprehensive discussion of reglamentos (regulations) as a source of administrative law and the different types of reglamentos that are issued by government agencies. 218 Matilla Correa, supra note 136, at 72. 219 See, e.g., throughout EL DERECHO EN CUBA (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo coord., 2015). 220 http://www.bc.gob.cu/English/home.asp (last visited July 30, 2017) (under “Legal Framework,” but the documents are all in Spanish); http://www.citma.gob.cu/ (last visited July 30, 2017) (under “Marco Legal”). 221 The superiority of the Constitution is also implied in arts. 75(r)–(s). 222 MEDINA & MEDINA-QUIROGA, supra note 106, at 45. 223 FERNANDO ÁLVAREZ TABÍO, COMENTARIOS A LA CONSTITUCIÓN SOCIALISTA, 257, 295, 297 (1981). Álvarez Tabío affirms that “in the hierarchy of legal sources we can establish the following legal order: Constitution, law, decree-law, decree and disposiciones”; he further affirms that decree-laws have not had the same ranking as the laws enacted by the National Assembly, and that decree-laws have a higher legal standing than decrees and disposiciones of the Council of Ministers; see also Daniel Whittle & Orlando Rey Santos, Protecting Cuba’s Environment: Efforts to Design and Implement Effective Environmental Laws and Policies in Cuba, 37 CUBAN STUDIES, 73, 97 n.35 (2006). 224 Carlos Justo Bruzón Viltres, Reforma Constitucional en Cuba: Un Camino para el Perfeccionamiento del Ordenamiento Jurídico?, 20 ANUARIO DE DERECHO CONSTITUCIONAL LATINOAMERICANO 51 (2014); see also Carrillo García, supra note 205, at 623, 659. Carrillo states that “in practice what happens is that the Council of State not only regulates all types of social relations but also modifies and repeals through decree-laws, laws enacted by the National Assembly,” at 660. 225 Matilla Correa, supra note 136, at 41, 153. For a prescriptive analysis of the relationship between treaties and Cuban domestic law, see Orisell Richards Martínez, Una Mirada a los Presupuestos Téoricos para la Recepción de Tratados Internacionales en el Ordenaminento Jurídico Cubano, 42 REVISTA DE DER. Y CIENCIAS POLÍTICAS, 117 (enero–junio 2012). 226 See ROBERTO DÍAZ SOTOLONGO, LA CONSTITUCIÓN 6 (2011); Juan R. P. Carrillo, Hacía una Formulación Jurídico Normativa de las Fuentes del Derecho Agrario Cubano, 2 CAMPO JURÍDICO, 49, 63 (2014), asserts that the non-existence in Cuba of a general rule explicitly defining the sources of law and their hierarchy, places Cuba in a sui generis situation with respect to other countries at the

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Session Laws: Laws passed by the Cuban National Assembly, and reports of legislative work, are found on the main page of the Cuban parliament. http://www.parlamentocubano.cu/. Diario de Sesiones del Congreso de la República de Cuba. Senado. La Habana: Rambla y Bouza, 1902—v. 1 (no. 1); Oct. 1902—v. 62, 1930. Accessible in digital format in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). http://www.dloc.com/. Diario de Sesiones del Congreso de la República de Cuba. Cámara de Representantes. La Habana, 1902— v. 1. (no. 1); 1902—v. 95 (no. 7), 1957. Accesible in digital format on dLOC. http://www.dloc.com/. Diario de Sesiones del Congreso de la República de Cuba. Cámara de Representantes. La Habana: Publicado por la Jefatura del Despacho, 1902 –. Published in six volumes. Covers enacted laws from 1902 to 1927. This publication is a cumulative index of enacted laws, indicating the legislative session and date of publication in the Gaceta Oficial. Accessible in digital format on dLOC. http://www.dloc.com/. A. OFFICIAL GAZETTE According to the Constitution, all laws and related provisions must be published in the Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba (Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba).227 This includes resolutions and regulations of general interest; decree-laws of the Council of State; decrees, resolutions and regulations issued by the Council of Ministers; laws of the ANPP; official notes of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and instrucciones (instructions), resoluciones (resolutions) and acuerdos (agreements) of the Consejo de Gobierno del Tribunal Supremo Popular (CGTSP) (Governing Council of the People’s Supreme Court).228 During the U.S. military occupation (1899–1902), the Gaceta de La Habana (Gazette of Havana) was designated as the official gazette of the Gobierno Militar de Cuba (Military Government of Cuba).229 The Gazette included, not only military orders, but also the judgments of the Supreme Court.230 With the transfer of the U.S. Military Government to the new government of the Republic of Cuba, the Gaceta de La Habana became the Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba.231 Laws enter into force on the date determined by the laws themselves. Decrees, resolutions and other norms enacted by the Council of Ministers enter into force on the third day following their publication in the Gaceta Oficial, if otherwise not determined by the laws themselves.232 The Ministry of Justice publishes the Gaceta Oficial in print and offers online access, dating back to 1991.233 The Gaceta can be browsed by date, or by conducting a keyword search. The Gaceta is regulated by Decreto No. 62, Normas para la Publicación en la Gaceta Oficial (Decree No.

international level (Marisol Florén-Romero trans.), http://www.fasb.edu.br/revista/index.php/campojuridico (last visited July 30, 2017); see also C. Yoel Carillo García, Régimen Político y Calidad de las Leyes en Cuba, 128 BOLETÍN MEXICANO DE DERECHO COMPARADO, 623, 666 (2010); see also Matilla Correa, supra note 136, at 38. 227 CONST. art. 77. 228 CONST. arts. 77, 81(ch), 93(j); see also Historia de la Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba, GACETA OFICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/historia.html (last visited July 30, 2017). 229 Military Order No. 31a, March 31, 1899, in CUBA MILITARY GOVERNOR, 1899–1902 (Leonard Wood), CIVIL ORDERS AND CIRCULARS (Havana, 1899–1902). 230 Military Order No. 92, June 26, 1899, in CUBA MILITARY GOVERNOR, 1899–1902 (Leonard Wood), CIVIL ORDERS AND CIRCULARS (Havana, 1899–1902). 231 Decreto No. 8, May 20, 1902, 4 REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, COLECCIÓN LEGISLATIVA: SECRETARÍA DE GOBERNACIÓN, DE 20 DE MAYO A 31 DE DICIEMBRE DE 1902, 3 (Rambla y Bouza 1907), and Decreto No. 63, June 30, 1902, 4 REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, COLECCIÓN LEGISLATIVA: SECRETARÍA DE GOBERNACIÓN, DE 20 DE MAYO A 31 DE DICIEMBRE DE 1902, 19 (Rambla y Bouza 1907). 232 Decreto No. 62, Normas para la Publicación en la Gaceta Oficial [DNPGO] [Decree No. 62, Rules for Publication in the Official Gazette], Jan. 30, 1980, http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Decreto-No.-062.pdf. 233 GACETA OFICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, http://www.gacetaoficial.cu/ (last visited July 30, 2017). At the time of this writing, each edition of the Gaceta Oficial posted on this website is only available as an RAR file. These are compressed files that must first be extracted to be open and read.

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62, Rules for Publishing in the Official Gazette) (Jan. 30, 1980).234 There is no reference to the legal effect of the digital Gaceta in Decree No. 62. The Gaceta Oficial is issued in print form: Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. La Habana. 1902– Año 1 (no. 1, July 1); 1902– “Edición extraordinaria,” “Edición especial” or “Edición Extraordinaria especial.” One of the most complete holdings in the United States is at the University of Texas at Austin, Benson Latin American Collection, covering 1906–1979. Also available on microfilm: Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. La Habana.1902– Año 1 (no. 1, July 1); 1902–. The Gaceta was microfilmed by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service, 1974; covering 1902– 1967, 35 mm. reels. Continued by the New York Public Library, covering 1958–1974; 441 microfilm reels, 35 mm. As an online resource, the Gaceta can be found in digital format on HathiTrust and the website of the Ministry of Justice: HathiTrust Digital Library. 1905 (Jan.–Feb.)–1919 (Jan.–Sept.). Incomplete, missing some years. Digitized from originals at the University of California and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign libraries. Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. Publicación Digital. La Habana: Ministerio de Justicia, 1991–. http://www.gacetaoficial.cu/. B. COMPILATIONS OF LAWS 1. Pre-1959 Pre-revolutionary laws are available through several multi-volume sets that compiled legislation, decrees, proclamations, resolutions and other types of laws into one publication. For example, Colección Legislativa de la Isla de Cuba: Recopilación de Todas las Disposiciones Publicadas en la “Gaceta de La Habana” (Legislative Collection of the Island of Cuba: Compilation of all the Laws Published in the “Gazette of Havana”), covered 1899–1902; Colección Legislativa: Leyes, Tratados, Decretos y Resoluciones covered laws, treaties, decrees and resolutions from 1899–1921; and Leyes y Decretos de la República covered laws and decrees from 1909–1926.235 The Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (Bar Association of Havana) printed decisions and legislation in its publication, La Jurisprudencia al Día: Revista de Jurisprudencia y Legislación (Current Jurisprudence: Journal of Decisions and Legislation), from 1912 to 1957. From 1913 to 1932, this title was published in three parts, covering decisions on: (1) criminal matters; (2) civil matters; and (3) property and contentious administrative matters. Starting in 1933, a fourth section was introduced on legislation. At the end of each year, a subject index was included. Milo A. Borges published his Compilación Ordenada y Completa de la Legislación Cubana de 1899 a 1950, ambos inclusive (Complete and Orderly Compilation of Cuban Legislation from 1899 to 1950, inclusive) (2nd ed. La Habana, 1952) in three volumes, covering 1899 to 1936 and 1937 to 1950, with an alphabetical index. In 1960, Mariano Sánchez Roca and Juan Aromona Pérez continued Borges’ work by publishing a new volume covering 1951 to 1958. 2. Laws of the Revolution (Post-1959) Beginning in 1959, a series of pamphlets publicizing the laws sanctioned by the new revolutionary government was published monthly under the general title Folletos de Divulgación Legislativa (Pamphlets of Legislative Disclosure). Each issue had a consecutive number, starting with issue no. 1, covering laws enacted from January 1, 1959. Issue no. 1 (Jan. 1, 1959) through issue no. 30 (April 1961) cover the Leyes del Gobierno Provisional de la 234 235

DNPGO, supra note 232. REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, LEYES Y DECRETOS DE LA REPÚBLICA (1909–), vols. 16 to 58, http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00072607/00042.

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Revolución (Laws of the Provisional Revolutionary Government). These pamphlets were labeled as Leyes de la Revolución (Laws of the Revolution). Some issues have a distinctive title, such as issue no. 2, which contains the text of the Ley Fundamental de la República (Fundamental Law of the Republic) that was promulgated on February 7, 1959; and issue no. 4 contains the criminal and criminal procedure laws enacted during the revolutionary period. Starting with issue no. 31 (April 1961), the title changed to Leyes del Gobierno Revolucionario de Cuba (Laws of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba). The final issue of the series was no. 61 (April–June 1966). In 2007, Esteban M. Beruvides compiled and transcribed all the Cuban laws and decrees of the revolutionary government enacted in 1959 and 1960 in a three-volume set.236 The Ministry of Justice also published a set of laws, decree-laws, decrees and dispositions first published in the Gaceta Oficial, covering 1980 to 1989.237 Ángel A. Alfonso Seisdedos. Índice y Extractos, Gaceta Oficial, República de Cuba, 1967–1972. La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1987. Index and summaries of laws and other norms published in the Gaceta Oficial from 1967 to 1972. Ángel A. Alfonso Seisdedos, Índice y Extractos, Gaceta Oficial, República de Cuba, 1973–1976. La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1989. Index and summaries of laws and other norms published in the Gaceta Oficial from 1973 to 1976. República de Cuba. Leyes, Decretos-Leyes, Decretos y Disposiciones Publicadas en la Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. La Habana: Depto. de Divulgación, Ministerio de Justicia, 1980–1989. Thirty-six issues were published. C. CODES The Gaceta Oficial portal provides online access to the main legislation and codes in Spanish. These include the Código de la Familia (Family Code); Código Civil (Civil Code); Código Penal (Criminal Code); Código de Trabajo (Labor Code); Código de Comercio (Commercial Code); Ley de Procedimiento Penal (Criminal Procedure Law); and the Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico (Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law), among others.238 The compilation of laws and codes available on this site is not comprehensive, and the versions are not necessarily the most current. For information on procedures in various matters of law, including civil, administrative, labor, economic and criminal, see the section on “The Judiciary” of this Guide, Part C. In the Cuban legal system, these are not enacted as codes. The following subsections will describe the history and current status of the main Cuban Codes: Civil Code, Family Code, Code of Children and Youth, Commercial Code, Criminal Code, Labor Code, and Road Safety and Traffic Code. a. Civil Code The Código Civil Español (Spanish Civil Code) was enacted by Royal Decree on July 31, 1889, and was in force in Cuba just before the United States occupied the island on January 1, 1899. The U.S. Military Government ratified the Spanish Civil Code on January 1, 1899, and it continued to be in force for 80 years until July 16, 1987, when the National Assembly sanctioned a new Código Civil (Civil Code),239 which is still in force today. Over the years, one of the most important amendments that substantially modified the Code was the section on family and related matters. In 1975, this topic was removed from the Civil Code altogether and enacted as a separate code; that being, the Código de la Familia (Family Code). The current Civil Code has 547 Articles structured into five sections: preliminary provisions 236

ESTEBAN M. BERUVIDES, CUBA: LEYES Y DECRETOS (2007). REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, LEYES, DECRETOS-LEYES, DECRETOS Y DISPOSICIONES, PUBLICADAS EN LA GACETA OFICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA (1980 – 1989). 238 Legislación Cubana, GACETA OFICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA, https://www.gacetaoficial.gob. cu/html/legislacion_cubana.html (last visited July 30, 2017). 239 See CÓD. CIVIL, supra note 59; see also Código Civil, in CÓDIGO CIVIL Y LEYES CIVILES CUBANAS 17 (Ángel Carrasco Perera ed., 2000). 237

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(covering Articles 1 to 21); Book One related to persons (Articles 22 to 126); Book Two on property rights (Articles 127 to 232); Book Three dealing with obligations and contracts (Articles 233 to 465); and Book Four on inheritance and succession (Articles 466 to 547).240 For a detailed commentary on the Civil Code, see Comentarios al Código Civil Cubano (Commentaries on the Cuban Civil Code) (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo ed., La Habana, 2014). b. Family Code The 1975 Código de la Familia (Family Code)241 repealed several sections of the Civil Code concerning the personal and economic regimes of the family, as well as sections pertaining to marriage and divorce. The Family Code covers all matters relating to marriage, parent-child relationships, adoption, filiation, custody and alimony. It also regulates divorce. The procedures in family matters are regulated by Instrucción del Tribunal Supremo Popular No. 216 (Instruction of the People’s Supreme Court No. 216) (May 17, 2012).242 The Center for Cuban Studies (New York City) later published an English–language translation of the Family Code. A comment at the beginning of the Code highlights the significance of the strengthening of essential principles for the advancement of the socialist revolution, family relations, marriage and gender equality.243 c. Code of Children and Youth The 1978 Código de la Niñez y la Juventud (Code of Children and Youth)244 defines principles, policies, rights, and obligations of individuals and institutions responsible for the socialist education of the future generations. It addresses the needs of children and youth under 30 years of age in a socialist society. It sets out the rights and obligations in the areas of education, labor, health and culture, supporting active involvement of children and youth as they contribute to society. d. Commercial Code The Código de Comercio (Commercial Code)245 of 1886 is still in force today, although over the years the Code has been amended and different sections have been repealed. The sections on business organizations, commercial contracts, commercial intermediaries, bankruptcy, securities and maritime insurance are all still in force. Ley No. 115, De la Navegación Marítima, Fluvial y Lacustre (Law No. 115, On Maritime, River and Lake Navigation) (July 6, 2013) repealed whole sections of Book III of the Commercial Code, with the exception of marine insurance (Section III of Book III).246 Two other laws amended different sections of the Commercial Code: Decreto-Ley No. 304 (Decree-Law No. 304)247 pertaining to commercial contracts regulating preliminary agreements, as well 240

See Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo, Código Civil y Algunas Leyes Complementarias, in EL DERECHO EN CUBA 125 (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo coord., 2015). 241 Ley No. 1289, CÓDIGO DE LA FAMILIA [CÓD. FAM.] [Law No. 1289, Family Code], Feb. 14, 1975, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 6, Feb. 15, 1975, https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigo%20de%20lafamilia.html. 242 Instrucción del Tribunal Supremo Popular No. 216, relativa al procedimiento familiar y la adopción de medidas cautelares [People’s Supreme Court Instruction No. 216, relative to family procedure and the adoption of precautionary measures], May 17, 2012, Gaceta Oficial [GO], June 22, 2012. 243 CUBAN FAMILY CODE (Center for Cuban Studies, 1977); see the statement on the verso of the cover page, “Cubans are taking the provisions of the Family Code seriously, and the Code is helping to create one of the most basic conditions for further development of the Revolution, that of equality between men and women in all areas of Cuban life.” 244 Ley No. 16, CÓDIGO DE LA NIÑEZ Y LA JUVENTUD [CÓD. NIN. JUV.] [Law No. 16, Code of Children and Youth], June 26, 1978, Gaceta Oficial [GO], June 30, 1978, http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ley-No.-016-C%C3%B3digo-dela-Ni%C3%B1ez-y-la-Juventud.pdf. 245 CÓDIGO COMERCIAL [CÓD. COM.] [Commercial Code], Real Decreto de 28 de enero de 1886; see also Raiza Fraga Martínez, Los Sujetos del Derecho Mercantil en la Legislación Cubana, 28 REVISTA ÁMBITO JURÍDICO (April 2016), http:// www.ambito-juridico.com.br/site/index.php?n_link=revista_artigos_leitura&artigo_id=1067. 246 Ley No. 115, De la Navegación Marítima, Fluvial y Lacustre [LNMFL] [Law No. 115, On Maritime, River and Lake Navigation], July 6, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 34, Nov. 4, 2013. 247 Decreto-Ley No. 304, De la Contratación Económica, [DLCE] [Decree-Law No. 304, On Economic Contracting], Nov. 1, 2012, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 62, Dec. 27, 2012.

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as the requirements for the formation of contracts; and Decreto No. 310 (Decree No. 310)248 (supplementing DecreeLaw No. 304) dealing with types of contracts. Secondary sources discussing Cuban commercial law can be found on vLex, including Roberto Lemus Machado’s Las Sociedades Mercantiles: Tratamiento en el Ordenamiento Jurídico Cubano (Commercial Companies: Their Treatment in the Cuban Legal System) (2012). vLex also includes Yohandra María Hernández García and José Augusto Ochoa del Rio’s Marco Legal de las Sociedades Mercantiles en Cuba: Legalidad del Procedimiento de Transformación (The Legal Framework of Commercial Companies in Cuba: Legality and Process of Transformation) (2012). For an annotated version of the Commercial Code, see Código de Comercio: Anotado y Concordado: Promulgado por las Cortes Españolas en 1885 y Hecho Extensivo a Cuba en 1886 (Commercial Code: annotated and harmonized: enacted by the Spanish Courts in 1885 and extended to Cuba in 1886) (Cámara de Comercio, 2004). e. Criminal Code In 1987, a new Código Penal (Criminal Code) repealed the Criminal Code of 1979.249 The Code was amended by Ley No. 87 (Law No. 87) (Feb. 16, 1999), modifying Articles 322 to 329, and Decreto-Ley No. 316 (Decree-Law No. 316) (Dec. 7, 2013), regarding the prevention of acts of terrorism.250 The Criminal Code is divided into two Books. The First Book presents the general principles and concepts underlying criminal law; the criminal institution; the different types of criminal acts; grounds for excluding criminal responsibility; types of sanctions; and other general provisions on mitigating and aggravating circumstances of criminal responsibility. The Second Book lists all of the criminal offenses. It consists of 15 Titles, covering offenses such as crimes against the security of the State; the administration and public order; the national economy; life and physical integrity; individual rights; the normal development of sexual relations; and family, children and youth. The Criminal Code also contains special and final provisions. 251 For an annotated version of the Code, see Danilo Rivero García and María Caridad Bertot Yero, Código Penal de la República de Cuba: Ley No. 62/87: Anotado con las Disposiciones del CGTSP (Criminal Code of the Republic of Cuba: Law No. 62/87: Annotated with the Provisions of the CGTSP) (ONBC, 2013). f. Labor Code The Código de Trabajo (Labor Code) (Dec. 20, 2013) governs labor relations between employers within the national territory and national or foreign persons with permanent residency in the country.252 The Code repealed the earlier Labor Code, Ley No. 49 (Law No. 49) (Dec. 28, 1984), Decreto-Ley No. 176 (Decreto-Ley No. 176) (Aug. 15, 1997) on the labor justice system and several Articles of the Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico (Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law) (Aug. 19, 1977). More specifically, the new Labor Code modified Article 703 of the Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law to exclude labor conflicts within government entities. g. Road Safety and Traffic Code The Código de Seguridad Vial (Road Safety and Traffic Code)253 defines professional drivers and the concept of the novice driver. The Code went into effect on March 16, 2011, and it refines and updates the existing 248

Decreto No. 310, De los Tipos de Contratos [DTC] [Decree No. 310, On the Types of Contracts], Dec. 17, 2012, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 62, Dec. 27, 2012. 249 See CÓD. PEN. 1987, supra note 62. 250 Decreto-Ley No. 316, Modificativo del Código Penal y de La Ley Contra Actos de Terrorismo [DLMCPLCAT] [Decree-Law No. 316, Amending the Criminal Code and the Law Against Acts of Terrorism], Dec. 7, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], NO. 44, Dec. 19, 2013. See also JUDITH LÓPEZ SORIA, CÓDIGO PENAL CUBANO (2011), http://www.onbc. cu/uploads/media/page/0001/01/c1d2d7c14b9828fba0f10ce964c876ff7cdf7905.pdf. 251 See EVENSON, supra note 16, at 170. 252 Ley No. 116, CÓDIGO DE TRABAJO [CÓD. TRAB. 2013] [Law No. 116, Labor Code], Dec. 20, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 29, June 17, 2014. 253 Ley No. 109, CÓDIGO DE SEGURIDAD VIAL [CÓD. SEG. V.] [Law No. 109, Road Safety and Traffic Code], Aug. 1, 2010, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 40, Sept. 17, 2010, http://www.juventudtecnica.cu/sites/default/files/gacetaoficial-cuba-40-2010ley109-transito.pdf.

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Ley No. 60, Código de Vialidad y Tránsito (Law No. 60, Road and Traffic Safety Code) (Sept. 28, 1987). Special emphasis is given to the rights and duties of all road users, including pedestrians and passengers, who are not exempt from fines for violations of regulations. The Code establishes sanctions and amounts of fines for disobedience. D. ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS OF CUBAN LAWS Some English-language translations of Cuban legislation and Codes exist. In 1975, the Ministry of Justice published the Family Code in English.254 The Center for Cuban Studies also published an English-language version that was later digitized by the University of Florida for the dLOC.255 Some historical laws are available in English dating back to the Spanish-American War; online access to these is offered by various platforms, including Google Books, HathiTrust, LLMC Digital and The Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600–1970. More recently, and coinciding with economic reforms, some government entities have provided English-language translations of laws pertaining to international investment, trade, customs and related topics. The Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba (Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba), for example, published bilingual editions of laws in its series Colección Jurídica, on duty free zones and industrial parks, mining, foreign investment, taxation and customs. There is currently no central portal or publisher that compiles such documents, so a basic Web search is often the best way to locate English-language translations online. LLMC Digital and WorldCat will also assist in identifying English-language translations of Cuban laws. In general, English-language translations of Cuban legislation are scarce and are primarily useful for reference purposes. E. ONLINE RESOURCES FOR CODES AND LEGISLATION There is no Cuban law guaranteeing the right of access to government information.256 However, as aforementioned, government institutions are publishing online and providing open access to the regulatory frameworks of the areas under their supervision. Nonetheless, caution should be observed because the most current and consolidated texts of laws and codes are not always provided. Often, several sources need to be reviewed to find the most current version of a law or a code posted online. The following is an overview of the legislation available on the Gaceta Oficial website. For other electronic collections of Cuban legislation, see the Guide’s later section on “Online Resources” (Part C. Legislation). Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba–Publicación Digital (Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba– Digital Edition). https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/legislacion_cubana.html. The section on “Legislación Cubana” (Cuban Legislation) includes all Codes and procedure laws, along with other laws on fundamental matters, such as housing, immigration, the environment, foreign investment, labor, divorce and copyright. The page provides HTML and PDF versions of the Codes and laws. However, the two versions of the laws may differ from one another. The following Codes and procedure laws are found under “Legislación Cubana”: Ley No. 59, CÓDIGO CIVIL [CÓD. CIVIL] [Law No. 59, Civil Code], July 16, 1987, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 9, Oct. 15, 1987, as amended through Decreto-Ley No. 140 [Decree-Law No. 140], Aug. 13, 1993, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 4, Aug. 13, 1993. The PDF version is the original text enacted in 1987, while the HTML version incorporates amendments to Decree-Law No. 140. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigo%20civil%20lib1.html. CÓDIGO DE COMERCIO [CÓD. COM.] [Commercial Code] has no title page or date. It starts directly with Book 1 “Of merchants and commerce in general.” It includes annotations and amendments introduced by Ley No. 1298, Ley Orgánica del Banco Nacional de Cuba [LOBNC] [Law No. 1298, Organic Law of 254

FAMILY CODE; LAW NO. 1289, OF FEB. 14, 1975; OFFICIAL GAZETTE, FEB. 15, 1975. (Pocket Ed. 1975). CUBAN FAMILY CODE (1977), http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00021904/00001. 256 Marisol Florén-Romero, Mapping the Digital Legal Information of Mexico, Central America, the Spanish Speaking Caribbean and Haiti, 40 INT’L. J. LEGAL INFO. 417, 482 (2012). 255

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the National Bank], Oct. 4, 1975, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 21, Oct. 6, 1975. PDF and HTML versions are the same. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigocomerciorepublica.html. Ley No. 1289, CÓDIGO DE LA FAMILIA: Anotado y Concordado [CÓD. FAM.] [Law No. 1289, Family Code: Annotated and Harmonized], Feb. 14, 1975, amended to 1994, incorporating the changes introduced by Decreto-Ley No. 154, del Divorcio Notarial [DLDN] [Decree-Law No. 154, Notarial Divorce], Sept. 6. 1994, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 13, Sept. 19, 1994. The PDF version of the Código de la Familia: Anotado y Concordado is updated to 1985 by Ley No. 51 [Law No. 51], July 15, 1985. https:// www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigo%20de%20lafamilia.html. Ley No. 62, CÓDIGO PENAL [CÓD. PEN. 1987] [Law No. 62, Criminal Code], Dec. 29, 1987, as amended through Ley No. 93, Ley Contra Actos de Terrorismo [LCAT] [Law No. 93, Law Against Terrorism], Dec. 20, 2001, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 14, Dec. 24, 2001. HTML and PDF texts are the same. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/codigo_penal.html. Ley No. 49, CÓDIGO DE TRABAJO [CÓD. TRAB. 1984] [Law No. 49, Labor Code], Dec. 28, 1984, in force on July 26, 1985, as amended to Decreto-Ley No.189 [Decree-Law No. 189], Dec. 4, 1998. Only the HTML version is available on the website of the Gaceta Oficial. This law is no longer in force, as it was abrogated by Ley No. 116 [Law No. 116], Dec. 20, 2013. The current Code is not provided on this page. Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [LPCALE] [Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, as amended through Decreto–Ley No. 227, del Patrimonio Estatal [DLPE] [Decree-Law No. 227, on State Property], Jan. 8, 2002, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 2, Jan. 10, 2002. The PDF file is incomplete. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/ley prociviladminlaboral.html. Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Law of Criminal Procedure], Aug. 13, 1977, as amended through Decreto-Ley No. 208 [Decree-Law No. 208], Feb. 16, 2000, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 1, Feb. 17, 2000. HTML and PDF texts are the same. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/html/procedimientopenal.html. F. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LEGISLATION, CODES AND COMMENTARY

Aguilar Alfu, Alvaro. “Law Report: Cuba Enacts New Foreign Investment Law.” International Law Practicum 27, no. 2 (2014): 109–111. Alomá Rodríguez, Josefina Nahilse. “El Decreto Ley 203/99 ‘De Marcas y Otros Signos Distintivos’: Aspectos Novedosos y Dificultades Prácticas de su Aplicación.” Revista de Sociales y Jurídicas 1, no. 10 (2014): 142–156. Accessed July 30, 2017. https://revistasocialesyjuridicas.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/10-tm-08.pdf. Bernal, Beatriz. Cuba y Sus Leyes: Estudios Histórico-Jurídicos. Mexico, D.F.: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2002. Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo. “Reforma Constitucional en Cuba: Un Camino para el Perfeccionamiento del Ordenamiento Jurídico?” Anuario de Derecho Constitucional Latinoamericano 20 (2014): 43–60. Carrasco Perera, Ángel. Código Civil y Leyes Civiles Cubanas. Cuenca, España: Ediciones de la Universidad Castilla-La Mancha, 2000. Carrillo, Juan R. P. “Hacia una Formulación Jurídico Normativa de las Fuentes del Derecho Agrario Cubano.” Campo Jurídico 2, no. 2 (2014): 49–76. Carrillo García, C. Yoel. “Régimen Político y Calidad de las Leyes en Cuba.” Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado 128 (Mayo – Agosto 2010): 623–669. Cuban Family Code. New York: Center for Cuban Studies, 1977. Echeverría, Isabel. Bibliografía de La Gaceta Oficial de La República de Cuba. La Habana: Asociación Cubana de Bibliotecarios, 1984. Hernández Jiménez, Norberto. Temas de Procedimiento Penal: Reflexiones a Propósito de La Ley 1395 de 2010. Saarbrucken, Germany: Editorial Académica Española, 2012. Law Decree no. 162 on Customs. La Habana: Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba, 1998. Lemus Machado, Roberto. Las Sociedades Mercantiles: Tratamiento en el Ordenamiento Jurídico Cubano. Saarbrucken, Germany: Editorial Académica Española, 2012.

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Lerda, Emiliano. 2013. “Agricultural Law Developments in Cuba: Challenges and Opportunities.” Drake Journal of Agricultural Law 18, no. 3 (2013): 473–512. Ley De Mina = Law of Mine. La Habana: Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba, 2000. López Soria, Judith. Código Penal Cubano. La Habana: ONBC, 2011. Medina, Rubens, and Cecilia Medina-Quiroga. Nomenclature & Hierarchy: Basic Latin American Legal Sources. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1979. Medina Cuenca, Arnel. Comentarios a las Leyes Penales Cubanas. La Habana: Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba, 2014. Osorio Arrascue, Santiago. El Derecho Civil en Cuba y Perú: Código Civil, Código Procesal Civil y Comercial Cubano. Lima, Perú: Santiago Osorio Arrascue, 2010. Pérez Fuentes, Gisela. “Panorámica sobre la Ley de Inversiones Extranjeras en Cuba.” Icade: Revista de Las Facultades de Derecho y Ciencias Económicas Empresariales 37–38 (1996): 176–188. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B. El Código Civil Cubano de 1987: Veinticinco Años Después. La Habana: Unión Nacional de Juristas Cubanas, 2014. ———. Código Civil de la República de Cuba, Ley no. 59/1987 de 16 de Julio: Anotado y Concordado. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2011. ———. “Leyes Principales: Código Civil y Algunas Leyes Complementarias.” In El Derecho en Cuba, coordinated by Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo, 125–172. Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B., and Ángel Acedo Penco. Código Civil de la República de Cuba: Ley no. 59/1987 de 16 de Julio: Anotado y Concordado con los Ordenamientos Cubano y Español. Madrid: Editorial Dykinson, 2006. Rivero García, Danilo, and María Caridad Bertot Yero. Código Penal de la República de Cuba, Ley no. 62/87: Anotado con las Disposiciones del CGTSP. La Habana: ONBC, 2013. Serrano Gómez, Alfonso. “La Reforma del Código de Cuba en Materia de Penas.” Boletín de La Facultad de Derecho de la UNED 17 (2001): 151–159. Valdez Díaz, Caridad del Carmen, and Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo. Comentarios al Código Civil Cubano. Edited by Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo. La Habana: Editorial Félix Varela, 2014. Zatz, Marjorie S. “Reaching a Consensus: The Process of Law Creation.” In Producing Legality: Law and Socialism in Cuba, 53–97. New York: Routledge, 1994.

THE JUDICIARY MARISOL FLORÉN-ROMERO

A. INTRODUCTION Cuba’s revolutionary government considered the judicial system as vital in consolidating the legitimacy and goals of the Revolution. Upon obtaining power, and as early as January 1, 1959, the revolutionary government adopted a series of measures and laws to support the country’s transformation to the new social order. On February 7, 1959, the Ley Fundamental (Fundamental Law) was enacted. The Fundamental Law suspended the permanent tenure of office for the judiciary and permitted the removal of any juez (judge) or Magistrado de Audiencia257 for any reason.258 The Fundamental Law further authorized the Council of Ministers to directly appoint new judges.259 257

Magistrado de Audiencia was the title given to judges of the Cuban appellate courts and the Justices of the Cuban Supreme Court per the 1931 Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial de la República de Cuba [LOPJRC] [Organic Law of the Judicial Power of the Republic of Cuba], art. 9. See ANDRÉS MARÍA LAZCANO Y MAZÓN, LEY ORGÁNICA DEL PODER JUDICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA 26 (1931). Available on LLMC Digital. 258 Between 1959 and 1961, the entire judiciary was purged from top to bottom; many judges and justices were forced to resign or retire, and others resigned denouncing the violation of individual rights and constitutional guarantees as proclaimed by the Fundamental Law of 1959 in all its versions and successive amendments. [Notes from interview with Orlando Rivero, Cuban lawyer, former Professor of Civil Law at the Universidad de La Habana.] 259 LF art. 159. “Las personas designadas al amparo y durante el término de suspensión de la inamovilidad judicial y la del Ministerio Fiscal de fecha 10 de enero de 1959, acordada por el Consejo de Ministros y publicada en la Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria de fecha 13 de enero del 1959 podrán continuar…”

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Soon thereafter, a new type of court, Tribunales Revolucionarios (Revolutionary Courts), was established to try followers of the old regime. The Revolutionary Courts were placed under the control of the military and employed a summary proceeding that limited the defendants’ rights to an effective defense. The Revolutionary Courts lasted only for a few months, until July 1959, and were reinstated later that same year and given jurisdiction over crimes designated as counter-revolutionary. In 1962, the government established Tribunales Populares (People’s Courts).260 The People’s Courts were staffed by local lay persons who received legal instruction from law students or professors of law. People’s Courts had jurisdiction over misdemeanors and family matters. Trials were open to the public. Revolutionary and People’s Courts operated concurrently with the traditional ordinary court system. The ordinary courts remained unchanged in structure and jurisdiction until 1973. The changes in this initial post-1959 phase remained in place for 17 years until the adoption of the 1976 Constitution. B. THE JUDICIARY Current Legal Framework: CONSTITUCIÓN [CONST.], as amended to June 26, 2002, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 10, July16, 2002; and Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 3, Jan. 31, 2003, arts. 120–126. • Ley No. 82, Ley de los Tribunales Populares [LTP 1997] [Law No. 82, Law of the People’s Courts], July 11, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 8, July 14, 1997, abrogated Ley No. 70, Ley de los Tribunales Populares [LTP 1990] [Law No. 70, Law of the People’s Courts], July 12, 1990. http://www. parlamentocubano.cu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/LEY-NO.-82-DE-LOS-TRIBUNALES-POPULARES.pdf. • Reglamento de Ley de los Tribunales Populares [RLTP] [Regulation of the Law of the People’s Courts], Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 7, Feb. 2, 1998, regulating Ley No. 82, Ley de los Tribunales Populares, July 11, 1997.

•

During the 1970s, Cuba began the reform of the judiciary with the enactment of Ley No. 1250, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial (Law No. 1250, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System) (June 23, 1973),261 and a new law of criminal procedure, Ley No. 1251, Ley de Procedimiento Penal (Law No. 1251, Criminal Procedure Law) (June 25, 1973).262 Law No. 1250 introduced fundamental changes to the judicial system, the office of the public prosecutors and the practice of law. The 1973 statute abolished the Revolutionary and People’s Courts and unified the structure and organization of the courts. It provided four levels of jurisdiction: (1) community base courts; (2) provincial courts; (3) regional courts; and (4) at the national level, the Supreme Court. Judges were appointed for renewable terms of seven years (court presidents), five years (professional judges) and three years (lay judges).263 The Oficina de la Fiscalía General (Office of the Attorney General) was separated administratively from the judiciary and the law set out a new structure for its functions. The Supreme Court was given appellate review over all judicial proceedings, even those of military courts. Crimes against the security of the State were incorporated into the ordinary court system as special chambers, and special military chambers were also established in the provincial courts to hear and review such cases. The new court system maintained the model introduced by the People’s Courts during the post-revolutionary stage of court panels composed of both lay and professional judges. This model emphasized the principle of participation of the people in the administration of justice.264 In 1976, a new constitution was adopted replacing the Fundamental Law of 1959 and its amendments. The 1976 Constitution provided for a new political administrative division of the country, which led to the establishment of 14 provinces and 169 municipalities, and reorganized government functions.265 Major changes were made to the 260

More than 2,200 People’s Courts were established in the country. Juan Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 182. Ley No. 1250, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial [LOSJ 1973] [Law No. 1250, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 13, June 23, 1973. 262 Ley No. 1251, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1973] [Law No. 1251, Criminal Procedure Law], June 25, 1973, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 14, June 26, 1973. 263 LOSJ 1973 art. 85. 264 Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 184. 265 CONST. arts. 100, 121; see also Ley No. 1304, Ley de la División Político Administrativa [LDPA] [Law No. 1304, Law on the Political Administrative Division], July 3, 1976, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 3, July 5, 1976. 261

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laws in order to restructure the court system to conform to the new political administrative reorganization. Three new laws were enacted: Ley No. 4, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial (Law No. 4, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System) (Aug. 10, 1977); Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal (Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law) (Aug. 13, 1977); and Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo y Laboral (Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedure Law) (Aug. 19, 1977).266 These laws enacted in 1977 introduced important changes in the administration of justice. The base and regional courts were merged into municipal courts to create a three-tier structure. The power to elect judges was transferred from the Council of Ministers to the corresponding legislative assemblies at the municipal, provincial and national levels.267 The composition of the bench was modified, along with judges’ responsibilities. The mixed bench of professional and lay judges was now formalized into three-judge panels in municipal courts and five-judge panels in provincial courts and the Supreme Court. Labor disputes were integrated into the court system and the Office of the Attorney General gained further autonomy.268 The 1977 reforms endured until July 12, 1990, when a new law of the People’s Courts was passed.269 Under this new law, there was another shift in the composition of the bench in provincial courts. The number of professional and lay judges in the provincial courts stayed the same as in municipal courts, except for complex criminal cases, where the previous composition of two lay and three professional judges remained in effect. The law also formalized the relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the courts. The Ministry of Justice was given authority over organizational and financial matters affecting the administration of the courts. A few years later, in 1997, two new laws further advanced the reforms of the judiciary: Ley No. 82, Ley de los Tribunales Populares (Law No. 82, Law of the People’s Courts), which denotes the structure of the court system in force today; and Ley No. 83, Ley de la Fiscalía General de la República (Law No. 83, Law of the Attorney General of the Republic), which regulates the structure and functions of the Office of the Attorney General.270 Law No. 82 reinstated tenure for professional judges and established governing councils at the level of provincial courts. The law also established a system of reporting, analysis and evaluation at all levels of the judiciary, and guidelines and procedures for disciplinary proceedings.271 Significantly, the judiciary acquired autonomy from the Ministry of Justice, and the Consejo de Gobierno del Tribunal Supremo Popular (CGTSP) (Governing Council of the People’s Supreme Court) became the authority responsible for the administration, organization and finances of the courts.272 1. Role of the Judiciary From its earliest days, the revolutionary government used the courts as a means of re-educating the population politically. Courts were to “interpret and apply the laws in a manner consistent with the principles of 266

Ley No. 4, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial [LOSJ 1977] [Law No. 4, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System], Aug. 10, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 36, Aug. 25, 1977; Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 13, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Aug. 15, 1977; these two laws abrogated Ley No. 1250, June 23, 1973, and Ley No. 1251, June 25, 1973. Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo y Laboral [LPCAL] [Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Aug. 20, 1977 abrogated Ley No. 1261, Ley de Procedimiento Civil y Administrativo [LPCA] [Law No. 1261, Civil and Administrative Procedure Law], Jan. 4, 1974, which overturned the 1886 Spanish civil procedure law, Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil. 267 LOSJ 1977 art. 75. 268 CONST. art. 131. Article 131 of the 1976 Constitution states that the Attorney General of the Republic is subordinate only to the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State and follows and executes direct instructions from the Council of State; see also Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 184; see also ZATZ, supra note 50, at 77. 269 Ley No. 70, Ley de los Tribunales Populares [LTP 1990] [Law No. 70, Law of the People’s Courts], July 12, 1990, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 25, July 24, 1990. 270 Ley No. 82, Ley de los Tribunales Populares [LTP 1997] [Law No. 82, Law of the People’s Courts], July 11, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], July 14, 1997, and Ley No. 83, Ley de la Fiscalía General de la República [LFGR] [Law No. 83, Law of the Attorney General of the Republic], July 11, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 8, July 14, 1997; these enacted laws were based on the 1992 constitutional reform. 271 Reglamento de Ley de los Tribunales Populares [RLTP] [Regulation of the Law of the People’s Courts], Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 7, Feb. 2, 1998 (regulating Ley No. 82, Ley de los Tribunales Populares, July 11, 1997). 272 Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 185.

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socialism.”273 The enacted statutes that reorganized the courts explicitly stated the courts’ principles and objectives: “observe and enforce socialist legality”; “prevent violations of the law and antisocial behaviors, repress and reeducate those who breach the law”; “raise the social legal consciousness,…formulating in their decisions the timely pronouncements to educate citizens in the conscious and voluntary observance of their duties.”274 The judicial function is, above all, a social function meant to promote the development of social consciousness in a socialist society.275 2. The System of Courts The function of imparting justice emanates from the people, and is exercised in their name by the Supreme Court and the other courts that the law institutes.276 The courts are hierarchically subordinate to the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State. (See Chart No. 1, Structure of the Courts.) a. People’s Municipal Courts The Tribunales Populares Municipales (People’s Municipal Courts) are courts of first instance, the lowest courts within the system. They exercise jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. Jurisdiction is exercised over civil cases in which the disputed amount does not exceed 1,000 Cuban pesos, family disputes, child support and probate actions, as well as appeals from decisions of labor councils.277 Their jurisdiction extends over criminal cases with maximum penalty not exceeding eight years and fines up to 1,000 cuotas (quotas).278 The municipal courts are not divided into salas (chambers), but specialized sections can be created when the volume or nature of the cases so require. A three-judge panel hears cases in the municipal courts. The panel is formed by two lay judges and one professional judge who presides over the panel.279 b. People’s Provincial Courts The Tribunales Populares Provinciales (People’s Provincial Courts) are primary trial courts for more serious cases. These courts are structured into five divisions: (1) criminal; (2) civil and administrative; (3) labor; (4) economic; and (5) a division that deals with crimes “against the security of the State.”280 Provincial courts have civil jurisdiction over major civil cases (disputes with amount at issue greater than 10,000 Cuban pesos); breach of contract and civil liability; cases concerning business transactions; annulment of marriage; appeals from divorce decisions of the municipal courts; and custody cases.281 Provincial courts also have jurisdiction over felony-level crimes with maximum penalty exceeding eight years and fines over 1,000 cuotas; economic lawsuits; cases involving business entities owned and controlled by the State; and commercial litigation among Cuban parties (excluding foreign or mixed-business entities).282 Civil and administrative chambers hear administrative cases and disputes over property rights, among other issues. Provincial courts exercise appellate jurisdiction over

273

Gerard J. Clark, The Legal Profession in Cuba, 23 SUFFOLK TRANSNAT’L L. R. 413, 422 (2000). LTP 1997 art. 4(a),(f),(h). 275 Bernstein, supra note 15, at 211. 276 CONST. art. 120. 277 Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [LPCALE] [Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Aug. 20, 1977, art. 5. 278 Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 13, 1977, art. 8, as modified by Decreto-Ley No. 310 [Decree-Law No. 310], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], June 25, 2013. The Cuban legal system specifies that fines shall be determined based on cuotas (quotas). CÓD. PEN. 1987 art. 35.2, as amended to Ley No. 93 [Law No. 93], Feb. 16, 2001, establishes that cuotas for persons shall not be less than one Cuban peso or greater than 50 Cuban pesos. LÓPEZ SORIA, supra note 250, at 23, illustrates this concept with an example, “…if [the court determines] a fine of 500 quotas of 3.00 Cuban pesos for each quota imposed, the individual is required to pay the amount of 1.500.00 Cuban pesos,” http://www.onbc.cu/uploads/media/page/0001/01/c1d2d7c14b9828fba0f10ce964c876ff7cdf7905.pdf. 279 LTP 1997 art. 38. 280 LTP 1997 art. 32. 281 LPCALE art. 6. 282 LPP 1977 art. 9. 274

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Chart No. 1, Structure of the Courts Source: Ley No. 82, Ley de Tribunales Populares [LTP 1997] [Law No. 82, Law of the People’s Courts], July 11, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 8, July 14, 1997.

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the rulings of the municipal courts. Depending on the type of case, three-judge or five-judge panels preside. Threejudge panels consist of two lay judges and one professional judge, and the composition of five-judge panels is three professional judges and two lay judges.283 c. People’s Supreme Court (TSP) The Tribunal Supremo Popular (TSP) (People’s Supreme Court) is the highest appellate level court, and the court of last resort. It has original and exclusive jurisdiction for some special cases, such as trying members of the Politburo of the PCC, Councils of State and Ministers, leadership of the National Assembly and Justices of the Supreme Court.284 It exercises appellate jurisdiction over all decisions of the provincial and military courts. The Supreme Court has a Governing Council and six judicial salas (chambers), similar to provincial courts, with the addition of a military division. These chambers are: (1) criminal; (2) civil and administrative; (3) labor; (4) economic; (5) crimes against the security of the State; and (6) military. The Supreme Court utilizes five-judge panels, as well as three-judge panels, depending on the complexity of the case, and the number of judges that heard the case at the provincial level.285 The five-judge panels are composed of three professional judges and two lay judges, and the three-judge panels consist of two professional judges and one lay judge. 286 The plenary session of the Supreme Court is comprised of all the member Justices and the Attorney General of the Republic. Trials are open to the public. Final decisions are adopted by majority vote in secret deliberative sessions. Any Justice in the minority may write a dissenting opinion. The President and Vice-Presidents of the Supreme Court are elected by the National Assembly upon nomination by the Council of State. The Presidents of the different chambers and professional judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the National Assembly upon recommendation by the President of the Supreme Court.287 The judges serving in the military branch must hold military rank. The President and other professional and lay judges that constitute the military division of the Supreme Court are nominated by the National Assembly upon proposal of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the President of the Supreme Court.288 i. Governing Council of the People’s Supreme Court (CGTSP) The members of the CGTSP are the President of the Supreme Court, the Vice-Presidents and the Presidents of each of the different chambers. The Minister of Justice and the Attorney General attend the sessions but have no voting power.289 The CGTSP is granted constitutional legislative initiative on matters related to the administration of justice, and regulatory and supervisory authority over the judicial activity of the entire court system.290 The functions of the CGTSP include providing instructions to courts on issues of general judicial practice, establishing a uniform interpretation and application of the law, and responding to inquiries from judges of the different courts, the Attorney General, and the Minister of Justice.291 Lower courts are bound to apply those instructions to the cases pending before them. d. Military Courts Current Legal Framework: •

Ley No. 97, Ley de los Tribunales Militares [LTM 2002] [Law No. 97, Law of the Military Courts], Dec. 21, 2002, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 7, April 9, 2003, abrogated Ley No. 3, Ley de los Tribunales Militares [LTM 1977] [Law No. 3, Law of the Military Courts] Aug. 8, 1977, and Decreto-Ley 283

LTP 1997 art. 35(1); RLTP art. 39. LPP arts. 385–397. 285 LTP 1997 art. 23(3),(4); RLTP arts. 18(1), 39. 286 LTP 1997 art. 23(3),(4). 287 LTP 1997 arts. 45(1) – 45(2). 288 Id. art. 45(3). 289 Id. art. 18. 290 CONST. art. 121. 291 LTP 1997 art. 19. 284

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No. 215 [Decreto-Ley No. 215], Dec. 22, 2000. http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ley-No.-097De-los-Tribunales-Militares.pdf. • Ley No. 101, Ley de la Fiscalía Militar [LFM] [Law No. 101, Military Attorney General Law], June 10, 2006, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], July 3, 2006. http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ley-No.101-De-la-Fiscalia-Militar.pdf. • Ley No. 6, Ley de Procedimiento Penal Militar [LPPM] [Law No. 6, Military Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 8, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 33, Aug. 18, 1977. Cuba has a system of military courts that adjudicate offenses committed by members of the country’s armed forces. The organization of the military courts corresponds to the territorial distribution of the armed forces. There are territorial and regional military courts. Territorial military courts use a panel of five judges comprised of three professional and two lay judges. A three-judge panel, with one professional judge and two lay judges, sits at the regional military courts.292 3. Judicial Review The power of constitutional interpretation and control is exclusively assigned to the National Assembly of People’s Power, which decides the constitutionality of laws, decree-laws, decrees and other general provisions.293 When the National Assembly is not in session, the Council of State is authorized to suspend those provisions of the Council of Ministers and the Local Assemblies of People’s Power that do not conform to the Constitution or the laws.294 Under a socialist system, constitutional control may not be exercised by extra-parliamentary bodies.295 4. Court Decisions Cuban courts follow the civil law tradition that recognizes the normative act as the main source of law.296 Nevertheless, Article 121 of the Cuban Constitution empowers the Supreme Court’s Governing Council to rule on the basis of the experience of the courts with the purpose of establishing a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law. When there is a conflict in interpretation or particular error among lower courts arising on appeal, the CGTSP may issue an instrucción (instruction) regarding the correct interpretation of a particular statute.297 Members of the governing councils of the courts, presidents of courts (including the territorial military courts), the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, may also submit inquiries to the CGTSP pertaining to the interpretation or application of the law. The CGTSP responds to these queries through instrucciones (instructions), acuerdos (agreements) and dictámenes (opinions). These responses are binding on lower courts and are considered formal sources of law among the judiciary and Cuban jurists. These provisions are published in the Gaceta Oficial.298

292

Ley No. 97, Ley de los Tribunales Militares [LTM 2002] [Law No. 97, Law of Military Courts], Dec. 21, 2002, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 7, March 9, 2003, arts. 8.1,15,19.1. 293 CONST. art. 75(c). 294 CONST. art. 90(ñ). 295 Michael B. Wise, Cuba and Judicial Review, 7 SW. J. L. & TRADE AM. 247, 260 (2000); see Lissette Pérez Hernández, El Control Constitucional de Leyes y Disposiciones Normativas en Cuba, in LA JUSTICIA CONSTITUCIONAL EN IBEROAMÉRICA, CHILE, BOLIVIA, COLOMBIA Y CUBA 149 (Juan Manuel López Ulla ed., 2011); see also EVENSON, supra note 16, at 64. 296 Carlos Justo Bruzón Viltres & Iraida R. Tamayo Blanco, La Jurisprudencia en Cuba: Reconocimiento Dentro del Sistema de Fuentes del Derecho y Posibles Consecuencias, 47 BMDC 251, 280 (2014). 297 RLTP arts. 67–75; see also Id. at 270. 298 Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 191; see also EVENSON, supra note 16, at 63–64 (discussing the power of judges to interpret the law and instructions provided by “the Supreme Court in a pamphlet issued in May 2002, entitled ‘The Importance of the Social Interest and Rationality in Judicial Decisions.’”).

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a. Reporters The official reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court is the Boletín del Tribunal Supremo Popular (Bulletin of the People’s Supreme Court). It was published from 1966 to 1970 as the Boletín del Tribunal Supremo (La Habana: Departamento de Reproducción de la Administración de Justicia, 1966–1970), and continued in 1974 as the Boletín del Tribunal Supremo Popular (La Habana: Sección de Divulgación del Departamento de Capacitación y Evaluación del Tribunal Supremo, Año 1, núm. 1, 1974–). The Boletín is available on LLMC Digital and in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) from vol. 1 (1974) to vol. 12 (1985). This title is also accessible in electronic format from 1997 to 2013 on the homepage of the Universidad de La Habana’s law school.299 In addition, the Boletín is available online on the homepage of the Supreme Court. Only the judgments of the Supreme Court are reported, and there are no English–language translations of those opinions. Pre-1959 decisions of the Supreme Court can be found in Jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court Jurisprudence) (La Habana: Imprenta de Rambla y Bouza, 1908–1919). Forty volumes were published under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. This title served as the official reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, and it contained the full-text judgments in civil and criminal matters from 1899 to 1908. Decisions are organized in chronological order. All 40 volumes are available in LLMC Digital, the dLOC and HathiTrust. Noteworthy are the digests of the rulings of the Cuban Supreme Court published by Ángel C. Betancourt, and continued later by Guillermo de Montagú. Betancourt’s Jurisprudencia Cubana (La Habana: Impr. de Rambla, Bouza y ca., 1912–1929) includes rulings from 1899 to 1918, addressing cassation, constitutional law, civil and criminal matters, disputes over property rights and administrative law matters. This publication is available in the dLOC. Betancourt’s digest was followed by Guillermo de Montagú’s Jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo de Cuba en Materia Civil, Hipotecaria, Contencioso-Administrativa y de Inconstitucionalidad, extractada y ordenada (The Supreme Court of Cuba’s Jurisprudence in Civil, Mortgage, Contentious-Administrative, and Unconstitutional Matters, summarized and arranged. La Habana: Cultural, 1941–1952). This title was published in six volumes and covers decisions from 1919 to 1948. The digest is organized in alphabetical order by topic and is accessible in electronic format on LLMC Digital and the dLOC. The most comprehensive coverage of Cuban case law before 1960, however, was undertaken by the Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (Bar Association of Havana) in La Jurisprudencia al Día: Revista de Jurisprudencia y Legislación (Current Jurisprudence: Journal of Cases and Legislation) (La Habana: Órgano Oficial del Colegio de Abogados de La Habana, 1912–1957). This title covered decisions of the Supreme Court from 1909 to 1957. Decisions are organized in chronological order under five major subject areas: civil, criminal, property, administrative and constitutional matters. Decisions from 1913 to 1922 can be accessed online on HathiTrust. Instrucciones, acuerdos and dictámenes of the CGTSP are published in the Gaceta Oficial, which is accessible online beginning in 1991.300 See Carlos Manuel Díaz and Yanet Alfaro Guillén, Compiliación de Disposiciones del CGTSP (Ediciones ONBC, 2013), covering instructions, agreements and opinions from 1974 to 2012. Several Cuban legal periodicals include sections that discuss Supreme Court rulings and the CGTSP’s instrucciones. These include Cubalex301 and Revista Cubana de Derecho.302 C. PROCEDURES The Cuban legal system has two main procedural laws: (1) Ley de Procedimiento Penal (Criminal Procedure Law), regulating criminal procedures; and (2) Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico (Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law), regulating all civil, administrative, labor and economic procedures. The economic procedural aspect was added to the 1977 Civil, Administrative and Labor Procedure Law 299

http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/45 (last visited July 28, 2017). https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu (last visited July 28, 2017). 301 CUBALEX: REVISTA ELECTRÓNICA DE ESTUDIOS JURÍDICOS (La Habana: Editorial UNIJURIS, 1996– ), online years 2012 – 2014 on the homepage of the Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de La Habana at http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/46 (last visited July 28, 2017); also in vLex, see the sections on “Crónicas de Sentencias” and “La Palabra Judicial.” 302 REVISTA CUBANA DE DERECHO (La Habana: Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba, 1991– ), online starting at No. 32 (2008) at the Universidad de La Habana’s Facultad de Derecho homepage, http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/48 (last visited July 28, 2017); also in vLex, see the sections on “Comentarios de Sentencias” or “Crónicas de Legislación y Jurisprudencia.” 300

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(Law No. 7) in the form of a decree-law in 2006 as indicated below. Law No. 7 is now referenced as the Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law, or LPCALE.303 Current Legal Framework: Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [LPCALE] [Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Aug. 20, 1977, as amended by Decreto-Ley No. 241 [Decree-Law No. 241], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 33, Sept. 27, 2006. http://cubalegalinfo.com/lpcale-indice. • Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 13, 1977, as amended by Decreto-Ley No. 310, Modificativo del Código Penal y de la Ley de Procedimiento Penal [DLMCPLPP] [Decree-Law No. 310, amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Law], May 29, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 18, June 25, 2013.

•

1. Civil and Administrative The law in force regulating non-criminal proceedings in Cuba is Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico (Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law). Law No. 7 repealed Ley No. 1261, Ley de Procedimiento Civil y Administrativo (Law No. 1261, Civil and Administrative Procedure Law) (Jan. 4, 1974), which in turn abrogated the 1886 civil procedure law inherited from the Spanish colonial administration. Though technically meant to be an abrogation, the new law did not significantly modify the Spanish procedure law. One minor change made was to expand the powers of judges by giving them the right to consider issues not asserted by the parties during trial.304 Additional Source: CGTSP, Instrucción No. 216 [Instruction No. 216], May 17, 2012, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 21, June. 22, 2012, on family proceedings and the adoption of precautionary injunctions, providing guidance on the intervention of third parties (such as grandparents), and the role of the public prosecutor in the process. 2. Labor Workers in government entities can claim their labor and social security rights before the Sistema de Justicia Laboral (System of Labor Justice). The main entities for resolution of labor disputes within the Cuban system of labor justice are: (1) Órganos de Justicia Laboral de Base (Base Level Organs of Labor Justice) (OJLB); (2) People’s Municipal Courts; and (3) the labor chamber of the Supreme Court. Labor disciplinary matters, as well as recognition and protection of labor and social security rights, are resolved by workplace hearing boards with right of appeal to the courts.305 The decisions of the Organs of Labor Justice for certain disciplinary measures established by law are final with no right of appeal. Workers or the administration can appeal the decisions of the OJLB to the corresponding municipal courts when the disciplinary measures involve certain conditions established by law, such as the transfer of the worker to another place with lower pay or different working conditions.306

303

DAMARYS N. NUÑEZ GARCÍA, LEY DE PROCIDIMIENTO CIVIL, ADMINISTRATIVO, LABORAL Y ECONÓMICO 3–4 (Ediciones ONBC, 2012), http://www.onbc.cu/uploads/media/page/0001/01/d5f347efdcda7736e8e92406503109b535569ed5.pdf. See also Pérez Gallardo, supra note 240, at 142. 304 Pérez Gallardo, supra note 240, at 144 (2015); see also Roberto de Jesús Peña Mulet, Consideraciones para la Modernización del Proceso Civil Cubano, 37–38 ALEGATOS 1, 1 (1998), http://www.azc.uam.mx/publicaciones/alegatos/pdfs/ 34/37-10.pdf. 305 Ley No. 116, CÓDIGO DE TRABAJO [CÓD. TRAB. 2013] [Law No. 116, Labor Code], Dec. 20, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 29, June 17, 2014, art. 167. 306 Id. art. 175.

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The rulings of the People’s Municipal Courts in disciplinary and labor rights matters are final and have no administrative or judicial remedy.307 Under certain conditions established by law, the parties may request a review before the Supreme Court.308 Additional Sources: Ley No. 116, CÓDIGO DE TRABAJO [CÓD. TRAB. 2013] [Law No. 116, Labor Code], Dec. 20, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 29, June 17, 2014. This Code repeals the following laws: ◦ Ley No. 49, CÓDIGO DE TRABAJO [CÓD. TRAB. 1984] [Law No. 49, Labor Code], Dec. 28, 1984; DecretoLey No. 176, Sistema del Juicio Laboral [DLSJL] [Decree-Law No. 176, Labor Justice System], Aug. 15, 1997; and Articles 702, 704, 715, 716, 717 and the first paragraph of Article 736 of Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [LPCALE] [Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, and modifies Article 703 of the same law to exclude labor conflicts in government entities. • Decreto No. 326, Reglamento del Código de Trabajo [RCT] [Decree No. 326, Regulation of the Labor Code], June 12, 2014, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 29, June 17, 2014.

•

3. Economic In August 1991, the Council of State terminated the state arbitration system and established economic law chambers in the Supreme Court and the provincial courts, granting them exclusive jurisdiction over contract disputes previously handled by the Órgano de Arbitraje Estatal (OAE) (State Arbitration Organ). The Council of State granted these economic law chambers jurisdiction over economic disputes and environmental law matters.309 The courts continued applying the 1981 procedural norms established by the Reglas de Procedimiento de Arbitraje Estatal (Regulations for State Arbitration Procedure).310 Conflicts arising between state enterprises in the precontractual phase were to be handled administratively by the relevant ministries. In 2006, Law No. 7 was amended by Decree-Law No. 241, integrating into one law all civil, administrative, labor and economic procedures. The economic chambers of the courts were also given jurisdiction over claims resulting from international contracts with foreign companies, infringement of environmental regulations and claims related to shipping and transportation.311 4. Criminal Current Legal Framework: •

•

Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 13, 1977, as amended by Decreto-Ley No. 310, Modificativo del Código Penal y de la Ley de Procedimiento Penal [DLMCPLPP] [Decree-Law No. 310, Amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Law], May 29, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 18, June 25, 2013. CGTSP, Instrucción No. 211 [Instruction No. 211], June 15, 2011, Guía Metodológica para la Realización del Juicio Oral (Methodological Guide for Oral Proceedings).312 307

Id. art. 176. Id. art. 178. 309 Decreto-Ley No. 129, de Extinción del Sistema de Arbitraje Estatal [DLESAE] [Decree-Law No. 129, Extinction of the State Arbitration System], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 9, Aug. 19, 1991, as amended by Decreto-Ley No. 241, Modifica la Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [DLMLPCALE] [Law No. 241, Amending the Law of Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure], Sept. 26, 2006, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 33, Sept. 27, 2006, http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Decreto-Ley-No.-241.pdf. 310 Decreto No. 89, Reglas de Procedimiento de Arbitraje Estatal [RPAE] [Decree No. 89, Regulations for State Arbitration Procedure], May 21, 1981, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 54, June 8, 1981. 311 Pérez Gallardo, supra note 240, at 144. 312 This manual introduces judges to the concepts and importance of the trial, as well as its principles. The manual also provides guidelines on the order in which the process unfolds, ending with the final recording of the debates. 308

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CGTSP, Instrucción No. 208 [Instruction No. 208], April 26, 2011, Metodología para la Redacción de Sentencias Penales del Procedimiento Ordinario de los Tribunales Provinciales Populares (Instructions for Drafting Criminal Opinions for Ordinary Proceedings in the People’s Provincial Courts). Treatise:

Rivero García, Danilo. Estudios Sobre El Proceso Penal. La Habana: Ediciones ONBC, 2014. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, criminal proceedings are divided into two main parts: (1) the preparatory stage; and (2) the oral criminal trial and sentencing. During the preparatory stage, features of the inquisitorial system predominate, while the accusatorial system dominates the trial process. •

Preparatory Phase Once the instructor313 exhausts all evidence-gathering in the investigative stage (pretrial phase), s/he will consider the investigation terminated and forward the dossier or sumario to the prosecutor.314 The prosecutor then determines if the investigations provide sufficient grounds for the prosecution of the crime. If so, s/he is required to file the criminal action before the competent court. This pleading must be in writing in a draft form expressly described in the Criminal Procedure Law. That pleading, under the law, can take the form of conclusiones provisionales (provisional conclusions),315 an acusación (indictment),316 conclusiones acusatorias (accusatory conclusions)317 or an escrito de calificación (written qualification).318 If the court accepts the conclusions of the prosecutor, it opens the case for oral proceedings.319 Oral Trial and Sentencing Once the preliminary stage has been completed, a three-judge panel is formed to hear the charges against the defendant. The order and manner of procedure of this process is determined by the Code. The President Judge, rather than the defense attorney or prosecutor, calls witnesses and directs questioning. Once all the evidence has been presented, judges have asked all of their questions and closing arguments have been made, the judges retire to chambers to deliberate. The trial concludes with the sentencing stage during which the findings of fact and sanctions to be imposed must be considered. These findings must be arrived at by a majority of the court.320 The Criminal Procedure Law provides for: (1) the presumption of innocence, requiring that crimes be proven independently of the defendant’s confession; (2) the public nature of court proceedings, except in cases in which the rights of the victim demand privacy; (3) the right to appoint or retain counsel; (4) the presence of the accused during the proceedings; and (5) the recognition of the privilege against self-incrimination.321 5. Appellate Proceedings Current Legal Framework: •

Ley No. 5, Ley de Procedimiento Penal [LPP 1977] [Law No. 5, Criminal Procedure Law], Aug. 13, 1977, as amended by Decreto-Ley 310, Modificativo del Código Penal y de la Ley de Procedimiento Penal 313

Criminal investigations are carried out by police instructors under the supervision of public prosecutors. LPP 1977 art. 107. 315 Id. art. 262.3c. 316 Id. art. 272. 317 Id. art. 275. 318 Id. art. 278 – art. 280. 319 Id. art. 281 – art. 283. 320 DANILO RIVERO GARCÍA, ESTUDIOS SOBRE EL PROCESO PENAL 82 (2014). 321 Luis Salas, The Judicial System of Postrevolutionary Cuba, 8 NOVA L.J., 43, 61 (1983) (discussing innovations introduced by the Code of Criminal Procedure); see also ZATZ, supra note 50, 72–90, providing an overview of underlying principles and innovations in criminal procedure. 314

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[DLMCPLPP] [Decree-Law 310, Amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Law], May 29, 2013, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 18, June 25, 2013, see art. 58 – art. 66. • CGTSP, Instrucción No. 222 [Instruction No. 222], Aug. 29, 2013. • Ley No. 7, Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico [LPCALE] [Law No. 7, Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law], Aug. 19, 1977, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Aug. 20, 1977, as amended by Decreto-Ley No. 241 [Decree-Law No. 241], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 33, Sept. 27, 2006, see art. 601 – art. 640. Appeals take place by recurso de queja (complaint), súplica (petition), appeal or cassation. Complaints are interlocutory appeals from decisions made during the preparatory phase, while petitions are interlocutory appeals from trial court decisions. Appeals from final decisions take the form of appeals or cassation, with the latter being the most common form of relief.322 6. Appeal in Cassation Appeal in Cassation is a limited resource as it only allows review when the ruling or the resolution of a lower court contains a failure in the application or misinterpretation of the laws or mandatory instructions issued by the Supreme Court’s Governing Council. Cassation authorizes only remedies to those exceptions provided by law.323 D. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Current Legal Framework: Ley No. 83, de la Fiscalía General de la República [LFGR] [Law No. 83, Law of the Attorney General of the Republic], July 11, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 8, July 14, 1997. • Reglamento de la Ley de la Fiscalía General de la República [RLFGR 1998] [Regulation of the Law of the Attorney General of the Republic], Nov. 30, 1998, repealed Reglamento de la Ley de la Fiscalía General de la República [RLFGR 1978] [Regulation of the Law of the Attorney General of the Republic], March 24, 1978. The main function of the Office of the Attorney General is to guarantee strict compliance with the Constitution and the laws by individuals, government agencies, and social and economic entities. The Attorney General represents the State in criminal prosecutions and has the authority to bring legal action against those who are in violation of the law.324 The Attorney General is involved in the prevention of crime and other antisocial conduct, and the development of citizens’ legal awareness.325 Furthermore, the prosecutor represents the interests of the State before the courts in civil, administrative or economic matters, especially in civil proceedings when representing minors in family-related cases, such as filiation or suspension of parental rights, the disabled and individuals that are absent.326 The Office of the Attorney General is independent of the judiciary, subordinate only to the National Assembly and the Council of State. The Attorney General and the Vice-Attorney Generals are elected by the National Assembly.327 The Office is composed of: (1) the Attorney General who represents the State before the People’s Supreme Court; (2) public prosecutors’ offices before the provincial courts; (3) municipal offices of the public prosecutor; and (4) public prosecutors before the military courts.328 The Office has a website that is described in the “Online Resources” section of this Guide.

•

322

LPP 1977 art. 58 – art. 66; see also Salas, supra note 321, at 62. LPP 1977 art. 58 – art. 66; see also Carlos M. Díaz Tenreiro, El Concepto de Infracción en el Recurso de Casación, 11 REV. JUSTICIA Y DER. 3 (2008), http://www.lex.uh.cu/sites/default/files/11JusticiaDerecho.pdf. 324 CONST. art. 127. 325 LFGR art. 8(n). 326 Id. art. 18(d); see also LPCALE arts. 46, 47, 48; see also Mendoza Díaz, supra note 76, at 194. 327 CONST. art. 128. 328 LFGR art. 9.1. 323

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E. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The following is a list of selected writings on the Cuban judiciary. These sources analyze the historical evolution of the judiciary, the structure and competence of the courts, and their procedures. Main sources in English: Evenson, Debra. Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. 2nd ed. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2003. Michalowski, Raymond J. “Between Citizens and the Socialist State: The Negotiation of Legal Practice in Socialist Cuba.” Law & Society Review 29, no. 1 (1995): 65–101. Plas, Adele G. van der. Revolution and Criminal Justice: The Cuban Experiment, 1959–1983. The Netherlands: Center for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA), 1987. Salas, Luis. “The Judicial System of Postrevolutionary Cuba.” Nova Law Journal 8 (1983): 43–70. Wise, Michael B. “Cuba and Judicial Review.” Southwestern Journal of Law & Trade in the Americas 7 (2000): 247–266. Zatz, Marjorie S. Producing Legality: Law and Socialism in Cuba. New York: Routledge, 1994.

Main Sources in Spanish: Bodes Torres, Jorge. Sistema de Justicia y Procedimiento Penal en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2001. Bruzón Viltres, Carlos Justo, and Iraida R. Tamayo Blanco. “La Jurisprudencia en Cuba: Reconocimiento dentro del Sistema de Fuentes del Derecho y Posibles Consecuencias.” Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado 139 (Enero-Abril 2014): 251–283. Grillo Longoria, Rafael, Guillermo de Vera Sánchez, and Carlos Rafael Grillo González. Derecho Procesal Civil. La Habana: Editorial Pueblo y Educación, 1986. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B., coord. El Derecho en Cuba. Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. Rivero García, Danilo. Estudios Sobre el Proceso Penal. La Habana: Ediciones ONBC, 2014.

Additional Sources in Spanish: Carrasco Perera, Ángel, ed. Código Civil y Leyes Civiles Cubanas. Cuenca, España: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2000. Fernández Romo, Rodolfo. “Las Modificaciones a la Ley de Procedimiento Penal Cubana por el Decreto-Ley no. 310 del 29 de Mayo de 2013.” In Comentarios a las Leyes Penales Cubanas, edited by Medina Cuenca Arnel, 377. La Habana: Editorial UNIJURIS, 2014. Accessed July 28, 2017. http://www.lex.uh.cu/sites/default/files/3.Comentarios%20a%20las%20leyes %20penales%20cubanas.PDF. Fournier Duharte, C. Niurka, and Elizabet Bauza Caballero. “Primer Exámen acerca del Procedimiento Económico ante la Actualización del Modelo Económico Cubano.” Revista Cubana de Derecho 42 (July 2013): 109–122. Mantecón Ramos, Ariel. “Rectifica el Ángulo en el Vértice: Breve Historia de la Casación Hispánica en Cuba.” Revista Cubana de Derecho 40 (July 2012): 5–34. Marcheco Acuña, Benjamín. El Proceso Administrativo Cubano en los Inicios del Siglo XXI: Una Nueva Mirada a Sus Fundamentos Jurídicos. Saarbrucken, Germany: Editorial Académica Española, 2012. Matilla Correa, Andry. “Brevísima Presentación Histórica del Derecho Procesal en Cuba hasta 1976.” Revista Cubana de Derecho 42 (July 2013): 5–47. ———. “Comentarios sobre las Fuentes del Derecho Administrativo Cubano (Excepto el Reglamento).” In Temas de Derecho Administrativo Cubano. Vol. 1, 33–217. La Habana: Editorial Félix Varela, 2004. Medina Cuenca, Arnel. Comentarios a las Leyes Penales Cubanas. La Habana: Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba, 2014. Accessed July 28, 2017. http://www.lex.uh.cu/sites/default/files/3.Comentarios%20a%20las%20leyes%20penales% 20cubanas.PDF. Mendoza Díaz, Juan. “La Administración de Justicia.” In El Derecho en Cuba, coordinated by Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo, 173–206. Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. ———. “El Juicio Oral en Cuba.” Revista Cubalex 32 (Enero-Diciembre 2012): 2–40. Navarro Muñoz, Javier. “El Recurso de Casación Penal: Nuevos Enfoques.” Revista Cubana de Derecho 36 (Julio–Diciembre 2010): 44–61. Osorio Arrascue, Santiago. El Derecho Civil en Cuba y Perú: Código Civil, Código Procesal Civil y Comercial Cubano. Lima: C & J Impresiones, 2010. Sosa Ravelo, Maricela. “Procedencia o Admisibilidad del Recurso de Casación, un Tema Recurrente para el Derecho Procesal Penal.” In Enfoques de la Práctica Judicial en Sede Penal, edited by Bertot Yero and María Caridad, 167–185. La Habana: Ediciones ONBC, 2013.

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FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW JONATHAN PRATTER

Foreign investment presents a challenge to socialist orthodoxy. A system in which all the levers of the economy are in the hands of the State must nevertheless allow the reasonably free play of foreign private capital in the national economy. A socialist economy in a developing country like Cuba needs capital investment in infrastructure and in critical sectors, such as in Cuba’s case, agriculture and tourism. As well, foreign investment produces what are called “spillover benefits,” such as technology transfer, workforce training and managerial know-how.329 This section outlines the legal framework governing foreign investment in Cuba, focusing on the primary sources of law that establish that framework. The section also considers Cuba’s position in the structure of international investment law, and additionally refers to the U.S. regime of economic sanctions against Cuba that has had a profound inhibiting effect on investment there.330 A. THE NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK The key provision is Ley No. 118, Ley de la Inversión Extranjera (Law No. 118, Law on Foreign Investment) (March 29, 2014). Law No. 118 was published in an extraordinary edition of the Gaceta Oficial on April 16, 2014, along with a packet of legislación complementaria (supplementary legislation). This edition of the Gaceta Oficial can be found online in PDF at the Cubadebate website.331 The website of the Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba (Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba) also provides a link to the same Gaceta Oficial edition, as well as access to an English-language translation of Law No. 118 of acceptable quality.332 Law No. 118 replaces the failed Ley No. 77 (Law No. 77) on Foreign Investment of 1995,333 but takes on board a good many of its provisions, including those on investor protection. Law No. 118 is organized into 17 chapters. The critical ones are these: • Ch. III: Investor Guarantees • Ch. IV: Sectors for Foreign Investment and the Portfolio of [Investment] Opportunities • Ch. V: Foreign Investment [Vehicles] • Ch. VIII: Negotiation and Authorization of Foreign Investment • Ch. XI: Labor Rules • Ch. XII: Special Tax Rules • Ch. XVII: Rules on Dispute Resolution

329

Magnus Blomstrȯm, Host Country Benefits of Foreign Investment (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 3615, 1991), http://www.nber.org/papers/w3615.pdf (last visited July 24, 2017). 330 See generally Cot & Anillo eds., supra note 38. This handbook has chapters on both the legal framework for foreign investment in Cuba and on the U.S. sanctions regime. See also the document CUBA—Investor Guide (2016) from the Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba, http://www.camaracuba.cu/phocadownload/Negocios/Investor%20guide%202016_ ENG_web.pdf (last visited July 24, 2017). Valuable insight from the political science and policy perspectives is in Omar E. Pérez Villanueva, Foreign Direct Investment in Cuba: A Necessity and a Challenge, in A NEW CHAPTER IN US-CUBA RELATIONS (Eric Hershberg & William M. LeoGrande eds., 2016). 331 Ley No. 118, Ley de la Inversión Extranjera [LIE 2014] [Law No. 118, Law on Foreign Investment], March 29, 2014, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinara [GOE], No. 20, April 16, 2014, http://www.cubadebate.cu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ GO_X_20_2014_gaceta-ley-de-inversion-extranjera.pdf. 332 Inversión Extranjera en Cuba, CÁMARA DE COMERCIO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, http://www.camaracuba.cu/index.php/ es/negocios/inversion-extranjera-en-cuba (last visited July 24, 2017). 333 Ley No. 77, Ley de la Inversión Extranjera [LIE 1995] [Law No. 77, Law on Foreign Investment], Sept. 5, 1995, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 3, Sept. 6, 1995. English translation available at 35 I.L.M. 343 (1996).

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An innovation in Law No. 118 that has documentary significance is the Cartera de Oportunidades de Inversión Extranjera (Portfolio of Opportunities for Foreign Investment), which is called for in Article 11.2 of the Law. The 2016–2017 Portfolio was presented on November 1, 2016, at the Feria Internacional de La Habana (FIHAV) (Havana International Trade Fair), and it contains 395 proposed projects.334 The Portfolio describes investment opportunities across many sectors of the economy with contact information for each one. Spanish- and Englishlanguage editions of the 2016–2017 Portfolio are posted on the Cámara de Comercio’s website.335 The set of complementary legislation mentioned above includes Decreto No. 325, Reglamento de la Ley de la Inversión Extranjera (Decree No. 325, Regulation of the Law on Foreign Investment). The Decree is also published in the extraordinary edition of the Gaceta Oficial of April 16, 2014. Also pertinent to Cuba’s foreign investment framework is Decreto No. 327, Reglamento del Proceso Inversionista (Decree No. 327, Regulation on the Investment Process). It was published in an extraordinary edition of the Gaceta Oficial on January 23, 2015, which is accessible via the Cámara de Comercio’s website.336 This decree, and its complementary norms, apply to both Cuban and foreign investors.337 Even before enacting the current regime for foreign investment, the Cuban government established a special economic zone for the Port of Mariel, 45 kilometers west of Havana.338 The main enactment is Decreto-Ley No. 313, de la Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel (Decree-Law No. 313, on the Mariel Special Development Zone). It is published in an extraordinary edition of the Gaceta Oficial for September 23, 2013, and is available in Spanish and English on the Mariel Special Development Zone’s website.339 A packet of supplemental legislation, published in the same number of the Gaceta Oficial, accompanies the Decree-Law, including Decree No. 316. Spanish- and English-language versions of the Mariel Special Development Zone website also include FAQs, information on investing and contact information.340 In part because the current legal regime for foreign investment in Cuba is so recent, there is a distinct lack of discussion of it in the secondary literature. In fact, the best article available at the time of this writing is in a German law review.341 There is a tendentious student note in a U.S. law review.342 A paper on SSRN is of value.343 Law firms and accounting firms publish newsletters and other kinds of summaries on the investment climate in Cuba that are available on the Web, and which include an overview of the legal framework for investment.344 Other

334

Katherine Felipe González, Prospects for Foreign Investment in Cuba, GRANMA, Nov. 2, 2016, http://en.granma.cu/ cuba/2016-11-02/prospects-for-foreign-investment-in-cuba. 335 CÁMARA DE COMERCIO DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, http://www.camaracuba.cu/index.php/en/business/foreign-investment (last visited July 24, 2017). English version under “Opportunities Folder, 2016.” 336 Decreto No. 327, Reglamento del Proceso Inversionista [RPI] [Regulation on the Investment Process], Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 5, Jan. 23, 2015, http://www.camaracuba.cu/index.php/es/negocios/inversion-extranjera-en-cuba. 337 Cuba Updates its Investment Policies, AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS (Jan. 23, 2015), http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/ economy/2350-cuba-updates-its-investment-policies (last visited July 24, 2017); Cynthia de la Cantera, Official Gazette: Permits to Invest, ONCUBA (Jan. 24, 2015), http://oncubamagazine.com/economy-business/official-gazette-permits-to-invest/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 338 For background on the operation of the Zone, see Jesús V. Bu, Sr., Cuba – Mariel Special Development Zone – 100 Questions and Answers (April 2015), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2590962 (last visited July 24, 2017). 339 Spanish: http://www.zedmariel.com. Click “Documentos de Consulta.” The English translation is available at http:// www.zedmariel.com/DOCUM/Decreto-Ley%20No.%20313(ING).pdf (last visited July 24, 2017). Decree No. 316, the regulation to the Decree-Law, is also included here in English translation. 340 http://www.zedmariel.com/pages/eng/Informacion_General.php (last visited July 24, 2017). 341 Andreas Voß, Das neue kubanische Auslandsinvestitionsrecht, 2014 RECHT DER INTERNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFT (RIW) 491. 342 Alyssa Ortiz, Cuba’s New Foreign Investment Law Number 118: Can Tax Incentives Buy Foreign Investors’ Trust and Be Justified in Increasing FDI?, 21 LAW & BUS. REV. AM. 169 (2015). 343 K.M. Paparelli, Reforming Foreign Investment Law in Cuba: What Does It Really Mean for Eager Investors? Florida Bar Association, International Law Section Journal: INT’L L.Q. SPEC. “CUBA” ED. (2016), https://ssrn.com/abstract=2678019 (last visited July 24, 2017). 344 See, e.g., EY [Cuba]-Caribbean Professional Services Ltd. (EY CPSL), The Legal, Regulatory & Fiscal Framework for Foreign Investment in Cuba (Aug. 2015), http://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/export/sites/trade/files/news/ 357150820145013/357150820145013_1.pdf (last visited July 24, 2017).

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Web-based sources for following foreign investment developments are OnCuba,345 Cuba Standard,346 Cuba Business Report,347 Cuba Journal,348 the blog of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council349 and Latin Lawyer.350 Researchers will also want to be aware of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), which is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. ASCE’s website provides access to a number of valuable papers pertaining to the topic of foreign investment in Cuba.351 B. CUBA IN THE FRAMEWORK OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW Cuba does not participate fully on the plane of international investment law, but it does not hold itself aloof either. On the one hand, Cuba is not a party to the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (Washington Convention).352 On the other hand, Cuba participates in bilateral investment treaties (BITs), 40 of which are currently in force. Several important capital-exporting nations have entered into BITs with Cuba that are currently in force, including Chile, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom. Full information on Cuba’s BIT relations is available at UNCTAD’s International Investment Agreements Navigator.353 The provisions on the resolution of disputes that are found in BITs invariably call for binding arbitration as a last resort. This sets up a dissonance with Cuba’s national law on foreign investment. The chapter on the settlement of disputes in Law No. 118 nowhere specifies arbitration as an available option. It is worth noting that Cuba is a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention).354 Counterintuitively, Cuba is not a party to the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration.355 Cuban law does have a framework for international commercial arbitration. Decreto-Ley No. 250 (DecreeLaw No. 250) establishes the Corte Cubana de Arbitraje Comercial Internacional (Cuban Court of International Commercial Arbitration).356 Entities formed for the purpose of foreign investment, such as joint ventures, may participate as parties to an arbitration in the Court, but not, it appears, against the State. Basic information on international commercial arbitration in the Court, along with the Spanish-language text of the Decree-Law and related resolutions are available at the website of the Cámara de Comercio.357 Cuba has been the respondent in one investment arbitration, which arose under the Cuba-Italy BIT. However, the claimant was not an investor, but rather Italy itself, making this an unusual state-to-state investment arbitration. The award, in French, is available on the italaw website,358 and has been the subject of a thorough commentary.359

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http://oncubamagazine.com/en/ (last visited July 24, 2017). http://www.cubastandard/com (last visited July 24, 2017). 347 http://www.cubabusinessreport.com (last visited July 24, 2017). 348 http://cubajournal.co/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 349 http://www.cubatrade.org (last visited July 24, 2017). 350 http://latinlawyer.com/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 351 http://www.ascecuba.org/publications/ (last visited July 24, 2017). The Annual Proceedings have a searchable database in Excel format. The entire website is searchable through a box at the bottom of the main web page. 352 Washington, D.C., March 18, 1965, 575 U.N.T.S. 159, 17 U.S.T. 1270. 353 http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA (last visited July 24, 2017). 354 New York, June 10, 1958, 333 U.N.T.S. 38, 21 U.S.T. 2517. 355 Panama City, Jan. 30, 1975, O.A.S.T.S. No. 42, 14 I.L.M. 336. 356 Decreto-Ley No. 250, “De la Corte de Arbitraje Comercial Internacional” [DLCACI] [Decree-Law No. 250, “Of the International Commercial Arbitration Court”], July 30, 2007, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 37, July 31, 2007. 357 http://www.camaracuba.cu/index.php/en/cuban-court-of-international-trade-arbitration/cuban-court-of-international-tradearbitration (last visited July 24, 2017). 358 http://www.italaw.com (last visited July 24, 2017). Search on “Cuba Italy.” 359 Enrico Milano, The Investment Arbitration between Italy and Cuba: The Application of Customary International Law under Scrutiny, 11 L. & PRAC. INT’L CTS. & TRIBUNALS 499 (2012). 346

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C. U.S. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CUBA The United States has maintained punishing economic sanctions against Cuba for over 50 years. The sanctions prohibit U.S. persons from trading with or investing in Cuba, and have a degree of extraterritorial effect in that they attempt to impede third-country nationals from doing business in Cuba, as well. The sanctions are enacted in a complex collection of statutes, administrative regulations and presidential executive orders. Rather than attempt to enumerate the components of the sanctions regime and their recent evolution under the Trump administration, reference is made to the websites of the Departments of the Treasury, Commerce and State, all of which have pages devoted to the Cuba sanctions.360 D. FUTURE The Cuban economy is in transition. That is reflected by the new opening to foreign investment, as represented in Law No. 118 and the other elements of the new legal regime for foreign investment outlined here. The opening to foreign investment requires more than the enactment of laws. It depends on the concrete policies and actions of Cuba’s leaders. Observers of developments in the Cuban economy will want to see that the government is serious about making foreign investment a driver of economic development that it has the potential to be. E. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Alejos Garea, Anilcie Marlén, and Vivian Lourdes Abreu López. La Inversión Extranjera en Cuba. La Habana: Ediciones ONBC, 2015. Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba. Special edition on the Law no. 118 for Foreign Investment. Revista Cuba Foreign Trade, no. 1 (2015). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.camaracuba.cu/phocadownload/Publicaciones/RevCFT-Digital-1-2015-Ingles.pdf. Campbell, Al, ed. Cuban Economists on the Cuban Economy. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2013. Castillo, Giselle Vichot. “Al centro de la inversión extranjera en Cuba.” Cubahora, May 11, 2016. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cubahora.cu/economia/al-centro-de-la-inversion-extranjera-en-cuba. Cot, José R., and Rolando Anillo, eds. Cuba: A Legal Guide to Business. Eagan, Minn.: Thomson Reuters, 2016. Delgado, Sheyla. “Foreign investment for development.” Granma, March 11, 2016. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://en.granma. cu/cuba/2016-03-11/foreign-investment-for-development. Feinberg, Richard E. Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2016. Flores, Vienna. “Cuba: The Last One to the Global Economic Table.” Law and Business Review of the Americas 22 (Winter 2016): 59–67. Hufbauer, Gary Clyde, and Barbara Kotschwar. Economic Normalization with Cuba: A Roadmap for U.S. Policymakers. With the assistance of Cathleen Cimino-Isaacs. Washington, D.C.: International Institute for International Economics, 2014. Li, Victor. “A New Dawn for Cuba.” ABA Journal 102 (June 2016): 34–43, 70. Martínez Montenegro, Isnel, and Mabel Cándano Pérez. “Una Realidad Única en Oportunidades: Nuevo Marco Jurídico para la Inversión Extranjera en Cuba.” Revista Crítica de Derecho Privado, no.11 (2014): 425–444. Mesa Tejeda, Natacha. La Inversión Extranjera en Cuba: Una Visión Desde el Derecho. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2015. Moore, Philip. “A survey of the Cuban government’s prospects of attracting foreign direct investment.” College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Thesis. Paper 102. University of Louisville (May 2016). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://ir. library.louisville.edu/honors/102. Partido Comunista de Cuba. Conceptualización del Modelo Económico y Social Cubano de Desarrollo Socialista: Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Económico y Social Hasta 2030: Propuesta de Visión de la Nación, Ejes y Sectores Estratégicos. Séptimo Congreso PCC (2016). Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.granma.cu/file/pdf/gaceta/Copia% 20para%20el%20Sitio%20Web.pdf.

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https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/pages/cuba.aspx (last visited Sept. 15, 2017); https:// www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/policy-guidance/country-guidance/sanctioned-destinations/cuba (last visited Sept. 15, 2017); https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/cuba/ (last visited Sept. 15, 2017).

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Pérez Villanueva, and Omar Everleny. “La Inversión Extranjera Directa en Cuba: Necesidad de su Relanzamiento.” Economía y Desarrollo 152, No. 2 (2014): 37–52. Rathbone, John Paul et al. “Special Report: Investing in Cuba.” FT.com, June 16, 2015. Rennack, Dianne E., and Mark P. Sullivan. “Cuba Sanctions: Legislative Restrictions Limiting the Normalization of Relations.” CRS Report (June 5, 2015). Accessed July 24, 2017. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43888.pdf. Sullivan, Mark P. “Cuba: U.S. Policy in the 115th Congress.” CRS Report (June 29, 2017). Accessed July 24, 2017. https://fas. org/sgp/crs/row/R44822.pdf. U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.cubatrade.org/. Velázquez Pérez, Rafael-Andrés. Inversiones Extranjeras Sostenibles: Un Análisis Alternativo del Derecho Internacional de Inversiones Enfocado sobre Cuba. Barcelona: J.M. Bosch Editor, 2015. Walsøe, Jonas. “FDI in Cuba: Communist State, Capitalist Tool, and the Struggle for Credible Commitment.” Master’s Thesis. University of Oslo (Autumn 2015). Accessed July 24, 2017. https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/49344.

CUBA IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA TERESA M. MIGUEL-STEARNS

A. INTRODUCTION The following brief history of Cuba is written to focus on Cuba’s foreign relations and international involvement, including the development and implementation of public international law. Cuba, the successor state of Spain, was the last of the Spanish colonies to gain independence and did so with the assistance of the United States in the Spanish-American War (1898). Discussed in greater detail below, Cuba became an independent state with the Treaty of Paris at the end of the War. Although the United States remained in Cuba after the War ended in 1898 to oversee the transition to democracy, the United States withdrew from Cuba in 1902. Nonetheless, the Platt Amendment to the Cuban Constitution of 1901, and subsequent Agreements of 1903 and 1934, ensured that the United States would remain involved in Cuban politics for many decades and on Cuban soil indefinitely. B. BRIEF HISTORY 1. Spanish Colonial Cuba (1492–1898) When Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba on October 28, 1492, he believed the island was part of Asia, and he described the island’s incredible beauty.361 The island, however, was not explored by the Spanish until 1511.362 The first established Spanish village, Baracoa, served as the seat of colonial government until it was moved to Santiago in 1515, and finally to La Habana (Havana) in 1538. Havana became the official capital of Cuba in 1607.363 During early Spanish colonial rule, Cuba was viewed by Spain as a purely economic holding of low importance.364 Minerals, sugarcane, tobacco and cattle were its primary economic resources.365 Because Spain limited trade among its colonies, and only sailed two convoyed fleets between Cuba and Seville annually, Cubans engaged in illicit, frequent and profitable trading.366 During this time, the Spanish Christianized the three native 361

GRAHAM H. STUART, CUBA AND ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 7 (1923). Id. at 8. 363 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 11. 364 STUART, supra note 361, at 9. 365 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 13–14. 366 STUART, supra note 361, at 9. 362

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populations of the island who, like native peoples throughout the Americas, died from disease and were enslaved to work in the mines or agricultural fields. Their numbers quickly diminished to the point of virtual extinction. Those who survived were absorbed into the Cuban identity.367 The island was difficult to protect. In the 16th century, the French burned Havana twice (1538 and 1555), and Englishman Sir Francis Drake threatened to do the same (1588). In response to marauding pirates, Philip II of Spain built two fortresses, Castillo de la Real Fuerza (1577) and Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro (1589), at Havana to protect the island.368 The island did not begin to prosper until the 17th century. In the early 18th century, Cuba added shipbuilding to its short list of industries when over 100 vessels were constructed in Havana harbor.369 The British captured Havana and occupied Cuba from 1762 to 1763. During that brief time, the British dramatically improved Cuba’s basic infrastructure, opened Cuba’s ports to trade with the world and abolished the tobacco monopoly. In February 1763, Great Britain and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris returning Cuba to Spain in exchange for Florida. Despite resistance from the Cubans, Spain tried to rein in some of the openness allowed by the British. Spain eventually lowered export taxes, and in its famous 1778 Decree of Free Trade, opened all ports of Spanish America to trade freely with all 13 ports of the Iberian Peninsula.370 Spain’s power and presence began to decline in the Americas at the end of the 18th century. In 1795, Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France and many refugees fled to Cuba. During the Napoleonic Wars, despite a wave of French nationalism resulting from recent emigration, Cuba did not waver in its allegiance to Spain, thus earning it the name, “Ever-Faithful Isle.” The liberal Constitution of Cádiz (1812), which empowered Spaniards in the Americas, strengthened Cuba’s allegiance to Spain. However, the crown repudiated the Constitution in 1814 and attempted to reduce Spain’s holdings in the Americas once again to merely economic interests.371 Spain monopolized Cuba’s exports and imports and imposed hefty duties. The Constitution of Cádiz was re-implemented twice more,372 but with its final reinstatement in 1836 to 1837, Cuba was denied representation in the Spanish Cortes (legislative assembly), causing much resentment in Cuba.373 Up until the Mexican War of Independence (1821) and the Monroe Doctrine (1823), the United States believed in a “no transfer” policy for Cuba and other colonies in the Americas (not even to the United States) for fear of European expansionism. However, at the same time, the United States began to realize that Cuba was a strategically and commercially important island. Prior to Cuba’s first unsuccessful revolt (1848), the United States had offered to purchase Cuba from Spain for $100 million. Spain replied that it would sooner see it sunk into the ocean than transfer the island. This repudiation provided the impetus for some Americans to join Cuban forces in their attempts to overthrow Spanish rule.374 Cubans began agitating for independence in the middle of the 19th century. Narciso López led unsuccessful insurrections in 1848 and 1851.375 Several incidents at that time, including the Spanish confiscation of cargo of a

367

Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 8. The Spanish Dominican friar, Bartolomé de las Casas, was a firm defender of the indigenous population and was horrified by the massacre of natives in the Americas. He was appointed the official “Protector of the Indians” by the Spanish crown and became an outspoken critic of their treatment in Cuba. See, e.g., BREVÍSIMA RELACIÓN DE LA DESTRUCCIÓN DE LAS INDIAS (1542), and HISTORIA DE LAS INDIAS (1561). See also THE ONLY WAY (Helen Rand Parish ed. & Francis R. Sullivan trans., 1992). 368 STUART, supra note 361, at 9. 369 Id. 370 STUART, supra note 361, at 9–10. See also Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 17 (more than 700 merchant ships visited Havana during the 11-month occupation by the British–more than had visited Havana in the entire preceding decade). See Definitive Treaty of Peace between France, Great Britain and Spain, Feb. 10, 1763, 42 Consol. T.S. 279, 3, COLECCIÓN DE LOS TRATADOS DE PAZ 177; Decree of Free Trade, Reglamento de Libre Comercio (Madrid, Oct. 12, 1778). 371 STUART, supra note 361, at 12. 372 M.C. Mirow, The Cádiz Constitution in Cuba and Florida, in THE RISE OF CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN THE IBERIAN ATLANTIC WORLD: THE IMPACT OF THE CÁDIZ CONSTITUTION OF 1812 195 (Scott Eastment & Natalia Sobrevilla Perea eds., 2015). 373 STUART, supra note 361, at 13; Id. at 199. 374 STUART, supra note 361, at 19; See also 6 DIGEST OF INTERNATIONAL LAW Sec. 950–952 (John Basset Moore comp., 1906) for U.S. policy towards Cuba in relation to the Monroe Doctrine; includes extracts of presidential, congressional and diplomatic speeches and documents. 375 STUART, supra note 361, at 14.

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U.S. cotton trade ship, led to the 1854 Ostend Manifesto. The Ostend Manifesto was a second offer to purchase Cuba from Spain for $120 million, as well as a declaration that if Spain did not sell the island, the United States might be justified in taking it by force.376 On October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes made the first Cuban cry for independence (Grito de Yara), accompanied by a list of grievances and demands. He immediately created a provisional government and the legislature promulgated a constitution the following year.377 Spain did not succumb, however, which resulted in the Ten Years’ War (1868–1878).378 During the Ten Years’ War, the United States sympathized with the insurgents, especially after the Spanish captured the merchant ship Virginius in 1873, which is now known to have been carrying weapons to the Cuban insurgents. Captain Joseph Fry and 52 crew members were tried, convicted and executed for piracy within days of their capture. The greatest punishment, according to the United States, should have been no more than the confiscation of cargo. The British successfully stopped the executions of the remaining crew, and the United States and Spain agreed to resolve the matter with reparations made to the families of the executed men, and the return of the remaining crew members to the United States.379 The Ten Years’ War ended with the Treaty of Zanjón in February 1878. The Treaty of Zanjón granted amnesty to surviving rebels and abolished slavery. It provided for reciprocal observation of treaty obligations; peace, order and a liberal government in Cuba; and improvement of commercial facilities. The treaty gave Cubans representation in the Spanish Cortes, but still no independence.380 Other than the abolition of slavery, Cubans saw few improvements after the Ten Years’ War ended. Spaniards controlled the island, and Cubans had no security or freedom of religion, press or speech. Cuba fell into an economic crisis following broken diplomatic relations with the United States, closing Cuba’s principal market for sugar. Cubans revolted in 1895 and witnessed the death of one of the island’s esteemed citizens, José Martí, during battle.381 Leadership fell to the capable General Máximo Gómez and strategy focused on guerilla warfare.382 The United States initially did not intervene, but sympathies lay with the Cuban rebels. The United States eventually sent the USS Maine to Havana harbor in early 1898, where it exploded three weeks later killing 260 navy men. Although blame could never be affixed to the Spanish, the Maine was the excuse needed for the United States to intervene.383 The United States declared war on Spain in April 1898. The Spanish-American War ended in short order and Cuban independence was secured with the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.384 The treaty mandated: (1) Spanish evacuation from Cuba, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands; (2) Spain’s relinquishment of all sovereignty over Cuba; and (3) Spain’s cession of Puerto Rico and another island to the United States. Cuba was thereafter placed into U.S. trusteeship on January 1, 1899.385

376

STUART, supra note 361, at 20; Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 20. The Ostend Manifesto (1854) was a confidential dispatch from three U.S. ambassadors in Europe to the U.S. Dept. of State suggesting that the United States would be justified in taking Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell. Northerners in the United States decried the Manifesto as an attempt to expand slavery, and it was eventually dismissed. Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 434. 377 STUART, supra note 361, at 14–15. 378 Id. at 15. 379 Id. at 21–22. 380 Id. at 15; Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 25–27. Slavery was abolished in Cuba by royal Spanish decree on Oct. 7, 1886. There were numerous slave uprisings during more than 450 years of slavery in Cuba. For more information on slavery in Cuba, see HUBERT H.S. AIMES, A HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN CUBA, 1511 TO 1868 (1907); LAIRD W. BERGAD, THE COMPARATIVE HISTORIES OF SLAVERY IN BRAZIL, CUBA, AND THE UNITED STATES (2007). 381 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 28–29. José Martí is often called the Apostle of the Cuban Revolution. He was a poet, lawyer, scholar and revolutionary. See, e.g., ALFRED J. LÓPEZ, JOSÉ MARTÍ: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE (2014). 382 STUART, supra note 361, at 24. 383 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 32. 384 Treaty of Paris, Spain-U.S., Dec. 10, 1898, 30 Stat. 1754. 385 STUART, supra note 361, at 26.

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During the time of Spanish rule, Spain entered into very few treaties specifically related to Cuba. The few Spanish treaties that did affect Cuba pertained to trade386 and immigration.387 After Cuban independence, Cuba’s trade agreements with Spain were terminated and renegotiated.388 2. Cuban Independence to the Cuban Revolution (1899–1958) Cuban independence began under U.S. protection and under the direction of U.S. military General Leonard Wood (1899–1902). During this three-year transition period, the United States oversaw the creation of a Cuban constitution and formations of a Cuban government, which looked remarkably like the government of the United States. On May 20, 1902, General Wood transferred all power to the democratically elected Cuban President, Tomás Estrada Palma, and the Cuban Congress.389 The Cuban economy was favorable at the time of independence. There was an infusion of foreign investment, an increase in trade (especially with the United States) and sugar prices were high. Cuba and the United States signed a treaty guaranteeing a 20 percent tariff preference for Cuban sugar exported to the United States and preferential treatment for U.S. products exported to Cuba.390 The Cuban Constitution of 1901 was approved simultaneously with the Platt Amendment.391 The Platt Amendment (which remained in force until 1934, when abrogated) gave the United States power to “exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the United States and undertaken by the Government of Cuba.”392 A related Agreement for Coaling and Naval Stations (1903, continued by treaty in 1934), gave the United States a coaling and naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.393 Twenty-first century criticism of the Platt Amendment includes blaming the United States for perpetuating a “Platt Amendment Mentality” whereby Cubans lacked political responsibility. That the United States would intervene on Cuba’s behalf in international or domestic conflicts arguably “encouraged an indolent attitude toward their own affairs and was not conducive to responsible self-government…which led them to rely upon the United States for guidance in their political decisions.”394 The United States’ first intervention after Cuban independence occurred in 1906. Secretary of War William Howard Taft was dispatched by President Roosevelt to Cuba when democratically elected Cuban President Palma threatened to resign over a leftist uprising that would have sent Cuba into disorder. The United States stayed until the next elections in 1909. Two elections later, in 1917, U.S. Marines returned to Cuba to quell a revolution and restore the President. That same year, Cuba, following the United States, declared war on Germany and committed 10,000 men to the disposal of the U.S. military in Europe.395

386

See, e.g., Protocol between Spain and the United States to regulate Commerce between the United States, Cuba and Porto Rico, June 19, 1891, 175 Consol. T.S. 231, 11 Bevans 581. 387 See, e.g., Convention between China and Spain for Regulating the Emigration of Chinese Subjects to Cuba, Nov. 17, 1877, 152 Consol. T.S. 127. 388 See, e.g., Commercial Relations with Respect to Cuba and Puerto Rico, Jan. 11, 1895, and terminated on April 14, 1903, by treaty of July 3, 1902, 11 Bevans 595. 389 STUART, supra note 361, at 26. Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 33–34. See also 1 DIGEST OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 148–149 (Green Haywood Hackworth comp., 1940). Reprints of messages and decrees from U.S. officials. Sec. of War Taft addresses the lack of government in Cuba in 1906 and the decision to send U.S. troops per the Platt Amendment to bring order and oversee elections until withdrawn in 1909. 390 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 34; Commercial Convention, Cuba-U.S., Dec. 2, 1902, 33 Stat. 2136, 1 Malloy 353. 391 Army Appropriations Bill, 31 Stat. 895, 897 (1901). (Written by Senator Orville Platt, (R) Conn.). Proclamation on July 2, 1904, 33 Stat. 2248. 392 Stuart, supra note 361, at 27. 393 See Agreement for the Lease to the United States of Lands in Cuba for Coaling and Naval Stations, Cuba-U.S., Feb. 23, 1903, 1 Malloy 358; Treaty of Relations, Cuba-U.S., May 29, 1934, 48 Stat. 1682. 394 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 35. 395 STUART, supra note 361, at 33. Stuart concludes by positively assessing the Platt Amendment: “… as a practical working agreement, the Cubans concede that it has been fairly satisfactory….The privilege of acquiring naval bases has not been abused

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Although democratically elected in 1924, General Machado y Morales faced student resistance when he decided to re-elect himself to a second term. Machado used force to put down the student rebellion, which resulted in the death of a student leader, Rafael Trejo, and eventual U.S. intervention. Mediation efforts in 1933 led by the U.S. ambassador, between President Machado and opposition leaders, were not successful. Cuban military factions forced the resignation of President Machado, and U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles and the Cuban Army appointed Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cuba’s first president in the 1860s rebellion), to succeed President Machado.396 President Céspedes y Quesada refused to nullify the Constitution of 1901, which led to the feeling, especially among student and leftist groups, that he was too closely aligned with the United States. In September 1933, he was quietly and successfully removed from office by a coup d’état led by Sergeant-Stenographer Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar. Student groups resisted self-proclaimed Colonel Batista’s power, and the Directorio (Directorate) appointed university professor, Dr. Ramón Grau San Martín, President of Cuba. The United States did not recognize Grau’s presidency.397 Grau, with the support of the students, abrogated the Constitution of 1901 and the Platt Amendment in 1934. But Grau had no political experience and his government soon collapsed. Ambassador Welles and the Cuban Army restored President Batista to power. He appointed Carlos Mendieta as Cuba’s provisional president. The United States recognized the presidency within days.398 The next decade saw the rise and fall of a half-dozen presidents, including Grau and Batista. In 1941, during a Batista presidency, Cuba declared war on the Axis powers and gained favor from the United States resulting in increased aid and trade.399 Batista again came to power in 1952 after another quiet and successful coup d’état.400 A fraudulent re-election in 1954, followed by unsuccessful student and leftist insurrections that left many dead, caused many Cubans to view President Batista as a dictator.401 In December 1956, Fidel Castro, his younger brother, Raúl, and Che Guevara started a revolution of guerilla warfare402 that eventually sent President Batista into exile on January 1, 1959.403

3. The Fidel Castro Years (1959–2006) Fidel Castro initiated reforms throughout Cuban society and business. He was decisively anti-U.S. and refused to listen to U.S. protests or meet with the U.S. ambassador in 1959.404 In 1960, Cuba entered into a significant commercial treaty with the Soviet Union for the exchange of sugar for oil.405 The Cuban government also nationalized major foreign businesses, including the media, communications, transportation, banking and educational systems. This was followed by the expropriation of Cuban-owned businesses and foreign-owned land. In October 1960, the United States responded with an embargo on most exports to Cuba. In January 1961, the United States withdrew its ambassador and severed all diplomatic relations.406 Following the Bay of Pigs debacle (April 1961), the United States set about isolating Cuba. The United States backed the expulsion of Cuba from the Organization of American States (OAS) in January 1962, which

(Guantánamo is the only one now held)…and the United States has exercised its right to intervene only as a last resort…Cuba’s future is before her and her success seems assured.” Id. at 35. 396 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 41–43. 397 Id. at 48. 398 Id. at 48–49. See Treaty of Relations, Cuba-U.S., May 29, 1934, 48 Stat. 1682. 399 Id. at 52. 400 Id. at 55. 401 Id. at 58–60. 402 Id. at 60. 403 Id. at 64. 404 Id. at 68. 405 Id. at 69. 406 Id. at 69–70.

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led to several countries breaking diplomatic ties with Cuba. In 1964, after Cuba increased involvement in subversive activities in Latin America, the OAS countries (except for Mexico) suspended all trade and diplomatic relations with Cuba.407 The Bay of Pigs fiasco also led to stronger Cuba-Soviet Union ties. The Soviets increased aid to Cuba, and in 1962, surreptitiously brought nuclear missiles to Cuba leading to the famous Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.408 Soviet Prime Minister Khrushchev and U.S. President Kennedy did not consult Fidel Castro in their negotiations, which resulted in the unilateral withdrawal of Soviet missiles and bombers from the island. With his pride wounded, and the realization that he was a “mere pawn on the chessboard of international politics,” Castro “defiantly rejected the U.S.-Soviet understanding and publicly questioned Soviet willingness and determination to defend the Revolution.”409 Castro joined the Chinese in refusing to sign the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, but eventually Castro’s relationship with the Soviet Union improved.410 In the name of revolution, Cuba attempted to overthrow the Venezuelan government and intervened in conflicts in Guatemala and Bolivia in the 1960s. All of these efforts ended in disaster, which increased Cuban dependence on Soviet aid and decreased Fidel Castro’s notion that he would be able to successfully inspire revolution throughout Latin America.411 Castro’s revolution was renewed in the 1970s with the overthrow of Chile’s Allende government. Castro thereafter increased support to Central American revolts and African revolutions in Ethiopia and Angola. After Cuban-Soviet victories in Africa, Castro focused on Nicaragua and helped the Sandinistas overthrow the Somoza regime. This success led to further opposition support in Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia.412 Cuba was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), which focused on neutrality, anticolonialism and building political and military cooperation among countries not aligned with the world’s political East and West blocs.413 However, Cuba drew closer to the Soviet Union on many fronts, including trade and military support. Cuba supported the Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and by the early 1970s, Soviet military and economic aid to Cuba had increased significantly.414 In 1972, Cuba became a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or Comecon).415 Nonetheless, by the late 1970s, Cuba and Fidel Castro emerged as leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement.416 By the end of the 20th century, however, Cuba’s close relationship with the Soviet Union diminished its legitimacy in the Movement.417 In what might appear to be random acts of international involvement, Cuba was strategic and opportunistic. For example, Cuba supported Argentina in 1982 during the Falkland/Malvinas War.418 By the 1990s, Cuba focused its international relations on seven goals: (1) the survival of the Castro revolution; (2) increased power and influence; (3) close alliance with the Soviet Union until the collapse of communism; (4) anti-U.S. sentiment and decreased U.S. influence; (5) an increase in allies in the developing world; (6) a new economic order in the world; and (7) continued support of national liberation movements around the world.419

407

Id. at 71. See OAS, Ser. C/II.8, Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Jan. 22–31, 1962). Cuba is a founding member of the OAS, and therefore as a signatory remains a member even though it was excluded from participation from 1962 until 2009. Cuba has voluntarily chosen to refrain from participation since 2009. See also DINAH SHELTON AND PAOLO WRIGHT-CAROZZA, REGIONAL PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 65–66 (2013). 408 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 71. 409 Id. at 72 410 Id. at 72. See Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963, T.I.A.S. 5433. 411 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 74. 412 Id. at 74–75. 413 Id. at 76. 414 Id. at 76. 415 Id. at 77, 427. CMEA was an “intergovernmental council headquartered in Moscow…to promote the development of socialist countries and to further economic cooperation among member countries.” Members included Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR, the Mongolian People’s Republic, Vietnam and Cuba. CMEA was abolished with the fall of the Soviet Union, on Jan. 1, 1991. 416 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 81. 417 Id. at 84. 418 Id. at 82. 419 Id. at 84.

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Three significant events involving Cuba and the United States occurred in the 1990s: 1. After the Cuban riots of 1994, Cuba permitted citizens to flee the island. Thousands left by boat for the treacherous journey across the Florida Straits to the United States. Many were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard in Guantánamo Bay until an agreement was reached in 1995 when they were accepted into the United States.420 2. On February 24, 1996, the Cuban Air Force shot down planes flown by unarmed Cuban dissidents from the United States who had been dropping antigovernment literature over the island in Cuban airspace.421 3. In November 1999, Elián González, a five-year-old Cuban boy, was rescued after the boat he was in capsized in the Florida Straits. He was found clinging to a raft; his mother had drowned. He was brought to the United States and reunited with relatives in Miami while his father fought for his return to Cuba. The boy was eventually returned to Cuba after a dramatic and protracted legal battle, sparking a wave of anti-Castro sentiment throughout the Cuban-American community.422 These incidents caused the United States to begin to reconsider its policies toward Cuba. The 1990s also saw increased communication and cooperation between Cuba and the United States in areas of migration, search and rescue, and drug interdiction.423 The first decade of the 21st century saw a coalition of new Latin American governments reach out and become allies with Cuba. By 2009, Cuba had restored ties with every country in the Americas except the United States.424 Cuba also established deep ties with Hugo Chávez and Venezuela during this time. Venezuela provided discounted oil to Cuba in exchange for Cuba sending doctors to Venezuela.425 Cuba took the opportunity of U.S. involvement in the Middle East to take a stand against U.S. foreign policy. Although it was one of only two countries opposing the United States entering Kuwait in the first Gulf War, Cuba had many counterparts opposing the U.S. unilateral invasion of Iraq in 2003. Cuba also highlighted for the international community the seemingly unjust detention of U.S. prisoners of war on Cuban soil at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay.426 4. Raúl Castro (2006–present) In 2006, Fidel Castro turned over provisional power to his younger brother, Raúl, due to extended illness and surgery.427 In 2008, the younger Castro was officially elected President of Cuba.428 Cuba under Raúl Castro has signed several important international human rights treaties, and the government commuted most death sentences to life imprisonment; it stopped short of officially abolishing the death penalty.429 Also in 2008, U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, should he be elected president. Seven years after taking office, on February 23, 2016, President Obama again announced his plan to close down the Guantánamo facility, transfer detainees who were still there and accelerate the review process for remaining detainees.430 In the last decade, Cuba and U.S. relations have improved significantly. Although the U.S. embargo still exists (Congressional approval is required to lift it), travel restrictions have eased, and restrictions on remittances 420

Id. at 278. Id. at 278. This incident led to the arrest and conviction of five Cuban spies in the United States. See FERNANDO MORAIS, THE LAST SOLDIERS OF THE COLD WAR: THE STORY OF THE CUBAN FIVE (Robert Ballantyne & Alex Olegnowicz trans., Verso 2015) (2011); MARTÍN KOPPEL AND MARY-ALICE WATERS, THE CUBAN FIVE: WHO THEY ARE, WHY THEY WERE FRAMED, WHY THEY SHOULD BE FREE (2012). 422 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 278–279. 423 Id. at 279. 424 JULIA E. SWEIG, CUBA: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW 197 (2009). 425 Id. at 200. 426 Id. at 205–206. 427 Id. at 208. 428 Id. at 214. 429 Id. at 216–217. 430 Barack Obama, Remarks by the President on Plan to Close the Prison at Guantanamo Bay (Feb. 23, 2016), https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/23/remarks-president-plan-close-prison-guantanamo-bay. 421

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have been removed.431 On July 20, 2015, the United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations and re-established embassies in each country.432 In March 2016, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Cuba and met with Cuban President Raúl Castro. This was the first visit to Cuba by a sitting U.S. President since 1928. C. TREATIES In 1960, shortly after the success of the Cuban Revolution, Cuba withdrew from the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty, 1947). That same year, Cuba terminated its agreement to the United States Mutual Defense Assistance Program. Cuba did not join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968)—the only country in the Americas not to do so. It did, however, sign in 1975 the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (1967). Cuba also agreed to inspections and safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1980. Cuba has signed other selective multilateral treaties, including the Geneva Convention protecting war victims.433 Cuba’s 1976 Constitution (as amended to June 26, 2002) abrogates, in Article 11, any treaties or agreements that were signed while in condition of inequality or that diminish its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Article 75(j) gives power to the National Assembly to approve peace treaties. Article 90(g) permits the Council of State to approve peace treaties while the National Assembly is in recess. Article 98(d) gives the Council of Ministers the power to approve international treaties and submit them for ratification by the Council of State. Article 90(o), charges the Council of State with ratifying or denouncing international treaties.434 Also relevant to the domestic legal framework for treaties is Decreto-Ley No. 191, “De Los Tratados Internacionales” (Decree-Law No. 191, “On International Treaties”) (March 8, 1999).435 D. HUMAN RIGHTS

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Cuba has a long history of human rights abuses as documented by various agencies, including: United Nations Commission on Human Rights436 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights437 U.S. Department of State438 Amnesty International439 Human Rights Watch440 Freedom House441

431

Cuba, U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, (June 16, 2017), http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/cuba.html. See also Frequently Asked Questions on President Trump’s Cuba Announcement, Dept. of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (July 25, 2017), https://cu.usembassy.gov/frequently-asked-questions-president-trumps-cuba-announcement-2/. 432 A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Cuba, U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, https://history.state.gov/countries/cuba (last visited July 26, 2017). 433 Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 307. 434 See CONST., supra note 27. 435 Decree-Law No. 191, “De Los Tratados Internacionales” [DLTI] [Decree-Law No. 191, “On International Treaties”], March 8, 1999, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 12, March 12, 1999. For more on this law, and its complementary regulations, see Richards Martínez, supra note 225. 436 Cuba, OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMM’R FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/LACRegion/Pages/ CUIndex.aspx (last visited July 26, 2017). 437 INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ANNUAL REPORT, CHAPTER IV.B, CUBA (2016), http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/ annual/2016/docs/InformeAnual2016cap.B.Cuba-en.pdf. 438 U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR, COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES FOR 2016, https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/265790.pdf. 439 See, e.g., AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, CUBA: THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION (1990); AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, ANNUAL REPORT: CUBA 2016/2017, https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/cuba/report-cuba/. 440 Cuba, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (2017), https://www.hrw.org/americas/cuba. 441 Cuba, FREEDOM HOUSE (2017), https://freedomhouse.org/country/cuba.

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Cuba, however, contends that its record of human rights is excellent when defined as providing its citizens with basic food, education and health care.442 The one-party, totalitarian model of Cuba’s government is believed to be the source of Cuba’s human rights abuses. Citizens who oppose the Cuban government risk loss of employment, harassment or imprisonment. There are hundreds of political prisoners in Cuban jails according to human rights observers, including the Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional (Cuban Committee for Human Rights and National Reconciliation–CCDHRN), whose founder is a former political prisoner.443 Nonetheless, Cuba has signed many international human rights treaties including, most recently, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2008).444 Cuba has also signed all eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization.445 In 1962, the government of Cuba was excluded as a participating member in the OAS. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued seven reports on the condition of human rights in Cuba between 1962 and 1983, even though the IACHR was not permitted to visit Cuba to investigate allegations and complaints.446 The 2011 Annual Report of the IACHR includes a Country Report on Cuba wherein the IACHR reaffirmed its 1997 conclusion that the Cuban government has violated its citizens’ human rights because the Cuban people are not permitted to exercise fundamental rights as established in the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. The primary violations pertain to restrictions on political rights, freedom of association, expression, movement and thought, along with an absence of elections and an independent judiciary. The Report also finds “severe repression of women, restrictions on human rights defenders and laws and practices that violate the rights of children and adolescents.”447 The Report provides specific examples of cases where human rights have been violated. The Cuban government was sent the Report in November 2011 with a request for comment; Cuba did not respond. The IACHR also found that the U.S. embargo was detrimental to the Cuban people and recommended it be lifted.448 Many of the human rights concerns are reiterated in the 2014 and 2015 annual reports of the IACHR although advances are noted as well.449 E. INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

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Cuba is a member of several intergovernmental organizations: League of Nations: Cuba was an original signer of the Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI and creating the League of Nations (January 10, 1920).450 United Nations (U.N.): Cuba is a founding member of the United Nations. The U.N. Charter was signed on June 26, 1945.451 Cuba has appeared before the U.N. on many occasions and has garnered support in the U.N. General

442

Hudson ed., supra note 195, at 353. Id. See also RADIO MARTÍ, Son 93 Los Presos Políticos en Cuba, Según Comisión de DDHH, April 25, 2016, http://www. martinoticias.com/a/cuba-lista-parcial-presos-politicos-ccdhrn/120528.html. 444 Treaties Ratification Status for Cuba, U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMM’R FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/ _layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=44&Lang=EN (last visited July 26, 2017). Cuba has signed but not ratified the ICCPR and ICESCR. 445 Ratifications for Cuba, INT’L LABOUR ORG. (2016), http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11200:0:: NO::P11200_COUNTRY_ID:102603. 446 INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, COUNTRY REPORTS (2016), http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/country.asp. 447 INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ANNUAL REPORT, CHAPTER IV, CUBA 2 (2011), http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/ annual/2011/TOC.asp. 448 Id. 449 INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ANNUAL REPORT, CHAPTER IV, CUBA (2014), http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/ annual/2014/docs-en/Annual2014-chap4Cuba.pdf; INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, ANNUAL REPORT, CHAPTER IV, CUBA (2015), http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/docs/annual/2015/doc-en/InformeAnual2015-Cap4-Cuba-EN.pdf. 450 League of Nations, 2 Bevans 43, 58 (1919). The League of Nations dissolved in 1946. It was the precursor to the United Nations. 451 Member States, UNITED NATIONS, http://www.un.org/en/member-states/index.html (last visited July 26, 2017). 443

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Assembly for its resolutions condemning the U.S. embargo.452 In October 2016, the vote was 191 in favor of Cuba, demanding an end to the embargo, with the United States and Israel abstaining.453 Organization of American States (OAS): On June 3, 2009, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Americas adopted resolution AG/RES. 2438 (XXXIX-O/09), resolving that the 1962 resolution, which excluded the government of Cuba from its participation in the inter-American system, ceases to have effect in the OAS. The 2009 resolution states that the participation of the Republic of Cuba in the OAS will be the result of a process of dialogue initiated at the request of the Cuban government, and in accordance with the practices, purposes and principles of the OAS.454 Up to now, Cuba has not rejoined the OAS as an active member. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Cuba is a founding member (1961) and one of 115 member states of the NAM. The NAM is premised upon, although not formally defined by, principles of non-alignment with world super powers, independence and anti-colonialism, peace and equality.455 Cuba chaired the NAM in 1979–1983 and 2006–2009. Although Cuba hosted the Non-Aligned Movement leaders in 2006 when it assumed the chair, Fidel Castro was too ill to make an appearance.456 Association of Caribbean States (ACS): Cuba is a member of the ACS, a “forum for political dialogue that allows Members the opportunity to identify areas of common interest and concern that may be addressed at the regional level…”457 Current areas of concern are: (1) preservation and conservation of the Caribbean Sea; (2) tourism; (3) trade; (4) natural disasters; and (5) transportation.458 Cuba assumed the rotating presidency of the ACS in January 2016, and was also elected Chair of the Ministerial Council for 2016. The Seventh ACS Summit was held in Havana in June 2016.459 Caribbean Community (CARICOM): Cuba is not a member or Associate Member of CARICOM.460

F. RESOURCES Treaty Sources Bilateral U.S.–Cuba Treaties (U.S. publications) United States Department of State. Treaties and International Agreements of the United States (TIAS). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1946–1997. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.state.gov/s/l/ treaty/tias/index.htm (current to 2017). United States Department of State. United States Treaties and other International Agreements (UST). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1950–1984. United States Congress, comp. United States Statutes at Large. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1937–1950. 452

SWEIG, supra note 424, at 195. This was a break in the “no” vote the United States has always cast pertaining to the embargo. See Somini Sengupta & Rick Gladstone, U.S. Abstains in U.N. Vote Condemning Cuban Embargo, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 26, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/ 10/27/world/americas/united-nations-cuba-embargo.html. See also U.N. Secretary-General, Report of the Secretary-General on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba, U.N. Doc. A/71/91 (July 21, 2016), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/71/91. 454 ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, MEMBERS (2016), http://www.oas.org/en/member_states/default.asp (last visited July 26, 2017). See also SHELTON AND WRIGHT-CAROZZA, supra note 407, at 66–67. 455 See What is the NAM?, 17th SUMMIT OF THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, http://namvenezuela.org/?us%20portfolio=projectslider (last visited Sept. 15, 2017). See also Non-Aligned Movement, NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE, http://www.nti.org/learn/treaties-and-regimes/non-aligned-movement-nam/ (last visited July 26, 2017). 456 SWEIG, supra note 424, at 209. 457 About the ACS, ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN STATES, http://www.acs-aec.org/index.php?q=about-the-acs (last visited July 26, 2017). 458 Id. 459 ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN STATES, http://www.acs-aec.org/index.php?q=press-center/releases/2016/seventh-acs-summitto-take-place-in-cuba (last visited July 26, 2017). 460 CARICOM, http://www.caricom.org/ (last visited July 26, 2017). 453

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Bevans, Charles I., comp. Treaties and other international agreements of the United States of America, 1776– 1949. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1968. Indices included in set. Vol. 6 (1971): Cuba, pp. 1106–1243. Contains reprints of treaties between Cuba and the United States from the time of Cuban independence (1898) to 1949. Vol. 11 (1974): Spain, pp. 516–709. Contains reprints of treaties and agreements between the United States and Spain, some of which involve Cuba before (e.g., Claims: The Case of the “Virginius”) and at the time of Cuban independence (e.g., Treaty of Paris, 1898). Malloy, William M., comp. Treaties, conventions, international acts, protocols, and agreements between the United States of America and Other Powers. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1910. Indices included in set. Treaty Indices Kavass, Igor I. United States Treaty Index: 1776–2015 Consolidations, Geographical Subject Index. Buffalo, NY: William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 1991. Index is alphabetical by country. U.S. Department of State. Treaties in Force. Published annually; use to determine if a particular treaty between Cuba and the United States is still in force. Also available online: http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/tif/index.htm. Bilateral and Multilateral Treaties (Non-U.S. publications) Cuba. “Gaceta Oficial.” Accessed July 26, 2017. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu. Cuba. Convenios y Tratados Celebrados por la República de Cuba desde 1903 a 1908. La Habana: “La Moderna Poesía.”1908. Cuba. Tratados, Convenios y Convenciones Celebrados por la República de Cuba desde 1903 a 1914. La Habana: Rambla, Bouza y Ca., 1916. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101077785945. Cuba. Tratados, Convenios, Convenciones Celebrados por la República de Cuba desde 1930 hasta 1935. La Habana: Imp. de Rambla, Bouza y Ca., 1935. Parry, Clive, ed. The Consolidated Treaty Series. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1969–1981. (231 Volumes). Summary: Beginning with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, this series proposes to consolidate chronologically all treaties entered into worldwide up to the formation of the League of Nations Treaty Series (L.N.T.S.). Contains over 100 treaties involving Cuba. Treaties are reprinted in the vernacular. Also provides parallel citations to Cuba’s treaty collections. CTS is also available online, with a subscription to Oxford Historical Treaties, a module of the Oxford Public International Law database. Parry Clive. Index–Guide to Treaties: Based on the Consolidated Treaty Series. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1979–1986. (10 volumes). Summary: Multivolume index provides several methods of finding treaties, including by country. Indexes the treaties involving Cuba from 1902–1919. League of Nations. League of Nations Treaty Series (L.N.T.S.). London: Harrison & Sons, 1920–1946. United Nations. United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.). New York: United Nations, 1947–2016. Human Rights Treaties Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. Instrumentos Internacionales sobre Derechos Humanos Ratificados por Cuba. San José, Costa Rica: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 2001. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “United Nations Human Rights Treaties–Ratification Status for Cuba.” Accessed July 26, 2017. http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx? CountryID=44&Lang=EN. International Labour Organization. “Conventions and Agreements: Ratifications for Cuba.” Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11200:0::NO::P11200_COUNTRY_ID: 102603. 84

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Research Guides Bishop, Crawford M., and Anyda Marchant. A Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1944. Also available online. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015079734367. This publication is an excellent resource for historical monographs and journal articles published in both Cuba and the United States. Some of the monographs are listed in this bibliography; see the original resource, p.141, for relevant journal articles as there are too many to list here. Morais, Yasmin. GlobaLex. “A Guide to Legal Research in Cuba.” June 2015. Accessed July 26, 2017. http:// www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Cuba.html. Law Library of Congress. “Country Guide.” Accessed July 26, 2017. https://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/ nations/cuba.php. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Cuba.” Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ Countries/LACRegion/Pages/CUIndex.aspx. World Intellectual Property Organization. “Cuba.” Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/es/ profile.jsp?code=CU. Diplomatic Documents U.S.–Cuba Relations Moore, John Basset, comp. Digest of International Law. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906. Vol. I, Sec. 40 contains presidential messages issued during revolutions in Cuba, including: President Grant’s Message of December 7, 1875; President Cleveland’s message of December 7, 1896; and President McKinley’s message of April 11, 1898. The Joint Resolution of Congress declaring Cuba a free state on April 20, 1898 (30 Stat. 738) is also reprinted. Vol. 1, Sec. 97 reprints the Spanish and American debate over whether Spain is responsible for Cuban debt at the time of Cuban independence (H.Doc. 551–23, 24). Vol. VI, Sec. 950–952 for U.S. policy toward Cuba in relation to the Monroe Doctrine; includes extracts of presidential, congressional, and diplomatic speeches and documents. Hackworth, Green Haywood, comp. Digest of International Law. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1940. Vol. 1, p. 148–149. Secretary of War Taft addresses the lack of government in Cuba in 1906 and the decision to send U.S. troops per the Platt Amendment to bring order and oversee elections until withdrawn in 1909. Reprints of messages and decrees from U.S. officials. Index. Alphabetical by topic and country. Cuba entry includes subentries, such as the Platt Amendment, Spanish sovereignty (relinquishment), Treaty (U.S.–Cuba). United States Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1861–1960. U.S.-Cuba relations are documented throughout FRUS: Diplomatic Papers, annually in the volume named “The American Republics.” For example, 1933, Vol. V, The American Republics: Cuba, at 270–588. These early papers of FRUS (1861–1960) are available through the University of Wisconsin. Accessed July 26, 2017. https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/FRUS/. United States Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1945–2016. U.S.-Cuba relations are documented throughout FRUS. FRUS is full-text searchable on the Department of State website. Accessed July 26, 2017. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments.

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1977–1980, Volume XXIII, Mexico, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Accessed July 26, 2017. https://history.state. gov/historicaldocuments/frus1977-80v23. Council on Foreign Relations. Documents of American Foreign Relations. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1938–1970. United States Department of State. United States Department of State Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1939–1989. There are many more U.S. government publications that contain information pertaining to U.S.-Cuba relations. Websites CubaMinrex is the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) in Cuba. It contains summaries of the activities of the Minister and of Cuba in the world. It does not contain any primary source material or information, such as treaty information. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.cubaminrex.cu/. Selected Monographs and Periodicals Aimes, Hubert H.S. A History of Slavery in Cuba (1511–1868). New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907. American Institute of International Law. Revista Americana de Derecho Internacional. Washington, D.C.; Byron S. Adams, 1912–1921. Americas Watch Committee. Human Rights in Cuba: The Need to Sustain the Pressure. New York: Americas Watch Committee, 1989. Aronson, Bernard W., William D. Rogers, Julia Sweig, and Walter Mead. U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: Council on Foreign Relations, 2001. Bustamante y Sirvén, Antonio Sánchez de. Derecho Internacional Público, 5 vols., La Habana: Carasa y cía., 1933–1938. Universidad de La Habana Professor Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirvén, Cuba’s most renowned legal scholar of the early 20th century, is known for his treatises on public and private international law and his work at the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague. ———. Manual de Derecho Internacional Público. La Habana: La Mercantil de Palacio y cía., 1942. Cabarrocas, José M. “The Development of the International Status of Cuba.” LL.M. diss., Yale Law School, 1914. Callahan, James Morton. Cuba and International Relations: A Historical Study in American Diplomacy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1899. Cárdenas y Echarte, Raúl de. La Política de los Estados Unidos en el Continente Americano. La Habana: Sociedad Ed. “Cuba Contemporánea,” 1921. Cassano, Alberto. Cuba, Cooperazione Internazionale e Diritti Umani: Un’analisi delle Fonti Storiche. Torino: L’Harmattan Italia, 2009. Castro, Fidel. Obama and the Empire. Melbourne: Ocean Press, 2012. Céspedes y Orellano, José María. La Doctrina de Monroe. La Habana: Imp. La Moderna de A. Miranda y cía., 1893. Chediak, Natalio. “Principios de derecho Internacional Aplicados por los Tribunales Cubanos.” Revista de Derecho Internacional. Year VIII No. 52, Tomo XXVI (1934): 184–261. Clark, Juan, de Fana, Ángel, and Amaya Sánchez. Human Rights in Cuba: An Experiential Perspective. Miami: Saeta Ediciones, 1991. Comisión de Juristas del Colegio de Abogados de La Habana en el Exilio. El Caso de Cuba ante el Derecho Internacional. Miami: Havana Bar Association in Exile, Inc., 1967. DeCosse, Sarah A. Cuba’s Repressive Machinery: Human Rights Forty Years after the Revolution. New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999. Delgado, Domingo Jorge. Legalidad y Derechos Humanos en Cuba. Miami: Saeta Ediciones, 1991. D’Estefano Pisani, Miguel Antonio. Cuba en lo Internacional (1510–1898). La Habana: Jurídica, 1988. The author is a prolific scholar and law professor at the Universidad de La Habana. He specializes in Cuba in international law. Erisman, H. Michael, and John M. Kirk, eds. Cuban Foreign Policy Confronts a New International Order. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 1991. This book is a collection of essays pertaining to Cuba’s foreign relations worldwide, including those with Latin America, North America, Africa and Asia. Fauriol, Georges A., and Eva Loser, eds. Cuba: The International Dimension. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1990. This book is a collection of essays pertaining to Cuba’s foreign relations worldwide, including those with Latin America, Africa, Asia and North America. There is also a section on Cuba’s functional policy areas. Fitzgibbon, Russell H. Cuba and the United States, 1900–1935. Menasha, Wis.: College Press; Banta Pub. Co., 1935. 86

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Hudson, Rex A., ed. Cuba: A Country Study. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 2002. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/cs/pdf/CS_Cuba.pdf. Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. Instrumentos Internacionales sobre Derechos Humanos Ratificados por Cuba. San José, Costa Rica: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos, 2001. Kagel, Laura Tate, and José R. Cabañas Rodríguez, eds. The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook after 50 Years. Athens, Ga: Dean Rusk Center, 2014. Koppel, Martin, and Mary-Alice Waters, eds. The Cuban Five: Who they are, Why they were framed, Why they should be free. New York: Pathfinder, 2012. LeoGrande, William M., and Peter Kornbluh. Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Lowenfeld, Andreas F. “Cuba” in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press, 2009. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1272? rskey=uwtLMJ&result=1&prd=EPIL. Machado y Ortega, Luis. La Enmienda Platt. La Habana: Imp. “El Siglo XX,” 1922. Mirow, M.C. “The Cádiz Constitution in Cuba and Florida.” In The Rise of Constitutional Government in the Iberian Atlantic World: The Impact of the Cádiz Constitution of 1812, edited by Scott Eastman and Natalia Sobrevilla Perea, 194–211. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015. Morais, Fernando, and Robert Ballantyne, trans., with Alex Olegnowicz. The Last Soldiers of the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five. London: Verso, 2015. Portell Vila, Herminio. Historia de Cuba en sus relaciones con los Estados Unidos y España. La Habana: Jesús Montero, 1938–1941. (4 vols. Vol. IV focuses on the United States). Ritter, Archibald R. M., and John M. Kirk, eds. Cuba in the International System: Normalization and Integration. Basingstoke, Hampshire: MacMillan Press, Inc., 1995. This collection of essays focuses on U.S.–Cuba relations. Roa, Jorge. Los Estados Unidos y Europa en Hispano-América. La Habana: Carasa y cía., 1935. Rodríguez Lendián, Evelio. Los Estados Unidos, Cuba y el Canal de Panamá, La Habana: Imp. “Avisador Comercial,” 1909. Roig de Leuchsenring, Emilio. La Doctrina de Monroe y el Pacto de la Liga de las Naciones. La Habana: Imp. “El Siglo XX,” 1921. ———. Historia de la Enmienda Platt. Una Interpretación de la Realidad Cubana. 2 vols. La Habana: Cultural, 1935. Shelton, Dinah, and Paolo Wright-Carozza. Regional Protection of Human Rights. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. (Sec. 1.3.3. The Case of Cuba). Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional. Anuario de la Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional. La Habana: Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional, 1917–1949. ———. La Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional y el Pacto de la Liga de las Naciones. La Habana: Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional, 1920. Stuart, Graham H. Cuba and its International Relations. New York: Institute of International Education, 1923. Sweig, Julia E. Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. ———. Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Toledo López, Virgilio. El Daño Antropológico y los Derechos Humanos en Cuba. Madrid: Editorial Hispano Cubana, 2009. Trelles y Govín, Carlos M. “Estudio de la Bibliografía Cubana sobre La Doctrina de Monroe.” Revista de Derecho Internacional. Year I No. 1 Tomo I (1922): 15–114. Tremosa y Nadal, Ángel. Nociones de Derecho Internacional. La Habana: “La Australia,” 1896. Valverde y Maruri, Antonio L. La Intervención, Estudio de Derecho Internacional Público. La Habana: Imp. “La Universal” de Ruiz y hno., 1902. White, Nigel D. The Cuban Embargo Under International Law: El Bloqueo. New York: Routledge, 2015. Wright, Philip G. The Cuban Situation and our Treaty Relations. New York: The Brookings Institution, 1931. Zaragoza y Escobar, Antonio. El “Monroísmo” y El General Don Porfirio Díaz. La Habana: “El Comercio,” 1896. Ziegler, Melanie M. U.S.-Cuban Cooperation: Past, Present, and Future. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.

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A. INTRODUCTION Since the 1959 Revolution, the practice of law in Cuba has experienced dramatic changes. Although the legal profession had enjoyed prestige during the years prior to the Fidel Castro regime, it was perceived as a bourgeois and unnecessary profession in Cuba’s new revolutionary society.461 By 1962, over 900 Cuban lawyers had fled the country,462 and the Universidad de La Habana’s School of Law had lost its status as an independent faculty within the University. Three years later, the number of enrolled law students in Cuba had dwindled to 343 (representing less than two percent of the island’s total number of university students),463 and there were no law school graduates on the island during the 1964–1965 academic year.464 In 1965, however, the PCC formed the Comisión de Estudios Jurídicos (Commission for Juridical Studies) to examine the country’s legal framework.465 As a result of the Commission’s work, both the judicial system and the legal profession were recognized as important players in the country’s transition to socialism.466 In a 1971 speech, Fidel Castro himself asserted: The first truth is that capitalist legality must be destroyed. The second truth is that socialist legality must be established. We revolutionaries have two parts to play—destroyers of laws in accordance with the [first] phase of the revolution, and creators and defenders of laws in the other phase of the revolution. This is in full agreement with another law—the dialectical law of history. We must all, therefore, live through this very dialectical stage of first destroying and later creating. We inherit from the first phase a certain illegal spirit, which underrates laws and applies this underrating of laws to the revolution itself. Here it [c]an be plainly seen that the new society needs an intelligent and scientific order. Here it can be plainly seen that [sic] what role the jurists play, as creators, as advisors, as those who apply laws.467 After the tumultuous early years of the Revolution, the legal profession began making a comeback. In 1976, the law school at the Universidad de La Habana returned to its former status as an independent faculty,468 and by the 1989–1990 school year, there were about 3,750 law students enrolled at Cuban universities.469 Today, lawyers play an active role in Cuban society. Although the private practice of law is prohibited, attorneys work in a variety of settings—bufetes colectivos (collective law firms), government agencies, commercial enterprises and in the courts. There is also a small cadre of independent lawyers working without the approval of the Cuban government. 461

EVENSON, supra note 16, at 69. For additional information on the Revolution’s immediate impact on the legal profession, see Victoria Quintana, Heirs of Martí: The Story of Cuban Lawyers, 17 U. MIAMI INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 229, 254–260 (2010); and Alfred L. Padula, Jr., The Fall of the Bourgeoisie: Cuba, 1959–1961 (Dec. 6, 1974) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of New Mexico). 462 John R. Burton, Chair, Report of the Special Committee to Cooperate with Cuban Lawyers in Exile, 87 ANN. REP. A.B.A. 305, 305 (1962). See also Dr. Agustín Cruz, It Took Only Three Years: The Destruction of a Law Firm, 50 A.B.A. J. 63 (Jan. 1964). 463 ROGELIO PÉREZ-PERDOMO, LATIN AMERICAN LAWYERS 107 (2006). Cf., During the 1958–1959 school year, there were 2,853 law students enrolled in Cuban law schools. DOMÍNGUEZ, supra note 110, at 257. 464 ZATZ, supra note 50, at 111–112 (citing Unión Nacional de Juristas Cubanas, Tésis sobre la vida jurídica del país 19–21 (1987)). 465 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 70. 466 Id. 467 Fidel Castro Ruz, Prime Minister of Cuba, 10th Anniversary—Interior Ministry (June 6, 1971) (English trans. available in the Castro Speech Data Base, Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC), http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/ db/1971/19710607-1.html); Original text in Spanish at http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1971/esp/f060671e.html. 468 EVENSON, supra note 16, at 71. 469 ZATZ supra note 50, at 113 (citing Universidad de La Habana Law School Dean Julio Fernández Bulté, May 22, 1989; Nov. 28, 1989). Also noteworthy was the gender distribution of law students at the Universidad de La Habana during the same school year (69.5 percent were women), at 114 (citing Dean Julio Fernández Bulté; Nov. 28, 1989).

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The paragraphs below provide a composite sketch of the legal profession in Cuba, beginning with a historical background, followed by an overview of legal education, and then descriptions of the organizations that are so unique to the practice of law in Cuba—the bufetes colectivos, the Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos (ONBC) (National Organization of Collective Law Firms) and the Unión Nacional de Juristas Cubanas (UNJC) (National Union of Cuban Jurists). Also addressed in this section are abogados independientes (independent lawyers), jueces (judges, both lay and professional), fiscales (public prosecutors) and notarios (civil law notaries), who likewise play an important role in Cuba’s legal landscape. The information presented in this piece was primarily gleaned from sources published in Spanish, although there is also a body of work in English on this topic. A selected bibliography of relevant sources in Spanish and English follows the main text. B. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND470 The legal profession in Cuba can be traced back to 1799 when the Real Audiencia de Santo Domingo (Royal Audience of Santo Domingo)471 was transferred to Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey). This transition occurred after the Peace of Basel was signed in 1795 whereby Spain ceded its part of the island of Hispaniola to France. In 1819, King Ferdinand VII of Spain ordered the establishment of colegios de abogados (bar associations) in Havana and Puerto Príncipe. The order dictated the number of associations and specified that each would be governed by its own rules requiring the Royal Audience’s approval. Cuba’s first bar association was founded in 1831 in Puerto Príncipe, with its own bylaws inspired by the bar association of Madrid and a membership limited to 24 lawyers. In 1842, bar associations were founded in Santiago de Cuba and Trinidad-Remedios-Sancti Spíritus. The Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (Bar Association of Havana) was founded in 1852, although it was almost immediately closed by the island’s Captain General, and it was not reinstated until 1879. The Spanish colonists generally viewed the Cuban bar associations with animosity as they were known for fostering liberal political ideology.472 The Cuban bar associations initially existed under Spain’s legislative agenda, including the 1870 Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial (Organic Law of Judicial Power).473 After the Spanish-American War, however, the U.S. Military Government in Cuba enacted Military Order No. 500 (Dec. 10, 1900) that effectively dissolved all of the island’s bar associations.474 The Order was a repressive measure—a reaction to the Bar Association of Havana’s protests of various decisions made by the caretaker U.S. government. During the following years, bar association membership was not a requisite for practicing law, and the courts assumed the functions that the associations themselves had performed relating to bar membership. On January 27, 1909, during a second U.S. military intervention, the interim governor of Cuba repealed the 1870 Organic Law of Judicial Power that had existed under Spanish rule.475 The bar associations then assumed responsibility for ensuring the fulfillment of attorneys’ duties and their effectiveness in court, as well as the order, decorum, fraternity and discipline among association members. The power to discipline attorneys was one of the most important powers granted to bar associations. In cases where an association was sanctioning an attorney through expulsion, the attorney was guaranteed the option of appealing to Cuba’s Supreme Court.

470

The information in this section was primarily gleaned from Orígenes de la Abogacía en Cuba, ORGANIZACIÓN NACIONAL BUFETES COLECTIVOS, http://www.onbc.cu/historia (last visited July 26, 2017). 471 Santo Domingo is now the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. 472 A number of well-known figures in Cuba’s 19th century fight for independence were members of the bar associations. See Clark, supra note 273, at 417. 473 See ALFONSO XII, REY DE ESPAÑA , LEY ORGÁNICA DEL PODER JUDICIAL DE 15 DE SETIEMBRE DE 1870 Y LEY ADICIONAL Á LA MISMA DE 14 DE OCTUBRE DE 1882 (Imprenta de E. de la Riva, 1882), http://fama2.us.es/fde/ocr/2007/ leyOrganicaPoderJudicial1870.pdf. 474 The Order is reprinted in U.S. WAR DEP’T, DIV. OF INSULAR AFF., TRANSLATION OF THE LAW OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE FOR CUBA AND PORTO RICO 332 (Frank L. Joannini trans., Gov. Printing Office 1901). A digital edition of this work is available in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), http://www.dloc.com. 475 Decreto No. 127, “Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial” [LOPJ] [Decree No. 127, “Organic Law of Judicial Power”], Jan. 27, 1909, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 27, Jan. 27, 1909. DE

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More changes to law practice in Cuba were introduced in the 1940s. The new 1940 Cuban Constitution again established the requirement of compulsory bar association membership for attorneys per Article 70. Complementary pieces of legislation were Decreto No. 781 (Decree No. 781) (March 15, 1944), and Ley No. 4 (Law No. 4) (Nov. 13, 1944).476 In July 1948, Cuba’s Asamblea Nacional de Abogados (National Assembly of Lawyers) adopted a uniform code of ethics for all of the country’s bar associations. This code defined actions that were considered professional ethics violations and regulated relationships between lawyers, between lawyers and the courts and between lawyers and their clients. The code also specified that sanctions could be imposed for breaches of professional ethics. In March 1949, the Junta de Gobierno (Board of Government) of the Bar Association of Havana adopted its own rules, which the Sala de Gobierno del Tribunal Supremo (Government Chamber of the Supreme Court) approved in May of the same year. On January 1, 1959, the revolutionary movement triumphed, bringing profound changes to Cuba’s central government structure and the established social order, including the legal profession. The practice of law in revolutionary Cuba is addressed in detail below, along with a brief discussion of legal education. C. LEGAL EDUCATION477 Legal education in Cuba is similar to that in Europe and the rest of Latin America. The student enters law school directly from high school, and the law degree is an undergraduate degree. When students finish high school in Cuba, they must take a university entrance exam, somewhat similar to the SAT in the United States. Depending on the score, the student can then enter into certain programs at a university. Students who do not pass the exam cannot pursue a university degree and must engage in technical tasks and/or jobs for which a formal college education is not required. In Cuba, like in most continental European and Latin American countries, a law degree candidate must pass the coursework478 for the degree of Licenciado en Derecho (J.D. equivalent) and must then successfully pass the state exam or thesis option. The minimum score required for all coursework, as well as the state exam or thesis, is three points on a scale of one to five. There are awards for law students with high grades; specifically, the Título de Oro (Gold Prize) is awarded to university students with a GPA of 4.75 or higher out of 5.00.479 In addition, to qualify for the award, there is a specific requirement for participation in activities of the Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU) (Federation of University Students), the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (Young Communists Union) and the PCC.480 A Cuban lawyer graduates from a law school belonging to the Cuban university system, the only existing on the island since January 1959. After recent educational reforms, it is also possible to graduate from municipal universities where there are de facto extensions of Cuban law schools.481 If a Cuban lawyer has studied in a foreign country, s/he must receive official recognition of his/her law degree.482 After passing all core subjects and the state exam or thesis option, the new law graduate is registered in the Registro Central de Abogados (Central Register of Attorneys). The Register is maintained by the Provincial Directorates of Justice, which are provincial

476

Ley No. 4 [Law No. 4], Nov. 13, 1944, Gaceta Oficial [GO], Nov. 17, 1944. The information in this section was primarily derived from Joan Martínez-Evora, Comentarios acerca del Ejercicio de la Abogacía y del Abogado en Cuba, ASS’N FOR THE STUDY OF THE CUBAN ECON. (ASCE), 18 CUBA IN TRANSITION: PAPERS AND PROC. OF THE EIGHTEENTH ANN. MEETING, Aug. 5–7, 2008, at 218–222, http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v18-martinezevora.pdf. 478 For a description of law school coursework in Cuba, see Clark, supra note 273, at 427–428. 479 The Gold Prize is also awarded to university students who opted for science-related work and his/her research produced exceptional results. Martínez-Evora, supra note 477, at 218. 480 Daisy Valera, Los títulos de oro en la universidad, HAVANA TIMES (July 20, 2010), http://www.havanatimes.org/sp/? p=6912. 481 For a list of websites of Cuban law schools, see Yasmin Morais, A Guide to Legal Research in Cuba, GLOBALEX (June 2015), http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Cuba.html. 482 Decreto-Ley No. 81, “Sobre el Ejercicio de la Abogacía y la Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos” [DLEAONBC] [Decree-Law No. 81, “On the Legal Profession and the National Organization of Collective Law Firms”], June 8, 1984, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 12, June 8, 1984, art. 3(a). 477

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administrative organs of the Ministry of Justice. New law school graduates, who are primarily women,483 are first required to provide several years of legal social service (two years for men, and three years for women).484 Assignments for new lawyers are coordinated between law schools, various employers and government agencies. Currently, the law schools in Cuba maintain cooperative ties with a number of foreign law schools.485 For example, there are ongoing relationships between the Universidad de La Habana’s law faculty and law schools in Buenos Aires and La Plata, Argentina, as well as Barcelona, Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid, Spain, among others. These relationships range from academic exchanges, to the sharing of postgraduate courses. Although the United States has generally been excluded, there are currently exchange programs with some universities in the mainland United States and Puerto Rico.486 D. BUFETES COLECTIVOS (COLLECTIVE LAW FIRMS)487 On December 21, 1964, the Board of Government of the Bar Association of Havana proposed the creation of a group of lawyers called bufetes colectivos (collective law firms), based on the premise that every citizen would have access to justice through reduced rates, compared to those paid to lawyers in private practice. The bufetes would operate according to bylaws that the Board proposed to the Minister of Justice. On January 22, 1965, the Minister of Justice, through Resolución No. 18 (Resolution No. 18),488 approved the creation of the first bufete colectivo in Havana. The bufete was subject to the jurisdiction of the Bar Association of Havana under the guidance and supervision of the Minister of Justice. Cuba’s Council of Ministers subsequently issued Ley No. 1189 (Law No. 1189) (April 25, 1966), whereby registration in the Ministry of Justice’s central registry of attorneys was required for professional practice, eliminating the compulsory licensing of attorneys by the bar associations.489 This measure, together with the creation of bufetes colectivos, was the first step in the elimination of private law practice in Cuba. Over time, bufetes colectivos became a single entity under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice.490 In 1973, the Council of Ministers issued Ley No. 1250, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial (Law No. 1250, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System).491 This law eliminated private law practice, which definitively disappeared in Cuba in 1974. The 1977 Ley No. 4, Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial (Law No. 4, Law on the Organization of the Judicial System) created a new structure for the bufetes colectivos that was defined in Article 146 as an “autonomous national institution, of social interest,” governed by an internal regulation that required the approval of Cuba’s Ministry of Justice.492 Among other provisions, Law No. 4, which was in force 483

“…roughly 2/3 of all students attending law school in Cuba are women.” Steven M. Harper, Op-Ed: Here’s What One U.S. Lawyer Learned About Cuba’s Legal System, CUBA JOURNAL (Nov. 10, 2015), http://cubajournal.co/op-ed-heres-what-oneu-s-lawyer-learned-about-cubas-legal-system/; “…about 70% of lawyers and law professors are women, and more than 70% of judges are women.” Keiko Rose, “Gender Equality in Cuba: Constitutional Promises vs. Reality,” Law School International Immersion Program Papers, No. 11 (2015) at 9, http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014 &context=international_immersion_program_papers. 484 E-mail from Roberto M. Rojas, Cuban LL.M. student, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law, to Julienne E. Grant, Reference Librarian/Foreign & Int’l Research Specialist, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law Library (Jan. 28, 2017) (on file with Julienne E. Grant); see also Rose, supra note 483, at 14 (young men are required to perform two years of social service and one year of military service, while young women perform three years of social service, and no military service). 485 But see Ryan Scoville, International Law from a Cuban Perspective, LAWFARE (Feb. 8, 2016), https://www.lawfareblog. com/international-law-cuban-perspective (describing Cuban legal academics as having “exceedingly limited contact with their overseas counterparts”). 486 The law schools of the Universidad Interamericano de Puerto Rico (private) and the Universidad de Puerto Rico (public) share some educational and cultural activities with the Universidad de La Habana. The Puerto Rican Bar Association Student Chapter shares some activities with the UNJC on an annual basis. 487 ORGANIZACIÓN DE BUFETES COLECTIVOS, supra note 470. 488 Resolución No. 18, del Ministerio de Justicia [RMJ] [Resolution No. 18, of the Ministry of Justice], Jan. 22, 1965, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 3, Feb. 4, 1965. 489 Ley No. 1189 [Law No. 1189], April 25, 1966, Leyes del Gobierno Revolucionario de Cuba 61 (Abril-Junio 1966). 490 For a detailed overview of the bufetes in English, see Raymond J. Michalowski, Between Citizens and the Socialist State: the Negotiation of Legal Practice in Socialist Cuba, 29 LAW & SOC’Y REV. 65 (1995). 491 See LOSJ 1973. 492 See LOSJ 1977.

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until the early 1980s, established who specifically could belong to bufetes colectivos. The current law regulating the bufetes is Decreto-Ley No. 81 (Decree-Law No. 81) (June 8, 1984),493 and its associated regulation, Resolución No. 142 (Resolution No. 142) (Dec. 18, 1984).494 Generally, the bufetes are regarded as socialism’s answer to capitalist law practice and are prized as one of the most distinctive changes made during Fidel Castro’s regime.495 In 2015, there were 186 bufetes in Cuba employing more than 4,000 people, with over 2,000 of those workers being lawyers.496 Attorneys in the bufetes met with more than one million people in 2014 for free initial consultations, and more than 300,000 of them subsequently contracted for legal services.497 There are predetermined fees for services in the bufetes that are set forth in the Ministry of Justice’s Resolución No. 211 (Resolution No. 211) (Oct. 27, 2004).498 The fees are moderate so that all citizens have access to legal services, and those unable to pay receive services without charge.499 Attorneys receive a percentage of any fees charged for his/her services. Along with the general bufetes, there are bufetes especializados (specialized law firms). One of these firms offers services to foreigners and expatriate Cubans living abroad and has relationships with various foreign law firms.500 Another specialized bufete focuses on appellate work, including appeals to the criminal, military, civil and administrative, and economic chambers of the Cuban Supreme Court.501 The Ministry of Justice’s website offers links to other specialty boutique law firms that operate outside the bufetes colectivos framework.502 The Consultoría Jurídica Internacional (International Legal Consultancy) is a civil society of legal services that specializes in international matters.503 The Conabi firm also focuses on international work, and the LEX S.A. and CLAIM S.A. law firms specialize in intellectual property; both of the latter have bilingual Spanish/English-language websites.504 Foreign lawyers may not practice in Cuba, but there are recent media reports of foreign lawyers who are serving as consultants on the island.505

493

DLEAONBC, supra note 482. Resolución No. 142 [Resolution No. 142], Dec. 18, 1984, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria Especial [GOEE], No. 4, Dec. 18, 1984. 495 John Carro, The Structure of Legal Education and the Practice of Law in Cuba, 25 REV. DER. P.R. 89, 101 (1985–1986). 496 Yailin Orta Rivera, Los abogados Cubanos son defensores de la justicia social, MESA REDONDA (Feb. 12, 2015), http:// mesaredonda.cubadebate.cu/mesa-redonda/2015/02/12/los-abogados-cubanos-son-defensores-de-la-justicia-social/; in 2016, there were 187 bufetes, all with equal conditions. María Lucía Expósito, Bufetes Colectivos cumplen más de cinco décadas, GRANMA, Jan. 18, 2016, http://www.granma.cu/cuba/2016-01-18/bufetes-colectivos-cumplen-mas-de-cinco-decadas-18-012016-23-01-26. 497 Rivera, supra note 496. 498 Resolución No. 211 [Resolution No. 211], Oct. 13, 2004, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 13, Oct. 29, 2004. 499 Rivera, supra note 496. See also Yailin Orta Rivera, Principios de actuación de la abogacía cubana, MESA REDONDA (Feb. 11, 2015), http://mesaredonda.cubadebate.cu/mesa-redonda/2015/02/11/principios-de-actuacion-de-la-abogacia-cubana/. 500 Bufete de Servicios Especializados, ORGANIZACIÓN NACIONAL DE BUFETES COLECTIVOS, http://www.onbc.cu/servicios-onbc (last visited July 26, 2017). 501 Bufete Especializado en Recursos de Casación, ORGANIZACIÓN NACIONAL DE BUFETES COLECTIVOS, http://www.onbc.cu/ servicios-onbc (last visited July 26, 2017). 502 See under “Servicios Legales,” https://www.minjus.gob.cu/news.php (last visited July 26, 2017). For additional information on Cuba’s “independent” law offices, see EVENSON, supra note 16, at 86. These “independent” offices are linked to a government ministry or other Cuban entity. 503 See ¿Qué sabes de Consultoría Jurídica?, MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA, https://www.minjus.gob.cu/news.php?readmore=156 (last visited July 26, 2017). 504 http://www.lex-sa.com/eng/ (last visited July 26, 2017); http://www.claim-sa.com/#claim (last visited July 26, 2017). 505 See, e.g., Goyo G. Maestro, Abogados se instalan en Cuba para asesorar empresas, CARTAS DESDE CUBA (May 19, 2016), http://cartasdesdecuba.com/abogados-se-instalan-en-cuba-para-asesorar-empresas/ (Q & A with Spanish lawyer José María Mohedano about his role as a legal consultant in Cuba for Spanish and other European companies that want to establish businesses on the island). 494

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E. ORGANIZACIÓN NACIONAL DE BUFETES COLECTIVOS (ONBC) (NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTIVE LAW FIRMS) On June 8, 1984, Cuba’s Council of State enacted Decreto-Ley No. 81, “Sobre el Ejercicio de la Abogacía y la Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos” (Decree-Law No. 81, “On the Legal Profession and the National Organization of Collective Law Firms”).506 This Decree-Law created a new organization for Cuban lawyers, the Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos (ONBC) (National Organization of Collective Law Firms). The ONBC was defined in Article 5 of Decree-Law No. 81 as an “autonomous national entity of social interest and professional character, with legal personality and its own patrimony, voluntarily integrated by lawyers.”507 Structurally, the Decree-Law created an Asamblea General (General Assembly) as the organization’s highest body, composed of delegates elected by various bufetes for a period of five years.508 The ONBC effectively serves a dual purpose; it is a combination bar association and central corporate headquarters for law practice in Cuba.509 In accordance with the law, the ONBC’s General Assembly meets once a year. Among its functions are the election of the Junta Directiva Nacional (National Executive Committee), the approval of annual work and budget guidelines and the reinstatement of those members who had been separated under disciplinary action.510 The National Executive Committee, composed of seven members (President, First Vice President, Vice President, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, Secretary and Deputy Secretary), is responsible for directing the work of the institution between sessions of the General Assembly.511 Decree-Law No. 81 designates the specific category of lawyers who can practice law within the ONBC, establishing five exceptions in which a lawyer who is not connected to the institution may practice. These exceptions include law faculty who want to practice outside the confines of teaching512 and attorneys who receive special permission from the Minister of Justice (similar to pro ha vice admission in the United States).513 Attorneys belonging to the ONBC are categorized as members rather than employees and are subject to a labor and disciplinary regime different from lawyers who work in other organizations. The ONBC has a well populated website that provides access to a variety of information, including the organization’s history and a directory of its numerous offices across the island. Links to digitized materials from recent conferences, journals and bulletins, and various legal texts are also posted. There is a calendar of events, and a link for a consulta gratuita (free consultation). The ONBC also has a Facebook page and Twitter account. F. UNIÓN NACIONAL DE JURISTAS DE CUBA (UNJC) (NATIONAL UNION OF CUBAN JURISTS)514 The Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (UNJC) (National Union of Cuban Jurists) is a non-profit and financially self-sufficient organization with non-governmental status and legal personality. It was formed on June 8, 1977, per Article 7 of the 1976 Cuban Constitution. The UNJC has about 16,000 Cuban jurists voluntarily associated with it, including university professors, researchers, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, notaries, consultants and advisors.515

506

See DLEAONBC, supra note 482. DLEAONBC art. 5 (Eduardo Colón-Semidey trans.). 508 DLEAONBC art. 7. 509 Clark, supra note 273, at 428. 510 DLEAONBC arts. 8, 9. 511 DLEAONBC arts. 10,11. 512 DLEAONBC art. 4(d). 513 DEALONBC art. 4(ch). 514 The information in this section was primarily gleaned from the UNJC’s website, http://www.unjc.co.cu (last visited July 26, 2017). 515 ¿QUÉ ES LA UNJC?, UNIÓN NACIONAL DE JURISTAS DE CUBA, https://www.unjc.co.cu/quienes-somos (last visited July 26, 2017). 507

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The UNJC is governed by its own rules and by the Junta Directiva Nacional (National Board) and the Juntas Directivas Provinciales (Provincial Directive Boards). All organs of the UNJC are composed of elected members. Every five years, the UNJC holds a congress at which members of its Consejo Nacional (National Council) and Junta Directiva Nacional (National Executive Board) are selected. The UNJC website highlights the important role of the organization’s Sociedades Científicas (Scientific Societies). The Societies are associations of national character with a common aim to contribute to the development of legal science and the practice of law, as well as professional development. The Societies sponsor conferences, seminars, workshops and symposia, which are co-sponsored by prestigious academic institutions and national and foreign professionals. Lawyers who are members of the UNJC’s Societies demonstrate exceptional professional performance and meet the general requirements for admission. For foreign specialists who contribute significantly to a Society’s activities, there is the miembro correspondiente (correspondent member) category. The special category of miembro de honor (honorable member) is awarded to professionals, nationals or foreigners who have distinguished themselves for their contributions to the development of a Society’s area of activity. Currently, numerous professionals in the United States and Europe belong to one of these special membership categories. The following are the UNJC’s Societies, which each have a web page within the UNJC site: • Sociedad Cubana de Ciencias Penales (Cuban Society of Penal Sciences) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Civil y de Familia (Cuban Society of Civil Law and Family) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Constitucional y Administrativo (Cuban Society of Constitutional and Administrative Law) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Laboral y de Seguridad Social (Cuban Society of Labour and Social Security Law) • Sociedad del Notariado Cubano (Cuban Notaries Society) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Económico y Financiero (Cuban Society of Economic and Financial Law) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Mercantil (Cuban Society of Commercial Law) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional (Cuban Society of International Law) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho e Informática (Cuban Society of Law and Informatics) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Agrario (Cuban Society of Agricultural Law) • Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Procesal (Cuban Society of Procedural Law) The UNJC publishes four journals. The titles listed below are followed by links to the most recent digital versions posted on the UNJC’s website. • Revista Cubana de Derecho (Cuban Law Review): https://www.unjc.co.cu/sites/default/files/publicacion/RCD.pdf • Revista Cubalex (Cubalex Review): https://www.unjc.co.cu/sites/default/files/publicacion/CUBALEX.pdf • Colección Jurídica (Law Collection): https://www.unjc.co.cu/sites/default/files/publicacion/COLECCION_ JURIDICA.pdf • Boletín Jurídico (Law Bulletin): https://www.unjc.co.cu/sites/default/files/publicacion/BOLETIN_ JURIDICO.pdf The UNJC also has two special projects of note: • Género y Derecho (Gender and Law Initiative): http://www.unjc.co.cu/proyectos/proyecto-g-nero • ECOIURE (Environmental Law Initiative): http://www.unjc.co.cu/proyectos/proyecto-ecoiure Internationally, the UNJC is affiliated with the American Association of Jurists (AAJ), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), the Unión Iberoamericana de Colegios y Agrupaciones de Abogados (UIBA) (Union of Ibero-American Bar Associations and Groups of Lawyers), the Federación de Colegios de Abogados de Centroamérica y el Caribe (Federation of Central American and Caribbean Bar Associations) and the Fundación Interamericana de Abogados (Inter-American Foundation of Lawyers).

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G. ABOGADOS INDEPENDIENTES (INDEPENDENT LAWYERS) In 2010, the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social (Ministry of Labor and Social Security) released Resolución No. 32 (Resolution No. 32) (Oct. 7, 2010), which specified 178 professions that could be practiced por cuenta propia (through self-employment).516 The Ministry updated this list in 2011 with Resolución No. 33 (Resolution No. 33) (Sept. 6, 2011) that added three types of jobs to the 2010 list.517 Although such professionals as electricians and insurance agents can be self-employed, lawyers cannot. As such, abogados independientes practice at their own peril, and the repression of independent attorneys in Cuba has been well documented.518 The independent law office that has perhaps garnered the most international media attention is Cubalex. Opened by Laritza Diversent Cambara in 2010,519 the small Havana-based legal center offered free services and focused on human rights issues. The Cuban government denied Ms. Diversent’s application to legalize Cubalex in July 2016,520 and state police ransacked its office several months later. Amnesty International posted an “Urgent Action” message on its website pertaining to Cubalex in November 2016: “Members of Cubalex, a Havana-based organization of human rights lawyers, have been subjected to months of harassment and intimidation by the Cuban authorities for their work.”521 Most of Cubalex’s attorneys, including Ms. Diversent, are now residing in the United States after having received political asylum, and they plan to continue their work in exile.522 Other groups of independent lawyers not recognized by the Cuban government are Corriente Agramontista (Current Agramontista) and the Asociación Jurídica Cubana (Cuban Juridical Association), each having websites with blogs.523 H. JUECES (JUDGES) AND FISCALES (PUBLIC PROSECUTORS) 1. Judges There are two types of judges in Cuba: jueces legos (lay judges) and jueces profesionales (professional judges). According to EcuRed, for every 10,000 inhabitants on the island, there are 17 lay judges and one professional judge.524 Lay judges are citizens from all walks of life who are not practicing jurists. They are central to Cuba’s judicial system, and they sit on panels at all court levels. Ley No. 82 (Law No. 82) (July 11, 1997) sets forth the structure, functions and composition of Cuba’s People’s Courts.525 Military courts are covered separately

516

Resolución No. 32, Reglamento del Ejercicio del Trabajo por Cuenta Propia [RETCP 2010] [Resolution No. 32, Regulation of Self-Employment], Oct. 7, 2010, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 12, Oct. 8, 2010. 517 Resolución No. 33, Reglamento del Ejercicio del Trabajo por Cuenta Propia [RETCP 2011] [Resolution No. 33, Regulation of Self-Employment], Sept. 6, 2011, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 29, Sept. 7, 2011, http://www.cubadebate.cu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/go_x_029_2011_arrendamiento-viviendas.pdf. 518 See, e.g., American Bar Association Rule of Law Letters: Cuba, http://www.americanbar.org/groups/human_rights/projects/rule_of_law_letter_archives.html (last visited July 26, 2017); “The Cuban Justice System is seriously corrupt,” DIARIO DE CUBA (May 26, 2016), http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1464289414_22659.html. 519 See Paulo A. Paranagua, Meet a Rare (and Banned) Independent Lawyer in Cuba, WORLDCRUNCH (Sept. 11, 2015), http:// www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/meet-a-rare-and-banned-independent-lawyer-in-cuba. 520 El Gobierno deniega la solicitud de la asociación Cubalex, DIARIO DE CUBA (July 19, 2016), http://www.diariodecuba. com/derechos-humanos/1468955390_23969.html. 521 Urgent Action-Human Rights Lawyers Under Threat, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL (Nov. 18, 2016), https://www.amnesty. org/en/documents/amr25/5156/2016/en/. 522 Mario J. Pentón, Laritza Diversent and Cubalex Begin Their Life in Exile, TRANSLATING CUBA (May 5, 2017), http:// translatingcuba.com/category/authors/cubalex/. 523 Corriente Agramontista is named for Cuban revolutionary and lawyer Ignacio Agramonte Loynáz (1841–1873), http:// agramontista.blogspot.com (last visited July 26, 2017); Asociación Jurídica Cubana, https://ajudicuba.wordpress.com (last visited July 26, 2017). 524 Sistema Judicial en Cuba, ECURED, https://www.ecured.cu/Sistema_Judicial_en_Cuba (last visited July 26, 2017). 525 See LTP 1997, supra note 270.

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under Ley No. 97 (Law No. 97) (Dec. 21, 2002).526 Per Article 124 of the Constitution, lay judges and professional judges “have equal rights and duties” in the courts. According to Marjorie S. Zatz, there is a dual intent behind using lay judges: “1) to bring a nonlegalist, popular sense of justice and the reality of everyday life into the proceedings; and (2) to educate others in their [lay judges’] social circles about legal processes, what constitutes a crime, and the kinds of civil and labor problems that come up in court.”527 a. Requirements Título Tercero (Title Three) of Law No. 82 lists the requirements for serving as judges at all levels of Cuba’s court system. According to Article 43.1, lay judges must maintain a good attitude towards work or activities of social interest, possess an adequate education, good morals and a favorable public image.528 Per Article 42.1, professional judges are required to have a Cuban law degree or a valid foreign law degree, be a Cuban citizen, and possess good morals and a favorable public image. Article 43.2 stipulates that to serve on the Supreme Court, lay judges must be at least 30 years old, while provincial court lay judges must have reached the age of 25, and municipal courts require lay judges to be at least 21 years old. In terms of experience, professional judges in the Supreme Court must have a minimum of 10 years’ experience as a jurist or law professor, while professional judges in the provincial courts need five years, and those in the municipal courts require two years.529 Candidates for most professional judge positions must also pass an exam administered by the Consejo de Gobierno del Tribunal Supremo Popular (CGTSP) (Governing Council of the People’s Supreme Court).530 b. Nominations and Elections The processes for nominating and electing Cuban judges are also described in Law No. 82. Lay judge candidates are initially selected by assemblies in workplaces, neighborhoods, rural zones and university study centers, according to Article 50.3. Per Article 45.2, the professional judges in the Supreme Court are nominated by the President of the Court. The President of the Court also nominates the professional judges for the provincial courts as stipulated in Article 46.1. According to Article 46.2, professional judges in the municipal courts are first recommended by the president of the respective municipal assembly. Municipal assemblies elect municipal lay court judges, and provincial assemblies choose the corresponding municipal court professional judges and provincial lay and professional judges.531 The National Assembly selects the judges that serve on the Supreme Court.532 In December 2015, the National Assembly elected 285 lay judges for the Supreme Court for the 2016–2020 term— 28 for the military chamber, and 257 for the other chambers.533 Professional judges are elected for life terms,534 and lay judges for a period of five years during which they work a maximum of 30 days annually.535 A citizen’s role as a lay judge is given priority with respect to his or her employment and social occupation. During his or her time assigned to a court, s/he retains the right to the enjoyment of benefits that would be available in the workplace during his or her absence.536 Law No. 82 also dictates how executive positions in the courts are selected, and it addresses how judicial demotions, promotions, transfers, suspensions, conflicts of interest and disciplinary actions are handled.

526

LTM 2002, supra note 292. ZATZ, supra note 50, at 166. 528 According to three Supreme Court lay judges that Marjorie S. Zatz interviewed on November 27, 1989, this translates into an individual with a 9th grade education who “behaves her/himself well, is a good and disciplined worker, and is a revolutionary…” ZATZ, supra note 50, at 167. 529 LTP 1997 art. 42.2. 530 LTP 1997 art. 42.5. 531 LTP 1997 arts. 46.1, 46.2, 49.1. 532 LTP 1997 arts. 45.2, 49.1. 533 Lauren Céspedes Hernández, Elección de jueces legos: pasos previos, GRANMA, May 26, 2015, http://www.granma.cu/ cuba/2015-05-26/eleccion-de-jueces-legos-pasos-previos. 534 LTP 1997 art. 52.1. 535 LTP 1997 arts. 52.2, 53.4. 536 LTP 1997 art. 53.1. 527

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2. Public Prosecutors Ley No. 83 (Law No. 83) (July 11, 1997)537 covers the nomination and election of public prosecutors, who must have a valid law degree, be a Cuban citizen, and possess good morals and a favorable public image per Article 30.1. The Cuban Attorney General, Vice-Attorney Generals and other prosecutors working in that office must be at least 30 years old, while other public prosecutors must have reached the age of 21.538 Per Article 29.1, the candidates for Cuban Attorney General and Vice-Attorney Generals are proposed by the President of the Council of State and are then elected by the National Assembly. Article 29.2 specifies that the prosecutors working in the Office of the Attorney General are proposed by the Attorney General and then designated by the Council of State. The Cuban Attorney General selects the public prosecutors working at the provincial and municipal courts.539 Law No. 83 also dictates how executive positions in the prosecutors’ offices are selected, and it addresses how demotions, promotions, transfers, suspensions and disciplinary actions are handled. There are separate requirements for prosecutors working in the military courts that are specified in Ley No. 101 (Law No. 101) (June 10, 2006).540 I. NOTARIOS (CIVIL LAW NOTARIES) The role of notarios (notaries) in Cuba is similar to that in the rest of the Latin American nations, which primarily follow the civil law tradition.541 The civil law notario generally has more significant responsibilities than notaries serving in common law jurisdictions. In civil law jurisdictions, the notario drafts legal instruments, authenticates documents that then have special evidentiary effects and s/he also serves as a kind of public records office.542 According to Professor Pedro A. Malavet, the Latin notary more specifically “is a private legal professional to whom the state entrusts exclusively the public function of giving proper legal form and authenticating what would otherwise be a private transaction, making it a public act by memorializing it in a public document.”543 EcuRed provides various entries related to the notarial practice in Cuba (see under “Notario,” “Derecho Notarial,” “Actas Notariales” and “Fe Pública Notarial”). Cuban notarios are not regulated by the ONBC. Cuba’s first law pertaining to notaries was a piece of Spanish legislation enacted in 1873 for Spain, Cuba and Puerto Rico.544 After the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, the United States allowed the law to remain in force in Cuba and Puerto Rico. In 1929, the Cuban Congress passed legislation creating a complete Código Notarial (Notarial Code).545 The Code was an attempt to unify Cuba’s notarial regime, which had previously existed as a hodgepodge of various rules, Spanish royal orders and decrees, instructions, military orders and presidential decrees.546 Cuba’s current notary law was enacted in 1984,547 but it has been overlaid numerous times with other legislation. The most recent identified collection of this legislation is a 2005 compilation published by the 537

See LFGR, supra note 270. Id. 539 LFGR art. 29.3. 540 Ley No. 101, de la Fiscalía Militar [LFM] [Law No. 101, of the Military Attorney General], June 10, 2006, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 14, July 3, 2006, http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ley-No.-101-De-laFiscalia-Militar.pdf. 541 For a general overview of Latin American notaries, see Pedro A. Malavet, Counsel for the Situation: The Latin Notary, a Historical and Comparative Model, 19 HASTINGS INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 389 (Spring 1996). 542 MERRYMAN & PÉREZ-PERDOMO, supra note 25, at 107. 543 Malavet, supra note 541, at 434. 544 Ley y Reglamento Orgánico del Notariado de las Islas de Cuba y Puerto-Rico [Law and Organic Regulation of Notaries on the Islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico], Oct. 29, 1873. For an English translation, see U.S. WAR DEP’T, DIV. OF CUSTOMS AND INSULAR AFF., TRANSLATION OF THE NOTARIAL LAWS IN FORCE IN CUBA AND PUERTO RICO (1899). Digitized copy available in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), http://www.dloc.com. 545 CÓDIGO NOTARIAL [CÓD. NOT.] [Notarial Code], Feb. 20, 1929, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinara [GOE], Feb. 28, 1929. The complete Code, along with an extensive historical introduction, is published in LEGISLACIÓN NOTARIAL DE CUBA CON DISPOSICIONES OFICIALES (concordadas y anotadas por Dr. Francisco Llaca y Argudín) (2d ed. 1931). Digitized copy available in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), http://www.dloc.com. 546 LEGISLACIÓN NOTARIAL DE CUBA, supra note 545, at 10. 547 Ley No. 50, de Las Notarías Estatales [LNE] [Law No. 50, of State Notaries], Dec. 28, 1984, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 3, March 1, 1985, http://juriscuba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ley-No.-050-De-Notrarias1.pdf. 538

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UNJC’s Cuban Notaries Society posted on the website of the Academia Notarial Americana (American Notary Academy).548 Not included in this work are subsequent regulations, including the Ministry of Justice’s Resolución No. 250, Términos para la Prestación del Servicio Notarial (Resolution No. 250, Terms for Rendering Notarial Service) (Nov. 30, 2015).549 There is also a 2015 compilation of the Ministry’s dispositions related to notarios posted on the MINJUS website.550 To be appointed a notario in Cuba, an individual must be a Cuban citizen, Licenciado o Doctor en Derecho (must have a J.D., LL.M. or S.J.D./Ph.D. in Law), possess a good moral character and reputation, and be authorized by the Ministry of Justice. 551 Notaries cannot hold another position or job, through election or appointment, of inherent administrative and/or executive authority and/or duties. 552 Exceptions to the aforementioned are positions at the Ministry of Justice, educational or scientific posts and service as a delegate or deputy in the agencies of the National Assembly.553 In the latter two cases, if an individual is elected or appointed to executive positions in such agencies, they cannot practice as notarios.554 Leaders and officials of government agencies and institutions, their corporations and other government entities, cooperatives and social and mass organizations, will assist the notario in the performance of his/her duties, if necessary. 555 Cuban ambassadors and consuls in foreign countries may serve as notarios inside their embassies or consulates. 556 Noteworthy in the context of Cuban notaries is Decreto-Ley No. 154, del Divorcio Notarial (Decree-Law No. 154, Notarial Divorce) (Sept. 6, 1994).557 This decree-law authorizes the notary to perform divorces. The notario can determine alimony and child support after the divorce. If the fiscal (public prosecutor) is opposed to a divorce, and/or the notario finds irregularities, the procedure must be removed to an ordinary court.558 The Cuban notario is an entitled public official559 and must obey the law and follow the socialist legal 560 order. A 2014 article posted on the Cubainformación website provides some insight into the notario profession in Cuba.561 In the piece, a young notaria is interviewed about her profession, and she explains: We authorize many documents. The notario—or notaria, the majority of us are young women—is an essential figure in the legal life of any country, and here in today’s Cuba, with all of the changes made to the country’s economic model, notarial work has become an essential function, one that gives public legitimacy to agreements and transactions.562 The notaria also describes the difficulty of the notarial exam, and she notes the increasing demand for notarial work now that Cubans are allowed to buy and sell real estate and automobiles.563 Despite the importance 548

See COMPILACIÓN DE DERECHO NOTARIAL (Leonardo B. Pérez Gallardo et al. comps., 2005), http://www.academianotarialamericana.org/base/leyes/cuba/ley-notarial_leyes_cuba.pdf. 549 Resolución No. 250, Términos para la Prestación del Servicio Notarial [RTPSN] [Resolution No. 250, Terms for the Rendering of Notarial Service], Nov. 30, 2015, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 38, Dec. 3, 2015, http://juriscuba. com/organismos-estatales-2/justicia/resolucion-no-2502015/. 550 COMPILACIÓN DISPOSICIONES DE LA DIRECCIÓN AÑO 2015: ACTIVIDAD NOTARIAL (Olga Lidia Pérez Díaz comp., 2015), https://www.minjus.gob.cu/downloads/compilacion2015.pdf. 551 LNE art. 8. 552 LNE art. 9 553 Id. 554 Id. 555 Id. art. 5. 556 Id. art. 2. 557 Decreto-Ley No. 154, del Divorcio Notarial [DLDN] [Decree-Law No. 154, Notarial Divorce], Sept. 6, 1994, Gaceta Oficial [GO], No. 13, Sept. 19, 1994, http://www.ramajudicial.pr/EvaluacionFuncionNotarial/pdf/Cuba-LEY-80-de-notarialesestatales.pdf (at p. 29). 558 DLDN arts. 5–12. 559 LNE art. 1. 560 LNE art. 4. 561 Notarías en Cuba: reportaje a fondo, CUBAINFORMACIÓN (March 18, 2014), http://www.cubainformacion.tv/index.php/ economia/55404-notarias-en-cuba-reportaje-a-fondo. 562 Id. (Julienne E. Grant trans.). 563 Id. See supra note 73 for the citations to the decree-laws allowing real estate and automobile sales.

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and necessity of the notario in Cuban society, however, the same article explains how some citizens have been frustrated by long delays and incompetence when utilizing notarios.564 The aforementioned Resolution No. 250 of 2015 seems to address such complaints by specifying temporal requirements for rendering various types of legal documents. Other sources of information on notarios are included in the bibliography below. J. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Berman, Harold J., and Van R. Whiting, Jr. “Impressions of Cuban Law.” American Journal of Comparative Law 28 (1980): 475–486. Carro, John. “The Structure of Legal Education and the Practice of Law in Cuba.” Revista de Derecho Puertorriqueño 25 (Julio– Oct. 1985): 89–127. Centro Cubalex. “El ejercicio de la abogacía en Cuba.” CUBALEX (June 9, 2014). Accessed July 26, 2017. https://centrocubalex.com/2014/06/09/el-ejercicio-de-la-abogacia-en-cuba/. Clark, Gerard. “The Legal Profession in Cuba.” Suffolk Transnational Law Review 23 (Summer 2000): 413–436. “De Puerto Príncipe a hoy: la Historia de la abogacía cubana.” CUBADEBATE, Feb. 12, 2015. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www. cubadebate.cu/especiales/2015/02/12/de-puerto-principe-a-hoy-la-historia-de-la-abogacia-cubana/#.WI0moLGZOi4. “Entrevista on-line sobre actividad notarial en Cuba.” Juventud Rebelde, April 5, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www. juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2014-04-05/entrevista-on-line-sobre-actividad-notarial-en-cuba/. Evenson, Debra. Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. 2nd ed. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2003. See esp. chap. 4, “Development of the Legal Profession and the Practice of Law.” Flaherty, Frank. “(Still) On the Road From Cuba.” Nevada Lawyer 20 (Dec. 2012): 4–5. González, Marianela Martín. “Debaten sobre el papel del abogado en la sociedad.” Juventud Rebelde, Feb. 29, 2008. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2008-02-29/debaten-sobre-el-papel-del-abogado-en-la-sociedad/. Hall, Danielle M. “Bienvenidos a Cuba (Part II): A Look Into an Unfamiliar Justice System.” Journal of the Kansas Bar Association 81 (Sept. 2012): 19–21. “Laritza Diversent: ‘Los abogados en Cuba tienen las manos atadas.’” Diario de Cuba (Jan. 5, 2012). Accessed July. 26, 2017. http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba/1325744723_409.html. Luna, Erik. “Cuban Criminal Justice and the Ideal of Good Governance.” Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 14 (Fall 2004): 529–654. Malavet, Pedro A. “Counsel for the Situation: The Latin Notary, a Historical and Comparative Model.” Hastings International & Comparative Law Review 19 (Spring 1996): 389–488. Martínez-Evora, Joan. “Comentarios acerca del Ejercicio de la Abogacía y del Abogado en Cuba.” In Cuba in Transition: Papers and Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Meeting. Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (2008): 218–222. Accessed July 26, 2017. http://www.ascecuba.org/c/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/v18-martinezevora.pdf. Michalowski, Raymond J. “Between Citizens and the Socialist State: the Negotiation of Legal Practice in Socialist Cuba.” Law & Society Review 29 (1995): 65–102. Momblanc, Liuver Camilo, and Zoe Cisneros Aldana. “La abogacía en Cuba: pasado y actualidad a 50 años de la creación de los bufetes colectivos/The Law in Cuba: Past and Present 50 Years After the Creation of the Lawyer’s Office.” LEX No. 16 Año XIII (2015): 355–378. Accessed July 26, 2017. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5278278.pdf. Pentón, Mario J. “Laritza Diversent and Cubalex Begin Their Life in Exile.” Translating Cuba (May 5, 2017). Accessed July 26, 2017. http://translatingcuba.com/category/authors/cubalex/. Pérez Díaz, Olga Lidia, and Notarías Especialistas de la Dirección de Notarías. ¿Qué Debemos Conocer del Servicio Notarial en Cuba?. Ministerio de Justicia Dirección de Notarías, n.d. Accessed July 26, 2017. https://www.minjus.gob.cu/downloads/ notaria/servicio_notarial.pdf. Pérez Perdomo, Rogelio. Latin American Lawyers. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006. Quintana, Victoria. “Heirs of Martí: The Story of Cuban Lawyers.” University of Miami International & Comparative Law Review 17 (2010): 254–260. Salas, Luis. “The Judicial System of Postrevolutionary Cuba.” Nova Law Journal 8 (Fall 1983): 43–70. Spitzer, Hugh. “On Life & Law in Cuba: The Cuban Legal System and Culture Offer Contrasts and Surprises.” Washington State Bar News 66 (Jan. 2012): 24–29. Zatz, Marjorie S. Producing Legality: Law and Socialism in Cuba (1994). See esp. chap. 4, “Producing Jurists: Legal Education in Cuba,” and chap. 6, “Lay Judges: ‘Bidirectional Transmittors of Legality.’”

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Notarías en Cuba, supra note 561.

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SECONDARY SOURCES SERGIO D. STONE

Cuba has a long history of secondary legal literature from colonial times to the present. From 1917 to 1934 nearly 140 law books were printed in Cuba, and 150 law-related titles were published from 1947 to 1950.565 Tracking Cuban legal commentary historically is complicated by the fact that the vast majority of legal journals, publications and publishers active before 1959 did not survive the early years of the Cuban Revolution. Little continuity exists between the two periods. In addition, Cuba’s socialist economy, coupled with U.S. sanctions, have severely limited interactions between Cuban and U.S. legal scholars—the result being a dearth of English-language treatises devoted to Cuban law since 1959. A. REFERENCE SOURCES 1. Encyclopedias A review of bibliographic sources reveals the existence of one legal encyclopedia published in Cuba, Esteban Rodríguez Herrera’s Enciclopedia Cubana Jurídico-Administrativa (Encyclopedia of Cuban Administrative Law) from 1933. However, catalog records from U.S. libraries indicate that only the first volume of this work was completed. La Enciclopedia de Cuba,566 published in Puerto Rico, provides lists of important laws and presidential decrees passed for selected years from independence until the early 1950s. These legislative lists are found in Volumes 13 and 14, titled Gobiernos Republicanos. 2. Legal Dictionaries Prior to 1959, a handful of general legal dictionaries and dictionaries dedicated to case law, constitutional law and legislation were published on the island. Charles Szladits’ Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative Law lauded the Diccionario de Comercio y Derecho en Inglés y Español567 (Spanish and English Legal and Commercial Dictionary, 2nd edition), edited by Juan de Dios Tejada y Sáinz as “the most extensive dictionary of its kind.”568 Since 1959, very few bilingual law dictionaries have been published in Cuba. However, three Spanishlanguage legal dictionaries have appeared in the last decade: • Carmen Elena Tapia Sánchez and Juan Enrique Tapia Sánchez. Diccionario de Citas del Pensamiento Jurídico Martiano. Santa Clara, Cuba: Editorial Capiro, 2005. • Marzio Luis Pérez Echemendia and José Luis Arzola Fernández. Expresiones y Términos Jurídicos. Santiago de Cuba: Oriente, 2009. • Ángel Fernández-Rubio Legrá. Glosario de Expresiones Ambientales y Jurídicas. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 2011.

565

JOSÉ G. RICARDO, LA IMPRENTA EN CUBA 152, 213–214 (1989). LA ENCICLOPEDIA DE CUBA (Gastón Baquera & Vicente Báez eds., 2d ed. 1975). 567 SPANISH AND ENGLISH LEGAL AND COMMERICAL DICTIONARY: A REVISION AND ENLARGEMENT OF THE LAW TRANSLATOR’S REFERENCE GLOSSARY/DICCIONARIO DE COMERCIO Y DERECHO EN INGLÉS Y ESPAÑOL: UNA AMPLIACIÓN DE LA EDICIÓN ORIGINAL DEL GLOSARIO PRÁCTICO DEL TRADUCTOR LEGAL (Juan de Dios Tejada y Sáinz ed., 2d ed. 1945). 568 CHARLES SZLADITS, On Comparative Law and Related Subjects in General, in A BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FOREIGN AND COMPARATIVE LAW: BOOKS AND ARTICLES IN ENGLISH 32–33 (1955). 566

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B. PRE-1959 TREATISES 1. Bibliographies The leading bibliographic source for secondary legal materials predating the Cuban Revolution is Crawford M. Bishop and Anyda Marchant, A Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1944. The guide presents materials arranged in over two dozen legal topics. Each subject starts with an introductory historical essay, followed by analysis of major pieces of legislation, and then a detailed discussion of relevant journals, reports and treatises. This comprehensive and magisterial work should be the starting point for any investigation of 20th century Cuban law, or considered as a source for providing historical context for the current Cuban legal system. Another helpful bibliography is contained in Alberto Villón-Galdames’ dissertation, Una Introducción a la Bibliografía Jurídica Latino-americana (An Introduction to Latin American Legal Bibliography), University of Michigan, 1959. The section on Cuba appears on pages 217–241. Contents are arranged alphabetically by author and law periodical title. The bibliography also includes brief annotations in Spanish or English for selected titles. Armando González’s chapter on Cuban law materials in Cuban Acquisitions and Bibliography569 covers 1868–1968. González highlights major compilations of statutes and jurisprudence, especially for the republican period. He also points out authors of leading works on civil law and other topics. 2. Cuban Publishers Before 1959, well over 50 different printers and presses were engaged in publishing legal books and journals. This author’s review of bibliographic sources has identified the following eight printing presses as leading legal publishing entities from 1898 to 1959. • Carasa y Cía • Editorial Lex • Imprentas C. Martínez y Cía • Imprenta y Papelería de Rambla, Bouza y Cía • Imprenta El Siglo XX • Imprenta P. Fernández • Jesús Montero Editor, La Habana • Librería Cervantes For example, the influential treatises on private international law by Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirvén were published by Carasa y Cía and Imprenta El Siglo XX. Jesús Montero Editor released the multivolume legal book series Biblioteca Jurídica de Autores Cubanos y Extranjeros (Legal Library of Cuban and Foreign Authors). 3. Online Sources for Treatises Various commercial databases and free online repositories provide citations and full-text access to a wide array of pre-1959 secondary sources. The HathiTrust570 online repository contains over 100 digitized Cuban law treatises and compilations of laws and jurisprudence. The majority of full-text titles are those from the colonial period and republican era texts published before 1923. The more recently published titles are not available in full text due to copyright restrictions. LLMC Digital currently contains around 40 full-text treatises on Cuban law from independence to the late 1920s. Many of these books are legal codes, although a few titles are doctrinal works on specific areas of law. LLMC Digital is in the first stages of developing a major collection of digitized Cuban legal materials sourced primarily from the University of Michigan Law Library, University of Florida’s 569

Armando E. González, Legal Materials, in CUBAN ACQUISITIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY: PROCEEDINGS AND WORKING PAPERS OF CONFERENCE HELD AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, April 13–15, 1970 (Earl J. Pariseau ed., 1970). https://www.hathitrust.org/ (last visited July 25, 2017).

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main library, University of Miami, Library of Congress, Columbia University and the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Martí.571 Gale Cengage’s The Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600–1970 database includes around 30 titles covering Cuban legislation and treatises from the late 19th century to the 1920s. A handful of these are English-language books that are primarily translations of statutes. The Handbook of Latin American Studies572 is a free online database of bibliographic records maintained by the Library of Congress. It contains an extensive collection of citations of pre-1959 legal titles, including treatises, journal articles and government reports in Spanish and English. Florida International University’s (FIU) Mario Díaz Cruz Collection provides a fascinating glimpse into the practice of law before the Castro regime. Mario Díaz Cruz was a prominent attorney and professor of law at the Universidad de La Habana, focusing on commercial law, contracts, property and constitutional law.573 He left Cuba in the early years of the Revolution, bringing his law library with him to the United States. Out of nearly 2,300 titles in the Díaz Cruz Collection, 380 were published in Cuba.574 The remaining books in the Collection were published overseas and cover law from the United States, France, Italy, Spain and numerous Latin American countries. This suggests that republican era Cuban law practitioners regularly consulted scholarship and primary sources from other civil law jurisdictions. The FIU Law Library has posted online high quality scans of two dozen Cuban law titles from the Díaz Cruz Collection.575 C. POST-1959 TREATISES 1. Bibliographies Bruce Zagaris and Jay Rosenthal. “A Selected Bibliography of the Cuban Legal System, 1959–1983,” 15 Lawyer of the Americas 545 (Winter 1984). Republished in the Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia. This article includes citations to legislation and secondary sources in English. Kate Wallach. Union List of Basic Latin American Legal Materials. Published for the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) by F. B. Rothman (1971). A brief four-page section on Cuba lists citations to compilations of Cuban statutes by subject in Spanish and English held in U.S. libraries. Rolando A. Alum. A Selected Bibliography on Cuban Constitutional Law: 1812–1973, With Annotations. University of Pittsburgh. Center for Latin American Studies, 1973. Helpful for historical purposes, but written before the adoption of the 1976 Cuban Constitution. Jean Lisbonne’s chapter on Cuba in the International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, Tübingen: J.C.B Mohr Siebeck (Victor Knapp, ed. 1979), provides short introductions to various areas of law. The material is current only through 1977. 2. Cuban Publishers After the Cuban Revolution, the legal publishing environment changed dramatically. Below is a list of legal publishers active in Cuba during the last 55 years. Among the leading publishers in recent years are Félix Varela, Editora ONBC and Editorial Ciencias Sociales, along with the university presses. • Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba • Ediciones ENSPES, La Habana, Ministerio de Educación Superior • Ediciones Universidad de Camagüey • Editora ONBC, Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos (1992-current)

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LLMC Digital, LLMC Digitizing Cuban Primary Legal Sources (Oct. 18, 2016), http://llmc.com/newsstory.aspx? news=76. 572 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/ (last visited July 25, 2017). 573 Matthew C. Mirow, Comparative Law in Miami: Mario Díaz Cruz and the Comparative Juridical Review, 85 REVUE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL ET DE DROIT COMPARÉ 213, 217 (2008). 574 See Excel file of collection holdings provided by the Florida International University Law Library (on file with author). 575 Cuban Law Collection, http://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/cuban_law/ (last visited July 25, 2017).

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Editorial Ácana, Camagüey (1991–current) Editorial Ciencias Sociales (1970s–current) Editorial Félix Varela (1992–current) Editorial Librería Martí Editorial ORBE Editorial Oriente (Santiago de Cuba) Editorial Pueblo y Educación Editorial UNIJURIS Editorial Universitaria (1980s–current) Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de La Habana Instituto Cubano del Libro (1960s–current) Ministerio del Interior Ruth Casa Editorial, La Habana Tribunal Supremo Popular Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (1977–current) Universidad de Holguín Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba

3. Spanish Publishers After Cuban independence, publishers in Spain continued to commission titles devoted to Cuban law. This trend continues to the present day. In particular, Editorial Académica Española, Editorial Dykinson, J.M. Bosch Editor, Reus and Tirant lo Blanch publish treatises on Cuban law.576 4. Online Sources There are a number of online sources, free and subscription-based, that provide the full texts of Cuban legal treatises. The Universidad de La Habana’s School of Law has created an online compendium of PDFs of recently published treatises arranged according to the following subjects: civil and family law, legal history and theory, criminology, penal law and international law. From the law school’s home page, select “publicaciones” (publications) and then “libros jurídicos”577 (legal books). An excellent source for identifying doctrinal legal treatises written by Cuban scholars is the Revista Cubana de Derecho578 (Cuban Journal of Law) published by the Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (UNJC) (National Union of Cuban Jurists). The Universidad de La Habana’s School of Law has posted issues online from 2008 to current. Usually published in the January–June issue of each year, the section titled “Premio Nacional de Derecho Carlos Manuel de Céspedes” (Carlos Manuel Céspedes National Law Prize) recognizes a leading legal scholar working in Cuba. The accompanying text lists major publications authored by the prize winners. The Revista Cubana de Derecho also includes a “Notas Bibliográficas” (Bibliographic Notes) section, compiled by Cuban legal academics, in each issue that lists leading texts by topic. For instance, Issue 32 (July–Dec. 2008) provided a list of Cuban administrative law books, many of which date from before the 1959 Revolution. The journal also publishes Recensiones de Libros (Book Reviews) of recently published titles. Lastly, Publicaciones Recibidas (Publications Received) also lists recently published Cuban legal titles, as well as books covering Latin American and Spanish law. The subscription database vLex offers two legal journals and over 70 treatises on Cuban law online in full text. vLex includes books from Cuban and Spanish publishers, such as Dykinson, Bosch and Editorial Académica 576

Representative recent titles include LEONARDO B. PÉREZ GALLARDO coord., EL DERECHO EN CUBA (2015); RAFAEL-ANDRÉS VELÁZQUEZ PÉREZ, INVERSIONES EXTRANJERAS SOSTENIBLES: UN ANÁLISIS ALTERNATIVO DEL DERECHO INTERNACIONAL DE INVERSIONES ENFOCADOS SOBRE CUBA (2015). 577 http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/34 (last visited July 25, 2017). 578 http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/48 (last visited July 25, 2017).

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Española. The overwhelming majority of books on vLex were published in the last five years and cover a wide range of topics, including agricultural law, commercial law, constitutional law, criminal law, urban planning, environmental law and family law. D. PRE-1959 JOURNALS During the late colonial and republican eras, over 30 legal journals were published in Cuba. Among the most prominent journals were the Revista Cubana de Derecho, published by Imprenta de F. Verdugo from 1929 to 1959, and Revista de Derecho Internacional: Órgano del Instituto Americano de Derecho Internacional. The Revista Cubana de Derecho included supplemental publications pertaining to doctrine, legislation and jurisprudence. Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante y Sirvén served on the editorial board of the Revista de Derecho Internacional.579 Below are listed colonial and republican era Cuban legal journals held by U.S. libraries with indications if they are available online in full text. Dates are approximations based on a review of OCLC’s WorldCat and other online library catalogs. • Anuario de la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Derecho Público (1950–1956) Universidad de La Habana • Anuario de la Sociedad Cubana de Derecho Internacional (1917–1949) Available online at HathiTrust, 1917–1922. • Enquiridión (1953–1955) Criminal law journal • Impuestos del Estado (1936–1960) Taxation journal • Oriente: Revista General del Derecho (1932–1933) Santiago de Cuba • Repertorio Judicial (1925–1960) Colegio de Abogados de La Habana • Revista Cubana de Derecho (1941–1959) Imprenta de F. Verdugo • Revista Cubana de Derecho. Sección de Legislación (1926–1936) • Revista Cubana de Derecho. Sección Doctrinal (1929–1937) Imprenta de F. Verdugo • Revista Cubana de Derecho Índices de la Jurisprudencia Penal (1929–1931) • Revista Cubana de Derecho Público (1951–?) • Revista de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales: Publicación Universitaria de Estudiantes (1942–?) • Revista de Derecho Internacional: Órgano del Instituto Americano de Derecho Internacional (1922–1949) HathiTrust has full-text 1922 Volumes 1 & 2. Snippets from 1923–1940. • Revista de Jurisprudencia. Ciencia.-Literatura.-Variedades (1856–1858) Continued as Revista de Jurisprudencia y Administración y de Comercio (1959–1962) Available online at HathiTrust, 1856–1862. • Revista de los Estudiantes de Derecho (1916–1918) • Revista del Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (1938–1951) • Revista del Foro (1893–1916) HathiTrust has the 1894 issue. • Revista General de Derecho (1883–1893) Colegio de Abogados de La Habana • Revista Juridical. Colegio de Notarios de La Habana (1912–1914) Notaries • Revista Penal, Santiago de Cuba (1932–1942) • Revista Penal de La Habana (1938–1944) ○

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Revista Trimestral de Derecho Privado (1924–1928) Available on LLMC Digital. Verbum : Órgano Oficial de la Asociación de Estudiantes de Derecho, Universidad de La Habana (1937–1937) Reprinted in 2001. No full text (search only capability) on HathiTrust. ○

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E. POST-1959 JOURNALS 1. English-Language Journals Although only a small number of English-language books devoted to Cuban law have been published, U.S. law review articles focusing on Cuban law are published with some frequency. Over the last three decades, hundreds of articles have appeared in U.S. academic law journals analyzing Cuba’s legal system, human rights violations and the U.S economic embargo. As foreign investment increases, law journals from commercial publishers will undoubtedly expand their coverage of Cuban legal developments. Journals such as Latin Lawyer and Corporate Counsel (particularly its “Focus Latin America” quarterly supplement) will most likely turn their attention to Cuban legal developments as commercial rapprochement between the United States and Cuba deepens. a. Bar Journals The Cuban American Bar Association, based in Miami, has published articles on legal and political changes in Cuba and amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations for many years. The majority of articles appear in its magazine, CABA Briefs. State bar journals occasionally publish articles on attorney visits to Cuba and people-topeople exchanges.580 2. Spanish-Language Journals A number of contemporary Latin American and Spanish scholars study Cuban law and publish in journals from Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Access to this literature can be found in the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) on HeinOnline and online academic journal repositories based in Spain and Latin America, such as Dialnet, Latindex and Redalyc. Dialnet581 (Universidad de La Rioja, Spain) provides selected full texts of articles, search functionality in English and selected abstracts in English. The site does not include any Cuban legal journals. Latindex,582 maintained by the Universidad Nacional Autónomo de México (UNAM) is an index of Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese periodical titles offering content similar to Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory. Latindex provides bibliographic information for three Cuban legal journals: Revista Cubana de Derecho, Revista Cubana de Derecho Ambiental (Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment) and Anuario del Centro de Investigaciones Jurídicas (published by the Ministry of Justice’s Center for Legal Research). Latindex lacks an English-language search interface and does not provide the full texts of articles or table of contents information. Redalyc583 (Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal), maintained by the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México offers selected full texts of articles and many abstracts in English and Spanish. Redalyc does not include any Cuban law journals.

580

Examples of recent state bar journal articles: Thomas Bauer et al., Cuba’s Legal Composite: A Blend of the Familiar and the Foreign, 69 BENCH & B. MINN. 24 (Jan. 2012); Jared Carter, Vermont and Cuba: An Unlikely Cultural and Legal Connection, 37 VT. B. J. 22 (Winter 2012) (discussing the Cuban Law CLE program sponsored by Burlington College and the Vermont Bar Association). 581 https://dialnet.unirioja.es/ (last visited July 25, 2017). 582 http://www.latindex.org/ (last visited July 25, 2017). 583 http://www.redalyc.org/home.oa (last visited July 25, 2017).

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3. Journals Available in Full Text or Indexed Online The Revista Cubana de Derecho584 (1972–current) is the most prominent doctrinal legal journal published in Cuba. Originally established in 1972, it has been under the editorial control of the UNJC since 1977. It is indexed in the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP), starting from 1987. Full-text articles are available on vLex, 2005–current. The Revista is also available online via the website of the School of Law of the Universidad de La Habana. a. Other Cuban Law Journals Available Online Boletínes del Tribunal Supremo585 Cubalex: Revista Electrónica de Estudios Jurídicos (1996–current). Edited by Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba and published by Editorial UNIJURIS. Available on vLex and online 2012–2014.586 Justicia y Derecho, revista del Tribunal Supremo Popular de la República de Cuba (2003–current). Available online 2003–2013 through the Universidad de La Habana website.587 Legalidad Socialista: Boletín de Información Jurídica Editado por la Fiscalía General de la República (1978–current). Available online 2004–current.588 According to the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, the journal was renamed Legalidad, Derecho y Sociedad (Legality, Law and Society) in 2014.589 Available online 2010–2014.590 Revista Jurídica. Ministry of Justice (1983–current). Available online 2009–2013.591 4. Other Cuban Law Journals with Print Holdings in U.S. Libraries • Anuario del Centro de Investigaciones Jurídicas (2003–current) Ministry of Justice’s Center for Legal Research • Boletín del Tribunal Supremo Popular (1974–current) • Boletín Oficial Registro Mercantil Central (2005–current) • Boletín ONBC (2000–?) • Cuaderno de Legalidad Socialista (1983–?) Fiscalía General de la República de Cuba, Centro de Documentación Técnica Jurídica • Divulgación Jurídica (1983–?) Ministry of Justice • El Jurista: Órgano de la Unión Nacional de Juristas de Cuba (1988–?) • Información Jurídica (1975–1976) Continued by Revista de Información Jurídica (Fiscalía General de la República de Cuba). • Revista de Derecho Económico (1988–?) Sistema de Arbitraje Estatal • Revista Jurídica (1984–current) Departamento de Divulgación del Ministerio de Justicia de la República de Cuba • Temas de Derecho (1987–?) Ministry of Justice ○

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http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/48 (last visited July 25, 2017). http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/45 (last visited July 25, 2017). 586 http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/46 (last visited July 25, 2017). 587 http://www.lex.uh.cu/node/47 (last visited July 25, 2017). 588 http://www.fgr.cu/es/publicaciones (last visited July 25, 2017). 589 Susana Gómes Bugallo, Una Fiscalía aún más del pueblo, JUVENTUD REBELDE, Nov. 10, 2014, http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2014-11-10/una-fiscalia-aun-mas-del-pueblo/. 590 http://www.proyesc.cu/rcda/inicio.php (last visited July 25, 2017). 591 http://www.minjus.cu/viewpage.php?page_id=17 (last visited July 25, 2017). 585

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F. RESEARCHING U.S. SANCTIONS AND THE ECONOMIC BOYCOTT OF CUBA Despite the recent normalization of relations between the governments of the United States and Cuba, American investors in Cuba must continue to abide by the Trading With the Enemy Act, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, Cuban Assets Control Regulations and relevant Export Control Regulations. The U.S. executive branch is incrementally relaxing Commerce and Treasury Department regulations related to Cuba; however, a complete repeal of trade restrictions will require new Congressional legislation. Creighton University School of Law’s 2007 Report on the Resolution of Outstanding Property Claims Between Cuba and the United States592 provides a helpful introduction to the legal issues involving the expropriation and nationalization of property during the early years of the Cuban Revolution. Recent editions of Practising Law Institute’s Coping with U.S. Export Controls have included chapters on Cuba.593 Bloomberg BNA’s Export Reference Library offers a current awareness service that tracks amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and the Export Control Regulations. There are a number of general export control treatises that address Cuba in some detail: • John R. Liebman, Roszel Cathcart Thomsen, and James E. Bartlett. United States Export Controls. Law Journal Press (7th ed. 2013). • Lillian V. Blageff. Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Economic Sanctions and Embargoes. West (2007). Available on Westlaw; originally a Business Law Inc. publication. • Lillian V. Blageff. Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Export Controls. West (2nd ed. 2011). Available on Westlaw; originally a Business Law Inc. publication. • Eric L. Hirschhorn. The Export Control and Embargo Handbook. Oxford University Press (3rd ed. 2010). G. CUBAN LAW COURSES AND INITIATIVES AT U.S. LAW SCHOOLS In recent years, U.S. law schools have started offering courses and seminars on Cuban law. Pedro Freyre and Augusto Maxwell of Columbia Law School teach “Cuba: Law, Policy and Transition.” The University of Miami recently offered “Cuban Civil Law: Myth or Reality?”594 In addition, Southern Illinois University School of Law offers “Legal Globalization and Comparative Law: Cuba.”595 Columbia Law School inaugurated in 2015 the Cuba Capacity Building Project to “foster the development of the legal institutions necessary for Cuba to transition to a more market-based economy.”596 The Cuba initiative is directed by Adjunct Senior Research Scholar Natalia Delgado. H. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Baquera, Gastón, and Vicente Báez, eds. La Enciclopedia de Cuba. 2nd ed. San Juan: Enciclopedia y Clásicos Cubanos, 1975. Bishop, Crawford M., and Anyda Marchant. A Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1944. Accessed July 25, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp. 39015079734367. de Dios Tejada y Sáinz, Juan, ed. Spanish and English Legal and Commercial Dictionary: a revision and enlargement of the Law translator’s reference glossary/Diccionario de comercio y derecho en inglés y español: una ampliación de la edición original del glosario práctico del traductor legal. 2nd ed. Santa María del Rosario, Cuba: Editorial Var + I+Tek, 1945. Erwin, Linda Ann McIntosh. “The Book Trade and Book Publishing Industry in Cuba 1950–1965.” Master’s Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, 1968. 592

MICHAEL J. KELLY ET AL., REPORT ON THE RESOLUTION OF OUTSTANDING PROPERTY CLAIMS BETWEEN CUBA & THE UNITED STATES (2007), http://works.bepress.com/michael_kelly/2/. 593 PETER L. FLANAGAN ET AL., COPING WITH U.S. EXPORT CONTROLS AND SANCTIONS (Commercial Law and Practice Course Handbook Ser. No. A-985, 2015). 594 https://lawapps2.law.miami.edu/clink/course.aspx?cof_id=1127 (last visited July 25, 2017). 595 http://www.law.siu.edu/_common/documents/courses/sp14-syllabi/legal-globalization-cuba-s14.pdf (last visited July 25, 2017). 596 https://www.law.columbia.edu/media_inquiries/news_events/2015/june2015/cuba-capacity-conference-2015 (last visited July 25, 2017). 107

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Florén-Romero, Marisol. “Mapping the Digital Legal Information of Mexico, Central America, the Spanish Speaking Caribbean and Haiti.” International Journal of Legal Information 40 (Winter 2012): 417–515. González, Armando E. “Law Materials.” In Cuban Acquisitions and Bibliography: Proceedings and Working Papers of an International Conference Held at the Library of Congress, April 13–15, 1970, edited by Earl J. Parisaeu, 73–77. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970. Kelly, Michael J. et al. Report on the Resolution of Outstanding Property Claims Between Cuba & the United States. Omaha, Neb.: Creighton University Press, 2007. Accessed July 25, 2017. http://works.bepress.com/michael_kelly/2. Lisbonne, Jean. “Cuba.” In International Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, edited by Viktor Knapp, Volume 1C. New York: Oceana, 1977. Pérez Gallardo, Leonardo B., coord. El Derecho en Cuba. Madrid: Editorial Reus, 2015. Redden, Kenneth Robert. “The Legal System of Cuba.” In Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia, edited by Kenneth Robert Redden, Volume 7 (1995). Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 1989. Ricardo, José G. La Imprenta en Cuba. La Habana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1989. Rodríguez Herrera, Esteban. Enciclopedia Cubana Jurídico-Administrativa. La Habana: Arellano y Compañía, Impresores, 1933. Shatzkin, Leonard. “Book Publishing in Cuba: How It Works.” Publishers Weekly 227 (April 12, 1985): 36–39. Velázquez Pérez, Rafael-Andrés. Inversiones Extranjeras Sostenibles: Un Análisis Alternativo del Derecho Internacional de Inversiones Enfocados Sobre Cuba. Barcelona: J.M. Bosch Editor, 2015. Villón-Galdame, Alberto. “Una Introducción a la Bibliografía Jurídica Latino-Americana.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1959. Wallach, Kate. “Cuba.” In Union List of Basic Latin American Legal Materials, 22–25. South Hackensack: Fred B. Rothman & Co., 1971.

ONLINE RESOURCES JOOTAEK LEE

Listed below, primarily organized by topic, are selected commercial and free Web-based resources that contain information on Cuba. Although this compilation was crafted to emphasize law-related sources, it also includes websites for general background information and statistics, human rights research in the Cuban context and current awareness. Both Spanish- and English-language sources are listed. This collection of resources does not constitute an exhaustive list, but rather an attempt to recognize core sources.597 As such, note that the following section on “Non-Legal Resources” also contains an annotated list of sites that provide information related to Cuban law and legal developments. In addition, other sections of this Guide reference potentially valuable online sources that may not be listed below. As previously noted, the availability of Cuba-based websites may be intermittent and their overall reliability uncertain. A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND STATISTICS There are multiple online sources where researchers can obtain factual background information on Cuba. Listed here are the CIA World Factbook and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which are among the most well-known sites that provide country information. Cuba’s national statistics agency also has a useful website, although information there is available exclusively in Spanish. •

CIA World Factbook (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html This source provides U.S. government profiles of countries and territories around the world. The Factbook includes information on Cuba’s geography, population, government, legal system, economy, energy, transportation, communications, etc. A brief history of Cuba, beginning with the arrival of Columbus, is also offered. 597

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Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) (The Economist Group) http://country.eiu.com/cuba The EIU, which is part of the United Kingdom’s Economist Group, provides a constant flow of analysis and forecasts on more than 195 countries and six key industries. The site is designed to help executives make informed business decisions through dependable intelligence and customized research. For Cuba, the EIU offers basic data, fact sheets, and information on politics, the economy and investment risks, along with various reports and analysis. Recent articles mainly focus on Cuba’s relationship with the United States. Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (National Statistics and Information Office, Republic of Cuba) http://www.one.cu This government agency’s website is designed to help and support Cuban government functions, such as the establishment of policies and plans in political, economic, social and environmental areas. Like the U.S. Census Bureau, this agency provides data and statistics for multiple sectors, including finance, employment and wages, construction and investment, transport, health and tourism. Data from Cuba’s provinces is also provided.

B. RESEARCH GUIDES Online legal research guides provide great starting points for foreign law investigations. Generally created by law librarians, these guides often provide introductory material, explanations of a jurisdiction’s legal system, suggested research strategies and keywords, and links to primary laws and selected secondary sources. The following electronic guides offer direction for researching Cuban law—aggregating and describing available print and online tools. •

•

Foreign Law Guide (Brill) http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/foreign-law-guide This subscription database is a staple in the area of foreign legal research. Included are brief overviews of the legal systems of about 190 jurisdictions, as well as lists of each jurisdiction’s codes, court reports and other significant legal literature. Even if the entry for Cuba has not been updated since 2013, and does not reflect the recent recovery of U.S.-Cuba relations, it does offer a useful overview of the country’s legal system and a helpful summary of Cuban law by topic. GlobaLex (New York University Hauser Global Law School Program) http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Cuba.html GlobaLex is a free legal database that provides foreign, comparative and international law research guides. GlobaLex’s articles are generally updated every two years, and as more authors contribute, it becomes more comprehensive. “A Guide to Legal Research in Cuba,” published in 2015 by Yasmin Morais, provides a brief legal history, a short bibliography and links to journals, newspapers, blogs and other useful resources. Guide to Law Online: Nations (Law Library of Congress) https://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/cuba.php This free website provides links to a collection of foreign legal research guides for about 240 countries, including Cuba. Each guide is divided into categories, such as “Constitution,” Executive,” “Judicial” and “General Sources.” Numerous links are listed, but the country entries lack detailed information, such as research strategies, key terms and historical background. The Cuba guide includes links to various versions of the Constitution, selected legislation and a number of government agencies.

C. LEGISLATION The following list includes online sources for locating official texts of Cuban laws, as well as unofficial English-language translations. Not included in this list is GLIN (Global Legal Information Network), a free database that once provided an excellent English-language digest of Cuban laws (1976–1999); it is unknown whether this valuable source, formerly hosted by the Law Library of Congress, will reappear in any form.598 For an alternative 598

There is currently an initiative for a GLIN 2. See http://www.glinf.org/ (last visited Aug. 2, 2017).

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source of historical legislation, see the description in this section for LLMC Digital under the heading “Other Subscription-Based Legal Databases.” •

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Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of People’s Power, Republic of Cuba) http://www.parlamentocubano.cu The official website of Cuba’s unicameral legislative body provides the texts of selected laws. Under the category of “Labor Legislativo” (Legislative Work), the “Documentos Legales” (Legal Documents) link provides access to leyes (laws) approved by the National Assembly and decretos-leyes (decree-laws) approved by the Council of State. As of this writing, coverage of leyes begins with the First Ordinary Legislature (July 1977) (Ley No. 1), and ends with the Eighth Legislature (Dec. 2015) (Ley No. 120). Coverage of decretos-leyes starts in February 1977 (Decreto-Ley No. 1), and ends in November 2015 (Decreto-Ley No. 335). Gaceta Oficial (Official Gazette) (Ministry of Justice, Republic of Cuba) http://www.gacetaoficial.cu The Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba is the Cuban government’s official legislative gazette. It includes laws, decree-laws, decrees and administrative provisions issued by the executive and legislative powers, along with various Supreme Court documents. Issues dating back to January 2, 1991 are posted online, but it should be noted that access to this site in the past has been unreliable and still remains cumbersome; issues of the Gaceta are available as RAR compressed files, rather than in digital PDF format. The “Legislación Cubana” (Cuban Legislation) link on the left side of the homepage leads to the current Constitution, as well as Cuban Codes and individual laws available in PDF and HTML formats.599 Individual laws posted here include Ley No. 81, Ley de Medio Ambiente (Law No. 81, Environmental Law), Ley No. 72, Ley Electoral (Law No. 72, Electoral Law) and Decreto-Ley No. 71, Decreto-Ley Sobre el Arrendamiento de Viviendas (Decreto-Ley No. 71, Decree-Law on Rental Housing). Global-Regulation (Global-Regulation Inc.) https://www.global-regulation.com/ This recently launched subscription database provides access to the laws of about 71 countries. As of this writing, 79 Cuban laws are available in the vernacular (with links to the original source) and in English translation (by machine). The database doesn’t currently contain the texts of the Cuban Codes. Juriscuba (Lic. Walfrido Sebastián Quiñones Bencomo) http://juriscuba.com/legislacion-2/leyes/ Juriscuba is a repository and portal for Cuban legal information and resources. It provides access to legislation, including laws, decree-laws, decrees and instructions of the Cuban Supreme Court’s Governing Council (CGTSP) (1974–current). The site, which attributes ownership to an attorney based in Mérida, Yucatán, México, also offers links to the websites of the country’s main legal institutions (including contact information for Notaries and Civil Registry Offices). In addition, the most current versions of the Código de Trabajo (Labor Code) and the Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure Law are posted here. There is no information regarding the overall currency of the site, however. NatLaw World (National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade) http://www.natlaw.com/natlaw-world This database contains laws, regulations, case law and secondary sources related to trade and investment for countries in the Americas. Most of the materials are in Spanish, but many English-language translations are available. Access to the majority of the database’s content is by subscription, although some free materials are offered. Non-subscribers may purchase English-language translations of individual documents. Within “Browse NatLaw Database,” select “Filter by Country,” and then Cuba. The search yields 492 documents, as of this writing. NATLEX (International Labour Organization) https://perma.cc/8YLY-2HNK The International Labour Organization (ILO) populates and maintains NATLEX, which is a database of countryspecific labor legislation. Full texts or abstracts of the laws are included, and in some instances, translations in English. As of this writing, under the heading of “Cuba,” there are 235 records arranged by subject, including 599

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The PDF and HTML versions are not necessarily the same. See the Guide’s earlier section on “Legislation and Codes” for information on the currency of the Codes posted on the Gaceta’s website.

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freedom of association, elimination of child labor, employment policy, conditions of employment, occupational safety and health, and social security. Most of these documents are only available in Spanish. UNESCO Database of Cultural Heritage Laws (U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) http://www.unesco.org/culture/natlaws/ This free database covers cultural heritage laws from about 195 countries, important international instruments and documents, and a glossary. Nineteen Cuban documents are available, including several English-langauge translations. Ley No. 1, Ley de Protección al Patrimonio Cultural (Law No. 1, Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage) (1977), for example, is accessible in Spanish and in an unofficial English-language translation. Coverage for Cuban materials spans from 1976 to 2008. WIPO Lex (World Intellectual Property Organization) http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/ This free database covers intellectual property laws from about 200 countries, related treaties from WIPO and the U.N., and a glossary. WIPO and WTO members are required to submit their intellectual property-related laws to designated authorities, and then WIPO Lex administrators compile and organize them. Sometimes, laws are directly submitted to the database administrators. About 65 Cuban laws are available in Spanish, including Ley No. 14, Ley del Derecho de Autor (Law No. 14, Law on Copyright) (as amended in 1994). WorldLII (World Legal Information Institute) http://www.worldlii.org/cu/ Several non-profit regional legal information initiatives created and now maintain WorldLII, which is a free website. The site offers legal subject-based links for individual countries. Unfortunately, much of the entry for Cuba focuses on the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). Although GLIN’s links are broken, the lists for 2002 to 2008 are helpful for identifying laws, decree-laws, decrees, resolutions and other legal sources by title.

D. NEWS AND CURRENT AWARENESS SOURCES Although the Cuban press is highly restricted and controlled,600 there are numerous Cuban newspaper websites that can be valuable for locating information on legal developments. Along with the sources listed below, worth mentioning here are the national newspapers Granma, Juventud Rebelde and Trabajadores, which all have multilingual or bilingual websites.601 Also noteworthy is Dow Jones’ subscription database Factiva, which will search the Web content of a variety of regional Cuban newspapers, including Escambray (Sancti Spíritus), Invasor (Ciego de Ávila) and Sierra Maestra (Santiago de Cuba). Utilizing a free Webbased news aggregator like Google News602 is also an excellent way of tracking legal and political developments on the island as reported through international media. •

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Cuba News (Westlaw) The content of the Cuba News database in Westlaw is provided by NewsRoom. The English-language service provides business and economic information relating to various topics, including banking, biotechnology, e-commerce, manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, real estate, telecom and tourism. Coverage of this writing spans from January 1, 2001, to January 1, 2014. Cubadebate (Círculo de Periodistas Cubanos contra el Terrorismo) (Circle of Cuban Journalists against Terrorism) http://www.cubadebate.cu/ Organized by Cuban journalists, this website is designed to provide an exchange for information on subversive actions and defamatory campaigns against Cuba. While this database may reflect a country bias, it contains a garden variety of news and opinions on politics, the economy, culture, health, science and technology, the

600

See FREEDOM HOUSE, Freedom of the Press 2017: Cuba, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/cuba (last visited Aug. 21, 2017). 601 For a comprehensive list of Cuban newspapers, see http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/cuba.htm (last visited Aug. 21, 2017). 602 http://news.google.com (last visited Aug. 21, 2017). 111

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environment, media, military and intelligence, and society. Some of the website’s content is translated into English and archived. CubaNet (CubaNet News, Inc.) https://www.cubanet.org This nonprofit digital media organization seeks to realize the rights and well-being of Cuban citizens. Based in Coral Gables, Florida, CubaNet has provided news, reports and documents related to Cuba since 1994. The website, which is in Spanish, offers free daily e-mail updates, a searchable news archive and a small collection of IGO and NGO materials pertaining to Cuba. Global Legal Monitor (Law Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/ This free online publication, compiled by Law Library of Congress personnel, provides legal news and developments relating to foreign countries, including Cuba. The site is browsable by jurisdiction, and regular updates are available via RSS feed and e-mail.

E. INDEXES Online legal indexes are effective tools for locating law-related articles. Fee-based electronic indexes, such as those listed below, may be useful in identifying both scholarly and practitioner-oriented articles about Cuba. •

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Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) (American Association of Law Libraries) https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/iflp/ IFLP, which is available via HeinOnline, indexes over 500 legal journals published worldwide. Most indexed articles on Cuba are published in the Revista Cubana de Derecho and in U.S. law journals. At the time of this writing, there are 345 articles related to Cuba listed in the Index. The majority of these are in Spanish. Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective and Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text (EBSCO, H.W. Wilson) https://www.ebscohost.com/academic/index-to-legal-periodicals-retrospective; https://www.ebscohost.com/academic/index-to-legal-periodicals-and-books-full-text Covering 1908 to 1981, the Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective is an archival database that indexes over 800 legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Post-1981 legal articles are picked up by the Index to Legal Periodicals & Books that covers more than 1,000 publications. As of this writing, in both databases combined, there are about 220 articles on Cuba-related topics. LegalTrac (Gale Cengage) http://www.gale.com/c/legaltrac This database allows users to search more than 875 titles, including academic law reviews and journals, specialty law and bar association publications, and legal newspapers. Coverage starts in 1980. As of this writing, there are references and some full-text links to about 45 articles under “Cuba” as an indexing term. Most of these articles appear in U.S. periodicals.

F. OTHER SUBSCRIPTION-BASED LEGAL DATABASES The short list below includes two resources that are useful for historical research: LLMC Digital and the Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600–1970. Relevant for more current information are several collections in HeinOnline, along with the well-known vLex, which is a multilingual database of legal texts. Not listed under this category are the major online U.S. legal databases, Lexis and Westlaw. Collectively, these services offer minimal coverage of Cuba, except for articles appearing in law review and news databases. •

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HeinOnline (William S. Hein & Co., Inc.) http://home.heinonline.org/ HeinOnline offers a variety of source-specific digitized collections, including the Law Journal Library. Within this collection are more than 2,300 law and law-related periodicals. Coverage begins in most instances with first issues. A search on “Cuba” in the title field yields over 500 articles, as of this writing. Another valuable database in HeinOnline that is mentioned elsewhere in this Guide is World Constitutions Illustrated.

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LLMC Digital (Law Library Microform Consortium) http://llmc.com/ This subscription database contains numerous Cuban historical materials, including constitutions, legislative acts and codes, and treatises. LLMC is currently involved in a project to augment this collection—the Cuban Legal Patrimony Project, which is based on LLMC’s successful Haiti Legal Patrimony Project. The initiative is designed to provide an offsite digital safe haven for Cuban legal materials.603 As of October 2016, LLMC had finished digitizing about 20 percent of a planned 1,000 or more titles.604 The Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, 1600–1970 (Gale Cengage) http://www.gale.com/moml-foreign-primary-sources-part-i/ This subscription database contains historical sources from the law libraries of Yale, Harvard and George Washington University. It contains legislative acts, codes, regulations, journals and commentaries mostly from European countries. There is, however, a small collection of historical Cuban Codes and laws, primarily published in the 19th century. vLex (vLex Networks S.L.) http://us.vlex.com/ vLex is a commercial legal database specifically focused on foreign and international law. Based in Barcelona, Spain, vLex is particularly strong for European countries and several Latin American nations. A selection of Cuban Codes and individual leyes is included, along with a collection of articles and treatises pertaining to Cuba. Journals covered include the Revista Cubana de Derecho (2006–2016) and Revista Cubalex (2012– 2014). Access to recent issues (current year only) of the Gaceta Oficial is also provided.

G. OTHER FREE WEBSITES AND REPOSITORIES The following websites are accessible without a subscription. There are several U.S. academic research initiatives on the list, along with some Cuba-based sites. •

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Centro de Gestión Documental (Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs) http://archivo.cubaminrex.cu/publicaciones/2013 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Document Center is located in Havana. It is an archive of materials related to Cuba’s diplomatic affairs, with coverage beginning in 1899. Some useful information about the Center’s projects and a handful of documents are available on the Center’s website under the “Publicaciones” (Publications) and “Patrimonia” (Heritage) headings. Of particular note are the Ministry’s annual reports (“Memorias”) (Reports) that are available in PDF format (2010–2015, as of this writing). Cuba Transition Project (Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami) http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/default.htm The Project was launched in 2002 to study and make recommendations for the reconstruction of a post-Castro Cuba. Available on the bilingual versions of the website are various articles, seminar videos, research studies, human rights reports and databases. There are individual databases containing records for Cuban political prisoners and foreign investors, although it is unclear when these were compiled and last updated. Cuban Research Institute (Florida International University) https://cri.fiu.edu The Institute’s website is densely populated with information on Cuba, U.S.-Cuba relations and the CubanAmerican community. Within the “Research” section are “Commissioned Reports” (in English and Spanish) on a wide variety of topics, as well as links to Hemisphere magazine in PDF format. Under the heading “Cuba Resources and Links” are links to the websites of various Cuban civil organizations, government agencies, online journals and magazines, political organizations, news agencies and research centers. Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) (Florida International University and Partners) http://dloc.com The dLOC offers a wide variety of materials relating to Caribbean culture and history. According to the database description, dLOC includes about 2.6 million pages of news articles, government documents, scientific data and 603 604

LLMC Digitizing Cuban Primary Legal Sources, supra note 571. Id.

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maps, oral histories, literature, musical expressions, artifacts, etc.605 A search on the general subject heading of “Cuba” yields thousands of items. Some of the specific subject headings related to Cuba are: Cuba—History— 1959–1990, and Cuba-Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. The dLOC also has a separate “Cuban Law Collection” with historical and current materials. Cuba’s national library, the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Martí, is a partner and contributing library, as is LLMC. EcuRed http://www.ecured.cu/index.php/Lo_que_EcuRed_no_es EcuRed is a Cuban Wikipedia-like encyclopedia launched in 2010. EcuRed’s sponsorship is not entirely clear, but it is seemingly controlled by the Cuban government.606 Although entries are written with an obvious bias, EcuRed can be a useful starting point to structuralize and understand Cuban legal terms and sources. See, for example, the entries on “derecho” (law) and “doctrina” (doctrine). Fiscalía General de la República de Cuba (Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba) http://www.fgr.cu/es According to its website, one of the primary missions of the Office of the Attorney General is to ensure that state agencies, economic and social organizations, and citizens comply with the Constitution, laws and other legal provisions.607 The site includes a Biblioteca Virtual (Virtual Library), as well as a separate link to a compilation of “Publicaciones.” The latter includes the Revista de la Fiscalía General (Journal of the Office of the Attorney General) and bulletins and newsletters of regional public prosecutors’ offices. The main site additionally provides links to a small collection of “Normas Jurídicas” (Legal Norms), a glossary and a historical overview of the Fiscalía. HathiTrust Digital Library (HathiTrust) https://www.hathitrust.org This digital library, which has both subscription and free content, is maintained by HathiTrust, a partnership of over 150 academic and research institutions. Under various subject headings related to Cuba, there are currently more than 19,000 items in various languages, including English. About 4,000 of these are available in “full view” (i.e., open access). Martí Noticias (U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, Office of Cuba Broadcasting) http://www.martinoticias.com Martí Noticias is the Web component of “los Martí,”—the others being Radio Martí and Televisión Martí. All are based in Miami and are funded by the U.S. government. Broadcasts and Web-based information are in Spanish for a Cuban audience. Martí Noticias posts general Cuban news, as well as opinion pieces. Video footage and a live feed from Televisión Martí are also accessible on the site. Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) (Communist Party of Cuba) (Editora Política del CCPCC) http://www.pcc.cu/ The PCC’s website is heavily populated with information. The site provides an overview of the Party’s history, biographies of individuals historically important to the organization and membership lists for the Central Committee, Secretariat and the Politburo. Documents from all seven PCC Congresses are available, as well as the PCC’s estatutos (statutes) and reglamentos (regulations). Although current news is posted on the site, it is unclear when the full site was last updated. Universidad de La Habana Facultad de Derecho (Universidad de La Habana Law School) http://www.lex.uh.cu This is the website of the law school of the Universidad de La Habana, the oldest university in Cuba. The website includes a section on “Publicaciones” that provides full-text access to articles, law books and legal journals in PDF format. The articles and books are organized by topic, such as “Civil y Familia” (Civil and Family) and “Penal y Crimonología” (Crime and Criminology). A selection of journal issues is also posted, including

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DIGITAL LIBRARY OF THE CARIBBEAN, http://dloc.com/dloc1/about (last visited Aug. 21, 2017). See Rich Potter, Cuba’s EcuRed: a socialist Wikipedia?, TRANSD[E]UCE (Dec. 30, 2010), https://transdeuce.wordpress. com/2010/12/30/cubas-ecured-a-socialist-wikipedia/; see also Rafael Rojas, Policías del Recuerdo, EL PAÍS, Jan. 21, 2011, http://elpais.com/diario/2011/01/21/opinion/1295564404_850215.html. 607 Misión y Funciones de la Fiscalía, FISCALÍA GENERAL DE LA REPÚBLICA DE CUBA, http://www.fgr.cu/es/mision-y-funciones-de-la-fiscalia (last updated Aug. 21, 2017). 606

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several of Justicia y Derecho and Revista Cubana de Derecho. The site also provides the names and e-mail addresses of law faculty members. H. HUMAN RIGHTS Cuba has been routinely condemned for human rights abuses, ranging from restrictions on free speech and assembly, to arbitrary arrests and detentions.608 Whether Fidel Castro’s death on November 25, 2016, will have any influence on the country’s human rights situation remains to be seen.609 The following list primarily includes international NGOs that monitor and report on national human rights conditions. Also listed is a Cuban NGO that is dedicated to improving human rights conditions locally and disseminating information globally. •

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Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/cuba/ Amnesty International, headquartered in London, England, is an NGO striving for the improvement of human rights worldwide through investigation and exposure of facts.610 Amnesty is also associated with the U.N. through its ECOSOC special consultative status. Amnesty’s page on Cuba offers access to news, commentary, the organization’s annual investigative report, and research findings and briefings. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (U.S. Department of State) http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2015&dlid=253005#wrapper The U.S. Department of State annually publishes reports on human rights conditions in U.N. member states and countries that receive U.S. financial assistance. Reports on Cuba examine the country’s human rights conditions in depth. These studies treat such matters as the arbitrary deprivation of law, detention conditions, arbitrary arrests, criminal procedures, worker rights, transparency and other absences of civil liberties and political rights. Cubalex https://centrocubalex.com/ The Centro de Información Legal Cubalex was a non-governmental center for free legal information and advice in Havana that specialized in human rights matters. In September 2016, the Cuban police and other government officials burst into the Cubalex offices without a search warrant, confiscated work materials and files, and detained several employees.611 Most of Cubalex’s attorneys are now living in exile in the United States. The organization’s website, however, is still online, and archieved blog posts are accessible. The most recent posting, as of this writing, is dated May 11, 2017. Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) http://www.damasdeblanco.com/ Formed in April 2003, Las Damas de Blanco is a group of Cuban women who are fighting for the release of their family members imprisoned for political reasons. The website contains documents, news articles, profiles of the group’s members and information on how to support the organization. Freedom House https://freedomhouse.org Freedom House is a U.S. non-profit that strives for freedom and democracy worldwide. Based in Washington, D. C., Freedom House produces a variety of reports that include scores and ratings for individual countries in such areas as freedom of the press, Internet freedom and the political environment. The best method for identifying relevant reports and other materials on Cuba is to utilize the website’s search box. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/americas/cuba Established in 1978, Human Rights Watch is an NGO headquartered in New York City, with ties to the U.N.

608

See AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, supra note 439; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (2017), supra note 440. See Christine Armario & Anita Snow, Imagining Cuba’s Human Rights Situation after Fidel Castro, BOSTON HERALD (Nov. 27, 2016), http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/2016/11/imagining_cubas_human_rights_situation_after_fidel_castro. 610 Who We Are, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, https://www.amnesty.org/en/who-we-are (last visited Aug. 21, 2017). 611 Amnistía Internacional llama a una “acción urgente” para proteger a Cubalex, CUBANET (Nov. 21, 2016), https://www. cubanet.org/noticias/amnistia-internacional-llama-a-una-accion-urgente-para-proteger-a-cubalex/. 609

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through its ECOSOC special consultative status. Human Rights Watch investigates human rights conditions and situations in about 90 countries, including Cuba. Its page dedicated to Cuba features news releases and links to various reports, including the organization’s annual World Report. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) (Organization of the American States) http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/ Despite being a founding member of the OAS, Cuba has had a contentious relationship with the organization since the early 1960s; Cuba’s membership in the OAS was suspended from 1962 until 2009. The IACHR is a principle organ of the OAS and is part of the inter-American human rights system. As such, the Commission has regularly reported on the status of human rights in Cuba. Specific reports on Cuba were produced in 1962, 1963, 1967, 1970, 1979 and 1983, and the IACHR’s annual reports have also covered Cuba. The aforementioned documents are available on the IACHR site, along with other information related to Cuba, such as IACHR precautionary measures. In July 2016, for example, the IACHR requested the adoption of precautionary measures for two human rights defenders in Cuba.612 Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (United Nations) http://www.ohchr.org/ The OHCHR is an organ under the umbrella of the U.N. Secretariat. Its website maintains a number of useful databases that include a wide variety of international instruments, documents and reports. Especially, the Universal Human Rights Index (under the “Publications and Resources” heading) provides U.N.-based, country-specific human rights information. About 675 documents related to Cuba are contained in this database, as of this writing. The OHCHR website also includes a summary page on Cuba that includes links to relevant publications, press releases and treaty information. Refworld (U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=search&skip=0&query=&coi=CUB Refworld is a well-developed online database that focuses on human rights in the context of refugee and asylum law. The content includes treaties, travaux préparatoires, domestic laws and cases, country profiles, reports and commentaries. Researchers can browse by country. For Cuba, the database contains numerous documents published by such organizations as the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and Reporters Without Borders. Most materials are available in English.

NON-LEGAL SOURCES613 IRENE KRAFT

As highlighted in previous sections, finding authoritative information on Cuban law, particularly in English, is a challenge. As such, it is worthwhile and often necessary to consult sources broadly and well beyond the boundaries of legal literature. The purpose of this section is to present a selection of resources that, at first glance, may seem unlikely as sources of Cuban legal information. These unlikely sources, however, may be extremely useful to introduce, understand or clarify specific legal subjects. A. ACADEMIC JOURNALS There are numerous English- and Spanish-language periodicals that cover different aspects of Cuban, Caribbean, Latin American and Hispanic studies. Legal analysis and commentary on Cuba in these journals, however, is scarce; research on culture, economics and politics predominates. In spite of this emphasis, however, 612

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INTER-AM. COMM’N ON HUMAN RIGHTS, Resolution 37/2016 (July 3, 2016), http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/pdf/ 2016/MC236-16-ES.pdf. 613 Compiled by Irene Kraft, Library, Archives and Legacy Officer, International Criminal Court. The views and opinions expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the institution.

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it is worthwhile reviewing the following titles, particularly for contextual information on legal reform and its impact on Cuban society. 1. América Latina Hoy http://americo.usal.es/iberoame/americalatinahoy Published three times per year by the Instituto de Iberoamérica of the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain, this journal is available open source on Redalyc.614 It covers political and social developments in Latin America and includes articles on Cuba with some contextual information on legal frameworks and reforms. 2. Cuban Studies http://www.upress.pitt.edu/renderHtmlPage.aspx?srcHtml=htmlSourceFiles/Series/cuban.htm The University of Pittsburgh Press publishes this annual multidisciplinary journal. It occasionally includes a Spanish- or English-language article that provides legal analysis or context on a specific law-related subject. 3. International Journal of Cuban Studies http://cubastudies.org/the-international-journal-of-cuban-studies/ Published by the International Institute for the Study of Cuba (Tring, England), this quarterly journal rarely includes articles of a legal nature. The publication, however, offers a wide range of analysis and commentary on ongoing political developments and reform in Cuba that may provide useful contextual information. 4. Novedades en Población http://www.cedem.uh.cu/revista The Centro de Estudios Demográficos (Center of Demographic Studies) of the Universidad de La Habana publishes this semiannual journal. It is available open source on SciELO,615 and it includes articles on demography and related subjects (e.g., migration, ethnicity and abortion) that often refer to the current and historical legal framework in Cuba. 5. Revista Cubana de Salud Pública http://www.revsaludpublica.sld.cu/index.php/spu Published by Cuba’s Centro Nacional de Información de Ciencias Médicas (National Medical Sciences Information Center), and available open source on SciELO, this journal contains articles on a wide range of public health issues, such as public health policy and reform. The Revista, which is distributed quarterly, occasionally includes a legal analysis of a particular health care or bioethical subject. B. ACADEMIC INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS There are a number of academic and autonomous research institutions located around the world that focus on Latin America, including Cuba. Listed below are several of these organizations’ online initiatives and websites that would likely prove useful for Cuban legal research. 1. Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) http://www.clacso.org.ar/index.php?idioma=ing Although focusing mainly on social policy, CLACSO (Latin American Council of Social Sciences) compiles and provides access to a wealth of open-source academic publications from Latin America, Europe and North America. While patience is required to navigate the portal, consult this UNESCOassociated international NGO for historical, current contextual and legal information on Cuba. CLACSO is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) http://www.revflacso.uh.cu/index.php/ flacso/about FLACSO (Latin American Social Sciences Institute), which is headquartered in San José, Costa Rica, is

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Redalyc – Sistema de Información Científica Redalyc, Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal, http://www.redalyc.org (last visited July 26, 2017). 615 SciELO – Scientific Electronic Library Online, http://scielo.org/php/index.php (last visited July 26, 2017).

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an autonomous IGO dedicated to the promotion of the social sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean. FLACSO has a program office in Cuba, mainly dedicated to researching Cuban society and social development. As such, its focus on law or law-related subjects is limited. However, quality contextual information is published and made available through its journal Estudios del Desarrollo Social: Cuba y América Latina, which is published triannually. 3. Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/ Although seemingly no longer updated (July 2015 is the most recent update as of this writing), LANIC still constitutes a valuable repository of introductory sources for any research on Cuba. The portal is part of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, the Benson Latin American Collection and the University of Texas Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. 4. Political Database of the Americas http://pdba.georgetown.edu/ While not as comprehensive on Cuba as on other jurisdictions, and somewhat outdated, this portal remains a useful starting point for understanding government structures and political systems in the Americas, including Cuba. The database is compiled and maintained by Georgetown University’s Center for Latin American Studies. C. ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS A legacy from colonial times, public archival institutions have a long-standing tradition in Cuba. Information on available archives and presumably valuable collections is scarce, however, particularly for legal and law-related archives. Two obvious starting points for any archival research are indicated below. 1. Archivo Nacional de la República de Cuba http://www.arnac.cu Founded in 1840, the Archivo Nacional (National Archive) stores several collections of interest for legal historians; for example, one relating to land tenancy. Unfortunately, these collections are not digitized and the institutional website is intermittently available. Thus, onsite research is required. The National Archive is part of the Sistema Nacional de Archivos (National System of Archives) that functions under the auspices of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA). 2. Cuban Heritage Collection http://merrick.library.miami.edu/digitalprojects/chc.php The University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection includes several digitized archival collections of interest to legal historians, including personal documents of Cuban lawyers, the Junta Provincial de Patronato de Matanzas Records (Matanzas Provincial Board of Apprenticeship Records) and newspaper clippings relating to Cuban law in the Rosa Ravelo Collection. D. BLOGS

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Since Yoani Sánchez discovered blogging as a powerful tool to circumvent government-imposed limits to freedom of speech nearly 10 years ago, blogs have enjoyed a particular prominence as a source of Cuba-based dissenting public opinion and regime criticism. Blogs are also used by the Cuban government and regime-friendly voices to portray a positive image of Cuba. Unlike U.S.-based bloggers, who tend to concentrate on U.S.-Cuba relations and regime criticism, the Cuban blogging landscape is the best thermometer for the state of affairs in Cuba, including controversial issues at a local level. Blog posts often refer to planned, postponed and overdue policy and legal reforms that are affecting life on the island and may not be hitting the headlines elsewhere. While there is a wealth of interesting blogs, two portals help to find law-related posts. 1. 14ymedio http://www.14ymedio.com/ After her success with her own blog, Generación Y, Yoani Sánchez co-founded 14ymedio as a platform for regime-critical Cuba-based journalists to voice their opinions. This site links to numerous blogs, has its own Twitter account, is regularly updated and is also available in English.

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2. Translating Cuba http://translatingcuba.com/ A very useful resource for non-Spanish speakers, this site translates blog entries from a broad spectrum of prominent Cuba-based bloggers, and there is a significant wealth of views on Cuban law and legal reform. This source also serves as a unified search interface for locating current opinions from what are described as “independent” (i.e., not government-sponsored) posts. E. CUBAN STATE AGENCIES The official websites of individual ministries (if available) will sometimes provide access to sector-specific legislation. Additionally, there are noteworthy stand-alone government-sponsored websites that may prove useful for locating subject-specific information. 1. Agencia de Energía Nuclear y Tecnologías de Avanzada http://www.aenta.cu/marco-legal/ The website of the Agencia de Energía Nuclear y Tecnologías de Avanzada (Agency for Nuclear Energy and Enabling Technologies) includes legislation and information in Spanish on the regulation of nuclear energy, nuclear waste, health and safety, and related activities. 2. Agencia de Medioambiente http://www.medioambiente.cu/index.php/legislacionambiental The comprehensive site includes environment-related legislation and regulations. This is an excellent portal, hosted by Cuba’s Agencia de Medioambiente (Agency for the Environment), which unfortunately has no equivalent in English. 3. Banco Central de Cuba http://www.bc.gob.cu/English/home.asp The Banco Central de Cuba (BCC) (Central Bank of Cuba) was created by Decreto-Ley No. 172 (Decree-Law No. 172) of May 28, 1997.616 The BCC is the governing authority of Cuba’s banking system, and it is responsible for implementing the country’s monetary policy. The BCC’s well-populated website has an English-language equivalent, although the content of the Manual de Regulaciones Bancarias (Bank Regulations Handbook) is only available there in Spanish. The site also posts the current exchange rates for the Cuban peso and the “convertible” Cuban peso, which is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. 4. Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba http://www.camaracuba.cu/index.php/es/ The website of the Cámara de Comercio de la República de Cuba (Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba) contains information on regulations pertaining to foreign investment and trade with Cuba. The site also includes specific information, for example, on requesting work permits for foreign nationals. Some original legislation is quoted or available in full text, including a selection of English and other language translations. It is worth navigating both the English- and Spanish-language versions of the site as they differ in content. 5. Centro Nacional de Información de Ciencias Médicas http://temas.sld.cu/vigilanciaensalud/recursos-de-informacion/reglamentos-sanitarios-2/ Temas de Salud (Health Topics) is a portal created by the Ministry of Health to aid and inform health care professionals. It comprises a wide range of useful resources, including an overview of the regulatory framework of the Cuban health care system under the heading “Vigilancia en Salud Pública” (Public Health Surveillance). A minimal amount of information, particularly relating to travel safety and epidemiological control, is available in English.

616

Decreto-Ley No. 172, del Banco Central de Cuba [DLBCC] [Decree-Law No. 172, Cuban Central Bank], May 28, 1997, Gaceta Oficial Extraordinaria [GOE], No. 4, May 28, 1997.

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6. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba—Derechos Humanos http://www.minrex.gob.cu/es/paginas-especiales/derechos-humanos Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) has a web page dedicated to communicating the government’s official stance on human rights in Cuba, some of which is available in English. While the accuracy of the information may be subject to debate, the outline of government policy and regulation on specific human rights abuses, such as human smuggling and sexual abuse, may prove valuable. F. MAGAZINES 1. ReVista http://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/ ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America is published three times a year by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. It alternates themed issues with those dedicated to a particular Latin American country. While the special issue on Cuba dates back to the year 2000, articles and references to Cuba are recurrent. 2. Temas http://temas.cult.cu/ The moderate and intellectually-flavored Cuba-based magazine Temas frequently includes a legal article in its quarterly issues. Subjects and points of view can be varied; recent examples include a debate on the need for constitutional reform and a discussion of Cuba’s weak private property rights. This quarterly publication is freely accessible online in PDF format, beginning with the July–September 1995 issue. 3. Vitral http://www.vitral.org/ Cuba-based Vitral defines itself as a Catholic sociocultural magazine. It is the official publication of the Diócesis de Pinar del Río (Diocese of Pinar del Río). Besides that, it is also an influential independent voice that expresses concern for political, economic and legal affairs on the island. It is worth sifting through some of the more spiritual content to find the articles covering legal reform and analysis. As of this writing, the April-June 2017 issue (no. 126) is available on the Diocese’s website, which also inludes an index to all published issues. G. NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER ONLINE MEDIA 1. National Media There are numerous local, regional and national print newspapers in Cuba, some of which have an online presence. Based on the currency, content and site stability of their digital versions, they are not primarily considered to be relevant for following legal events. Besides those mentioned in the earlier entry on “Blogs,” two Cuba-based news sources worth highlighting are indicated below. Cuban Television’s Mesa Redonda (Round Table) program is also listed, as its panel discussions sometimes address legal topics. a. Agencia Cubana de Noticias http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/ The Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) (Cuban News Agency) provides official information in English on national and international events. While the tone is propagandistic throughout, Cuba’s participation in international fora, including the signing of any international agreements, is prominently covered. Note that NewsBank’s subscription database Access World News currently covers ACN content in English from 1997 through 2015. b. Granma http://en.granma.cu/ The official newspaper of the PCC and undisputable voice of the Castro regime, Granma is the channel by which official government announcements are normally made public. Despite this, it is the most reliable source for information on expected and implemented legal reforms. It is published online and in print and has an international edition in several languages, including 120

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English. It is worth consulting the different versions as content varies. Digitized Granma archives for the 1965–1992 period are available on LANIC.617 c. Mesa Redonda http://mesaredonda.cubadebate.cu Mesa Redonda (Round Table) is a television program produced by Televisión Cubana (Cuban Television) that airs on weekday evenings. Each segment focuses on a selected topic, and a moderator leads a discussion among invited guests. Topics are of local and international interest, and have sometimes included legal themes. Posted on the Mesa Redonda website are taped videos of programs, as well as detailed written summaries of the segments (Spanish only). The site may be searched by keyword to retrieve archived programs. Mesa Redonda has active Facebook and Twitter accounts, along with an e-mail alert service. 2. International Media Cuban news is covered by almost all leading international media. Additionally, there is a wide range of regime-critical news portals based in the United States that follow events in Cuba. In both instances, however, the focus is notably political. Therefore, instead of producing a comprehensive list, a selection of sample useful sources across the print, Web and broadcast spectrum are highlighted below. a. Diario de Cuba http://www.diariodecuba.com/cuba This site provides news and analysis of current events in Cuba in both English and Spanish. The Diario was founded in 2009 in Madrid by a group of Cuban-born journalists, intellectuals and artists.618 The website is based and registered in Spain. b. Havana Times http://www.havanatimes.org/ This regime-critical site includes Cuban news coverage from Cuban and non-Cuban sources in both English and Spanish. While the selection of news items and interviewees is varied in terms of subject matter, legal issues are covered. The Times is edited in Nicaragua, but most of the contributors reside in Cuba. c. Latin American Herald Tribune http://www.laht.com/index.asp The Tribune, which is based in Caracas, Venezuela, is a good starting point for news in English for all the countries in the region, including Cuba. d. Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/cuba The Herald provides coverage of Cuban current affairs in English from a regime-critical perspective. The newspaper is owned by the McClatchy Company, based in Sacramento, California. e. Le Monde diplomatique - English Edition http://mondediplo.com/ While articles on Cuba may not be included frequently in this Paris-based publication, they are analytical and insightful. A subscription is required for both the print and electronic versions. f. teleSUR http://www.telesurtv.net/english/ La Nueva Televisión del Sur (New Television of the South) is a pan-Latin American television station based in Caracas, Venezuela. Founded in 2005, the station is sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Bolivia. Although the station has had its share of criticism for leftist leanings, its bilingual website can be a valuable source for information on Cuba. 617

Latin American Network Information Center, Granma Archives Index, http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/granma/ (last visited July 26, 2017). 618 For an in-depth interview with the Diario’s editor-in-chief, see Yusimi Rodríguez, Interview with Diario de Cuba Editor Pablo Díaz, HAVANA TIMES (Oct. 14, 2014), http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=106723.

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CUBAN LEGAL MATERIALS IN U.S. AND CANADIAN LIBRARIES YASMIN MORAIS

This compilation was created to assist researchers of Cuban law to identify rich collections of primary and secondary sources in libraries throughout the United States and Canada. The libraries included in the listing are a mix of academic, public, government and presidential libraries. Within the category of academic libraries are main libraries, special collections and law libraries. A number of libraries have several sub-collections of Cuban law, as well as relevant resources from other disciplines. Adding to the breadth of the collections are presidential speeches, oral histories, maps and government documents. This list did not result from a strict empirical survey of libraries. The methodology for selection was based on a combination of the following: 1) Conducting searches of library catalogs, using a combination of call number (“Cuban law” falls under the Library of Congress Class KGN), keyword and subject searching. (Variations in library catalog interfaces did not allow for search consistency across institutions); 2) Reviewing the collection development policies of libraries (where available); 3) Searches on OCLC’s WorldCat to determine holdings; and 4) Phone calls and e-mails to foreign, comparative and international law (FCIL) librarians, reference librarians, collection development librarians and cataloging librarians. The criterion of relevancy was considered and account was taken of libraries that include a good mix of preRevolution and more current titles, although there were no specific date ranges set.619 A cut-off point of at least 80 relevant titles was established, however, so libraries with collections falling below that threshold were not included. The libraries are listed in alphabetical order under the two main headings of “U.S. Libraries” and “Canadian Libraries.” Example titles from each collection are included in the descriptions. Following the main list is a selected bibliography of materials that provide historical context for both Cuban and general Latin American law collections in U.S. libraries. A. U.S. LIBRARIES Catholic University of America, Judge Kathryn J. DuFour Law Library (Washington, D.C.) A search of this library’s catalog yielded over 158 titles related to Cuban law. There was a good mix of current titles and historical materials in both English and Spanish. The collection also includes several Congressional hearings, such as “United States-Cuba Economic Relations” (2003); “Status of United States Trade with Cuba” (2012); “Human Rights Violations” (2015); and “Resolving Issues with Confiscated Property” (2016). The Library also has the Ley de minas (2002), Ley de los tribunales militares (1979), and various editions of the Cuban Constitution. The John K. Mullen Library, which is the University’s main library, likewise has a collection of Cuban legal materials.

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It should be noted that the U.S. trade embargo, which includes educational materials and books, has severely limited U.S. libraries’ access to Cuban materials. There is at least one vendor, however, that is offering U.S. libraries selected purchase and approval plans for Cuban legal materials—RettaLibros, based in Montevideo, Uruguay. For a list of book vendors offering Cuban materials generally, see the Seminar for the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) website, http:// salalm.org/booksellers/vendorcontactinfo/ (last visited July 24, 2017).

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Columbia University, Arthur W. Diamond Law Library (New York, NY) The Arthur W. Diamond Law Library has developed the Schiller system, a call number (SP.CU) that is used to identify foreign law. The Schiller system is used alongside the Library of Congress KGN Class. There are approximately 800 titles on Cuban law, which makes this collection significant. The Library’s collection includes materials on Cuban constitutional law, criminal procedure and the Mariel detainees. There are a number of translations (Spanish to English) of historical materials as well. Some items of interest are: Decreto–Ley No. 302, modificativo de la ley No. 1312, “Ley de migración” de 20 de septiembre de 1976 (2013); La redacción de la sentencia penal y el recurso de casación (2008); and Arbitraje internacional y medios alternativos de solución de litigios: retos y realidades (2010). The latter two titles are secondary sources. Florida International University Law Library (Miami, FL) This law library’s resources include the Mario Díaz Cruz Collection, which contains materials from the law firm library of Cuban lawyer Mario Díaz Cruz, who practiced law in Havana from 1915 to 1958. The Law Library acquired the Collection in 2007. It is a rich resource that includes compilations of Cuban laws and decisions of Cuba’s Supreme Court, such as La Jurisprudencia al Día (1913–1959); Colección Legislativa (1899–1959); Revista Cubana de Derecho (1929–1957); Revista del Colegio de Abogados (1938–1947); Oriente: Revista General de Derecho (1932 and 1933); Colección de Circulares Expedidas por la Real Audiencia Pretoria/de La Habana (1865–1971); and Órdenes Civiles from the U.S. Military Government (1899–1903). FIU’s main campus library (Green Library) has sub-collections, such as the Cuban Living History Project, Cuban Archives and the Guantánamo Bay Collection. Fordham University, T.J. & Nancy Maloney Law School Library (New York, NY) Fordham’s Law School Library has over 400 titles related to Cuba. Included are the five-volume Revista trimestral de derecho privado (1924–1928); Código de comercio vigente en la República de Cuba (1909); Código civil (1916); Códigos de Cuba (2nd ed. annotated) (1919); Legislación hipotecaria vigente en la República de Cuba (1909); Ley electoral de Cuba de septiembre 11 de 1908; and the Código electoral (1940). George Washington University, Jacob Burns Law Library (Washington, D.C.) The Jacob Burns Law Library has over 400 titles related to Cuba. A significant number of these are historical codes and other materials from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the areas of constitutional, railroad, property and copyright law. There are fewer contemporary titles. Some examples of materials from the collection are: Translation of the municipal and provincial laws in force in the island of Cuba (1899), which was published by the U.S. Government Printing Office; El derecho de la mujer casada (1945); El espíritu de la constitución cubana de 1940 (1974); La situación de los derechos humanos en Cuba: séptimo informe (1983); and Derecho procesal civil (1985). There are also a number of human rights reports published by the Organization of American States (OAS). Harvard Law School Library (Cambridge, MA) A review of the Harvard Law School Library’s “Collection Development Country List” revealed that an ‘A’ ranking has been assigned to Cuba, which means that the Library extensively collects and preserves resources from this jurisdiction.620 A search of the catalog yielded approximately 2,275 items, of which 98 are statutes and codes, 96 focus on criminal law, 87 focus on constitutional law and 59 relate to civil procedure. Of these items, 1,721 are in Spanish, 512 are in English, with French and German rounding out the top four languages at 28 and 14, respectively.

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Harvard Law School Library Collections, Collection Development Country List, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, http://hls. harvard.edu/library/about-the-library/harvard-law-school-library-collections/ (last visited July 24, 2017). 123

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Most of these materials are pre-Revolution. Currently, the Library acquires most of its Cuban materials from the Uruguayan book vendor RettaLibros.621 A sampling of items within the statutes and codes section includes: Ley de organización del sistema judicial (concordada y actualizada) (1987); Comentarios de la ley de los delitos militares (1982); Disposiciones legales sobre control estatal (1989); Tarifas notariales (1990); Ley de inovaciones y racionalizaciones: su reglamento (1987), and the Constitución de la República de Cuba (2015). The last item was published by the ONBC (Organización Nacional de Bufetes Colectivos). More recent general titles are: Estudios sobre el proceso penal (2014); Cien problemas de la prueba judicial en lo civil (2014); Seguridad social (2014); and Abogacía y derecho: gestión de conflictos jurídicos (2015). John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (Boston, MA) The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is a resource for primary source materials in all formats that document the life and career of President Kennedy. Its holdings include the presidential papers of John F. Kennedy, as well as documents related to Robert F. Kennedy and other family members. There are over 400 other collections of personal papers and records from officials, staff, authors and institutions from the Kennedy administration era. The Library also has a large oral history collection and includes sub-collections on the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The holdings in this library are useful for obtaining personal perspectives on the historical issues that shaped the Cuban legal system from 1959 onward. LA Law Library (Los Angeles, CA) The LA Law Library is the second largest public law library in the United States, and it has one of the country’s largest foreign and international law collections. A search of its catalog returned 827 titles related to Cuban law. Some titles in the collection are: Constitución (1976) de la República de Cuba (1992); Principal Provisions of Cuban Tax Law (1962); Cuban Industrial Property Law (1936); Legislación de minerales combustibles de Cuba (1958–); Ley de asociaciones y su reglamento (1989); and Ley de los tribunales militares (1977). The Library also holds copies of the Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba (1958–1967, including the “Edición extraordinaria,” “Edición especial” and “Edición Extraordinaria especial”). Also held are the 1980 to 1989 editions of Leyes, decretos-leyes, decretos y disposiciones, publicada en la Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. Law Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) The Law Library of Congress is the largest law library in the world, with approximately 2.9 million volumes.622 Its Cuban law collection is substantial, and many of the titles are in Spanish. However, the collection also includes English-language titles that have been published outside of Cuba. The Library currently receives the Gaceta Oficial, although the archival collection is incomplete. Other primary documents include the Código Civil de la República de Cuba: Ley no. 59/1987 de 16 de Julio: anotado y concordado (2011); Código Penal de la República de Cuba: Ley no. 62/87: anotado con las disposiciones del CGTSP (2009); Código de Familia (2002); Ley de Procedimiento Civil, Administrativo, Laboral y Económico (2012); Derecho y Medio Ambiente (2012); and Análisis de la Constitución Cubana y Otros Ensayos (2010). One fairly recent title available in English is Raúl Castro and the New Cuba: A Close-Up View of Change (2011). For more details on the Law Library’s collection of Cuban materials, see Gustavo Guerra’s In Custodia Legis blog contribution of March 17, 2015.623

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E-mail from J. Bridget Reischer, Collection Development Librarian for Foreign and Int’l Law, Harvard Law School Library, to Julienne E. Grant, Reference Librarian/Foreign & Int’l Research Specialist, Loyola U. Chicago School of Law Library, Jan. 20, 2017 (on file with Julienne E. Grant). 622 About the Law Collections, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, http://www.loc.gov/law/about/collections.php (last updated Sept. 22, 2015). 623 Gustavo Guerra, Cuban Law—Global Legal Collection Highlights, IN CUSTODIA LEGIS (March 17, 2015), http://blogs. loc.gov/law/2015/03/cuban-law-global-legal-collection-highlights/.

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New York Public Library (New York, NY) The New York Public Library is a premier research library for Cuban law. Its extensive collection is a mix of historical materials and contemporary writings on the Cuban legal, political and social systems. There are approximately 358 titles on Cuban law, and the collection includes U.S. Congressional hearings and committee reports. Other important titles are: Cuban Oil Laws (1959); Informe Relativo a la Segunda Conferencia de la paz, reunida en El Haya en 1907 (1908); New Constitutional Laws for Cuba. Text of the recent measures for the self-government of the island, with comments thereon (1897); and Ordenanzas municipales de la ciudad de La Habana (1855). New York University Law Library (New York, NY) A search in JULIUS, the NYU Law Library’s online catalog, yields over 400 titles related to Cuban law in both English and Spanish. Among the translated works are Law and the Organization of the Judicial System of the Republic of Cuba (1978) and the historical Railroad Law (1902). There are also a few titles on Cuban banking law, such as Cuba: Money and Banking (2010). The Library also has the Report on the Resolution of Outstanding Property Claims Between Cuba and the United States (2007). Northwestern University, Pritzker Legal Research Center (Chicago, IL) The Pritzker Legal Research Center has approximately 381 titles pertaining to Cuban law. Included in the collection are U.S. Congressional hearings: “Promoting American Agricultural and Medical Exports to Cuba” (Dec. 11, 2007), and “Future of Property Rights in Cuba” (June 18, 2015). Another noteworthy title is The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook After 50 years (2014). The Ohio State University, Moritz Law Library (Columbus, OH) The Moritz Law Library collection has about 157 relevant titles. There are various codes, as well as a fourvolume constitutional law treatise. Some notable titles are: Ley de Organización del Sistema Judicial (1979); Leyes de la Revolución (1959); Seis Leyes de la Revolución (1976); Código de la Niñez y la Juventud (1978); and Ley de la Maternidad de la Trabajadora (1975). Organization of American States (OAS), Columbus Memorial Library (Washington, D.C.) The Columbus Memorial Library serves as an information center and repository for the OAS. Although Cuba’s OAS membership was suspended for more than 50 years, the Library nonetheless has a large collection related to Cuba; a search in the online catalog yielded over 250 items. In addition to inter-American reports on human rights, some notable titles held at the Library are: Situation of Women in Cuba’s Prisons (2003); Cuba y su Derecho a la Libertad (1986); Historia del Estado y el Derecho en Cuba (1985); and Cuba, Estados Unidos y el Derecho Internacional Contemporánea (1983). Tulane University, Latin American Library (New Orleans, LA) The Latin American Library was established in 1924 and is a unit of Tulane University’s Howard Tilton Memorial Library. It has holdings of approximately 500,000 volumes, including Latin American government publications. A search for Cuban law titles returned 88 records. Among these were: Statements and Documents Relative to the Isle of Pines Treaty between the United States and Cuba (1925); and Translation of the Notarial Laws in Force in Cuba and Puerto Rico (1888). See also the entry below for Tulane’s Law Library. Tulane University Law Library (New Orleans, LA) The Tulane University Law Library has approximately 177 titles related to Cuban law. Some of these titles are: Jurisprudencia cubana (1912); Sucesiones testada e intestada (1947–1949); Código notarial (1930); Compilación ordenada y completa de la legislación cubana de 1899 a 1950, ambos inclusive (1952); Derecho 125

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internacional privado (1976); La protección al derecho de propiedad y de posesión (1983); Código civil y leyes civiles cubanas (2000); and Los hijos ilegítimos (1941). More recent titles include: The Laws and Legal System of a Free-Market Cuba: A Prospectus for Business (1997); Cuban Environmental Law: the Framework Environmental Law and An Index of Cuban Environmental Legislation (1999) (a publication of Tulane Law School); and Debra Evenson’s Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba (2003). University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries (Gainesville, FL) The George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida includes the Latin American and Caribbean Collection (approximately 500,000 volumes), which is ranked among the largest and best in the United States. The Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center at the Levin College of Law complements the Collection, with over 370 titles on Cuban law. Some noteworthy titles are: Diario de sesiones del Congreso de la República de Cuba: Cámara de Representantes, 1902–1927; Diario de sesiones del Congreso de la República de Cuba: Senado, 1902–1930; Repertorio judicial; revista bimestral fundada baja los auspicios del Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (microfilm, 1925–1935); and Bibliografía cubana de los siglos XVII y XVIII (1927). Also worthy of mention is the University of Florida’s P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History, which houses the Spanish Colonial Records microfilm collection.624 University of Miami Libraries (Miami, FL) The University of Miami Law Library has approximately 700 relevant titles, and it houses one of the largest Cuban law collections in the country. The Cuban Heritage Collection, with approximately 1,000 titles, is a distinctive collection in the main Otto G. Richter Library. The Cuban Heritage Collection “collects, preserves, and provides access to primary and secondary sources of enduring historical research and artifactual value which relate to Cuba and the Cuban diaspora from Colonial times to the present.”625 Approximately 100 of the pre-1923 lawrelated books are only held in the Cuban Heritage Collection, and they will be scanned as part of LLMC’s Cuba digitization project. University of Michigan Law Library (Ann Arbor, MI) A search of the University of Michigan Law Library’s catalog yielded over 700 titles pertaining to Cuban law. Some of the historical materials include: Diario de sesiones de la Convención Constituyente de la Isla de Cuba (1900–1901); Diario de sesiones de la Convención Constituyente de 1940 (1940); Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba, 30 jun. 1902–29 (Sucesor de Gaceta de La Habana.), v.1–27; Jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo (TS), 1899–1908, (Habana, Imp. Rambla, 1908–19); and Primer Congreso jurídico nacional, 27–30 diciembre 1916, Trabajos y acuerdos, v.1–3, Habana, Imp. “La Universal” (1918). University of Pennsylvania, Biddle Law Library (Philadelphia, PA) The Biddle Law Library collection on Cuba numbers approximately 600 items, including several titles on Cuban customs law, such as the English Translation of Customs Tariff of Cuba: as published in the Official Gazette of October 20, 1927. Also included are: Ley de minas (2000); Regulaciones sobre agencias de viajes en Cuba (2000); Manual de jurisprudencia hipotecaria y notarial (1891); Ley hipotecaria (1999); Ley de seguridad social: reglamento, disposiciones complementarias (1987); and Ley de asociaciones y su reglamento (1988).

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See Spanish Colonial Records on Microfilm at the University of Florida, P.K. YONGE LIBRARY OF FLORIDA HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA DIGITAL COLLECTIONS, GEORGE A. SMATHERS LIBRARIES, http://www.library.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/ Microfilm/SpanHoldings.html (last visited July 27, 2017). 625 Cuban Heritage Center, Collections Overview, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI LIBRARIES, http://library.miami.edu/chc/collections/ (last visited July 27, 2017).

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University of Texas Libraries (Austin, TX) The University of Texas Libraries house a number of rich collections, including the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. The Benson Collection has approximately 970,000 books, periodicals and microforms, including its archival collection. The Benson Collection is complemented by materials in the Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies, which has a number of early books published in the Americas. Some notable titles in the Benson Collection related to Cuba are: Protección del patrimonio cultural: compilación de textos legislativos (2002); Instrumentos internacionales sobre derechos humanos ratificados por Cuba (2001); Sistema de justicia y procedimiento penal en Cuba (2001); and Código de vialidad y tránsito (1999). In addition to the Benson Collection, the Tarlton Law Library has approximately 80 titles pertaining to Cuba that include: The Electoral Law of Cuba of April 1, 1908 (1908); Translation of the Municipal and Provincial Laws in Force in the Island of Cuba (1899); Ley de las notarias estatales (1985); Leyes del pueblo, Cuba 1959–1985 (1985); and Legislación obrera de la República de Cuba: publicación (1919). Yale University, Lillian Goldman Law Library (New Haven, CT) The collection of Cuban law resources at the Lillian Goldman Law Library ranks among the largest in the United States, with approximately 750 titles, excluding electronic resources. Some titles of interest are: Principios fundamentales del derecho heriditario (1937); and Ley de la inversión extranjera en Cuba: texto de la ley, comentarios (1995). Library Director Teresa Miguel-Stearns travelled to Havana in June 2016 and purchased 70 new titles to add to the collection.626 These additions included: Cuba y sus jueces: rectificaciones oportunas (1895); 13 leyes de gobierno revolucionario (1960?); and Comentarios a las leyes de marcas y patentes (1917).627 B. CANADIAN LIBRARIES In compiling the list of Canadian libraries with sizeable Cuban law collections, a review was conducted of the catalogs of several academic law libraries. There were also e-mail and telephone communications with librarians, as well as the use of chat reference features, where available. Despite being a part of the large University of Toronto Libraries system, a Bora Laskin Law Library staff member confirmed that the Library does not collect extensively in the area of Cuban law.628 The University of Toronto’s main Robarts Library, though, has an extensive collection of general works on Cuba. Other academic law libraries that were researched include those of Dalhousie University, Simon Fraser University, McMaster University and the University of Calgary. However, like the University of Toronto, their general collections on Cuba are sizeable, but limited in terms of law-related resources. Carleton University, McGill University and the University of Ottawa are therefore included in the following list, based on the sizes of their Cuban law collections. Carleton University, MacOdrum Law Library (Ottawa, Ontario) The MacOdrum Law Library at Carleton University has approximately 141 titles pertaining to Cuban law, scattered over specializations such as constitutional, slavery, mining, water, railroad, patent, military and medical law, among others. Some interesting titles in the collection are: Translation of the Proposed Constitution for 626

Teresa Miguel-Stearns, Cuban Chronicles: Segunda Parte (A Bibliophile’s Shopping Guide to Havana), 31 FCIL NEWSLETTER (Foreign, Comp., and Int’l L. Special Int. Sec., Am. Assoc. of L. Libr.), Feb. 2017, at 8, http://www.aallnet.org/ sections/fcil/newsletters/vol31/feb2017.pdf. This is an interesting account of Ms. Miguel-Stearns’ experience in Havana purchasing books for the Lillian Goldman Law Library with two local representatives of RettaLibros. 627 Mike Widener, Rare Book Librarian, Recent Acquisitions in Cuban Law, RARE BOOKS BLOG, LILLIAN GOLDMAN LAW LIBRARY (Nov. 15, 2016), http://library.law.yale.edu/blogs/rare-books/2016-11. 628 E-mail from Gian Medves, Interim Chief Librarian, Bora Laskin Law Library, Faculty of Law, U. of Toronto, to Yasmin Morais, Cataloging Librarian, Charles N. and Hilda H.M. Mason Law Library, David A. Clarke School of Law, U. of the District of Columbia, Nov. 15, 2016 (on file with author).

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Cuba, the Official Acceptance of the Platt Amendment, and the Electoral Law (1901); Trading under the Laws of Cuba (1927); Instrucción sobre el procedimiento administrativo para la cobranza de créditos a favor de la Hacienda (1855); Arancel de costas procesales de todos los juzgados y tribunales del territorio de la Audiencia pretorial de la Habana (1854); Esclavitud y sociedad: notas y documentos para la historia de la esclavitud negra en Cuba (1986); and La mujer en Cuba Socialista (1977). McGill University, Nahum Gelber Law Library (Montréal, Québec) A search of the Nahum Gelber Law Library catalog yielded approximately 153 titles covering Cuban constitutional law, eminent domain, electoral law and mining law, as well as current materials related to digital media. Some of the titles in the collection are: Translation of the Mortgage Law for Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines (1893); Translation of the Law of Eminent Domain extended to Cuba and Porto Rico by royal decree of June 13, 1884 and regulations for its application; Cuban Family Code (1977); Ley del divorcio con disolución del víncula matrimonial (1942); and Ordenanzas rurales de la isla de Cuba (1857). University of Ottawa, Brian Dickson Law Library (Ottawa, Ontario) The Brian Dickson Law Library has approximately 260 titles on Cuban law, covering a broad array of topics, such as constitutional, harbor, mining and banking law. There are also titles related to maternity leave, local government, forestry and foreign investment. The strongest areas appear to be constitutional (45 titles), criminal (24 titles), commercial (20 titles) and civil law (17 titles). Some titles of interest are: Estatutos y reglamento del Banco Español de la Habana (1856); El Procedimiento Correccional en Cuba: Compilación de Disposiciones Oficiales Concordadas y Anotadas (1929); Working Woman Maternity Law: Law No. 1263 of January 14, 1974 (1975); Ley del Presupuesto del estado para el año 1978 (1977), and Las empresas mixtas: regulación juridical (1993). C. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The following are selected resources that provide historical context for Cuban legal bibliography and library collections, as well as general collections of Latin American law that may include Cuban materials. Berman, Harold J., and Van R. Whiting. “Impressions of Cuban Law.” American Journal of Comparative Law 28 (1980): 475–486. Bishop, Crawford M., and Anyda Marchant. A Guide to the Law and Legal Literature of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1944. Accessed August 18, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp. 39015079734367. Columbus Memorial Library. “Major Latin American Collections in Libraries of the United States.” Appendix C in Final Report of the Second Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials June 19–20, 1957. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, 1958. Erwin, Linda Ann McIntosh. “The Book Trade and Book Publishing Industry in Cuba 1950–1965.” Master’s Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin, 1968. González, Armando E. “Law Materials.” In Cuban Acquisitions and Bibliography: Proceedings and Working Papers of an International Conference Held at the Library of Congress, April 13–15, 1970, edited by Earl J. Parisaeu, 73–77. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970. Grant, Julienne E., and Teresa M. Miguel-Stearns. “Collecting the Law of Latin America: History, Challenges, and Trends in U. S. Law Libraries.” In Collecting Latin America for the 21st Century and Beyond (tentative title). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2018 (forthcoming). Leary, Margaret A. “Building a Foreign Law Collection at the University of Michigan Law Library, 1910–1960.” Law Library Journal 94 (2002): 395–425. Miller, Kent E., and Gilberto V. Fort. Major Latin American Collections in Libraries of the United States. Cuadernos Bibliotecologicos 1 (rev.). Washington, D.C.: Secretaría General, Organización de los Estados Americanos, 1970. Pariseau, Earl J. “Major Cuban Collections in American Libraries.” In Latin American Collections, compiled by William Vernon Jackson, 87–91. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Bookstore, 1974. Pérez, Louis A., Jr. A Guide to Cuban Collections in the United States. New York: Greenwood, 1991. 128

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Savary, M.J., Latin American Cooperative Acquisitions Program: Imaginative Venture. New York: Hafner Publishing, 1968. Shepard, Marietta Daniels. Major Latin American Collections in Libraries of the United States. Cuadernos Bibliotecologicos no. 1. Washington, D.C.: Unión Panamericana, Secretaría General de la Organización de los Estados Unidos Americanos, 1960. Stern, William B. “Latin American Law Books in Anglo-American Law Libraries.” Law Library Journal 38 (1945): 4–12. Zagaris, Bruce, and Jay Rosenthal. “A Selected Bibliography of the Cuban Legal System, 1959–1983.” Lawyer of the Americas 15 (1984): 545–577.

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CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA We, the delegates of the people of Cuba, assembled in Constituent Convention, for the purpose of establishing a new fundamental law to consolidate our organization as an independent and sovereign State, capable of assuring freedom and justice, maintaining order and promoting the general welfare, do hereby, invoking the favor of God, set forth the following Constitution: TITLE I Concerning the Nation, its Territory, and Form of Government ARTICLE I. Cuba is an independent and sovereign State organized as a unitary and democratic Republic for the enjoyment of political freedom, social justice, individual and collective welfare, and human solidarity. ART. 2. Sovereignty resides in the people, and all public powers arise therefrom. ART. 3. The territory of the Republic consists of the island of Cuba, the Isle of Pines, and other adjacent islands and keys, which were under the sovereignty of Spain until the ratification of the Treaty of Paris on December 10th, 1898. The Republic shall not conclude or ratify pacts or treaties that in any form limit or menace national sovereignty or the integrity of the territory. ART. 4. The territory of the Republic is divided into Provinces, and the latter into municipalities. The existing Provinces are named: Pinar del Río, Havana, Matanzas, Las Villas, Camagüey, and Oriente. ART. 5. The flag of the Republic is that of Narciso López that was raised in the Morro fortress of Havana on May 20th, 1902, on the transferring of the public power to the people of Cuba. The national coat-of-arms is that which is already established as such by law. The Republic shall not recognize or authorize any national flag, hymn, or coat-of-arms other than those referred to in this article.

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In the buildings, fortresses, and public dependencies, and in official acts, no flag shall be raised other than the national flag, with the exception of foreign flags in the case and in the manner permitted by protocol arid by international usage, treaties, and laws. As an exception, the flag of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes shall be hoisted in the city of Bayamo, which is declared a national monument. The national hymn is that of Bayamo, composed by Pedro Figueredo, and shall be the only one rendered in all the dependencies of the Government, barracks, and on official occasions. Foreign hymns may be rendered in the cases already stipulated in relation to foreign flags. Notwithstanding the provisions of the second paragraph of this article, flags belonging to the armed forces may be raised in fortresses and barracks. Likewise, societies, organizations, or centers of any kind may raise their flags or insignia in their buildings, but the national colors shall always occupy the predominant place. ART. 6. The official language of the Republic is Spanish. ART. 7. Cuba condemns wars of aggression and aspires to live in peace with all States and to maintain cultural and trade relations and ties with them. The Cuban State accepts the principles and practices of international law which promote human solidarity, respect for the sovereignty of peoples, reciprocity between States, peace, and universal civilization. TITLE II Concerning Nationality ART. 8. Citizenship carries with it duties and rights, the adequate exercise of which shall be regulated by law. ART. 9. Every Cuban is obliged: 1st. To bear arms for his Fatherland in the cases and in the form established by law. 2nd. To contribute to the public expenses in the form and to the amount provided by law.

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3rd. To comply with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic and to observe good civic conduct, inculcating the principles thereof in his own children and in all those who may be under his protection, promoting in them a pure national conscience. ART. 10. A citizen has the right: 1st. To reside in his country without being made the object of any discrimination or duress, regardless of race, class, political opinions, or religious beliefs. 2nd. To vote, according to the provisions of the law, in the elections and referendums that may be held in the Republic. 3rd. To receive social assistance and public benefits with, in the former case, prior affirmation of need. 4th. To discharge public functions and offices. 5th. To the advantages provided for labor by the Constitution and the law. ART. 11. Cuban citizenship is acquirer! by birth or by naturalization. ART. 12. Cubans by birth are: 1st. All those born in the territory of the Republic with the exception of the children of aliens who may at the time be in the service of their Government. 2nd. Those born in foreign territory, of Cuban father or mother, by the sole act of their becoming inhabitants of Cuba. 3rd. Those having been born outside the territory of the Republic, of father or mother who were natives of Cuba, but who may have lost this nationality, who reclaim Cuban citizenship in the form and subject to the conditions stipulated by law. 4th. Aliens who served for one year or more in the army of liberation, remaining in it until the termination of the War of Independence, provided they affirm this service with an authentic document issued by the national archive. ART. 13. Cubans by naturalization are:

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1st. Aliens who, after five years of continuous residence in the territory of the Republic, and not less than one year after having declared their intention of acquiring Cuban nationality, obtain the letter of citizenship in accordance with the law, provided that they know the Spanish language. 2nd. An alien who marries a Cuban woman, and an alien woman who marries a Cuban, in case offspring result from such union, or if they maintain two years of continuous residence in the country after their marriage, and provided that they previously renounce the nationality of their origin. ART. 14. Letters of citizenship and certificates of Cuban nationality shall be exempt from fee. ART. 15. The following lose Cuban citizenship: 1st. Those who acquire a foreign citizenship. 2nd. Those who, without permission of the Senate, enter the military service of another Nation, or accept the discharge of duties that are inconsistent with Cuban authority or jurisdiction. 3rd. Cubans by naturalization who reside three consecutive years in the country of their birth, unless they express every three years, before the appropriate consular authority, their desire to retain Cuban citizenship. The law may determine crimes and acts of unworthiness that may cause the loss of citizenship by naturalization, through definite sentence by competent tribunals. 4th. Naturalized citizens who have accepted double citizenship. Loss of citizenship for the reasons designated in Clauses (b) and (c) [i.e., 2nd and 3rd Clauses, above] of this article shall not be made effective except by definite sentence pronounced after due judicial process before a tribunal of justice, as the law may provide. ART. 16. Neither marriage nor its dissolution affects the nationality of husband, wife, or their children. A Cuban woman married to an alien shall retain Cuban nationality.

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An alien woman married to a Cuban, and an alien married to a Cuban woman, shall retain his or her original nationality, or shall acquire Cuban nationality upon his or her prior option, as regulated by the Constitution, the law, or international treaties. ART. 17. Cuban citizenship may be recovered in the form stipulated by law. ART. 18. No Cuban by naturalization may discharge official functions in the country of his origin in the name of Cuba. TITLE III Concerning Alienage ART. 19. Aliens residing in the territory of the Republic shall be considered as equal to Cubans: 1st. With regard to the protection of their persons and their goods. 2nd. With regard to the enjoyment of rights recognized in this Constitution, with the exception of those granted exclusively to nationals. The Government, nevertheless, has the power to oblige an alien to leave the national territory in the cases and in the form stipulated by law. In the case of an alien who has a Cuban family established in Cuba, a judicial decree of expulsion is required, in conformity with the stipulations of the laws on this matter. The law shall regulate the organization of associations of aliens, without permitting discrimination against the rights of Cubans who may have membership in them. 3rd. With regard to the obligation of respecting the socio-economic system of the Republic. 4th. With regard to the obligation of observing the Constitution and the law. 5th. With regard to the obligation of contributing to the public expenses in the form and to the amount provided by law.

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6th. With regard to submission to the jurisdiction and decisions of the tribunals of justice and the authorities of the Republic. 7th. With regard to the enjoyment of civil rights, under the conditions and within the limitations prescribed by law. TITLE IV Fundamental Rights FIRST SECTION Concerning Individual Rights ART. 20. All Cubans are equal before the law. The Republic does not recognize exemptions or privileges. Any discrimination by reason of sex, race, color, or class, and any other kind of discrimination destructive of human dignity, is declared illegal and punishable. The law shall establish the penalties that violators of this provision shall incur. ART. 21. Penal laws shall have retroactive effect when favorable to the offender. This advantage is denied in cases of perpetration of fraud by public officials or employees who may be delinquent in the exercise of their office, and of persons responsible for electoral crimes and crimes against the individual rights guaranteed by this Constitution. The penalties and qualifications of the law in force at the moment of the offense shall be applied to those found guilty of these crimes. ART. 22. No other laws shall have retroactive effect unless the law itself so provides for reasons of public order, social utility, or national necessity, as may be expressly stipulated in that law by a vote of two-thirds of the total number of members of each colegislative body. If the basis of the retroactivity should be impugned as unconstitutional, it shall be within the jurisdiction of the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees to decide upon the same, without the power of refusing to render decision because of form or for any other reason.

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In every case the same law shall concurrently establish the degree, manner, and form of indemnification for injuries, if any, and of retroactivity affecting rights legitimately acquired under the protection of prior legislation. The law giving the protection afforded by this article shall not be valid if it produces effects contrary to the provisions of Article 24 of this Constitution. ART. 23. Civil obligations arising from contracts, or from other acts either of commission or omission, may not be annulled or altered by the Legislature or by the Executive, and consequently laws shall have no retroactive effect in respect to the aforesaid obligations. The exercise of actions resulting from these obligations may be suspended in case of grave national crisis, for the time considered reasonably necessary, by means of the same requisites and subject to the impugnability to which the first paragraph of the preceding article refers. ART. 24. Confiscation of goods is forbidden. No one may be deprived of his property except by competent judicial authority and for a cause justified by public utility of social interest, and with mandatory prior payment of the proper indemnification in cash, in the amount judicially determined. In case of failure in compliance with these requirements, the person whose property has been expropriated shall have the right of protection by the tribunals of justice, and as the case may warrant, that of the restoration of his property. In case of contradiction, the tribunals of justice shall have the power to decide upon the necessity of expropriation, for reasons of public utility or social interest. ART. 25. The penalty of death may not be imposed. However, crimes of a military character committed by members of the armed force, and treason or espionage in favor of the enemy in time of war with a foreign Nation, are excepted. ART. 26. The penal process law shall establish the necessary guarantees that all guilt shall be proved independently of the testimony of the accused, of the spouse, and also of relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of affinity. All accused persons shall be deemed innocent until found guilty. In all cases the authorities and their agents shall make a record of detention that shall be signed by the detained person, who will be notified of the authority ordering the

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detention, the reason for it, and the place to which the person in custody is to be conducted, placing an affidavit as to all these details in the record. Registration of detained persons and prisoners shall be open to public inspection. Officials approaching or guarding a person in custody shall be liable for every act against the personal integrity, security, or honor of any detained person, unless such officials shall prove their innocence of such act. A subordinate may refuse compliance with orders that infringe upon this guarantee. A guard employing arms against a detained person or a prisoner attempting to escape, shall be accused and held responsible according to the laws, for the crime that may have been committed. Persons under arrest, and political or social prisoners, shall be detained in compartments separate from common offenders, and shall not be subjected to any labor or to the penal regulations for common prisoners. No person under arrest or imprisoned shall be held incommunicado. Infractions of this provision shall be taken up only in ordinary jurisdiction, regardless of the place, circumstances, or persons involved in the detention. ART. 27. Every detained person shall be placed at liberty or delivered to a competent judicial authority within twenty-four hours following the act of his detention. Every detained person shall be released from custody, or committed to prison by a judicial writ, within seventy-two hours after having been placed at the disposition of a competent judge. Within the same period the detained person shall be notified of the writ issued. Preventive imprisonment shall be maintained in places distinct and completely separate from those designed for the serving of sentences, and persons kept in said preventive imprisonment may not be subjected to any labor or to penal regulations designed for persons serving sentences. ART. 28. There shall be no prosecution or sentence except by a competent judge or tribunal, acting under laws enacted prior to the commission of the crime, and with the formalities and guarantees that these laws may establish. No sentence shall be pronounced against any prosecuted person in his absence, nor shall anyone be condemned in a criminal matter without being heard. Neither shall any person be

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obliged to testify against himself, or against his spouse, or his relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second of affinity. No violence or coercion of any kind shall be practiced on persons in order to force them to testify. Any statement obtained in violation of this provision shall be null, and those responsible shall incur the penalties fixed by law. ART. 29. Any person detained or imprisoned under circumstances not foreseen in the Constitution and the laws, and without the formalities and guarantees provided by them, shall be placed at liberty upon his own petition or upon the petition of any other person, without the necessity of power or direction of an attorney, by means of summary proceedings of habeas corpus before the ordinary tribunals of justice. The tribunal may not decline jurisdiction or admit question as to competence in any case or for any reason, or defer its decision, which shall have preference over all other matters. The presentation of every detained or imprisoned person before the tribunal issuing the writ of habeas corpus is absolutely obligatory, regardless of the authority or official, person or body, holding custody of said detained person, and said authority is without power to deny obedience to said writ. All provisions that may impede or retard the appearance of a person deprived of his liberty, as well as any provisions causing delay in the habeas corpus proceedings, shall be null and shall be so declared by the office of the judicial authority. In case the person detained or imprisoned should not be brought before the tribunal granting the writ of habeas corpus, the latter shall order the arrest of the detaining officer, who shall be judged in accordance with the provisions of the law. Judges or magistrates who refuse to admit application for the writ of habeas corpus, or who do not comply with the other provisions of this article, shall be dismissed from their respective offices by the chamber of government of the Supreme Tribunal. ART. 30. Any person may enter and remain in the national territory, leave it, move from one place to another, and change residence without the necessity of a letter of security, passport, or other similar requirement, except for what is provided in the laws on immigration and the duties of the authorities in cases of criminal responsibility.

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No person shall be obliged to change his domicile or residence, except by order of a judicial authority and in the cases and subject to the requirements stipulated by law. No Cuban may be expatriated or be prohibited entrance into the territory of the Republic. ART. 31. The Republic of Cuba offers and recognizes the right of asylum to those persecuted for political reasons provided that persons thus sheltered respect the national sovereignty and the laws. The State shall not authorize the extradition of persons guilty of political crimes, nor shall it attempt to extradite Cubans guilty of these crimes who may have taken refuge in foreign territory. In case of the expulsion of an alien from national territory, in conformity with the Constitution and the law, such expulsion shall not be made to the territory of the State that may reclaim him if political asylum is involved. ART. 32. The secrecy of correspondence and other private documents is inviolable, and neither the former nor the latter may be held or examined except by officials or official agents in pursuance of a written order from a competent judge. In all cases secrecy shall be maintained regarding matters not pertaining to the object of the seizure or examination. Under the same provisions, the privacy of telegraphic, telephonic, anal cable communication is also declared inviolable. ART. 33. All persons shall have freedom to express their thoughts by speech, writing, or any other graphic or oral means of expression without subjection to previous censure, utilizing for this purpose any and all means of dissemination available. Editions of books, pamphlets, recordings, films, periodicals, or publications of whatever nature, that attack the good reputation of persons, the social order, or the public peace, may be suppressed only after prior determination thereof by competent judicial authority, without affecting the responsibilities consequent upon the criminal act committed. In the cases referred to in this article, the use and enjoyment of places, equipment, or instruments that the organ of publicity in question may utilize, may not be held or

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interrupted, except under civil liability. ART. 34. The domicile is inviolable and, in consequence, no person may make entry at night into the domicile of another person without the consent of its resident, except in order to succor victims of a crime or disaster, or during the day except in the cases and in the form determined by law. In case of suspension of this guarantee, it shall be indispensably required that entry into the domicile of a person be made by proper competent authority, upon written order or resolution, an authentic copy of which shall be presented to the resident, his family, or nearest neighbor, according to the case When authority is delegated to any of his agents the same procedure shall be followed. ART. 35. The profession of all religions is free, as well as the exercise of all kinds of worship, without other limitation than respect for Christian morality and public order. The Church shall be separated from the State, which shall not grant a subvention to any religion. ART. 36. Every person has the right to direct petitions to the authorities, and the right to have said petitions heeded and determined within a period not longer than fortyfive days, with the further right to be apprised of the decision thereon. At the expiration of the legal period, or in default of the above stipulations, the interested party may seek redress in the manner authorized by law as if his petition had been denied. ART. 37. The inhabitants of the Republic have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms, and the right to hold processions and associate with one another for all the legitimate purposes of life, in conformity with the corresponding legal standards, without further limitation than may be necessary to assure public order. The formation and existence of political organizations contrary to the democratic representative system of government of the Republic, or which in any way seek to subvert complete national sovereignty, is unlawful.

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ART. 38. All acts by which a citizen is prohibited or limited in his participation in the political life of the Nation are declared punishable. ART. 39. Public functions that imply jurisdiction shall be discharged only by Cuban citizens. ART. 40. Provisions of a legal, governmental, or any other nature that regulate the exercise of the rights guaranteed by this Constitution, shall be null if they abridge, restrict, or corrupt said rights. Adequate resistance for the protection of individual rights previously guaranteed, is legitimate. Violations of this title shall be prosecuted by public action, without precaution or formality of any kind, and by simple denunciation. The enumeration of the rights guaranteed in this title does not exclude others established in this Constitution, or other rights of an analogous nature, or those that are derived from the principle of the sovereignty of the people and from the republican form of government. SECOND SECTION Concerning Constitutional Guarantees ART. 41. The guarantee of the rights recognized in Articles 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 (first and second paragraphs), 32, 33, 36, and 37 (first paragraph) of this Constitution may be suspended in all or in part of the national territory, for a period not greater than forty-five calendar days, whenever the security of the State may require it, or in case of war or invasion of the national territory, grave disturbance of order, or other happenings profoundly disturbing the public tranquillity. Suspension of the constitutional guarantees may be carried out only by means of a special law enacted by the Congress, or by means of a decree of the Executive; however, in the latter case, and in the same decree of suspension, the Congress shall be convened within a period of forty-eight hours and assembled as a single body to ratify or refuse the suspension, balloting by name and by a majority of votes. In case the Congress, thus assembled, should vote against the suspension, the guarantees shall 142

automatically stand re-established. ART. 42. The territory in which the guarantees referred to in the preceding article may have been suspended, shall be governed by the law of public order previously enacted; however, neither in the said law, nor in any other, may there be suspension of any guarantees other than those mentioned. Likewise, no statement of new crimes shall be made, or any penalties imposed, other than those established by law at the time of the suspension. Those arrested for reasons that may have been stipulated in the suspension must be confined in special places designated for persons prosecuted or punished for political or social crimes. The Executive is forbidden to hold any person in arrest for more than ten days without delivering him to judicial authority. TITLE V Concerning the Family and Culture FIRST SECTION Family

ART. 43. The family, motherhood, and marriage are under the protection of the State. Only marriages authorized by officials having legal capacity to effect them are valid. Civil marriage is gratuitous and shall be recognized by the law. Marriage is the legal basis of the family, and rests upon absolute equality of rights of both husband and wife. The economic relationship between husband and wife shall be regulated in accordance with this principle. The married woman enjoys the full advantages of equal civil capacity, with no necessity for marital permission or authorization in order to manage property, freely to engage in trade, to enter industry or a profession, to practice an art, to hold office, and to dispose of the product of her work.

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Marriage may be dissolved by agreement of the husband and wife, or in the petition of either of the two, for the reasons and in the form established in the law. The tribunals shall determine the cases in which, for reasons of justice, the union between persons with legal capacity to contract marriage shall be deemed comparable, in stability and special status, to civil marriage. Allowances for support in favor of the woman and the children shall enjoy preference with respect to all other obligations, and this preference may not be derogated by any condition of unattachability of property, salary, pension, or economic investment of any kind whatever. Unless the woman shall be proved to possess adequate means of subsistence, or unless she shall be declared at fault, periodic payments shall be fixed for her benefit proportionate to the economic position of the husband, and at the same time taking into account the necessities of social life. These payments shall be made and guaranteed by the divorced and shall continue until his former spouse shall contract a new marriage, without detriment to the allowance that shall be fixed upon each child and which must also be guaranteed. The law shall impose adequate penalties upon those who, in case of divorce, separation, or any other circumstance, shall try to flout or evade this responsibility. ART. 44. Parents are obliged to support, tend, educate, and instruct their children, and the latter to respect and assist their parents. The law shall assure the fulfillment of these duties with guarantees and adequate penalties. Children born out of wedlock to a person who at the time of conception may have been able to contract marriage, have the same rights and duties as are stipulated in the preceding paragraph, except for what the law prescribes in regard to inheritance. For this purpose, children born out of wedlock, of married persons, when the latter acknowledge the children, or when the filiation is established by declaration, shall also have equal rights. The law shall regulate the investigation of paternity. All qualifications on the nature of filiation are abolished. No statement may be made differentiating between births, either upon the civil status of the parents in the written records of the latter, or in any registry of baptism or certificate referring to the filiation.

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ART. 45. Budget, insurance, and social assistance shall be employed in accordance with standards of protection for the family, established in this Constitution. Childhood and youth are protected from exploitation and from moral and material neglect. The State, the Provinces, and the municipalities shall organize adequate institutions for this purpose. ART. 46. Within the restrictions stipulated in this Constitution, Cubans shall be free to bequeath one-half of their inheritance. SECOND SECTION Culture

ART. 47. Culture in all of its manifestations constitutes a primary interest of the State. Scientific investigation, artistic expression, and the publication of their results, as well as education, are, in this regard, free, without prejudice to the inspection and regulation by the State, established by law. ART. 48. Primary instruction is obligatory for minors of school age, and its dispensation shall be the obligation of the State, without lessening the co-operative responsibility falling to municipal initiative. Both primary and pre-primary instruction shall be gratuitous when imparted by the State, Province, or municipality. The necessary teaching materials shall likewise be gratuitous. Secondary basic instruction, and all higher instruction imparted by the State or the municipalities, exclusive of specialized pre-university and university studies, shall be gratuitous. In institutes created, or which may be created in the future in the pre-university category, the law may maintain or establish the payment of a moderate co-operation fee for matriculation, that shall be designated for the upkeep of each establishment. As far as possible, the State shall offer fellowships for the enjoyment of nongratuitous official instruction to students who, having determined their vocations and having exceptional aptitudes, are prevented, by insufficiency of resources, from

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carrying on such studies on their own account. ART. 49. The State shall maintain a system of schools for adults, especially dedicated to the elimination and prevention of illiteracy; rural schools predominantly practical, organized with a view to the interest of small communities of agricultural, maritime, or any other type; art schools, and technical institutes of agriculture, industry, and commerce, oriented in a manner to respond to the necessities of the national economy. All of these kinds of instruction shall be gratuitous and the Provinces and municipalities shall collaborate in their maintenance to the extent of their means. ART. 50. The State shall maintain the normal schools necessary for the technical preparation of the teachers in charge of primary instruction in the public schools. No other educational center may issue degrees for primary teachers, with the exception of the schools of pedagogy of the universities. The previous provisions do not exclude the right of schools created by law, to issue pedagogical degrees relating to special matters that may be the subject of their instruction. Holders of these pedagogical degrees of special capacity shall have the right, with full preference, to occupy vacant positions or those that may be created in the respective schools and specialized fields. The degree of master of economy, arts, domestic and industrial sciences, issued by the school of the household, is required for the instruction of women in domestic economy, cutting and needlework, and women's industries. ART. 51. Public instruction shall be organized in an organic form, so that adequate articulation and continuity may obtain for all grades, including the higher. The official system shall provide vocational stimulus and development in the light of the multiplicity of the professions, and taking into account the cultural and practical necessities of the Nation. All instruction, public or private, shall be inspired by a spirit of Cubanism and human solidarity, tending to form in the minds of those being educated a love for their Fatherland, its democratic institutions, and for all those who have fought for one or the other.

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ART. 52. All public instruction shall be provided for in the budgets of the State, the Provinces, or the municipalities, and shall be under the technical and administrative direction of the Minister of Education, with the exception of departments of instruction that, because of their special character, are subordinate to other ministries. The budget of the ministry of education shall not be less than the normal budget of any other ministry except in case of emergency declared by law. The monthly salary of a teacher of primary instruction must not be, in any case, less than a millionth part of the total budget of the Nation. Persons holding official teaching positions have the rights and duties of public officials. Appointments, promotions, transfers, and dismissals of public teachers and professors, inspectors, technicians, and other school officials, shall be regulated in such a manner that no considerations other than strictly technical ones may apply, but this stipulation shall not affect the vigilance over the moral conduct to which such officials must conform. All directorial and supervisory positions in official primary instruction shall be discharged by technical graduates of the corresponding university faculties. ART. 53. The University of Havana is autonomous and shall be governed in accordance with its statutes, and with the law upon which the said statutes must be based. The State shall contribute to the creation of University endowment funds and to the support of said University, appropriating for this purpose the amount fixed by law in its national budgets. ART. 54. Official or private universities and any other institutions and centers of higher learning may be created. The conditions by which they may be regulated shall be determined by law. ART. 55. Official instruction shall be laic. Centers of private instruction shall be subject to regulation and inspection by the State; however, in all cases the right shall be preserved of imparting, separate from technical instruction, the religious education

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that may be desired. ART. 56. In all teaching centers, public or private, the teaching of Cuban literature, history and geography, civics and the Constitution, must be imparted by teachers who are Cuban by birth, and by means of textbooks by authors who have the same qualification. ART. 57. In order to exercise the teaching profession it is necessary to prove one's qualifications in the form stipulated by law. The law shall determine what non-teaching professions, arts, or offices require degrees for their practice, and the manner in which such degrees must be obtained. The State shall assure employment preference in positions of public service to citizens officially prepared with the proper specialized training. ART. 58. The State shall regulate by means of a law the preservation of the cultural treasures of the Nation and its artistic and historical riches, and shall likewise give special protection to the national monuments and to places notable for their natural beauty or for their recognized artistic or historical value. ART. 59. A national council of education and culture shall be created which, presided over by the Minister of Education, shall be in charge of the encouragement, technical direction, or inspection of the educational, scientific, and artistic activities of the Nation. The opinion of this body shall be heard by the Congress on every bill relating to matters within its competence. Positions on the national council of education and culture shall be honorary and uncompensated. TITLE VI Concerning Labor and Property FIRST SECTION Labor 148

ART. 60. Labor is an inalienable right of the individual. The State shall employ all the resources in its power to provide an occupation for everyone who lacks such, and shall assure the economic conditions necessary for a proper existence to every worker, manual or intellectual. ART. 61. Every worker, manual or intellectual, in public or private enterprise of the State, Province, or municipality shall have a guaranteed minimum salary or wage, which shall be determined in keeping with the conditions of each region and the normal necessities of the worker, from material, moral, and cultural considerations, and considering him as the head of the family. The law shall establish the manner of periodically regulating the minimum salaries or wages by means of committees with equal representation for each branch of labor, according to the standards of living, the peculiarities of each region, and each industrial, commercial, or agricultural activity. In labor performed by the complete task, it shall be obligatory that the minimum wage for a day's work be reasonably assured. The minimum of all salaries or wages is unattachable, except in case of responsibilities for payment of allowances in support of other persons in the form that the law may establish. The tools of labor belonging to workers are also unattachable. ART. 62. For equal work under identical conditions, an equal salary shall always be paid regardless of persons. ART. 63. No discount not authorized by the law may be made on any wage or salary of manual and intellectual workers. Amounts owing to workers for services and wages earned in the past year shall have preference over any others. ART. 64. Payment in tickets, tokens, merchandise, or any other article by which an attempt is made to replace money of legal tender is absolutely prohibited. Violations of this prohibition shall be punishable by law.

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Day laborers shall receive their salary within a period not longer than one week. ART. 65. Social insurance benefits are established as irrenounceable and imprescriptible rights of workers, with the equitable cooperation of the State, the employers, and the workers themselves, for the purpose of protecting the latter in an effective manner against illness, old age, unemployment, and the other exigencies of labor, in the form that the law may determine. The rights of old-age pensions and death benefits are likewise established. The administration and governing of the institutions to which the first paragraph of this article refers shall be the duty of organizations elected with equal representation by employers and workers, with the participation of a representative of the State, in the form determined by law, except in the case of that created by the State for the bank of social insurance. Insurance covering accidents of world and for occupational diseases, at the exclusive expense of the employer and under the control of the State, is declared equally obligatory. Social insurance funds or reserves may not be transferred, and may not be used for any purposes other than those that determined their creation. ART. 66. The maximum working day shall not exceed eight hours. This maximum may be reduced to six hours a day for persons more than fourteen and less than eighteen years of age. The maximum working week shall be forty-four hours, equivalent to forty-eight hours in pay, with the exception of industries which, because of their nature, must carry on uninterrupted production within a certain period of the year, until the specific regulation in these exceptional cases is determined by law. Labor and apprenticeship is prohibited to persons less than fourteen years of age. ART. 67. The right of all manual and intellectual workers to one month of vacation on pay for every eleven months of work in every natural year is established. Those who, on account of the type of work or other circumstances, may not have worked the eleven months, shall have the right to vacation on pay for a period proportional to the tinge worked.

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When workers stop work on account of a national holiday or mourning, employers must guarantee them the corresponding wages for this time. There shall be only four days of national holiday and mourning on which the closing of industrial or commercial establishments or those of public entertainment is obligatory. The remaining official holiday or mourning days shall be celebrated without suspension of the economic activities of the Nation. ART. 68. No wage differential may be established between married women and single women. The law shall regulate the protection of motherhood of working women, extending this protection to women who are employed. A pregnant woman may not be separated from her employment within three months before childbirth, or be required to do work that may require considerable physical effort. During the six weeks immediately preceding childbirth and the six weeks following, a woman shall enjoy obligatory vacation from work on pay at the same rate, retaining her employment and all the rights pertaining to such employment and to her labor contract. During the nursing period, two extraordinary daily rest periods of a half hour each shall be allowed her to feed her child. ART. 69. The right of organization is recognized for employers, private employees, and workers, for the exclusive purposes of their economico-social activity. The competent authority shall have a period of thirty days in which to admit or refuse to admit the registry of a workers' or employers' association. The registration shall determine the juridical personality of the workers' or employers' association. The law shall regulate everything concerned with the recognition of the association by the employers and by the workers respectively. Associations may not be finally dissolved until a provisional decision has been made by the tribunals of justice. The officials of these associations shall be exclusively Cubans by birth.

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ART. 70. Official obligatory collective organization is established in the practice of university-trained professions. The law shall determine the form of the organization and functioning of such bodies, by. a higher organization of national character, and by the local organizations that may be necessary, in a manner such that they may be regulated with full authority by the majority of their colleagues. The law shall also regulate the obligatory collective organization of the other professions recognized officially by the State. ART. 71. The right of workers to the strike and the right of employers to the lockout is recognized, in conformity with the regulations that the law may establish for the exercise of both rights. ART. 72. The law shall regulate the system of collective contracts of labor, the fulfillment of which shall be obligatory for both employers and workers. Stipulations implying renunciation' diminution, impairment, or relinquishment of any right in favor of the worker that is recognized in this Constitution or in the law, even if expressed in a labor contract or in any other pact, shall be null and shall not obligate the contracting parties. ART. 73. The majority of persons participating in labor shall be Cubans by birth as much as regards to total amount of wages and salaries as in the distinct categories of labor, in the form determined by law. Protection shall also be extended to naturalized Cubans with families born in the national territory, with preference over naturalized citizens who do not meet these conditions, and over aliens. The stipulations in the preceding paragraphs concerning aliens shall not be applied in the filling of indispensable technical positions, subject to the prior formalities of the law, and with provision that apprenticeship in the technical work in question be facilitated for native Cubans. ART. 74. The ministry of labor shall take care, as an essential part, among others, of its permanent social policy, that discriminatory practices of no kind shall prevail in the distribution of opportunities for labor in industry and commerce. In personnel changes and in the creation of new positions, as well as in new factories, industries, or 152

businesses that may be established, it shall be obligatory that opportunities for labor be distributed without distinctions on a basis of race or color, provided that requirements of ability are satisfactorily met. It shall be established by law that any other practice shall be punishable and may be prosecuted officially or at the instance of the aggrieved party. ART. 75. The formation of co-operative enterprises, whether commercial, agricultural, industrial, of the consumer, or any other type, shall be subject to regulation by the law; but the latter shall regulate the definition, constitution, and functioning of such enterprises in order that they shall not serve to evade or abridge the provisions that this Constitution establishes for the regulation of labor. ART. 76. The law shall regulate immigration in keeping with the national economic system and with social necessities. The importation of contract labor, as well as all immigration tending to debase the condition of labor, is prohibited. ART. 77. No enterprise may discharge a worker except for good reason and with the other formalities that the law which determines the just causes for dismissal shall establish. ART. 78. The employer shall be responsible for compliance with the social laws, even when labor is contracted by an intermediary agency. In all industries and kinds of labor in which technical knowledge is required, apprenticeship shall be obligatory in the form that the law may establish. ART. 79. The State shall support the creation of low-cost dwellings for workers. The law shall determine the enterprises that, by employing workers outside of population centers, are obliged to provide adequate housing for workers, as well as schools, infirmaries, and other services and advantages in behalf of the physical ant! moral well-being of the worker ant} his family. The conditions which shops, factories, and places of work of all kinds must maintain shall likewise be regulated by law.

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ART. 80. Social assistance shall be established under the direction of the ministry of health and social assistance; this assistance shall be organized by special legislation, which shall appropriate funds to provide for the necessary reserves. Hospital, sanitary, medical examiners, and other positions that may be necessary in organizing the corresponding official services in an adequate manner, shall be established. Charitable institutions of the State, Province, and municipality shall oder services of a gratuitous character only to the poor. ART. 81. Reciprocity is recognized as a social principle and practice. The law shall regulate its operation in such a manner that persons of modest means may enjoy its benefits, and at the same time so that it shall render a fair and adequate protection to the professional. ART. 82. Only Cubans by birth and naturalized Cubans who have held their status as such for five years or more prior to the date of their seeking authorization to practice, may practice professions that require official title, except as provided in Article 57 of this Constitution. However, the Congress may, by special law, grant temporary suspension of this provision when, for reasons of public utility, the co-operation of foreign professionals and technicians shall be necessary or convenient in the development of public or private undertakings of national interest. Such a special law shall fix the limits and period of the authorization. In the fulfillment of this provision, as well as in cases in which, by any law or regulation, the practice of any new profession, art, or office may be regulated, the working rights acquired by persons who, until that time may have practiced the profession, art, or office in question, shall be respected, and the principles of international reciprocity shall be observed. ART. 83. The law shall regulate the manner in which factories and shops may be transferred for the purpose of avoiding debasement of the conditions of labor. ART. 84. Problems arising from the relations between capital and labor shall be submitted to committees of conciliation, composed of equal representation of employers and workers. The law shall stipulate the judicial officials who shall preside 154

over the said committees, ant] the national tribunal before which their decisions are appealable. ART. 85. In order to assure compliance with social legislation, the State shall provide for the supervision and inspection of enterprises. ART. 86. The enumeration of the rights and benefits to which this section refers shall not exclude others arising from the principle of social justice, and they shall be equally applicable to all elements involved in the process of production. SECOND SECTION Property ART. 87. The Cuban State recognizes the existence and legitimacy of private property in the fullest concept of its social function, and with no further limitations than those that may be established by law for reasons of public necessity or social interest. ART. 88. The subsoil belongs to the State, which may make concessions for its exploitation, in conformity with what the law may establish. Mining property granted and not exploited within the period that the law may fix shall be declared null and shall revert to the State. Land, forests, and concessions for the exploitation of the subsoil, utilization of waters, means of transportation, and every other enterprise of public service, must be exploited in a manner favorable to the social welfare. ART. 89. The State shall have the right to be a party in all auctions or forced sales of real property and of things representative of values in immovable property. ART. 90. Latifundia are outlawed, and in order to effect their disappearance the law shall stipulate the maximum extent of property that each person or corporation may possess for each type of exploitation for which the land may be employed, at the same time taking into account individual circumstances.

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The law shall restrictively limit acquisition ant! possession of land by foreign persons and companies, and shall adopt measures tending to revert the lancI to Cuban ownership. ART. 91. The father of a family who lives upon, cultivates, and directly exploits a rural property that he owns, provided that the value of the latter does not exceed 21000 pesos, may declare it of irrevocable character as family property as soon as it may be essential for his living and subsistence, and said property shall be exempt from taxes and shall be unattachable and inalienable except for responsibilities incurred prior to this Constitution. Improvements that exceed the sum above mentioned shall pay the corresponding taxes in the manner that the law may establish. In order to exploit the said property the owner may mortgage it, or give sowings, plantings, fruits, or products of the same as guarantees. ART. 92. Every author or inventor shall enjoy exclusive ownership of his work or invention, with the limitations stipulated by law as to time and form. Concessions of industrial and commercial trademarks, and other recognition of mercantile credits with indications of Cuban origin, shall be null if such concessions are used in any way for protecting or covering articles manufactured outside of the national territory. ART. 93. No perpetual charges on property in the character of perpetual interest payments or other charges of an analogous nature may be imposed, and, furthermore, the establishment of such charges is prohibited. The Congress shall approve a law regulating the liquidation of the existing charges within a period of three legislative terms. Perpetual interest payments, or charges established, or which may be established, to the benefit of the State, Province, or municipality, or in favor of public institutions of all kinds or of private institutions of beneficence are excepted from the stipulations of the preceding paragraph ART. 94. It is the obligation of the State to take a census of population at least every ten years, that shall reflect all the economic and social activities of the country. The State shall also publish a statistical yearbook regularly.

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ART. 95. The property of charitable institutions is declared to be imprescriptible. ART. 96. Those areas of land given by persons of old Spanish nobility for the founding of a town or community, and effectively employed for this purpose, acquiring the character of a municipal government, though afterward occupied or held by the heirs or inheritors of the donor, are declared to be in the nature of a public utility and therefore subject to expropriation by the State, the Province, or the municipality. The inhabitants of such a town or city, Who possess buildings or occupy lots in the settled part, may obtain ownership or possession of the estates or sections of lane! that they may be occupying, by payment of a fair proportionate price through the expropriating body empowered to transfer the said property to them. TITLE VII Concerning Suffrage and Public Offices FIRST SECTION Suffrage ART. 97. Universal, equal, and secret suffrage is established as a right, duty, and function of all Cuban citizens. This function shall be obligatory, and all persons who, except because of obstacles admitted by law, fail to vote in an election or referendum, shall be subject to the penalties that the law may impose, and shall be deprived of the capacity to hold a judgeship or any public office during the two years following the date of the infraction. ART. 98. The people express their opinion upon the questions submitted to them by means of the referendum. In every election or referendum, the absolute majority of validly cast votes shall decide, save for the exceptions established by the Constitution. The results shall be made public in an official manner as soon as they are determined by the competent body.

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A vote shall be counted solely and exclusively for the person in whose favor it was cast, and may not be accumulated the benefit of any other candidate. Moreover, in cases of proportional representation, votes cast in favor of the candidate shall be counted in order to determine the party s quotient. ART. 99. All Cubans of one sex or the other, and more than twenty years of age, are voters, with the exception of the following: 1st. Inmates of asylums. 2nd. Those who are mentally incapacitated, with a previous judicial declaration of their incapacity. 3rd. Those judicially disqualified for criminal cause. 4th. Individuals belonging to the armed forces or to the police, who are in active service. ART. 100. The electoral code shall provide for an identification book, with the photograph of the voter, his signature, and fingerprints, and the other requirements necessary for better identification. ART. 101. All forms of coercion to oblige a citizen to affiliate himself, vote, or manifest his choice in any voting operation, are punishable. This violation shall be punished, and a double penalty shall be applied, in abolition to permanent disqualification for the discharge of public once, when the coercion is practiced by an authority or agent, official, or employee of such public office, by himself or through an intermediary person. ART. 102. The organization of political parties and associations is free. However, no political groupings of race, sex, or class may be formed. For the organization of new political parties, it is necessary to present, together with the corresponding application, a number of adherents equal to or greater than two per cent of the corresponding electoral census, according as such party be national, provincial, or municipal in character. A party that in a general or special election does not obtain a number of votes representing the said two per cent shall disappear as such

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and shall be officially erased from the registry of parties. Candidacies may be presented only by those political parties that, having a number of affiliates not smaller than that fixed in this article, may have been organized or reorganized, according to the case, before the election. Political parties may be reorganized on one single day six months before each presidential, gubernatorial, mayoral, or conciliar election, or election for delegates to a constituent convention. The superior electoral tribunal shall officially erase all parties from the registry of parties that, having such opportunity, have not been reorganized. The assemblies of the parties shall retain all their powers and may not be dissolve<] except by legal reorganization. In every case, the party assemblies shall be the only bodies in charge of making nominations, and this power may not in any case be delegated. ART. 103. The law shall establish rules and procedures that shall guarantee the participation of minorities in the formation of the census of voters, in the organization and reorganization of political associations and parties, and in the other electoral operations, and shall assure them representation in the elective bodies of the State, Provinces, and municipalities. ART. 104. All those provisions modifying electoral legislation that may be enacted after the calling of an election or referendum, or before the persons winning an election take office, or final results of a referendum are known, are null. Those modifications that are expressly sought by the superior electoral tribunal ant] are approved by a two-thirds vote of the Congress are excepted from this prohibition. From the call for the elections until the elected persons take once, the superior electoral tribunal shall have jurisdiction over the armed forces and over the police bodies for the sole purpose of guaranteeing the purity of the electoral function. SECOND SECTION Public Offices ART. 105. Officials, public workers, and employees are those who, on prior demonstration of capacity, and compliance with the other requirements and formalities established by law, may be designated by competent authority for the 159

discharge of public duties or services, and who receive or do not receive a salary or wage charged to the budgets of the State, Province, or municipality, or autonomous bodies. ART. 106. The public, civil officials, employees, and workers of all the branches of the State, those of the Provinces, municipalities, and of the autonomous bodies and corporations, are exclusively servants of the general interests of the Republic, and their irremovability is guaranteed by this Constitution, with the exception of those who may discharge political offices or hold positions of trust. ART. 107. Political offices and positions of trust are: 1st. Ministers and departmental Subsecretaries; ambassadors, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, and directors general, the latter in cases of positions that the law may declare not to be technical. 2nd. All the personal appointees in the immediate private offices of the Ministers and departmental Subsecretaries. 3rd. The private secretaries of officials. 4th. The secretaries of the provincial and municipal administrations, the departmental chiefs of these bodies, ant] the personal appointees in the immediate private offices of the governors and mayors. 5th. Public, civil officials, employees, and workers named to positions that are temporary in character, with casual appointments the duration of which does not extend beyond the fiscal year. ART.108. Admission to and promotion in public offices not excepted in the preceding article may be obtained only after the aspirants have complied with the requirements and undergone the competitive merit tests of their fitness and capacity that the law shall establish7 except in those cases which, by the nature of the duties involved, are declared exempt by law. ART. 109. No administrative penalties may be imposed upon public officials employees, and workers without proper reason being previously established and only after a hearing of the interested party and with the appeals that the law may establish.

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Such proceedings must always be summary. ART. 110. A public official, employee, or worker who replaces a person removed from his office, shall be considered a provisional substitute while the position of the substitute person is not definitely determined, and this person may claim, in this case, only the rights that belonged to him in his former position. ART. 111. Compulsory retirements may be carried out only by re-creation or suppression of positions, with respect to the seniority of the persons holding such positions. Those retired shall have preferential right, in order of seniority, to hold positions having equal or analogous functions and in the same category or in the category immediately inferior, that may be established or vacated. ART. 112. No person may simultaneously discharge more than one once paid, directly or indirectly, by the State, the Province, the municipalities, or the autonomous bodies and corporations, with the exception of the cases stipulated by this Constitution. Pensions or superannuations of the State, Provinces, and municipalities are supplemental to the necessities of their beneficiaries. Persons who have property of their own fortune may receive only such a part of the pension or superannuation as may be necessary in order that, ad-deaf to other incomes, the total does not exceed the maximum pension that the law shall fix. A similar criterion shall be applied to persons receiving more than one pension. No person may, for any reason, effectively receive a pension, superannuation, or retirement of more than 2,400 pesos a year, and a single uniform scale of payments shall be applied to all persons pensioned or superannuated. Persons who at present enjoy pensions, superannuations, or retirements larger than 2,400 pesos annually, shall not effectively receive more than this amount per year. Members of the Cuban army of liberation, their widows, and children, who have the right to a pension, are excepted from the provisions of the preceding paragraphs as a homage of the Republic to its liberators. ART. 113. Monthly payment of superannuations and pensions for services rendered to the State, Province, or municipality in the proportion permitted by the state of the

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public treasury shall be an obligation of the State, and in no case shall such payments be less than fifty per cent of the basic legal amount. The appropriations for superannuations and pensions shall be made each year in the general budget of the Nation. No pension or superannuation shall be less than the amount that is in force as a daily wage minimum by virtue of the provisions of Article 6r of this Constitution. Superannuations and pensions of officials and employees of the State, Province, and municipality, that are included in the general law of pensions which here governs, shall be paid in the same manner as the salaries of officials and employees in active service; the State, Province, or municipality being obligated, according to the case, to raise the funds necessary to perform this obligation. The payment of pensions to veterans of the War of Independence and to their families shall be considered in preference to all other obligations of the State. ART. 114. Entry into the notarial profession and into the body of registrars of property shall in the future be by competitive examination, regulated by law. ART. 115. The raising and managing of social retirement funds may be independent, in the form determined by law; however, within four legislative terms following the promulgation of this Constitution, the Congress shall enact a law establishing the general standards by which all the existing superannuations and pensions shall be regulated, or by which such superannuations and pensions shall be created in the future, in all that relates to benefits, taxes, minimum requisites, and guarantees. ART. 116. In order to decide upon questions relative to public services, a body with autonomous character is hereby established, that shall be called the tribunal of public ounces, and which is composed of seven members designated in the following manner: One, by the plenum of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and who must meet the same qualifications required for a Magistrate of the said Tribunal. One, appointed by the President of the Republic with the prior approval of the Council of Ministers, and who must have had recognized experience in administrative matters.

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One, appointed by the Congress, who must possess an academic degree issued by official authority. One, appointed by the University council from a list of three nominations made by the faculty of social sciences, of which the appointee must be a graduate. One, by the employees of the State. One, by the employees of the Province; and One, by those of the municipality. The last three members must have recognized experience in the respective departments. Decisions pronounced by the tribunal of public offices shall have force of law and shall go into immediate effect, without prejudicing the appeals that the law may establish. ART. 117. The law shall establish the penalties to be imposed upon persons violating the principles contained in this section. TITLE VIII Concerning the Organs of the State ART. 118. The State exercises its functions by means of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers and the organs recognized in the Constitution which, in conformity with the same, may be established by law. The Provinces and the municipalities, besides exercising their own functions, assist in the realization of the purposes of the State. TITLE IX Concerning the Legislative Power FIRST SECTION Concerning the Colegislative Bodies

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ART. 119. The legislative power is exercised by two bodies called respectively the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate, and which together receive the name of the Congress. SECOND SECTION Concerning the Senate, Its Composition, and Its Powers and Duties ART. 120. The Senate is composed of nine Senators per Province, elected in each case for a term of four years by universal, equal, direct, secret suffrage, in a single day, and in the form that the law may prescribe. ART. 121. To be a Senator it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth. 2nd. To have reached thirty years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. 4th. Not to have belonged to the armed forces of the Republic in active service during the two years immediately prior to the date of his designation as candidate. ART. 122. The powers and duties of the Senate are: 1st. To judge, being constituted as a tribunal, the President of the Republic when the latter shall have been accused by the Chamber of Representatives of a crime against the external security of the State, the free functioning of the legislative or judicial powers, or for a violation of constitutional precepts. In carrying out this obligation, it shall be mandatory that the accusation formulated by the Chamber of Representatives shall have been approved by two-thirds of its members. The tribunal constituted for the purposes of this article shall be composed of the members of the Senate and all those of the Supreme Tribunal; and the person who at the time holds the office of president of the latter Tribunal shall preside.

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2nd. To judge, being constituted as a tribunal, the Ministers of the Government, when the latter shall have been accused by the Chamber of Representatives of a crime against the external security of the State, the free functioning of the legislative or judicial powers, or of a violation of the provisions of the Constitution, as well as of any other crime of a political character that the law may determine. 3rd. To judge, being constituted as a tribunal, the governors of the Provinces when they shall have been accused by the provincial council by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Council of Ministers, of any of the crimes cited in the preceding clause. In all cases in which the Senate is constitute as a tribunal, the president of the Supreme Tribunal shall preside. No penalty may be imposed upon those accused other than that of dismissal from office, or that of deprivation of office and disqualification from the exercise of public offices, without prejudice to the ordinary tribunals, which may impose any other penalty that such accused persons may have incurred. 4th. To approve the nominations that the President of the Republic, with the aid of the Council of Ministers, may make for the chiefs of permanent diplomatic missions and for other officials, the appointment of which may require the approval of the Senate according to the law. 5th. To approve the appointment of members of the tribunal of accounts of the State. 6th. To appoint committees of investigation. These shall have the number of members the Senate may determine, and shad! have the right to subpena private individuals as well as officials and authorities to attend to give information before them, and the right to request data and documents that they may consider necessary for the purposes of the investigation. Tribunals of justice, administrative authorities, and private individuals have the obligation of furnishing committees of investigation with all the data and documents asked of them. If the investigation is concerned with activities of the Government, a favorable vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate is required to establish these committees. In other cases, a vote of one-half plus one shall be sufficient. 7th. To authorize Cubans to serve a foreign country in a military capacity, or accept from another government employment or honors that may imply authority or jurisdiction of their own. 8th. To approve treaties that the President of the Republic may negotiate with other Nations. 165

9th. To require the appearance of Ministers of Government to answer interpellations that may have a definite object, in accordance with the Constitution. 10th. The other powers emanating from this Constitution. THIRD SECTION Concerning the Chancier of Representatives, Its Composition, and Powers and Duties ART. 123. The Chamber of Representatives shall be composed of one Representative for every 35,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 17,500. Representatives shall be elected by Provinces for a term of four years by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage, in a single day, and in the form that the law may prescribe. The law shall determine the numerical basis of proportionality in each Province, in accordance with the latest official national census of population. The Chamber of Representatives shall be renewed by halves every two years. ART. 124. To be a Representative it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth or by naturalization, and in the latter case with ten years' continuous residence in the Republic, counted from the date of naturalization. 2nd. To have reached twenty-one years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. 4th. Not to have belonged to the armed forces of the Republic in active service during the two years immediately prior to the date of his designation as candidate. ART. 125. It is within the jurisdiction of the Chamber of Representatives: 1st. To accuse the President of the Republic and the Ministers of Government in the cases determined in Clauses (a) and (b) [i.e., 1st and 2nd Clauses] of Article 122 before the Senate when two-thirds of the total number of Representatives approve the accusation in secret session.

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2nd. To have priority in the discussion and approval of the general budgets of the Nation. 3rd. To have all other powers that may be granted by this Constitution. FOURTH SECTION Provisions Color to the Colegislative Bodies ART. 126. The offices of Senator and Representative are incompatible with any other office paid as a charge upon the State, Province, or municipality, or upon agencies maintained wholly or partially by public funds, with the exception of the office of Minister of Government and that of professor in an official establishment, obtained prior to the election. The members of the legislative branch may be appointed as Ministers of Government, but in no case may more than half of the members of the Council of Ministers hold both offices. Senators and Representatives shall receive from the State a stipend that shall be equal for both offices. The amount of this stipend may be altered at any time, but the change may not take effect until the colegislative bodies have been renewed. ART. 127. Senators and Representatives shall be inviolable for the opinions and votes that they may register in the exercise of their offices. Senators and Representatives shall not be arrested or prosecuted, except with the authorization of the body to which they belong. If the Senate or Chamber of Representatives should not decide upon the requested authorization within forty consecutive days after the opening of the Legislature and after receiving a writ from a judge or tribunal, the authorization for instituting proceedings and subjecting the Senator or Representative to the same shall be understood to be granted. The case shall not be prosecuted if the body to which the legislator belongs refuses authorization to continue the proceedings. In case of being apprehended in flagrante delicto in the commission of a crime, a legislator may be arrested without the authorization of the hotly to which he belongs. In this case and in that of a legislator being arrested or prosecuted when the Congress is not in session, notice shall immediately be given to the president of the respective 167

body, who must immediately call the colegislative body concerned into extraordinary session to decide exclusively upon the authorization requested by the judge or tribunal. If the request shall not be refused within the twenty ordinary sessions counted from the date of this notification, the authorization shall be understood to be granted. Any agreement granting or refusing the request for authorization to prosecute or arrest a member of the Congress must be preceded by a reading of the antecedent events, that shall be the basis for the decisions that the respective colegislative body may adopt. ART. 128. The Senate and the Chamber of Representatives shall open and close their sessions on the same day, shall reside in the same city, and may not be moved to any other place, and their sessions may not be suspended for more than three days except with the agreement of both. A legislative term may not be opened or go into session without the presence of onehalf plus one of the total of members of each body. Verification of the quorum shall be made by roll call. Parliamentary immunity does not include or protect acts that may be related to the veracity and legitimacy of the records or to the formalities prescribed for the approval of laws. Laws in all cases must be previously subjected to a roll call in their entirety. No bill may be voted upon by a colegislative body without at least a prior consultative report of a committee of that body. ART. 129. Each legislative body shall decide upon the validity of the election of its respective members and upon the resignations that they may present. No Senator or Representative may be expelled from the body to which he belongs except by virtue of cause previously determined, and with the approval of at least two-thirds of the total number of its members. Each legislative body shall formulate its own by-laws and elect its president, vicepresidents, and secretaries from among its own members. The president of the Senate shall preside over sessions only in the absence of the Vice-President of the Republic.

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ART. 130. No Senator or Representative may hold properties of the State by rent, directly or indirectly, or obtain contracts or concessions of any kind from the latter. Likewise, no Senator or Representative may hold a position as legal consultant or director or any office that may imply jurisdiction, or in an enterprise that is foreign, or the business of which may be linked in any way to a foreign organization. ART. 131. The relations between the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives not foreseen in this Constitution shall be governed by the law on relations between colegislative bodies. An appeal on grounds of unconstitutionality shall be open against any agreement that may violate the said law. FIFTH SECTION Concerning the Congress and Its Powers and Duties ART. 132. The Congress shall be assembled twice a year in its own right and without the necessity of an order of convocation. The Congress shall function not less than sixty working days in each one of the legislative terms, and not more than 140 days in both legislative terms. One legislative term shall commence on the third Monday of September and the other on the third Monday of March. The Senate and the Chamber of Representatives shall be assembled in extraordinary sessions in the cases and in the manner that their by-laws may determine or the Constitution and the law may establish, and when the President of the Republic convokes them in conformity with this Constitution. In such cases they shall occupy themselves exclusively with the matter or matters that provided the reason for their assembly. ART. 133. The Senate and the Chamber of Representatives shall be assembled into one single body in order: 1st. To proclaim the President and [lice-President of the Republic, in view of the respective certificate of inspection transmitted by the superior electoral tribunal. If this certificate should indicate a tie between two or more candidates, the Congress shall proceed to the selection of the President from the candidates who have received the tie in the general election. 169

If the Congress also should register a tie, the ballot shall be repeated; if the result of the latter is still the same, the vote of the president shall decide. The procedure established in the preceding paragraphs shall be applicable to the VicePresident of the Republic. 2nd. To exercise jurisdiction in other cases that the law of relations between the two colegislative bodies may establish. When the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives are assembled in one single body, the president of the Senate shall preside in his capacity as president of the Congress; and, in his absence or disability, the president of the Chamber of Representatives shall preside as vice-president of the same Congress. ART. 134. Powers of the Congress that may not be delegated are: 1st. To enact codes and laws of a general character; to determine the system of the elections; to enact provisions relative to general, provincial, and municipal administration; and to approve other laws and resolutions that it may consider desirable upon any other matters of public interest, or that may be necessary to put this Constitution into effect. 2nd. To establish the taxes and imposts of a national character that may be necessary for the upkeep of the State. 3rd. To discuss and approve the budgets of expenditure and income of the State. 4th. To decide upon the annual reports that the tribunal of accounts may present concerning the settlement of the budgets, the state of the public debt and the national currency. 5th. To approve loans, but with the obligation, at the same time, of voting the permanent revenues necessary for the payment of interest and amortization. 6th. To resolve what is necessary for the coining of money, determining it; standard, fineness, value, and denomination, and to decide what it may consider necessary regarding the issuance of fiduciary notes, and upon the banking and financial system. 7th. To regulate the system of weights and measures.

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8th. To enact provisions for the regulation and promotion of internal and foreign commerce, for agriculture and industry, insurance of labor and off age, maternity, and employment. 9th. To regulate the communication services, providing for the administration of the railways, highways, canals' and ports, and for transit by way of land, air, and sea, creating whatever the public convenience may require for this purpose. 10th. To fix rules and procedures for obtaining naturalization, and to regulate the supervision of aliens. 11th. To grant amnesty in accordance with this Constitution. Amnesty for common crimes may be granted only by the favorable vote of two-thirds of the total of each one of the colegislative bodies, and ratified by the same number of votes in the following legislative session. Amnesty for political crimes also requires the same extraordinary vote if homicide or assassination should be committed in relation with the same. 12th. To fix the quotas of the armed forces and approve their organization. 13th. To grant or refuse its confidence to the Council of Ministers, or to any of its members, in the form and on the occasions that this Constitution may determine. 14th. To subpena the Council of Ministers, or any of its members, to answer interpellations that may be formulated for them. The summons must be made by each colegislative body with previous notification to the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister, ten days in advance, indicating the business with which the interpellation shall deal. The subpenaed Minister may be accompanied, when required to answer an interpellation or give a report on a bill, by counselors whom he may designate, but these counselors shall be limited to presenting the technical information that the Minister being interpellated or giving the report may indicate. 15th. To declare war, and to approve treaties of peace that the President of the Republic may have negotiated. 16th. To approve all the laws for which this Constitution provides, and those laws that may arise in the development of the principles contained in the standards of this

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Constitution. SIXTH SECTION Concerning the Initiative and Formation of Laws, Their Sanction and Promulgation ART. 135. Legislative initiative belongs: 1st. To the Senators and Representatives, in accordance with the regulatory provisions of each body. 2nd. To the Government. 3rd. To the Supreme Tribunal, in matters relative to the administration of justice. 4th. To the superior electoral tribunal, in matters within its competence. 5th. To the tribunal of accounts, in matters of its competence anal jurisdiction. 6th. To the citizens. In this case, it shall be unalterably necessary that 10,000 citizens having status as voters shall be required to exercise this initiative. Every legislative initiative shall be formulates! a proposition of law, and shall be sent to one of the colegislative bodies. ART. 136. Laws as classified as ordinary and extraordinary. Extraordinary laws are those that are indicated as such in the Constitution, the organic laws, and any others to which the Congress may give this character. All other laws are ordinary. Extraordinary laws require for their approval the favorable votes of one-half plus one of the members of each colegislative body. The ordinary laws shall require the favorable votes of only an absolute majority of the members present in the session at which they may be approved. ART. 137. A bill that obtains the approval of both colegislative bodies must be presented to the President of the Republic by the body that granted the final approval,

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within ten clays following the said approval. The President of the Republic shall, within ten days after having received the bill, and after it has been approved by the Council of Ministers, sanction and promulgate the law, or return it, with the objections he may consider fitting, to the colegislative body from which it came. On receiving the bill, the said body shall officially take note of the objections and shall proceed with a next discussion of the bill. If, after this discussion, two-thirds of the total of members of the colegislative body should vote in favor of the bill, it shall be passed, with the objections of the President, to the other body, which also shall discuss it, and, if the latter body also should approve it by an equal majority, it shall be law. In all these cases the voting shall be by roll call. If, within the ten working days after the transmission of the bill to the President of the Republic, he should not return it, it shall stand as sanctioned, and shall be law. If, within the last ten days of a legislative session, a bill is presented to the President of the Republic, and he should propose to utilize the entire period that is allowed him in the preceding paragraph for the purpose of sanction, he shall communicate his intention, within a period of forty-eight hours, to the Congress, in order that the latter may remain assembled, if it so desires, until the expiration of the expressed period. If the President does not do so, the bill shall stand as sanctioned, and shall be law. No bill that has been totally rejected by either of the colegislative bodies may be discussed anew in the same legislative session. A bill approved by one of the colegislative bodies shall be discussed and decided by the other and shall have preference therein. This provision does not apply to extraordinary laws. Every law shall be promulgated within the ten days following that of its sanction. TITLE X Concerning Executive Power FIRST SECTION Concerning the Exercise of the Executive Power

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ART. 138. The President of the Republic is the chief of the State and represents the Nation. The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic with the Council of Ministers, in accordance with what is established by this Constitution. The President of the Republic acts with directive power and as moderator of nations solidarity. SECOND SECTION The President of the Republic, His Powers and Duties ART. 139. To be President of the Republic it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth, but if this status results from the provision in Clause (d) [i.e., 4th Clause] of Article 12 of this Constitution, it shall be necessary to have served with the armed forces of Cuba in the Wars of Independence for at least ten years. 2nd. To have reached thirty-five years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. 4th. Not to have belonged to the armed forces of the Republic in active service during the year immediately preceding the date of designation as presidential candidate. ART. 140. The President of the Republic shall be elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage, in a single day, for a term of four years, in conformity with the procedure that the law may establish. The computing of the vote shall be made by Provinces. The number of provincial votes equal to the total of Senators and Representatives, who, in conformity with the law, have the function of choosing the electoral college of the respective Province, shall be counted in favor of the candidate who obtains the greatest number of votes in each of the Provinces, and the candidate shall be considered elected who receives the greatest number of provincial votes accumulated throughout the Republic. A person who has once held the office may not discharge it again for eight years after having left office.

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ART. 141. The President of the Republic shall swear or affirm before the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, on taking possession of his office, faithfully to discharge his duties, complying with and enforcing the Constitution and the laws. ART. 142. It is the function of the President of the Republic, assisted by the Council of Ministers: 1st. To sanction and promulgate the laws, to execute them and enforce their execution; to enact, when the Congress does not do so, the regulations for the best execution of said laws; to issue decrees and orders which, for this purpose, and as far as is incumbent upon the Government and the administration of the State, may be proper, without in any case contravening what is established in the lasers. 2nd. To call the Congress or the Senate alone into extraordinary session, in the cases stipulates! by this Constitution, or when it may be necessary. 3rd. To suspend sessions of the Congress when agreement to that effect may not have been reached between the colegislative bodies. 4th. To present to the Congress at the beginning of each legislative session, and provided that it may be opportune, a message concerning the acts of administration covering the general state of the Republic, and to recommend or initiate the adoption of laws and resolutions that he may consider necessary or useful. 5th. To present the annual budget bill to the Chamber of Representatives, sixty days before the date on which it must go into effect. 6th. To communicate to the Congress whatever information the latter may require, directly, or by means of interpellations of the Government, upon all classes of matters in which secrecy is not required. 7th. To direct diplomatic negotiations and to negotiate treaties faith other Nations, with the obligation of submitting such treaties to the approval of the Senate, without which requisite they shall not be valid and shall not obligate the Republic. 8th. To appoint, with the approval of the Senate, the president, presidents of the chamber, and Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, in the form that this Constitution provides, as well as the chiefs of diplomatic missions. 9th. To appoint the appropriate officials for the discharge of any other offices instituted by law in case their designation is not attributed to other authorities. 175

10th. To suspend the exercise of the rights enumerated in Article 41 of this Constitution, in the cases and in the form established by the same. 11th. To grant pardons in accordance with what the Constitution and the laws may prescribe, except in matters of crimes of electoral fraud. In order to pardon officials and public employees penalized for crimes committed in the exercise of their functions, it shall be necessary that the latter shall have completed at least a third part of the penalty that the tribunals have imposed upon them. 12th. To receive the diplomatic representatives ant! admit the consular agents of other Nations. 13th. To dispose of the armed forces of the Republic, as supreme chief of the same. 14th. To provide for the defense of the national territory and the preservation of internal order, giving account to the Congress. In case of danger of invasion, or in case a rebellion seriously menaces public security, and the Congress is not in session, the President may convoke it without delay in order that the necessary action may be taken. 15th. To comply with and enforce whatever rules, orders, and provisions the superior electoral tribunal may agree upon and enact. 16th. To appoint and freely remove the Ministers of Government, giving account to the Congress; to replace them on such occasions as may develop in accordance with this Constitution, and, as the case may be, to support the decisions of the Council. 17th. To exercise the other powers that the Constitution and the law may expressly confer. ART. 143. All decrees, orders, and decisions of the President of the Republic must be countersigned by the corresponding Minister, without which requisite they shall lack obligatory force. This endorsement shall not be necessary in the case of appointment of Ministers of Government. ART. 144. The President may not leave the territory of the Republic with out the authorization of the Congress.

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ART. 145. The President shall be responsible before the plenum of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for crimes of common character that he may commit cluring the exercise of his once, but he may not be prosecuted except with the prior authorization of the Senate, given by an affirmative vote ol two-thirds of its members. In this case the Tribunal shall decide whether of not to suspend him from his functions until sentence is pronounced. ART. 146. The President shall receive from the State a salary that may bt altered at any time; but this change shall not have effect until the presidential term following that in which such change may have been granted. TITLE XI Concerning the Vice-President of the Republic ART. 147. There shall be a Vice-President of the Republic who shall be elected in the same form and for the same period of time as the President, and jointly with him. To be Vice-President it is necessary to have the same qualifications that this Constitution prescribes for the President. ART. 148. The Vice-President of the Republic shall replace the President in cases of absence, incapacity, or death. If the vacancy should be permanent, the substitution shall continue until the termination of the presidential term. In case of the absence, incapacity, or death of both, the president of the Congress shall substitute for them for the rest of the term. ART. 149. In any case in which the presidential substitutes established by this Constitution should be lacking, the oldest Magistrate of the Supreme Tribunal shall occupy the presidency of tile Republic in the interim, and shall call national elections within a period of not more than ninety days. In case the vacancy should occur within the last year of the presidential term, the substitute Magistrate shall hold the office until the end of the term. The person occupying the presidency in any of the substitutions referred to in the preceding articles may not be a presidential candidate for the next election.

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ART. 150. The Vice-President of the Republic exercises the presidency of the Senate, and shall have a vote only in case of a tie. The Vice-President shall receive a salary from the State that may be altered at any time, but no change shall have effect until the presidential term following that in which such change may have been granted. TITLE XII Concerning the Council of Ministers ART. 151. For the exercise of the executive power the President of the Republic shall be assisted by a Council of Ministers, composed of the number of members determined by law. One of these Ministers shall hold the title of Prime Minister, by designation of the President of the Republic, and may discharge his office with or without portfolio. ART. 152. To be a Minister it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth. 2nd. To have reached thirty years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. 4th. To have no business relations with the State, the Provinces, or the municipalities. ART. 153. Each Minister shall have one or more Subsecretaries who shall substitute for him in cases of temporary absence or disability. ART. 154. The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers. When the President does not attend sessions of the Council, the Prime Minister shall preside over it. The Prime Minister shall represent the general policy of the Government, and shall represent the latter before the Congress.

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ART. 155. The Council of Ministers shall have a secretary in charge of keeping the records of the Council, certifying their decisions, and expediting the business of the presidency of the Republic and of the Council of Ministers. ART. 156. The Ministers shall have charge of the offices of their respective ministries and shall deliberate and decide upon all questions of general interest that do not fall within the jurisdiction of other dependencies or authorities, and shall exercise the powers belonging to them in accordance with the Constitution and the law. ART. 157. Decisions of the Council of Ministers are taken by a majority of votes in sessions at which one-half plus one of the Ministers attend. ART. 158. The Ministers of Government shall be individually responsible for measures that they countersign and collectively responsible for measures that they jointly approve or authorize. ART. 159. The Prime Minister and the Ministers of Government are criminally responsible before the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for common crimes that they may commit in the exercise of their offices. ART. 160. The ministries of education, of health ant! social assistance, of agriculture, and of public worlds shall act exclusively as technical organizations. ART. 161. The Prime Minister and the Ministers of Government shall swear or alarm before the President of the Republic faithfully to comply with the duties inherent in their offices, as well as to observe and enforce the Constitution and the law. ART. 162. It shall be the function of the Prime Minister to expedite, with the President of the Republic, the matters of the general policy of the Government, and with the assistance of the Ministers, the affairs of the respective departments. ART. 163. The powers and duties of the Ministers are:

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1st. To comply with and enforce the Constitution, the laws, decree-laws, decrees, regulations, and other resolutions and provisions. 2nd. To write bills, regulations, decrees, and any other resolutions, and to present them for the consideration of the Government. 3rd. To countersign, jointly svith the Prime Minister, the laws and other documents authorized with the signature of the President of the Republic, with the exception of decrees for the appointment or removal of Ministers. 4th. To attend the Congress, on the invitation of the latter, or at the instance of either of its bodies, to report before them, to answer interpellations, to deliberate therein, and to propose votes of confidence individually or collectively. A Minister who is a Congressman shall have the right to vote only in the body to which he belongs. TITLE XIII SOLE SECTION Concerning the Relations between the Congress and the Government ART. 164. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Chamber and the Senate for their acts of government. The latter bodies may give or refuse a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister, a single Minister, or in the Council as a whole, in the form specified by this Constitution. ART. 165. Each colegislative body may determine upon the total or partial removal of the Government, raising the question of confidence, shall be presented by means of a motion in writing with reasons, and with the signatures of at least a third part of the members. This motion shall immediately be communicated to the remaining members of the respective body and shall be discussed and voted upon eight calendar days after its presentation. If the motion is not decided within fifteen clays following the said presentation, it shall be considered rejected. To be validly approved, these motions shall require an affirmative majority of onehalf plus one of the total of members of the Chamber of Representatives or of the Senate, respectively, which must always be obtained by a rollcall vote.

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A case in which the outcome of a ballot is against a bill presented by the Government or by a Minister, or a case of reconsideration of a bill returned by the President of the Republic, shall in no way obligate the Prime Minister or the Ministers to resign their ounces. If a question of confidence is raised simultaneously in both colegislative bodies, that introduced in the Chamber of Representatives shall have priority. ART. 166. Crises in questions of confidence may be total or partial. Those that concern the Prime Minister or that concern more than three Ministers shall be considered total. Others shall be considered partial. ART. 167. The power of refusing confidence in the entire Government, in the Prime Minister, or in any of those who form a part of the Council, may not be exercised until at least six months after the appointment of the Council of Government for the first time, or after a later occurrence of a total crisis in which a motion of lack of confidence has been approved by the respective colegislative body, according to the rules established in this Constitution. Ministers whose appointments were occasioned by the removal of their predecessors in a partial crisis may not be submitted to a vote of no confidence until six months after their designation, except in a question of total crisis. If a motion of no confidence should result favorably in either of the colegislative bodies, another such motion tnay not be raised again for one year; in such event, the said power of refusing confidence shall belong to the other colegislative body, which in no case may exercise the said power until at least six months after the appointment of the Government of Ministers to whom the said question refers. Two partial crises shall be the equivalent of one total crisis for the purposes of the sixmonth restriction to which this article refers. In no case may questions of confidence be raised within the last six months of each presidential term. The Council of Ministers may itself raise the question of confidence in regard to the whole of its members or with respect to any of the Ministers. In this case the question shall be discussed and clecidec! immediately. The fact of a motion of confidence demanded by the Government having been previously decided does not impede or restrict the Congress from freely exercising its 181

right to raise such motions of confidence.

ART. 168. In any case in which a vote of confidence is refused the Government or any of its members, the entire Government, or those of its members adectec! by the vote of lack of confidence, must resign within forty-eight hours following the parliamentary decision, and in default thereof shall be considered removed and the President of the Republic shall so declare. The outgoing Minister shall continue provisionally in his office after resignation, until his successor takes office. ART. 169. Passage of a vote of no confidence in the entire Council of Ministers or in any of its members only signifies disagreement, on the part of the colegislative body that raised the question, with the policy of the Minister, or with that of the Government as a whole. A vote of no confidence necessarily implies that Ministers whose policy was the object of the vote may not be appointed to the same portfolios in the Cabinet that is formed or re-formed immediately after the crisis. TITLE XIV Concerning the Judicial Power FIRST SECTION General Provisions ART. 170. Justice is administered in the name of the people, and its dis Sensation shall be free throughout the national territory. Judges and prosecutors are independent in the exercise of their functions and owe no obedience except to the law. Justice may be administered only by persons who permanently belong to the Judiciary. No member of this branch may exercise any other profession

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The registries of civil status are in charge of members of the Judiciary. ART. 171. The judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, the superior electoral tribunal, and the other tribunals and courts that the law may establish. The law shall regulate the organization of the tribunals, their powers, the means of exercising them, and the qualifications required of the officials who compose them. SECOND SECTION Concerning the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ART. 172. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice shall be composed of the chambers that the law may determine. One of these chambers shall constitute the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees. Upon recognition that constitutional matters are involved, the president of the Supreme Tribunal shall necessarily preside, and the tribunal itself shall be composed of not less than fifteen Magistrates. When social matters are involved it shall be composed of not less than nine Magistrates. ART. 173. To be president or a Magistrate of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth. 2nd. To have reached forty years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights, and never to have been sentenced to corporal punishment for a common crime. 4th. To meet, in addition, any of the following qualifications: To have practiced the profession of law in Cuba for at least ten years, or to have discharged judicial or prosecuting functions for an equal time, or to have held, for the same number of years, a professorship of law in an official institution of learning.

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For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the periods in which the appointees for president or Magistrate of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice may have practiced the profession of law and exercised judicial or prosecuting functions may be added together. ART. 174. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice, in addition to the other powers and duties that this Constitution and the law stipulate, shall have the following: 1st. To accept jurisdiction over appeals in cessation. 2nd. To adjust questions of competence between tribunals that are immediately inferior, or that do not have a common superior, and questions that may arise between the judicial authorities and other kinds of authorities of the State, Province, and municipality. 3rd. To accept jurisdiction over verdicts that the State, Provinces, and municipalities may contest among themselves. 4th. To decide upon the constitutionality of the laws, decree-laws, decrees, regulations, agreements, orders, provisions, and other acts of any other agency, authority, or official. 5th. To decide, in final instance, upon suspension or removal from office of local and provincial officials, in conformity with what is provided by this Constitution and the law. ART. 175. The judicial career is instituted. Entry into the same shall be made by means of competitive examinations except in the case of Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal. ART. 176. In the appointment of magistrates of the provincial supreme court, three procedures shall be observed: the first, the concept of promotion by strict seniority from the tower category; the second, by means of a competitive examination among those who occupy the immediately inferior category; and third, by means of practical and theoretical competitive examinations given to persons able to compete, judicial officials, and public attorneys, as well as lawyers not over sixty years of age. Practicing lawyers must meet the same requirements as are necessary for being appointed Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal.

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ART. 177. Appointment of judges shall be made upon two procedures: one, by strict seniority in the lower category, and the other by competitive examination in which officials of the same and of the lower category may take part. In the first procedure to which this article and the preceding one refer, the vacancy shall be filled a transfer, if there should be an official in an equivalent category who applies for the position, reserving entry or promotion for positions that definitely remain available in the category. ART. 178. The chamber of government of the Supreme Tribunal shall determine, classify, and publish the merits to which the judicial officials of each category are entitled toward their turn for promotion. ART. 179. In cases of competitive examination, the transfers and promotions shall necessarily be granted to the official who applies for the position and who is in the same category or the one immediately inferior, and who obtains the best grade. The Supreme Tribunal shall establish the standard of grading by categories, verifying the said grading semi-annually with exclusive consideration of the ability, judgment, merit, and judicial activity of each individual. ART. 180. Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal shall be appointed by the President of the Republic from a panel proposed by an electoral college of nine members. These shall be designated: four by the plenum of the Supreme Tribunal from its own body, three by the President of the Republic, and two by the faculty of law of the University of Havana. The last five must meet the qualifications required of Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal, and those designated by the faculty of law may not belong to the same. The electoral college is formed for each designation, and its members who are not Magistrates may not again be made a part of this body until four years have elapsed. The president of the Supreme Tribunal and the presidents of a chamber shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, on the proposal of the plenum of the Tribunal. These appointments and those of the Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal must receive the approval of the Senate. The panel to which the first paragraph of this article refers shall include at least one judicial official in active service who has discharged these duties for a minimum period of ten years, if there be such an official.

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ART. 181. The appointments, promotions, transfers, exchanges, suspensions, corrections, pensionings, leaves of absence, and abolition of positions shall be made by a special chamber of government composed of the president of the Supreme Tribunal and of six members of the same, annually elected among the presidents of the chamber and Magistrates of the said Tribunal. No person may be a part of this chamber of government for two successive years. All newly created positions shall include compensations in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution. The regulatory powers, as far as concerns the internal order of the tribunals, shall be exercised by the chamber of government of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, in accordance with the provisions of the organic law of the Judiciary. THIRD SECTION Concerning the Tribunal of Constitutional and Social Guarantees ART. 182. The tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees is competent to accept jurisdiction in the following matters: 1st. Appeals of unconstitutionality against laws, decree-laws, decrees, resolutions, or acts that may deny, diminish, restrict, or violate the rights and guarantees embodies] in this Constitution, or that may impede the free functioning of the organs of State. 2nd. Advisory opinions sought by judges and tribunals upon the constitutionality of laws, decree-laws, and other provisions that they may have to apply in trials. 3rd. The recourse of habeas corpus, by way of appeal, or when the claim has been unsuccessful before other authorities or tribunals. 4th. The validity of proceedings and of constitutional amendment. 5th. Juridico-political questions and those of social legislation that the Constitution and the law may submit for its consideration. 6th. Appeals against abuses of power.

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ART. 183. The following may appeal to the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees without the necessity of posting a bond: 1st. The President of the Republic, the president and any one of the members of the Council of Government, the Senate, the Chamber of Representatives, the tribunal of accounts, the governors, mayors, and councilors. 2nd. Judges and tribunals. 3rd. The Ministry of Justice. 4th. The universities. 5th. The autonomous departments authorized by the Constitution or the law. 6th. All persons individually or collectively who may have been affected by an act or provision that they consider unconstitutional. Persons not included in any of the preceding clauses may also appeal to the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees, provided that they post the bond that the law may indicate. The law shall establish the manner in which the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees shall function, and the procedure for submission of evidence on appeals made before the same. FOURTH SECTION Concerning the Superior Electoral Tribunal ART. 184. The superior electoral tribunal shall be composed of three Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and two of the provincial supreme court of Havana, appointed for a term of four years by the plenums of their respective tribunals. The presidency of the superior electoral tribunal shall be held by the oldest of the three Magistrates from the Supreme Tribunal. Each one of the members of the tribunal shall have two alternates appointed by the body from which he comes.

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ART. 185. In addition to the powers that the electoral laws may confer upon it, the superior electoral tribunal is invested with full powers for guaranteeing the integrity of suffrage, controlling and intervening as it may consider necessary in all the census enumerations, elections, and other electoral acts; in the formation and organization of new parties, reorganization of existing ones, nomination of candidates, and proclamation of those elected. It shall also have power: 1st. To decide upon electoral claims that the law may submit to its jurisdiction and competence. 2nd. To enact general and special instructions necessary for the fulfillment of electoral legislation. 3rd. To determine, in case of appeal, the procedure required for establishing the validity or nullity of an election and the proclamation of candidates. 4th. To enact mandatory instructions and provisions for the armed forces and police for the maintenance of order and electoral freedom during the period of census enumeration, of organization and reorganization of parties, and during the interim between the call for elections ant! the conclusion of the verification of the vote. In case of grave disturbance of public order, or when the tribunal considers that there do not exist sufficient guarantees, it may order the suspension or nullification of all electoral acts and operations in the territory affected, although constitutional guarantees are not suspended. ART. 186. The law shall organize the electoral tribunals. In order to form them, the law may require the services of judicial officers. Jurisdiction over electoral complaints is reserved to electoral tribunals. Nevertheless, the law shall determine the matters in which, as exceptions, appeals may be taken from the decisions of the superior electoral tribunal to the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees. ART. 187. The administrative tenure of electoral employees and officials, subordinate to the supreme jurisdiction of the superior electoral tribunal, is established, and the permanent employees of the electoral councils are declared irremovable.

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The compensation fixed for these permanent officials and employees by the electoral code may not be altered, except under conditions and Irrupt established for judicial officials and employees. The law may not assign different salaries to positions of equal rank, category. and function. FIFTH SECTION Concerning the Ministry of Justice ART. 188. The Ministry of Justice represents the people in the administration of justice, and its basic purpose is to supervise compliance with the Constitution and the law. The officials of the Ministry of Justice shall be irremovable and independent in their functions, with the exception of the prosecuting attorney of the Supreme Tribunal, who shall be appointed and may be removed freely by the President of the Republic. ART. 189. Entrance into the prosecuting career shall be by means of competitive examination, and promotion shall be effected in the form that this Constitution establishes for judges. Appointments, including those to newly created positions, promotions, transfers, suspensions, readjustments, leaves of absence, removals, and pensioning of officials of the Ministry of Justice, and approval of their exchange or resignation, shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the law. ART. 190. The prosecuting attorney of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice shall meet the qualifications required of Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal; the assistant attorneys of the same Tribunal, and the prosecutors of the other tribunals, must be Cuban by birth, must have reached thirty years of age, ant! must be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights. The other officials of the Ministry of Justice shall meet the qualifications that the law may stipulate. ART. 191. When the Government is involved in or is a party to any proceedings, the interests of the Government shall be represented by State attorneys, who shall constitute a body, the organization and functioning of which shall be regulated by law. SIXTH SECTION Concerning the Superior Council of Social Defense and the Tribunals for Minors 189

ART. 192. There shall be a superior council of social defense which shall be in charge of the execution of penalties and measures of security that involve the deprivation or limitation of individual liberty, as well as the organization, direction, and administration of all establishments or institutions that may be required for the most effective prevention and suppression of crime. This body, which shall enjoy autonomy for the exercise of its technical and administrative functions, shall also have in its charge the concession and revocation of conditional freedom, in accordance with the law. ART. 193. Tribunals for minors are established. The law shall regulate their organization and functioning. SEVENTH SECTION Concerning Unconstitutionality ART. 194. A declaration of unconstitutionality may be sought: 1st. By the interested parties in trials, suits, or businesses in which ordinary or special Jurisdiction is accepted. 2nd. By twenty-five qualified citizens. 3rd. By the person affected by the provision deemed unconstitutional. The judges and tribunals are obliged to decide conflicts between the laws in force and the Constitution, following the principle that the latter shall always prevail over the former. When a judge or tribunal considers any law, decree-law, decree, or provision inapplicable because he deems that it violates the Constitution, he shall suspend the proceedings and submit the matter to the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees for the purpose of asserting or denying the constitutionality of the provision in question and shall return the matter to the lower court to continue the proceedings, issuing the measures of safeguard that may be pertinent to the case. 190

In administrative procedure, the question of unconstitutionality may be raised when litigious administrative problems are involved. If the laws do not provide such recourse, the appeal of unconstitutionality may be raised directly against the administrative decision. The appeal of unconstitutionality in the cases enumerated in Articles 131, 174, 182, and 186 of this Constitution shall be placed directly before the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees. In all appeals of unconstitutionality the tribunals shall always decide the validity of the claim. If the appeal should suffer from any defect of form, the said tribunals shall grant a time for the party making the appeal to correct such defects. No law, decree-law, decree, regulation, order, provision, or measure that has been declared unconstitutional may be applied in any case or form, under penalty of disqualification from the exercise of public office. The verdict in which the unconstitutionality of a legal precept or measure, or administrative resolution, is declared, shall obligate the body, authority, or official which may have enacted the annulled provision to repeal it immediately. In all cases the legislative or regulatory provision or governmental measure declared unconstitutional shall be considered null and without force and elect from the date of publication of the verdict in the chambers of the tribunal. ART. 195. The Supreme Tribunal and the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees are obliged to publish their verdicts in the proper official periodical without delay. A sum shall be fixed annually in the budget of the Judiciary for defraying the expense of such publication. EIGHTH SECTION Concerning jurisdiction and Irremovability ART. 196. The ordinary tribunals shall have jurisdiction over all trials. suits, or businesses, whatever may be the jurisdiction to which they belong. with the sole

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exception of cases of military crimes or acts occurring in the service of the armed forces, which shall be submitted to military jurisdiction. Upon commission of such crime jointly by soldiers and persons not enjoying immunity, or when one of the latter is a victim of the crime, the case shall fall within ordinary jurisdiction. ART. 197. In no case may tribunals, commissions, or bodies be created to which special competence is granted for accepting jurisdiction over acts, proceedings, suits, contingencies, questions, or businesses assigned to the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals. ART. 198. The tribunals of the naval and land forces shall be governed by a special organic law and shall have jurisdiction only over strictly military crimes committed by the members of said forces. In case of war or grave disturbance of public order, military jurisdiction shall extend over all crimes and offenses committed by soldiers in the territory in which the state of war actually exists, in accordance with the law. ART. 199. The civil and criminal responsibility that judges, magistrates, and public attorneys may incur in the exercise of their functions' or by reason of said functions, shall be subject to accounting before the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. ART. 200. Judicial officials and those of the Ministry of Justice, public defenders, as well as their assistants and deputies, are irremovable. By virtue of this, said officials may not be suspended or separated except for reason of crime or other duly accredited grave cause, and always after a hearing of the accused. These officials may be suspended from the exercise of their functions at any stage of the proceedings. A judge, magistrate, prosecutor, or court attorney, when prosecuted in a criminal case, shall be immediately suspended from the exercise of his functions. The transfer of judges, magistrates, prosecutors, or court attorneys may not be effected except by means of a corrective disciplinary procedure, or for the reasons of public convenience that the law may establish. However, officials of the Ministry of Justice may be transferred in cases of vacancy, if they so request.

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ART. 201. The offices of secretaries and assistants of the administration of justice shall be allotted according to the alternative systems of transfers and promotions by seniority or merit, the latter being determined by competitive examination in the form that the law may fix, and in accordance with the personnel list that the chamber of government of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice shall draw up and publish. ART. 202. The law shall establish the grounds for punishment, transfer, and removal, as well as the procedure for the respective measures. ART. 203. Compliance with judicial decisions is mandatory. The law shall establish the guarantees necessary for making these decisions effective in case authorities, officials, employees of the State, Province, or municipality, or members of the armed forces should resist them. ART. 204. Sentences pronounced by correctional judges in cases of crime may be appealed before the tribunal that the law may determine and under proceedings regulated by law. ART. 205. The Government has no power to declare a binding decision of the tribunals prejudicial. In case the Government is unable to enforce the decision, it shall indemnify the injured party in the proper manner, requesting the Congress to appropriate the necessary funds, if they are not on hand. ART. 206. The salaries of officials and employees of the administration of justice, of the Ministry of Justice, and the permanent officials and employees of the electoral bodies may not be altered except by a vote of two-thirds of each one of the colegislative bodies, arid at periods of not less than five years. Different salaries may not be established for offices of equal rank, category, and function. The salaries assigned to Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and to the other officials of the Judiciary, must in al! cases be adequate to the importance and far-reaching consequences of their functions.

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ART. 207. No member of the Judiciary may be a Minister of Government or discharge any function assigned to the legislative or executive branches, except as a member of a commission designated by the Senate or the Chamber of Representatives for the revision of laws. Members of the Judiciary likewise may not stand as candidates for any elective once. ART. 208. Criminal responsibility of the president, the presidents of the chamber, and Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and the grounds for their removal from office, shall be established according to the following procedure: The Senate of the Republic shall be competent to accept jurisdiction of charges against the said officials. On receipt of charges, the Senate shall appoint a committee to study them and the committee shall then submit its findings to the Senate. If the Senate, by a vote of two-thirds of its members, cast by secret ballot, considers the charges well founded, the proper proceedings shall be opened before a tribunal that shall be called the grand jury, composed of fifteen members, appointed in the following manner: The president of the Supreme Tribunal shall send to the president of the Senate the complete list of the members of that body not affected by the accusation. The president of the Chamber of Representatives shall send to the president of the Senate the list of members of the Chamber of Representatives. The rector of the University of Havana shall send to the president of the Senate the complete list of titular professors of the faculty of law. The President of the Republic shall send to the president of the Senate a list of fifty lawyers, chosen freely by him, who meet the qualifications required for Magistrates of the Supreme Tribunal. On receipt of these lists by the president of the Senate, the latter, in public session of the said body, shall proceed to select the members of the grand jury by ballot: Six from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. In default of said number, this group shall be completed by the same procedure from a list including the president and the magistrates of the provincial supreme court of Havana, sent to the president of the Senate by the president of said provincial supreme court. Three members from the Chamber of Representatives.

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Three members from the faculty of law of the University of Havana; and, Three members from the list of fifty lawyers. The judicial official of the highest rank shall preside over this tribunal, and in his absence, the oldest member present shall so preside. The Senate, after having once designated the grand jury, shall forward the charges to the latter for judicial proceedings. After sentence is pronounced, the grand jury shall be dissolved. TITLE XV Concerning the Municipal System FIRST SECTION General Provisions ART. 209. The municipality is the local community politically organized by authorization of the Legislature, within the territorial extent determined by the necessary relationships of neighborhoods on a basis of economic ability to provicle for the expenses of its own government, and with juridical personality for all legal purposes. The law shall determine the territory and the name of each municipality and the place of residence of its government. ART. 210. The municipalities may associate with one another for intermunicipal purposes by agreement of their respective councils or commissions. Some municipalities may also be incorporated into others, or divided in order to constitute new municipalities, may alter their boundaries, by popular initiative and with the approval of the Congress, after presentation of the opinions of the respective councils or commissions. In order to approve the separation of a section of one municipal district to join it to another or other adjacent municipal districts, it shall be necessary that at least ten per cent of the inhabitants of the section of territory to be separated so request, and that in a referendum election sixty per cent of the voters of the said section are shown to be in favor of the separation. 195

If the results of the referendum should be favorable to the proposed separation, the matter shall be brought before the Congress for final decision. In stipulating new territorial boundaries and effecting the division of property, the rights of private property appertaining to the ceding municipality or buildings it may have acquired or constructed in the section to be ceded, shall be respected, without prejudice to the right of the receiving municipality to the proportional share belonging to it for what it may have contributed in the acquisition or construction of such buildings. As regards the constitution of a new municipality, it shall be the function of the tribunal of accounts to report upon the economic ability of the same to maintain its own government. ART. 211. The municipal government is an entity with power to satisfy the particular collective needs of the local community, and is, in addition, an auxiliary organ of the central authority exercised by the State throughout the national territory. ART. 212. The municipality is autonomous. The municipal government is invested with all the powers necessary for freely disposing of the business of the local community. The powers with which the municipality is not invested by this Constitution are reserved for the national Government. The State may supplement municipal efforts when the latter may be insufficient, in case of epidemics, grave disturbance of public order, or other occasions of public interest, in the form that the law may determine. ART. 213. It shall be within the special jurisdiction of municipal government: 1st. To administer all local public services; to purchase, construct, and operate enterprises of public service, or to grant said services by concession or contract, with all the guarantees that the law may establish; and to acquire the properties necessary for the purposes indicated by expropriation or by purchase. The municipal governments may also operate enterprises of an economic character.

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2nd. To carry out local public improvements and to acquire by purchase, in agreement with the owners or by means of expropriation, the properties directly necessary for the projected work, as well as properties -that may serve to defray the cost of the same. 3rd. To establish and administer schools, museums, and public libraries, fields for physical education, and recreation fielcis, without prejudice to what the law may provicle concerning education; and to adopt and execute, within the boundaries of the municipality, rules of sanitation and local vigilance and other similar provisions not contrary to the law; as well as to encourage the establishment of producers' and consumers' cooperatives, expositions, and botanical and zoological gardens, all with the character of public service. 4th. To appoint municipal employees in accordance with what this Constitution and the laws may establish. 5th. To formulate its own budgets of expense and income and to establish the necessary taxes to cover them, provided that the latter may be compatible with the tax system of the State. The municipalities may not reduce or abolish revenues of a permanent character without at the same time establishing others to take their place, except in case the reduction or abolition should correspond with an equivalent reduction or abolition of permanent expenditures. Credits in the budgets for expenses shall be divided into twelve parts, and no attention shall be paid to the expenses of the current month until all preceding ones have been liquidated. 6th. To negotiate loans, voting at the same time the permanent revenues necessary for the payment of their interest and amortization. No municipality may contract obligations of this kind except with the prior favorable report of the tribunal of accounts. In the event that new taxes are approved for the payment of obligations referred to in the preceding paragraph, a referendum election shall also be necessary, in which at least one-half plus one of the votes cast by the voters of the municipal district are in the affirmative, except in case the voting is less than thirty per cent of the total number of voters in the said district. 7th. To contract economic obligations of deferred payment for defraying the cost of public works, with the duty of appropriating in the successive annual budgets the 197

credits necessary to satisfy them, and provided that their payment shall not absorb the economic ability of the municipality to carry on other services that it has in its charge. No municipality may contract obligations of this kind without a prior favorable report by the tribunal of accounts, and also the favorable vote of two-thirds of the members who compose the council or the commission. 8th. The enumeration of these powers, as well as any others that the law may create, does not imply a limitation or restriction upon the general powers granted by the Constitution to the municipality, but merely the expression of a part of these general powers, without prejudice to what is provided in Article 212 of this Constitution. Commerce, communication, and intermunicipal transportation may not be taxed by the municipality. Money speculation, or disloyal competition arising from measures adopted by the municipalities, is prohibited. Municipal taxes upon articles of primary necessity shall be regulated upon the bases that the law may establish. ART. 214. The government of each municipality is obliged to satisfy the following minimum local requirements: 1st. The punctual payment of salaries and wages to municipal officials and employees, in accordance with the standard of living of the locality. 2nd. The maintenance of a lodging house and infirmary, a workshop, and a practical agricultural experimental school. 3rd. The maintenance of a public police force, and a fire extinguishing service. 4th. The functioning, at least in the principal town, of a school, a library, a popular cultural center, and a medical dispensary. ART. 215. In each municipality, there shall be a planning commission, which shall have the obligation of devising means of extending and embellishing the city, and supervising its execution, taking account of the present and future necessities for public transportation, hygiene, beautification, and the common welfare. The said commission shall be concerned with everything related to the dwellings of workers and shall propose plans for the manufacture of houses for rural workers, which may be acquired over a long period through moclerate rentals for reimbursing the municipality for the capital invested. The municipalities shall proceed to execute the plan that they may approve, appropriating the necessary funds for this purpose in

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their budgets, with the provision that the sum total of payments for each house be not less than the cost of one house in each fiscal year, or else availing themselves of the means that the Constitution extends for carrying out works of this nature, in case the ordinary incomes of such buildings are insufficient to defray their cost. There shall also be a district road commission, that shall have the obligation of planning, constructing, and maintaining roads which, according to a plan and system of management previously approved, may favor the development, transportation, and distribution of products. ART. 216. The law shall determine the urbanization of villages or settiements contiguous to the mills of sugar plantations or to any other agricultural or industrial clevelopment of art analogous nature. SECOND SECTION Guarantees of Municipal Autonomy ART. 217. The following is established as a guarantee of municipal autonomy: 1st. No local governing official may be suspended or removed by the President of the Republic, by the governor of the Province, or by any other governmental authority. The tribunals of justice alone may approve the suspension and removal from their offices of persons in local governing positions, by means of summary proceedings in accordance with the law, without prejudice to what is provided concerning revocation of political mandate. Likewise, no other officials or authorities may intervene in any of the official functions of persons in local governing positions, except in the case of powers granted by the Constitution to the tribunal of accounts. 2nd. The decisions of the council or of the commission, or the acts of the mayor or of any other municipal authority, may not be suspended by the President of the Republic, the governor of the Province, or by any other governmental authority. The said decisions or actions may be impugned by governmental authorities, only when the latter should consider such decisions or actions illegal' before the tribunals of justice, which alone shall be competent to declare, by summary proceedings that 199

the law may establish, whether or not the municipal body or authorities have made such decisions or actions within the sphere of their competence in accordance with the powers granted them by the Constitution. 3rd. No law may obtain for the State, the Provinces, or any other bodies or institutions, all or any part of the amounts that the municipalities may collect by way of taxes, imposts, and the other means for obtaining the municipal revenues. 4th. No law may declare of national character any municipal impost or tax that may constitute one of the sources of income of the municipality, without, at the same time, guaranteeing the latter incomes equivalent to those nationalized. 5th. No law may obligate the municipalities to exercise collecting functions for taxes of a national or provincial character, unless the bodies interested in the collection appoint the assistants necessary for this procedure. 6th. The municipality shall not be obligated to pay for any service that is not administered] by itself, except in case it is a matter of express agreement with the State, private individuals, or other municipalities. ART. 218. The mayor or any other representative authority of the local government may, by himself or upon the decision of the council or of the commission, take the appeal of the abuse of power before the plenum of the Supreme Tribunal against any decision of the national or provincial Government that in their judgment may attack the system of municipal autonomy established by the Constitution, even if the decision may have been enacted by the use of discretionary. ART. 219. As a guarantee to the inhabitants of municipal districts in relation to their local governing officials, the following provisions are made: 1st. In case the actions or decisions of the municipal authorities or bodies are prejudicial to any private or social interest, the injured party or any inhabitant of the municipality who may consider the decision or action harmful to public interest, may seek its nullification and compensation for damages before the tribunals of justice by means of summary proceedings established by law. The municipality shall be seconclarily responsible and shall have the right, under the terms that the law may provide, to repeat charges, when payment of damages is granted, against the official guilty of having caused the damage.

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2nd. A referendum is required for the contracting of loans, the issuance of bonds, or for other operations of municipal credit mobilization that, by their size, may obligate the municipality in question to create new taxes to defray the payment of amortization or payment of the said contracted loans. 3rd. The right of initiative to propose measures to the council or to the commission shall be granted to such a percentage as the law of the municipal electoral bocly shall fix. If the latter bodies should reject the initiative or should not decide upon it, they must submit it to popular will by referendum in the form that the law may determine. 4th. Revocation of a political mandate may be sought against local governing officials by a fixed percentage of the voters of the municipality, in the form that the law may determine. 5th. A petition or claim submitted to municipal authorities or bodies shall be considered rejected if such petition or claim is not affirmatively decided within the period fixed by law. The latter should provide all necessary regulations for contesting such tacit rejections, and fixing the responsibility of those guilty of the delay. The law shall fix penalties for unjustified delay in the transmission to the municipal authorities and bodies of any such petitions formulates! by the inhabitants of the municipal districts. ART. 220. Criminal responsibility that the mayors, members of the councils or commissions, and other municipal authorities may incur, shall be tried before the tribunals of justice, either officially at the instance of the prosecuting attorney, or by civil action. Such action shall be available to all persons and may be exercised by any group of inhabitants of the municipal district, not less than twenty-five in number, without posting bond, ant! affecting their responsibility for false or slanderous accusation. ART. 221. Those voting in favor of municipal clecisions, as well as unauthorized absentees who allow the two following sessions to pass without recording their votes, shall be held responsible for such decisions. Such delayed voting shall not in any case affect the validity of decisions definitively adorned. THIRD SECTION Municipal Government 201

ART. 222. The municipal districts shall be governec] in the manner established by law, which shall recognize the right of the municipalities to be given their own municipal charter in accordance with this Constitution. The municipal organization shall be democratic and shall correspond in a simple and effective manner with the essentially administrative character of local government. ART. 223. The municipalities may adopt their own municipal charters in accordance with the following procedure, which the law shall regulate. The council or commission, on the petition of ten per cent of the voters of the municipality, and with the favorable vote of two-thirds of its own members, shall consult the electoral body of the municipality by means of the proper electoral organs, if it desires to elect a committee of fifteen members to draw up a municipal charter. The names of the candidates to take part in the committee shall be on the proper tickets, and if a majority of the electorate should vote favorably on the formulated question, the fifteen canclidates who have received the most votes, in accordance with the system of proportional representation, shall be electe to compose the committee. The latter shall brave up the municipal charter and shall submit it for the approval of the voters of the municipality not earlier than thirty days after finishing it and adjourning, and not later than the end of the year in which the committee was elected. The municipality shall adopt one of these systems of government: that of commission, or that of council and manager, or that of mayor and council. ART. 224. In the system of government by commission, the number of commissioners, including among them the mayor as president, shall be five, in municipalities that have up to 20,000 inhabitants; seven in those that have 20,000 to 100,000; and nine in those greater than 100,000 inhabitants. All commissioners shall be elected directly by the people for a term of four years. Each commissioner shall be the chief of a department of the municipal organization, for which he shall be responsible, and he shall be charged with carrying out and enforcing the measures adopted by the commission in so far as his department is concerned. The law shall fix the requirements that the commissioners shall meet, according to the department that is involved. 202

The commissioners shall jointly compose the deliberative body of the municipality. ART. 225. In the system of council and manager, there shall in addition be a mayor, who shall preside over the council and shall be the representative of the people in all official acts, or those acts of a social character. The city manager shall be a technician or a person of recognized capacity in municipal matters; he shall act as chief of municipal administration, with power to appoint and remove the officials ant} employees of the municipality, with observance of what is established in this Constitution. The office shall be filled by the council, for a term of six years, by competitive examination before a tribunal composed of the following members: one professor of municipal government, one professor of administrative law, one public accountants and two representatives of the municipality. The professor of administrative law and that of municipal government shall be appointed by a university faculty of social sciences; the public accountant by the trade school of the Province to which the municipality belongs; and the representatives of the municipality by the council of the municipal district concerned. The manager, once appointed by the council on the proposal of the authorized tribunal, may not be removed except by sentence by a competent judicial authority, or by popular will; provided that such action is carried out in accordance with the reasons and formalities that the law may establish. The council shall be composed, in this form of government, of six councilors when the population of the municipality does not exceed 20,000 inhabitants; of fourteen when the population is more than 20,000 but does not exceed 100,000; and of twentyeight when the population is more than 100,000 inhabitants. They shall all be elected directly by the people for a term of four years. ART. 226. In the system of mayor and council, presided over by the mayor, the latter as well as the councilors shall be elected directly by the people for a term of four years. The law shall determine the composition that the council shall have and shall fix the rules according to which the political parties must always select candidates for the said body who are representative of the diverse interests and activities of the locality.

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ART. 227. The mayor, the manager, and the commissioners shall receive a salary from the municipal treasury that may be altered at any time; but such a change shall not be made effective until after a neat election of mayor, council, or of the commission, has been held. An increase in the salary of the mayor shall be subject to the effective increase in municipal collections during the last two years preceding the date on which the increase is made effective. The office of councilor must be compensated when the economic conditions of the municipality permit; and just financial provisions shall be made for the support of the public services. ART. 228. In the temporary or permanent absence or disability of the mayor in any of the three aforementioned systems, he shall be replaced by a councilor or commissioner who shall have been elected for this purpose in the first session held by the council or the commission. In case of absence or disability of the manager, the council shall proceed to fill the vacancy in the same manner as is originally provided for filling this office. ART. 229. To be a municipal mayor, manager, commissioner, or councilor, it is necessary to be a Cuban citizen, to have reached twenty-one years of age, and to meet the other requirements that the law may stipulate. As regards the mayor, he shall be required, in addition, not to have belonged to the armed forces of the Republic in active service during the two years immediately prior to the date of his designation as a candidate. Residence in the municipality shall not be required of a manager. ART. 230. The law may create the metropolitan district of Havana, federating the surrounding municipalities with the capital city, to the extent that the law itself may determine. The federated municipalities shall have direct representation in the municipality of the metropolitan district, retaining their democratic and popular organizations. ART. 231. In the municipal budgets there shall be corresponding appropriations made for the upkeep of rural districts in accordance with the following gradual scale: In rural districts that contribute from $100 to $1,000 35%

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In rural districts that contribute from $1,001 to $5,000 30% In rural districts that contribute from $5,001 to $10,000 25% In rural districts that contribute $10,001 and above 20% ART. 232. Municipal elections shall take place on a different date than general elections. TITLE XVI SOLE SECTION Concerning the Provincial System ART. 233. The Province shall be comprised of the municipalities within its territory. Each Province shall be administered by a governor and a provincial council. The provincial government is represented in the person of the governor. The provincial council is the organ of orientation and co-ordination of the interests of the Province. ART. 234. The Provinces may be reconstituted or divided to form other new ones, or their boundaries may be modified, by means of agreement among the respective provincial councils and with the approval of the Congress. ART. 235. The governor shall be elected for a term of four years, by direct and secret vote, in the form that the law may determine. To be a governor it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth or naturalization, and in the latter case, to have ten years of residence in the Republic, counted from the date of naturalization. 2nd. To have reached twenty-five years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights.

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4th. Not to have belonged to the armed forces of the Republic in active service during the two years immediately preceding the date of his designation as a candidate. ART. 236. The governor shall receive a salary from the provincial treasury, that may be altered at any time; but such a change shall not go into effect until after a new election for governor has been held. An increase in the salary of a governor shall be subject to an effective increase in the provincial revenue during the last two years preceding the date on which the increase is proposed to become effective. ART. 237. In the temporary or permanent absence or disability of the governor, the oldest mayor shall substitute for him. ART. 238. It shall be the function of the governor of the Province: 1st. To carry out and enforce, to whatever extent may be required, the balls, decrees, and regulations of the Nation. 2nd. To publish the decisions of the provincial council, which shall have obligatory effect, executing them and causing them to be executed; to determine the appropriate penalties for violations when they may not have been fixed by the council. 3rd. To issue orders and, moreover, to enact instructions and rules for the better execution of the decisions of the council when the latter may not have made them. ART. 239. The municipal mayors of the Provinces shall constitute the provincial council. The mayors may attend the council sessions, assisted by specialists in each one of the fundamental services of the community, such as administration, health and social assistance, education, and public works; these specialists shall have the character of technical consultants of the council and shall have a voice but no vote. The office of technical adviser shall be honorary and without pay. ART. 240. The governor shall have his headquarters in the capital of the Province, but the sessions of the provincial council may take place in the principal town of any municipal district of the Province, upon previous agreement by the council.

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ART. 241. The provincial councils shall be assembled at least once every two months, without affecting the extraordinary sessions that they may hold when convened by the governor himself, or upon the instance of three or more members of the council. ART. 242. It shall be the function of the provincial council: 1st. To formulate its ordinary budget of income and expenditures and to determine the proportional quota in relation to income that must necessarily be apportioned to each municipality in order to defray the expenses of the Province. 2nd. To extend public services and carry out works of provincial concern, especially in the departments of health and social assistance, education, and communications, without violating the laws of the State. 3rd. To approve loans in order to carry out public works or provincial plans of a social and economic character, and at the same time to vote the permanent revenues necessary for the payment of their interest and amortization. No loan may be approved without previously obtaining a favorable report from the tribunal of accounts and the approval of two-thirds of the members of the provincial council. In cases in which new taxes are allowed for the payment of the obligations to which the preceding paragraph refers, it shall be necessary, moreover, to have an approving vote, in a referendum election of one-half plus one of the votes cast by the electors of the Province, with the proviso that not less than thirty per cent of the voters of the Province shall have participated in the election. 4th. To appoint and remove the provincial employees in accordance with this Constitution and the law. ART. 243. For the purpose of what is provided in the preceding article, the average figure of the effective revenues of the preceding five years shall be taken as a basis for determining the revenue necessary. ART. 244. When works approved by the council are not of a provincial character, but are in the interest of the municipalities, the latter must receive a minimum appropriation proportional to their tax quotas.

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ART. 245. No member of the provincial council may be suspended or removed by governmental authority. Likewise, the actions and decisions of the council may not be suspended or annulled by such authority, but may be impugned before the tribunals of justice by means of special summary proceedings, that the law shall regulate, by the municipal or national governmental authorities, or by any resident who may be injured by such decision or action, or who may consider the latter damaging to the public interest. The decisions of the provincial councils shall be made in public session. Only the provincial supreme courts are empowered to suspend or discharge provincial councilors for criminal cause, by summary proceedings, in conformity with the law, or by a provisional sentence that may include the penalty of mandatory disqualification from office. In case of suspension or discharge of a provincial councilor, such penalty shall extend to his functions as municipal mayor. ART. 246. The governor, with the prior approval of the provincial council, may appeal to the plenum of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, in the form determined by law, against abuse of power involved in decisions of the national Government which, in his judgment, attack the system of provincial autonomy established by the Constitution, although the measure may have been enacted within the use of discretionary powers. ART. 247. The provincial council and the governor must acknowledge the authority of the tribunal of accounts of the State in matters of auditing, and are obliged to submit all data and information that the latter may request, especially in relation to the formation and liquidation of the budgets. The governor shall appoint, at any time the tribunal of accounts shall so request, an expert adviser from the provincial department of finance to assist the tribunal in the examination of the accounts of the Province. ART. 248. The provisions concerning public finances, contained under the appropriate title in this Constitution, shall be applicable to the Provinces, in so far as they may be compatible with the system of the latter. ART. 249. The provincial councilors and the governors shall be responsible before the tribunals of justice, in the form that the law prescribes for acts carried out in the 208

exercise of their functions. The office of provincial councilor is honorary, without pay, and obligatory. ART. 250. The basis of provincial government and administration shall be organized by law, in accordance with this Constitution, and in a manner to respond to the administrative character of the provincial government. TITLE XVII National Finances FIRST SECTION Concerning the Property and Finances of the State ART. 251. Aside from properties of public domain and the subdivisions of the same, all properties existing in the territory of the Republic that do not belong to the Provinces or to the municipalities and that are not, individually or collectively, privately owned, shall belong to the State. ART. 252. Properties or patrimonies of the State may be alienated or taxed only under the following conditions: 1st. That the Congress approve such action by special law, for reasons of social necessity or convenience, and always by a favorable vote of two-thirds of each colegislative body. 2nd. That the sale be carried out by public auction. If a question of rental is involved, it shall proceed according to the provisions of the law. 3rd. That the proceeds of such sale shall serve to create labor, support public services, or satisfy public necessities. Permission for such alienation or taxation may, however, be granted in an ordinary law, and may take place without the requirement of public auction if the purpose shall be to develop a national economic plan approved by special law.

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ART. 253. The State shall not contract loans except by virtue of a fat approved by two-thirds of the total of the members of each colegislative body, and in which at the same time the permanent revenues necessary fc the payment of interest and amortization are voted. ART. 254. The State guarantees the public debt, and, in general, ever operation that involves the economic responsibility of the national treasury provided that such obligations shall be contracted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law. SECOND SECTION Concerning the Budget ART. 255. Al revenues and expenditures of the State, with the exception of those later to be mentioned, shall be anticipated and fixed in annual budgets and shall be in force only during the year for which they were approved. Funds, special monies or private patrimonies of bodies authorized by the Constitution or the law, and which are dedicated to social insurance, public works, the support of agriculture and regulation of industrial, cattle-raising, commercial, or professional activities, and, in general, those that promote the national wealth, are excepted from what is provided in the preceding paragraph. These funds, or the taxes upon them, shall be delivered to the autonomous body and be administered by the latter, in accordance with the law that may have created such funds, subject to the supervision of the tribunal of accounts. The expenditures of the Legislature and the Judiciary, of the tribunal of accounts, and of the interest and amortization of loans, as well as revenues by which they are covered, shall be permanent in character, and shall be included in the fixed budget that shall be in force until revised by special laws. ART. 256. For the purposes of protection of common and national interests within any branch of production as well as in the professions, the law may establish compulsory associations of producers, determining the manner of organization and functioning of the national bodies, as well as of the regional bodies that may be necessary, in such a manner that they shall at all times be governed by the full authority of a majority of their members, granting the said associations, at the same time, the right to make 210

provision for the necessities of their organized operations by means of quotas that may be imposed in- the administration of the law itself. The budgets of these organizations or co-operatives shall be supervised by the tribunal of accounts. ART. 257. The Congress may not include in the budget laws provisions that introduce legislative or administrative reforms of any other kind; nor may the Congress reduce or abolish revenues of a permanent character without, at the same time, establishing others in their stead, except in case the reduction or abolition should correspond with the reduction of the permanent expenses to an equal amount; nor may the Congress assign to any of the services for which it must make appropriations in the annual budget an amount larger than that indicated in the bill of the Government. The Congress may, by means of laws, create new services or extend existing ones. Every law that authorizes expenditures outside of the budget, or that may in the future represent expenditures of this kind, must, under penalty of nullification, establish the means of covering them in any of the following ways: 1st. Creation of new revenues. 2nd. Abolition of previous expenditures. 3rd. Absolute verification of the credit balance or surplus by the tribunal of accounts. ART. 258. The study and preparation of the annual budget of the State are functions of the Executive, and their approval or modification are functions of the Congress, within the limits established in the Constitution. In case of urgent necessity, the Congress may, by means of a law, grant an extraordinary budget. The Executive shall present the annual budget bill to the Congress through the Chamber of Representatives sixty days before the date on which it enters into effect. The President of the Republic, and especially the Minister of Finance, shall incur the liability that the law may determine if the budget is submitted to the Congress after the date previously fixed. The Chamber of Representatives shall send the budget bill to the Senate, together with its decision thereon, thirty days before the date on which it enters into effect. If the general budget is not voted upon before the first day of the fiscal year in which it must become effective, the budget that has been in force for the past year shall 211

continue in effect for three months, jointly with the law of bases. In this case, the Executive may not make any modifications other than those arising from expenditures already paid, or from service on expenditures not necessary during the new fiscal period. The allocations of the ordinary budget must be covered by corresponding ordinary incomes anticipated in the budget itself, with the proviso that in no case may such allocations be covered by extraordinary revenues unless so authorized by a law of this character. The ordinary budget shall be executed with the sole approval of the Congress, which shall immediately have it published. ART. 259. The budgets shall contain inscriptions in the part concerned with expenditures in which the following shall be made clear: 1st. The exact amount of the legitimate responsibilities of the State, liquid and outstanding, belonging to the preceding budgets. 2nd. The proportion of this amount that shall be balanced by the ordinary revenues fixed in the new budget. The law of bases must, as regards the preceding clauses, establish the rules relative to the form in which the amount or amounts fixed for payments during the life of the budget may be prorated among creditors having liquid credits. ART. 260. The credits assigned in the statement of expenditures in the budget shall fix the maximum amounts assigned to each service, which may not be augmented or transferred by the Executive without prior authorization by the Congress. The Executive may, however, grant credits or supplements to credits, under his own responsibility, and when the Congress is not in session, in the following cases: 1st. War, or imminent danger of war. 2nd. Grave disturbance of public order. 3rd. Public calamities.

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The procedure for these credits shall be determined by law. ART. 261. The Executive has the obligation of submitting annually the accounts of the State. For this purpose the Minister of Finance shall liquidate the annual budget within three months following its expiration; and, with the prior approval of the Council of Ministers, shall send his report, with the data and necessary verifications, to the tribunal of accounts. The latter shall render an opinion upon the report within the three months following, and within this period and without impairing the effectiveness of its decisions, shall inform the Congress and the Executive of any infractions or responsibilities for infractions which, in its judgment, may have been incurred. The Congress shall definitively approve or reject the accounts. Budget credits for expenditures not anticipated by the administration may only be expended, in such case, with prior approval by the Council of Ministers. The Executive shall send the balance sheet of the revenues and expenditures of the State to the Congress monthly. ART. 262. The Executive shall avoid duplication of services and multiplicity of official and semi-official agencies wholly or partially supported by the State for the realization of its purposes. ART. 263. No one shall be required to pay any impost, tax, or contribution that has not been expressly established by the law, or by the municipalities, in the form provided by this Constitution, and the amount of which may not go to form a part of the budget revenues of the State, Province, or municipality, unless other provisions are stipulated in the Constitution or in the law. Obligatory taxes or quotas imposed by the law upon persons or groups belonging to an industry, trade, or profession, in favor of their legally recognized organizations shall be considered included in the preceding provision. ART. 264. The State shall, without impairing the other means within its range, regulate the development of the national wealth by means of the execution of public works payable entirely or in part by those directly benefited. The law shall determine the manner and the proceedings adequate in order that the State, the Province, or the municipality, on its own initiative or accepting private initiative, may promote the execution of such works, grant proper concessions, authorize the apportionment and 213

the division, and collect taxes for these purposes. ART. 265. The liquidation of each credit arising from funds of the State for the execution of any public work or public service shall be published in full in the Gaceta oficial of the Republic, as soon as it has obtained the final approval of the proper Minister. The record of acceptance, whether partial, complete, provisional, or final, of all public works executed wholly or partially with funds deriving from the State, shall be published in the Gaceta official of the Republic, as soon as it has obtained the final approval of the proper Minister. The liquidation of credits arising from funds of the State, as well as final acceptances of public works executed by contract or administration, defrayed partially or wholly by funds provided by the State, shall be submitted for final approval within sixty calendar days after the termination of such works, without prejudice to the partial liquidations and acceptances that may have been recognized by the administration during the process of execution of such works. THIRD SECTION Concerning the Tribunal of Accounts ART. 266. The tribunal of accounts is the supervising body for revenues and expenditures of the State, Provinces and municipality, and of the autonomous organizations created under the protection of the law, which receive their incomes directly or indirectly through the State. The tribunal of accounts is dependent only upon the law, and its differences with other bodies shall be submitted to the decision of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. ART. 267. The tribunal of accounts shall be composed of seven members, four of whom shall be attorneys and three public accountants or professors of commerce. Any person who is included in Clause (d) [i.e., 4th Clause] of the following article may also be appointed, even without being an attorney or public accountant. Attorneys must meet the same qualifications as are requires! in order to be a member of the Supreme Tribunal. Public accountants or professors of commerce must be more than thirty-five years of age, Cubans by birth, and must have practiced their profession for not less than ten years. 214

The plenum of the Supreme Tribunal shall designate two of the attorneys who shall be the president and secretary of the court. The President of the Republic shall appoint one attorney and one public accountant or professor of commerce as members. The Senate shall appoint one attorney and one public accountant or professor of commerce as members. The University council shall appoint one public accountant or professor of commerce as a member. The members of the tribunal of accounts shall discharge their duties for a term of eight years ant! may be removed within this period only by the tribunal of constitutional and social guarantees of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of the Republic, after a legal process with a decision supported by reasons. The members of the tribunal of accounts may not form a part of any other official or autonomous body that may depend, directly or indirectly, upon the State, a Province, or a municipality, and may not practice any profession, industry, or trade. ART. 268. To be a member of the tribunal of accounts it is necessary: 1st. To be Cuban by birth. 2nd. To have reached thirty-five years of age. 3rd. To be in full enjoyment of civil and political rights, and with no criminal record. 4th. To be an attorney with ten years of practice; to have been a Minister, or Secretary, or Subsecretary of Finance; Comptroller General of the Republic, treasurer or chief of the audit office of the ministry of finance; professor of economics, finance, control and public finance, or auditing, in an official institution of learning; or to possess the title of public accountant or professor of commerce with ten years of practice. The members of the tribunal of accounts may not have any material interest, directly or indirectly, in any farming, industrial, commercial or financial enterprise connected with the State, Province, or municipality.

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ART. 269. The tribunal of accounts shall appoint comptrollers, officials, employees, and assistants, on the basis of accredited proof of ability. ART. 270. Powers and duties of the tribunal of accounts are: 1st. To supervise the enforcement of the budgets of the State, Province, municipality, and of the autonomous bodies that receive their incomes directly or indirectly through the State, examining and auditing the accounts of all of these. 2nd. To have jurisdiction over orders for advance payments by the State, in order to be able to approve the condition of finances as related to the condition of the budget, so that the provisions of the law of bases may be complied with, and that they may be carried out without preference or favor. 3rd. To inspect, in general, the expenditures and disbursements of the State, Province, and municipality, for carrying out public works as well as for provisions and payments of personnel, and the public auctions held for this purpose. To this end, the tribunal of accounts may originate measures for ascertaining that the payments that are made effectively correspond with the services carried out by the official institutions under its supervision, with the obligation of expediting regulatory measures suitable for fixing the average cost per unit of work and the average value of the provisions that the State must receive in accordance with the market. Likewise, the tribunal of accounts may proceed with any denunciations that may be formulated in this connection, and shall submit an annual report to the President of the Republic, that shall be an account of the manner in which the expenditures of the institutions under its control have been carried out, in order that the President of the Republic may forward this report, together with his own observations, to the Congress. 4th. To ask reports of all bodies and departments subject to its control, and to appoint a special delegate to make the necessary investigations when data are not furnished or when such data are considered insufficient. The tribunal shall be obliged to give detailed information to the Executive and to the Congress, when so required, upon any matters related to its functions. 5th. To give a report annually with respect to the condition and administration of the public treasury, the national currency, the public debt, and the budget and its liquidation. 6th. To receive a statement under oath or affirmation from each citizen appointed for the discharge of a public function, upon his taking possession of and upon his leaving 216

the office, concerning the amount of his private fortune; and to carry out any investigations that may be necessary to verify such statements. The law shall regulate and determine the occasion and form of exercising this function. 7th. To account to the tribunals for any guilt that may result from the inspection and supervision carried out in relation to the powers granted by the preceding clauses, and to enact proper instructions in case of violations in which there is no criminal responsibility, for the better fulfillment of the laws of accountability over all the bodies subject to its control. 8th. To publish its reports for public information. 9th. To carry out all other duties that the law and the regulations stipulate. FOURTH SECTION Concerning the National Economy ART. 271. The State shall direct the course of the national economy for the benefit of the people in order to assure a proper existence for each individual. It shall be a primary duty of the State to promote national agriculture and industry, facilitating their diversification as sources of public wealth and collective benefit. ART. 272. Ownership and possession of real property and the exploitation of agricultural, industrial, commercial, banking, and any other kind of enterprise or business by foreigners, whether firmly established in Cuba, or carrying on their operations in Cuba but with headquarters in other countries, are subject in an obligatory manner to the same conditions as the law may establish for nationals, which must in all cases be adjusted to the socio-economic interests of the Nation. ART. 273. The increment of value of lands and real property that is produced without expenditure of labor or private capital and only by reason of actions of the State, Province, or municipality, shall be ceded to the benefit of these latter to a proportional extent that the law may determine.

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ART. 274. Stipulations in regard to contracts for renting, tenant farming, or partnership of rural estates, that impose the renunciation of rights recognized in the Constitution or in the law, as well as any other pacts that this Constitution or the tribunals may declare to be abusive, shall be null. In regulating said contracts adequate standards shall be established for controlling rents, which shall be flexible, with a maximum and minimum according to the purpose, productivity, location, and other circumstances surrounding the rented property, and for fixing the minimum duration of such contracts according to said conditions, and for guaranteeing to the renter, tenant farmer, or partner, a reasonable compensation for the value of improvements or repairs that the latter may deliver in good condition, and that may have been carried out at his expense with the express or tacit consent of the owner, or such improvements or repairs deemed necessary for development of the property. The renter shall not have a right to said compensation in case the contract terminates prematurely through his fault or his refusal to continue the agreement when offered to him under the same conditions as were in force at the expiration of said contract. The law shall also regulate contracts of farm financing and sugar-cane milling, as well as the delivery of other products by the persons producing them, granting the farmer just protection. ART. 275. The law shall regulate by administration the planting and milling of sugarcane, and may reduce these operations to the minimum limit imposed by the socioeconomic necessity of maintaining the sugar industry on the basis of the division between the two great factors participating in its development: the manufacturers or producers of the sugar, and the farmers or tenants producing the cane. ART. 276. Any laws and provisions that may create private monopolies, or that may regulate trade, industry, and agriculture in such a form as to give rise to such monopolies, shall be null and without eject. The law shall especially take care that commercial activities may not be monopolized by private interests in the centers of agricultural and industrial labor. ART. 277. National or local public services shall be considered of social interest. Therefore, the State, as well as the Province and the municipality, shall, in their respective cases, have the right to supervise such services, enacting the measures

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necessary for this purpose. ART. 278. No consumption tax may be placed upon national raw materials that, whether or not a product of the soil, are destined for manufacture or export. Likewise, no consumption tax may be placed upon products of national industry, if the same products, those similar to them, or substitutes imported from abroad, are not taxed in the same manner. ART. 279. The State shall maintain the independence of private institutions of social welfare and co-operation that are normally sustained without the aid of public funds' and shall contribute to the development of the same by means of adequate legislation. ART. 280. Money and banking are submitted to the regulation and control of the State. The State, by means of autonomous bodies, shall organize a banking system for the better development of its economy, and shall thus found the National Bank of Cuba, which shall be one of issue and rediscount. In establishing the said bank, the State may require that its capital be subscribed by the banks already existing in the national territory. Those that comply with these requirements shall be represented on its board of directors. TITLE XVIII Concerning a State of Emergency ART. 281. The Congress may, by special law, upon the request of the Council of Ministers, declare a state of national emergency, and may authorize the Council of Ministers itself to exercise extraordinary powers in any case in which the external security or internal order of the State may be placed in danger or attacked, by reason of war, catastrophe, epidemic, grave economic upset, or any other cause of an analogous nature. In each case the special law shall determine the concrete matter to which the extraordinary powers shall be applied, as well as the period during which such powers shall be effective, which shall never exceed forty-five days.

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ART. 282. During the state of national emergency the Council of Ministers may exercise the functions expressly delegated to it by the Congress. The Council of Ministers may likewise alter criminal proceedings. In all cases the legislative provisions adopted by the Council of Ministers must be ratified by the Congress in order to continue in effect when the state of national emergency shall have been terminated. Judicial actions that modify the normal regime must be revised, upon the termination of the state of emergency, at the instance of the interested party. A retrial shall take place in case sentence has already been passed whereupon said sentence shall be considered as a trial procedure. ART. 283. The law in which the state of national emergency is declared must necessarily contain a call for an extraordinary session of the Congress for the day on which the emergency period expires. While the emergency period shall last a permanent committee of the Congress must be assembled in order to supervise the use of the extraordinary powers granted to the Council of Ministers, ant! this permanent committee may convene the Congress, even before the expiration of the said period, in order to declare abolished the state of emergency. The permanent committee shall be selected from the body of the Congress, and shall be composed of twenty-four members who shall come from both colegislative bodies, in equal numbers, and similarly with representation from all the political parties. The president of the Congress shall preside over the committee, and it shall function when the Congress is in recess and during the state of national emergency. The permanent committee shall have competence: 1st. To supervise the use of the extraordinary powers that may be granted to the Council of Ministers in cases of emergency. 2nd. Over determination of the inviolability of Senators and Representatives. 3rd. Over other matters that the law of relations between the colegislative bodies may stipulate. ART. 284. The Council of Ministers must give an accounting of the use of the extraordinary powers before the permanent committee of the Congress, at any time that the latter shall so decide, and before the Congress upon the expiration of the state of national emergency. A special law shall regulate the state of national emergency. 220

TITLE XIX Concerning the Amendment of the Constitution ART. 285. The Constitution may be amended only: 1st. Upon the initiative of the people, by means of the presentation of an appropriate proposition to the Congress, with the signatures of not less than 100,000 voters who are able to read and write, given before the electoral bodies, and in accordance with what the law may establish. When this has been done, the Congress shall be assembled into a single body, and within the thirty days following shall, without discussion, approve the law proposing to call an election of delegates or for a referendum. 2nd. By the initiative of the Congress by means of an appropriate proposition, bearing the signatures of not less than one-fourth of the members of the colegislative body to which the proponents belong. ART. 286. Amendment of the Constitution shall be specific, in part or in whole. In case of specific or partial amendment, proposed by popular initiative, the amendment shall be submitted to a referendum at the first election to be held, provided that the new precept, the incorporation of which is in question, or an existing one, the revision of which is being attempted, is susceptible of being proposed in such a manner that the people may approve or reject it by answering "yes" or "no." In case of specific or partial change upon the initiative of the Congress, the approval of the latter with an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the total number of members of both colegislative bodies jointly assembled, shall be necessary, and said amendment shall not be effective until it is ratified in the same manner in the two following regular legislative sessions. In case the reform is total, or concerns the national sovereignty, or Articles 22, 23, 24, and 87 of this Constitution, or the form of Government, after the previously stipulated requirements are carried out, according to whether the initiative proceeds from the people or from the Congress, elections for delegates to a plebiscitary assembly shall be called, the meeting of which shall take place six months after the resolution, and which meeting shall be limited exclusively to approving or rejecting the proposed reforms.

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This assembly shall carry out its duties with entire independence of the Congress, within thirty days following its final organization. The delegates to the said convention shall be elected by Provinces in the proportion of one for each 50,000 inhabitants, or fraction greater than 25,000, and in the form that the law may establish, with the proviso that no Congressman may be elected to the office of delegate. In case there is a question of holding any re-election that is constitutionally prohibited, or the continuation in office of any official for a longer time than that for which he was elected, the proposal of amendment must be approved by three-fourths of the total members of the Congress, assembled in a single body, and ratified in a referendum by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the total number of voters of each Province. FINAL PROVISION This Constitution shall enter into force in its entirety on October 10th, 1940. And in carrying out the decision made by the Constituent Convention in the session of April 26th, 1940, and as a tribute to the memory of the illustrious patriots who in this town signed the Constitution of the Republic in arms on April 10th, 1879, we sign the present Constitution in Guáimaro, Camagüey, on July 1st, 1940.

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Table of contents Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CHAPTER I. POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE STATE . . . . 7 ARTICLE 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ARTICLE 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ARTICLE 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ARTICLE 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ARTICLE 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ARTICLE 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ARTICLE 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ARTICLE 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ARTICLE 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ARTICLE 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ARTICLE 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ARTICLE 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ARTICLE 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ARTICLE 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ARTICLE 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ARTICLE 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ARTICLE 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ARTICLE 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ARTICLE 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ARTICLE 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ARTICLE 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ARTICLE 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ARTICLE 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ARTICLE 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ARTICLE 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ARTICLE 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ARTICLE 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER II. CITIZENSHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ARTICLE 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ARTICLE 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ARTICLE 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARTICLE 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARTICLE 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARTICLE 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

CHAPTER III. FOREIGNERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARTICLE 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

CHAPTER IV. THE FAMILY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

CHAPTER V. EDUCATION AND CULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ARTICLE 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)

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CHAPTER VI. EQUALITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ARTICLE 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ARTICLE 42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ARTICLE 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ARTICLE 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

CHAPTER VII. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, DUTIES AND GUARANTEES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ARTICLE 45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ARTICLE 51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 54 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ARTICLE 58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ARTICLE 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ARTICLE 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CHAPTER VIII. STATE OF EMERGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ARTICLE 67 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CHAPTER IX. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE ORGANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ARTICLE 68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CHAPTER X. SUPREME ORGANS OF PEOPLE’S POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 71 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 73 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ARTICLE 76 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 78 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 ARTICLE 82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 226

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ARTICLE 83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 85 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 86 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ARTICLE 90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ARTICLE 91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ARTICLE 92 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ARTICLE 93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ARTICLE 94 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ARTICLE 95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ARTICLE 96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ARTICLE 97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ARTICLE 98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ARTICLE 99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 ARTICLE 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 ARTICLE 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CHAPTER XI. THE POLITICAL-ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ARTICLE 102 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

CHAPTER XII. LOCAL ORGANS OF PEOPLE’S POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ARTICLE 103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ARTICLE 104 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ARTICLE 105 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ARTICLE 106 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 ARTICLE 107 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 108 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 109 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 111 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 112 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ARTICLE 113 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 114 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 115 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 116 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 117 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 118 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ARTICLE 119 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CHAPTER XIII. TRIBUNALS AND ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 121 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 122 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 123 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 124 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ARTICLE 126 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ARTICLE 127 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ARTICLE 128 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)

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ARTICLE 129 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ARTICLE 130 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CHAPTER XIV. ELECTORAL SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ARTICLE 131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 ARTICLE 132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ARTICLE 133 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ARTICLE 134 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ARTICLE 135 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ARTICLE 136 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CHAPTER XV. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ARTICLE 137 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

SPECIAL PROVISIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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Translated by Pam Falk, Milagros M. Gavilan and Anna I. Vellve Torras

Reference to country's history Political theorists/�gures Motives for writing constitution Preamble

Preamble

Source of constitutional authority

WE, CUBAN CITIZENS, heirs and continuators of the creative work and the traditions of combativity, �rmness, heroism and sacri�ce fostered by our ancestors; by the Indians who preferred extermination to submission; by the slaves who rebelled against their masters; by those who awoke the national consciousness and the ardent Cuban desire for an independent homeland and liberty; by the patriots who in 1868 launched the wars of independence against Spanish colonialism and those who in the last drive of 1895 brought them to the victory of 1898, victory usurped by the military intervention and occupation of Yankee imperialism; by the workers, peasants, students, and intellectuals who struggled for over �fty years against imperialist domination, political corruption, the absence of people’s rights and liberties, unemployment and exploitation by capitalists and landowners; by those who promoted, joined and developed the �rst organization of workers and peasants, spread socialist ideas and founded the �rst Marxist and Marxist-Leninist movements; by the members of the vanguard of the generation of the centenary of the birth of Martí who, imbued with his teachings, led us to the people’s revolutionary victory of January; by those who defended the Revolution at the cost of their lives, thus contributing to its de�nitive consolidation; by those who, en masse, accomplished heroic internationalist missions; GUIDED by the ideology of José Martí, and the sociopolitical ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin;

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

SUPPORTED

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

by proletarian internationalism, by the fraternal friendship, aid, cooperation, and solidarity of the peoples of the world, especially those of Latin America and the Caribbean; AND HAVING DECIDED to carry forward the triumphant Revolution of the Moncada and the Granma, of the Sierra and of Girón under the leadership of Fidel Castro, which, sustained by the closest unity of all revolutionary forces and of the people, won full national independence, established the revolutionary power, carried out democratic changes, started the construction of socialism and, under the direction of the Communist Party, continues said construction with the objective of building a communist society;

Human dignity

AWARE that all the regimes of the exploitation of man by man cause the humiliation of the exploited and the degradation of the human nature of the exploiters;

Human dignity

Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)

that only under socialism and communism, when man has been freed from all forms of exploitation—slavery, servitude and capitalism—can full dignity of the human being be attained; and 229

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that our Revolution uplifted the dignity of the country and of Cubans; Human dignity

WE DECLARE

Human dignity

our will that the law of laws of the Republic be guided by the following strong desire of José Martí, at last achieved:

Human dignity

“I want the fundamental law of our republic to be the tribute of Cubans to the full dignity of man”;

Source of constitutional authority

AND ADOPT

Source of constitutional authority

by means of our free vote in a referendum, the following:

Source of constitutional authority

CONSTITUTION

CHAPTER I. POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE STATE Type of government envisioned Reference to fraternity/solidarity

ARTICLE 1 Cuba is a socialist State of workers, independent and sovereign, organized with all and for the good of all, as a united, democratic republic, for the enjoyment of political freedom, social justice, individual and collective welfare, and human solidarity.

Of�cial or national languages National capital

ARTICLE 2 The name of the Cuban State is Republic of Cuba; the of�cial language is Spanish; and its capital is the city of La Havana.

Right to overthrow government

ARTICLE 3 In the Republic of Cuba, the sovereignty resides in the people, from whom all of the power of the State emanates. That power is exercised directly or through the Assemblies of the People’s Power and other organs of the State derived from them, in the manner and according to the rules established by the Constitution and the laws. All citizens have the right to �ght, using all means, including armed struggle, when no other recourse is possible, against anyone attempting to overthrow the political, social, and economic order established by this Constitution. Socialism and the social revolutionary political system instituted in this Constitution, proven by years of heroic resistance against all kinds of aggression and the economic war engaged by the government of the mightiest imperialistic power that has ever existed, and having demonstrated its ability to transform the country and create an entirely new and just society, shall be irrevocable, and Cuba shall never return to capitalism.

ARTICLE 4 The national symbols are those that have presided for more than one hundred years over the Cuban struggles for independence, for the people’s rights, and for social progress: National �ag National anthem

the �ag with the solitary star; the Bayamo anthem; the coat-of-arms with the royal palm.

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Preferred political parties

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ARTICLE 5 The Communist Party of Cuba, Martian and of Marxist-Leninist, the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, is the superior leading force of the society and the State, organizing and guiding the common efforts aimed at the highest goals of the construction of socialism and advancement toward the communist society.

ARTICLE 6 The Union of Young Communists, an advance organization of the Cuban youth, has the recognition and encouragement of the State in its preeminent function of promoting the active participation of the young masses in the tasks of socialist construction, and of suitably training the youth as conscious citizens, capable of assuming greater responsibilities each day for the bene�t of our society.

ARTICLE 7 The Cuban socialist State recognizes and encourages the mass and social organizations that have emerged in the historic process of our people’s struggles, which gather in their core different sectors of the population, representing their speci�c interests and incorporating them into the tasks of construction, consolidation, and defense of the socialist society. Separation of church and state Freedom of religion

ARTICLE 8 The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees religious freedom. In the Republic of Cuba, religious institutions are separate from the State. The different creeds and religions enjoy equal consideration.

ARTICLE 9 The State: a. implements the will of the working people and channels the efforts of the nation in the construction of socialism; maintains and defends the integrity and sovereignty of the fatherland; Right to development of personality Human dignity

guarantees the freedom and full dignity of men, the enjoyment of their rights, the exercise and ful�llment of their obligations, and the total development of their personality; sustains the ideology and the norms of coexistence, and of conduct typical of the society free from exploitation of man by man; protects the creative work of the people, and the property and wealth of the socialist nation; directs the national economy in a planned manner; ensures the educational, scienti�c, technical, and cultural advancement of the country; b. as the Power of the people, in the service of the people themselves, guarantees

Right to work

Cuba 1976 (rev. 2002)

that there will be no man or woman capable of working who lacks an opportunity to obtain an employment with which he [or she] can contribute to the goals of society and ful�ll his [or her] personal needs;

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b. Right to health care

that there will be no person incapacitated for work who lacks decent means of subsistence; that there will be no ill person lacking medical attention; that there will be no child lacking a school, food, and clothing; that there will be no youth lacking the opportunity for study;

Right to culture

Right to shelter Duty to obey the constitution

that there will be no one lacking access to study, culture, and sports; c. works to achieve that no family lacks a comfortable home.

ARTICLE 10 All the organs of the State, their directors, functionaries and employees, operate within the limits of their respective authority, and are obliged to strictly observe socialist legality, and to ensure respect for it in the life of the entire society.

ARTICLE 11 The State exercises its sovereignty: a. over the entire national territory, comprised of the Island of Cuba, the Island of La Juventud, the other islands and adjacent keys, the interior waters, and the territorial seas on the expanse established by the law, and the air space extending over these; b. over the environment and the natural resources of the country; International law Ownership of natural resources

c. over the natural resources, both living and nonliving, the waters, the beds, and the subsoil of the maritime economic zone of the Republic, on the expanse established by law, according to the international practice. The Republic of Cuba repudiates and considers illegal and void any treaties, pacts or concessions entered into under inequitable conditions, or those disregarding or diminishing its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The economic, diplomatic, and political relations with any other State shall never be negotiated under the aggression, intimidation or duress of a foreign power.

ARTICLE 12 The Republic of Cuba adopts anti-imperialist and internationalist principles, and Right to self determination

International law International organizations International human rights treaties

Regional group(s)

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a. rati�es its aspiration for a worthy, true, and valid peace for all States, large and small, weak and powerful, based on the respect for the independence and sovereignty of peoples and the right to self-determination; b. bases its international relations on the principles of equality of rights, free determination of peoples, territorial integrity, independence of States, international cooperation for mutual and equitable bene�t and interest, peaceful settlement of controversies, marked by equality and respect, and the other principles proclaimed in the United Nations Charter and in other international treaties to which Cuba is a party; c. reaf�rms its desire for integration and cooperation with the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, whose common identity and historic need for advancing together toward political and economic integration to achieve true independence would enable us to reach the position that corresponds to us in the world; ch. advocates the unity of all the countries of the Third World against the imperialist and neocolonialist policy seeking the limitation or subordination of the

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ch. sovereignty of our peoples, and the aggravation of the economic conditions of exploitation and oppression in the underdeveloped nations; d. condemns imperialism, the promoter and supporter of all fascist, colonialist, neocolonialist and racist manifestations, as the principal force of aggression and war and the enemy of the peoples; e. repudiates the direct or indirect intervention in the internal or external affairs of any State and, hence, armed aggression and economic blockade, as well as any other type of economic or political coercion, physical violence against persons residing in other countries, or other types of interference in, and threat to, the integrity of the States and the political, economic, and cultural components of the nations; International law Telecommunications

f. rejects the violation of the irrevocable and sovereign right of any State to regulate the use and bene�ts of telecommunications in its territory, according to the universal practice and the international conventions that it has signed; g. categorizes the war of aggression and conquest as an international crime, recognizes the legitimacy of struggles for national liberation, as well as armed resistance to aggression, and considers its internationalist obligation to support the one attacked and [stand] with the peoples who �ght for their liberation and self-determination;

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

h. bases its relations with the countries building socialism on fraternal friendship, cooperation, and mutual aid, founded upon the common objectives of the construction of the new society; i. maintains relations of friendship with the countries which, possessing a different political, social and economic regime, respect its sovereignty, observe the rules of coexistence among the States, adhere to the principles of mutual advantage, and adopt a reciprocal attitude with our country.

Protection of stateless persons Reference to art

ARTICLE 13 The Republic of Cuba grants asylum to those persecuted for their ideals or struggles for democratic rights against imperialism, fascism, colonialism and neocolonialism; against discrimination and racism; for national liberation; for the rights and demands of the workers, peasants, and students; for their progressive political, scienti�c, artistic, and literary activities; and for socialism and peace.

National motto

ARTICLE 14 In the Republic of Cuba, the system of economy based on socialist ownership of the means of production by all the people prevails, and the suppression of exploitation of man by man. Also in effect is the principle of socialist distribution: “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.” The law stipulates the regulations which guarantee the effective ful�llment of this principle.

ARTICLE 15 The following are the socialist State property of all the people: Ownership of natural resources

a. the land that does not belong to small farmers or cooperatives comprised of them, the subsoil, mines, natural resources, both living and nonliving, within the maritime economic zone of the Republic, and the forests, waters, and routes of communication; b. the sugar mills, factories, fundamental means of transportation, and all enterprises, banks, and installations that have been nationalized and expropriated from imperialists, large estate owners, and the bourgeoisie; as well as factories, economic installations, and scienti�c, social, cultural and sports

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b. centers constructed, promoted, or acquired by the State, including those that it may construct, promote, or acquire in the future. These assets may not be transferred as property to natural or juridical persons, except in the special cases wherein the partial or total transfer of any economic end is intended for purposes of the country’s development, and does not affect the political, social, and economic foundations of the State, with prior approval from the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee. As for the transfer of other rights over such assets to State enterprises and other authorized entities, action shall be taken in conformity with that provided in the law. Right to culture Economic plans

ARTICLE 16

Human dignity

The State organizes, directs and controls the national economic activity according to a plan that guarantees the programmed development of the country, with the aim of strengthening the socialist system; satisfying the material and cultural needs of the society and its citizens with constant improvement; and promoting the development of the human being and his dignity, [and] the country’s progress and security. In the preparation and execution of the programs of production and development, an active, conscious role is played by the workers in all branches of the economy, and of those in the other areas of social life.

ARTICLE 17 The State directly administers the assets comprising the socialist property of all the people; or will be able to create and organize enterprises and entities to administer them, of which the structure, attributions, functions, and regime of relations are regulated by the law. These enterprises and entities meet their obligations solely with their �nancial resources, within the limitations established by the law. The State is not responsible for the obligations contracted by the enterprises, entities, or other juridical persons; nor are the latter responsible for those of the former.

ARTICLE 18 The State directs and controls foreign commerce. The law establishes the State institutions and authorities empowered to: create foreign commerce enterprises; standardize and regulate export and import operations; and determine the natural or juridical persons with the legal capacity to engage in said export and import operations, and to negotiate commercial agreements. Right to own property

ARTICLE 19 The State recognizes the ownership by small farmers of land that legally belongs to them, and of any other real estate, landed property and moveable properties that they may need for the operation in which they are engaged, in conformity with what the law establishes.

Right to transfer property Protection from expropriation

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Small farmers, with prior authorization from the competent State agency, and in compliance with the other legal requirements, may incorporate their land only into agricultural-livestock cooperatives of production. They also may sell, exchange, or transfer it, through another title, to the State and to agricultural-livestock production cooperatives, or to small farmers, in the instances, forms and conditions that the law establishes without prejudice to the State’s preferential right to its purchase, through payment of its fair price.

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It is prohibited to engage in leasing, sharecropping, mortgage loans, and any act entailing a lien or assignment to private persons of the rights emanating from the small farmers’ ownership of their land. The State supports the individual production of small farmers who contribute to the national economy. Right to own property

ARTICLE 20 Small farmers have the right to become associated with one another, in the manner and with the requirements that the law establishes, both for purposes of agriculturallivestock production and for the procurement of State loans and services. The organization of agricultural-livestock production cooperatives is authorized in the instances and manner that the law establishes. This cooperative ownership is recognized by the State, and constitutes an advanced and ef�cient form of socialist production. The agricultural-livestock production cooperatives administer, possess, use, and dispose of the assets of their property, in accordance with that established in the law and its regulations.

Protection from expropriation

The land of the cooperatives may not be seized nor taxed, and its ownership may be transferred to other cooperatives or to the State, for the reasons and according to the procedure established in the law. The State provides all possible backing to this type of agricultural-livestock production.

Right to own property

ARTICLE 21 Personal ownership of the income and savings derived from the person’s own work, of the housing that is possessed with a fair ownership title, and of other assets and objects that serve to satisfy the material and cultural needs of the person is guaranteed. Also guaranteed is ownership of the means and instruments of personal or familial work, which may not be used to procure income derived from exploitation of the work of others. The law establishes the amounts of personally owned assets that are seizable.

Right to own property

ARTICLE 22 The State recognizes the ownership by political, mass, and social organizations of the assets allocated to ful�ll their objectives.

Right to own property

ARTICLE 23 The State recognizes the property of mixed enterprises, and by economic partnerships and associations that are established in conformity with the law. The use, bene�t, and disposal of the assets pertaining to the equity of the aforementioned entities are governed by that established in the law and treaties, as well as by their own statutes and regulations by which they are governed.

Right to transfer property

ARTICLE 24 The State recognizes the right to inheritance of the individually owned housing, and of other assets of personal property. The land and the other assets linked to production comprising the property of small farmers are inheritable, and may be adjudicated only to those heirs who are working the land, but for the exceptions and according to the procedure that the law establishes.

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The law speci�es the instances, conditions, and the manner in which assets of cooperative ownership may be inheritable. Protection from expropriation

ARTICLE 25 The expropriation of assets is authorized for reasons of public utility or social interest and with due compensation. The law establishes the method for the expropriation and the bases on which the need for and usefulness of this action are to be determined, as well as the form of compensation, taking into account the interest and the economic and social needs of the person whose property has been expropriated.

Ultra-vires administrative actions

ARTICLE 26 Anybody who suffers damages or injuries unjustly caused by a State of�cial or employee while in the performance of his public functions has the right to claim and obtain the corresponding indemni�cation as prescribed by law.

Protection of environment

ARTICLE 27 The State protects the environment and natural resources of the country. It recognizes their close link with the sustainable economic and social development for making human life more sensible, and for ensuring the survival, welfare, and security of present and future generations. It corresponds to the competent organs to implement this policy. It is the duty of the citizens to contribute to the protection of the water and the atmosphere, and to the conservation of the soil, �ora, fauna, and all the rich potential of nature.

CHAPTER II. CITIZENSHIP Requirements for birthright citizenship

ARTICLE 28 Cuban citizenship is acquired by birth or through naturalization.

Requirements for birthright citizenship

ARTICLE 29 Cuban citizens by birth are: a. those born in the national territory, with the exception of the children of foreigners who are in the service of their government or of international agencies. The law establishes the requirements and formalities governing the case of children of foreigners who are not permanent residents of the country; b. those born abroad of a Cuban father or mother who is carrying out an of�cial mission; c. those born abroad of a Cuban father or mother, with prior compliance with the formalities that the law speci�es; ch. those born outside the national territory, of a father or mother who is a native of the Republic of Cuba, who has lost Cuban citizenship, provided that they claim it in the manner speci�ed by law; d. foreigners who, through exceptional merit achieved in the struggle for the liberation of Cuba, were considered Cuban citizens by birth.

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ARTICLE 30 Cuban citizens by naturalization are: a. those foreigners who acquire Cuban citizenship in accordance with the regulations established by law; b. those who contributed to the armed struggle against the tyranny overthrown on January 1, 1959, provided they show proof of this in the legal established form; and c. those who, having been arbitrarily deprived of their citizenship of origin, obtain Cuban citizenship by virtue of an express agreement of the Council of State.

ARTICLE 31 Neither marriage nor its dissolution affect the citizenship status of either of the spouses or their children. Right to renounce citizenship Conditions for revoking citizenship

ARTICLE 32 Cubans may not be deprived of their citizenship except for legally established causes. Nor may they be deprived of the right to change it. Dual citizenship shall not be allowed. Consequently, when a foreign citizenship is acquired, the Cuban citizenship shall be lost. The law establishes the procedure to be followed for formalizing the loss of citizenship, and the authorities empowered to decide on it.

ARTICLE 33 Cuban citizenship may be regained in those cases and ways speci�ed by the law.

CHAPTER III. FOREIGNERS ARTICLE 34 Foreigners residing in the territory of the Republic are considered equal to Cubans: in the protection of their persons and assets; in the enjoyment of rights and ful�llment of obligations recognized in this Constitution, under the conditions and with the limitations that the law establishes; in the obligation to observe the Constitution and the law; in the obligation to contribute to public expenditures in the manner and amount that the law establishes; in submission to the jurisdiction and decisions of the tribunals of justice and authorities of the Republic. Power to deport citizens

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The law establishes the instances and manner in which foreigners may be expelled from the national territory, as well as the authorities empowered to make this decision.

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CHAPTER IV. THE FAMILY ARTICLE 35 The State protects the family, motherhood and matrimony. The State recognizes in the family the fundamental cell of the society, and attributes to it essential responsibilities and functions in the education and training of the new generations. Provision for matrimonial equality Regulation of marriage

ARTICLE 36 Marriage is the voluntary established union between a man and a woman, who are legally �t to marry, in order to live together. It is based on full equality of rights and duties for the partners, who must see to the support of the home and the integral education of their children through a joint effort compatible with the social activities of both. The law regulates the formalization, recognition and dissolution of marriage and the rights and obligations deriving from such acts.

Rights of children

ARTICLE 37 All children have the same rights, regardless of being born in or out of wedlock. Distinctions regarding a child’s �liation are abolished. No statement shall be made either with regard to the difference in birth or the civil status of the parents in the registration of the child’s birth or in any other documents that mention parenthood. The State guarantees, through adequate legal means, the determination and recognition of paternity.

ARTICLE 38 The parents have the duty to provide nourishment for their children; to help them to defend their legitimate interests and in the realization of their just aspirations; and to contribute actively to their education and integral development as useful, well-prepared citizens for life in a socialist society. It is the children’s duty, in turn, to respect and help their parents.

CHAPTER V. EDUCATION AND CULTURE Reference to art Right to culture

ARTICLE 39 The State guides, fosters, and promotes education, culture and sciences in all their manifestations. In its educational and cultural policy, [the State] adheres to the following principles: a. bases its educational and cultural policy on the advances of science and technology, the Marxist and Martian ideology, the Cuban progressive pedagogical tradition, and the universal one;

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Free education Compulsory education Access to higher education

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b. education is a function of the State, and free of charge. It is based on the conclusions and contributions of science, and on the closest relationship between study and life, work, and production. The State maintains an extensive system of grants for students, and provides multiple facilities for study for workers, so that they may reach the highest possible levels of knowledge and skills. The law speci�es the formation and structure of the national system of education, as well as the scope of compulsory schooling, and de�nes the basic general training that every citizen must acquire, as a minimum. c. to promote the patriotic education and communist training for the new generations, and the preparation of children, young people, and adults for social life; To implement this principle, general education and specialized [instruction] of a scienti�c, technical, or artistic nature are combined with work, research for development, physical education, sports, and participation in political, social and military training activities; ch. artistic creativity is free as long as its content is not contrary to the Revolution. Forms of expression of art are free; d. in order to raise the level of culture of the people, the State will take measures to promote and develop artistic education, the vocation for the creation of artistic culture and the capacity for its appreciation.

Reference to science

e. creative and investigative activity in science is free. The State encourages and facilitates research, and prioritizes that which is aimed at solving the problems related to the interest of society and the bene�t of the people; f. the State fosters the workers’ incorporation in scienti�c work and the development of science.

Right to enjoy the bene�ts of science

g. the State guides, fosters, and promotes physical culture and sports in all their manifestations as a means of education and a contribution to the overall training of citizens; h. the State defends the identity of Cuban culture, and oversees the conservation of the cultural heritage, and the artistic and historical resources of the nation. It protects the national monuments and sites notable for their natural beauty, or for their recognized artistic or historical value; i. the State promotes the participation of citizens in the implementation of its educational and cultural policy through the country’s mass and social organizations.

ARTICLE 40 Children and youth bene�t from particular protection on the part of the State and the society. The family, the school, the State organs, and the mass and social organizations have the duty to pay special attention to the complete training of children and the youth.

CHAPTER VI. EQUALITY General guarantee of equality

ARTICLE 41 All citizens have equal rights and are subject to equal duties.

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Human dignity Equality regardless of skin color Equality regardless of origin Equality regardless of religion Equality regardless of gender Equality regardless of race

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ARTICLE 42 Discrimination based on race, color of the skin, sex, national origin, religious creeds, or any other type offending human dignity, is prohibited and punished by the law. The State’s institutions educate all, from the earliest age, in the principle of the equality of human beings.

ARTICLE 43 Human dignity

The State establishes the right, won by the Revolution, of its citizens, without distinction based on race, color, sex, religious creeds, national origin, or any other type offending human dignity to: have access, in keeping with their merits and abilities, to all positions and State and administrative jobs and of production and services; reach any rank of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and of Security and internal order, in keeping with their merits and abilities;

Right to just remuneration

be given equal pay for equal work; have a right to education at all national educational institutions, ranging from elementary schools to the universities, which are the same for all; be given medical care in all medical institutions; live in any sector, zone or area and stay in any hotel; be served at all restaurants and other public service establishments; use, without any separations, all means of transportation by sea, land and air. enjoy the same resorts, beaches, parks, social centers and other centers of culture, sports, recreation and rest.

ARTICLE 44 Women and men enjoy equal economic, political, cultural, social, and familial rights. The State guarantees that women will be offered the same opportunities and possibilities as men to achieve their full participation in the development of the country. The State organizes institutions such as child centers, semi-boarding and boarding schools, residences for care of the aged, and services to aid the working family in the performance of its responsibilities. Providing for their health and for a healthy offspring, the State grants working women paid maternity leave before and after childbirth, and temporary work options compatible with their maternal function. The State strives to create all the conditions that will lead to the implementation of the principle of equality.

CHAPTER VII. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, DUTIES AND GUARANTEES

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ARTICLE 45 Duty to work

Work in a socialist society is a right and duty and a source of pride for every citizen. Work is remunerated according to its quality and quantity; when it is provided, the needs of the economy and of society, the decision of the worker and his skill and ability are taken into account; this is guaranteed by the socialist economic system, that facilitates social and economic development, without crises, and has thus eliminated unemployment and the “dead season.” Non-paid, voluntary work carried out for the bene�t of all society in industrial, agricultural, technical, artistic and service activities is recognized as playing an important role in the formation of our people’s communist awareness. Every worker has the duty to faithfully carry out tasks corresponding to him at his job.

ARTICLE 46 Right to rest and leisure

All those who work have the right to rest, which is guaranteed by the eight-hour workday, a weekly rest period and annual paid vacations. The State contributes to the development of vacation plans and facilities.

ARTICLE 47 State support for the disabled

By means of the Social Security System, the State assures adequate protection to every worker who is unable to work because of age, illness or disability. If the worker dies, this protection will be extended to his family.

State support for the elderly

ARTICLE 48 The State protects, by means of social aid, senior citizens lacking �nancial resources or anyone to take them in or care for them and anyone who is unable to work and has no relatives who can help him.

Right to safe work environment

ARTICLE 49 The State guarantees the right to protection, safety and hygiene on the job by means of the adoption of adequate measures for the prevention of accidents at work and occupational diseases. He who suffers an accident on the job or is affected by an occupational disease has the right to medical care and to compensation or retirement in those cases in which temporary or permanent work disability ensues.

Right to health care

ARTICLE 50 Everybody has the right to health protection and care. The State guarantees this right: by providing free medical and hospital care by means of the installations of the rural medical service network, polyclinics, hospitals and preventive and specialist treatment centers; by providing free dental care; by promoting the health publicity campaigns, health education, regular medical examinations, general vaccinations and other measures to prevent the outbreak of disease. All of the population cooperates in these activities and plans through the social and mass organizations.

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Free education

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ARTICLE 51 Everyone has the right to an education. This right is guaranteed by the free and widespread system of schools, semi-boarding and boarding schools and scholarships of all kinds and at all levels of education, and because of the fact that all educational material is provided free of charge, which gives all children and young people, regardless of their family’s economic position, the opportunity to study in keeping with their ability, social demands and the needs of socio-economic development. Adults are also guaranteed this right, and education for them is free of charge, with the speci�c facilities regulated by law, by means of the adult education program, technical and vocational education, training courses in State agencies and enterprises and the advanced courses for workers.

ARTICLE 52 Everyone has the right to physical education, sports and recreation. Enjoyment of this right is assured by including the teaching and practice of physical education and sports in the curricula of the national educational system and by the broad nature of the instruction and means placed at the service of the people, which makes possible the practice of sports and recreation on a mass basis. Television Freedom of expression State operation of the media Freedom of press Radio

ARTICLE 53 Citizens have freedom of speech and of the press in keeping with the objectives of socialist society. Material conditions for the exercise of that right are provided by the fact that the press, radio, television, movies and other organs of the mass media are State or social property and can never be private property. This assures their use at the exclusive service of the working people and in the interest of society. The law regulates the exercise of these freedoms.

Freedom of assembly Freedom of association

ARTICLE 54 The rights of assembly, demonstration and association are exercised by workers, both manual and intellectual; peasants; women; students; and other sectors of the working people, [rights] to which they have the necessary ability (los medios necesarios) to exercise. The social and mass organizations have all the facilities they need to carry out those activities in which the members have full freedom of speech and opinion based on the unlimited right of initiative and criticism.

Freedom of religion Freedom of opinion/thought/conscience

ARTICLE 55 The State, which recognizes, respects and guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, simultaneously recognizes, respects, and guarantees the freedom of every citizen to change religious creeds, or not to have any; and to profess the religious worship of their choice, with respect for the law. The law regulates the State’s relations with religious institutions.

Inalienable rights

ARTICLE 56 The home is inviolable. Nobody can enter the home of another against his will, except in those cases foreseen by law.

Inalienable rights

ARTICLE 57 Mail is inviolable. It can only be seized, opened and examined in cases prescribed by law. Secrecy is maintained on matters other than those which led to the examination.

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The same principle is to be applied in the case of cable, telegraph and telephone communication. Protection from unjusti�ed restraint

ARTICLE 58 Freedom and inviolability of persons is assured to all those who live in the country. Nobody can be arrested, except in the manner, with the guarantees and in the cases indicated by law. The person who has been arrested or [who is a] prisoner is inviolable in his personal integrity.

Right to counsel Principle of no punishment without law Regulation of evidence collection

ARTICLE 59 Nobody can be tried or sentenced except by the competent tribunal by virtue of laws which existed prior to the crime and with the formalities and guarantees that the laws establish. Every accused person has the right to a defense. No violence or pressure of any kind can be used against people to force them to testify. All statements obtained in violation of the above precept are null and void, and those responsible for the violation will be punished as outlined by law.

ARTICLE 60 Con�scation of property is only applied as a punishment by the authorities in the cases and by the methods determined by law. Protection from ex post facto laws

ARTICLE 61 Penal laws are retroactive when they bene�t the accused or person who has been sentenced. Other laws are not retroactive unless the contrary is decided for reasons of social interest or because it is useful for public purposes.

ARTICLE 62 None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary to what is established in the Constitution and the law, or contrary to the existence and objectives of the socialist State, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism. Violations of this principle can be punished by law. Right of petition

ARTICLE 63 Every citizen has the right to �le complaints with and send petitions to the authorities and to be given the pertinent response or attention within a reasonable length of time, in keeping with the law.

Duty to pay taxes

ARTICLE 64 Everyone has the duty of caring for public and social property, accepting work discipline, respecting the rights of others, observing standards of socialist living and ful�lling civic and social duties.

Duty to serve in the military

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ARTICLE 65 Defense of the socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban citizen. The law regulates the military service which Cubans must do. Treason against one’s country is the most serious of crimes; those who commit it are subject to the most severe penalties. Duty to obey the constitution

ARTICLE 66 Strict ful�llment of the Constitution and the laws is the bounden duty of all.

CHAPTER VIII. STATE OF EMERGENCY Emergency provisions

ARTICLE 67 In the event or in view of imminent natural disasters or calamities or other circumstances which, by their nature, proportion, or importance, affect the internal order, the security of the country, or the stability of the State, the President of the Council of State may declare a state of emergency in the entire national territory, or in a part of it; and, while it is in effect, may order the mobilization of the population. The law regulates the manner in which the state of emergency is declared, its effects, and its termination. It also determines the fundamental rights and obligations recognized by the Constitution, the exercise of which must be regulated differently while the state of emergency is in effect.

CHAPTER IX. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE ORGANS ARTICLE 68 The State organs are formed and engage in their activity based on the principles of socialist democracy, which are expressed in the following rules: a. all the representative organs of the State’s power are elective and replaceable; b. the masses control the activity of the State agencies, their deputies, delegates and of�cials; c. those elected are obligated to render an account of their performance, and may be recalled from their positions at any time; ch. every State organ develops in a far-reaching manner, within its jurisdiction, initiatives aimed at taking advantage of the resources and possibilities which exist on a local level and strives to include the social and mass organizations in its work; d. decisions of superior State organs are compulsory for inferior ones;

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e. inferior State organs are responsible to superior ones and must render accounts of their work; f. freedom of discussion, criticism and self-criticism and subordination of the minority to the majority prevail in all collegiate State organs.

CHAPTER X. SUPREME ORGANS OF PEOPLE’S POWER Structure of legislative chamber(s)

ARTICLE 69 The National Assembly of People’s Power is the supreme organ of State power and represents and expresses the sovereign will of all the working people.

Structure of legislative chamber(s)

ARTICLE 70 The National Assembly of People’s Power is the only organ in the Republic invested with constituent and legislative authority.

First chamber selection

ARTICLE 71 The National Assembly of the People’s Power is comprised of deputies elected through a free, direct, and secret ballot by the voters, in the proportion and according to the procedure that the law establishes.

Term length for �rst chamber

ARTICLE 72 The National Assembly of People’s Power is elected for a period of �ve years. This period can only be extended by virtue of a resolution of the Assembly itself in the event of war or in the case of other exceptional circumstances that may impede the normal holding of elections and while such circumstances exist.

Leader of �rst chamber

ARTICLE 73 The National Assembly of People’s Power, upon convening for a new legislature, elects from among its deputies its President, Vice President, and Secretary. The law regulates the manner and procedure whereby the Assembly convenes and holds that election.

Deputy executive Eligibility for head of state Minimum age of head of state Standing committees Head of state selection Name/structure of executive(s) Advisory bodies to the head of state Legislative oversight of the executive

ARTICLE 74 The National Assembly of People’s Power elects, from among its deputies, the Council of State, which consists of one President, one First Vice President, �ve Vice Presidents, one Secretary and 23 other members. The President of the Council of State is, at the same time, the Head of State and Head of Government. The Council of State is accountable for its action to the National Assembly of People’s Power to which it must render accounts of all its activities.

ARTICLE 75 The National Assembly of People’s Power is invested with the following powers:

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a. deciding on reforms to the Constitution according to that [which is] established in Article 141; b. approving, modifying and annulling laws and, when it is considered necessary in view of the nature of the law in question, submitting it to the people for consultation; Constitutional interpretation

Head of state decree power Economic plans Budget bills

c. deciding on the constitutionality of laws, decree-laws, decrees and all other general provisions; ch. revoking in total or in part the decree-laws issued by the Council of State; d. discussing and approving the national plan for economic and social development; e. discussing and approving the State budget; f. approving the principles of the system for planning and management of the national economy; g. approving the monetary and credit system; h. approving the general outlines of foreign and domestic policy;

Power to declare/approve war

i. declaring a state of war in the event of military aggression and approving peace treaties; j. establishing and modifying the political-administrative division of the country pursuant to that established in Article 100; k. electing the President, Vice President and Secretary of the National Assembly;

Head of state selection

Deputy executive

l. electing the President, the First Vice Presidents, the Secretary and the other members of the Council of State; ll. appointing, at the initiative of the President of the Council of State, the First Vice President, the Vice President and the other members of the Council of Ministers;

Cabinet selection

m. electing the President, Vice President and other judges of the People’s Supreme Court; Attorney general

n. electing the Attorney General and the deputy attorneys general of the Republic; ñ. appointing permanent and temporary commissions;

Head of state removal Cabinet removal

o. revoking the election or appointment of those persons elected or appointed by it; p. exercising the highest supervision over the organs of State and government; q. keeping informed of, evaluating, and adopting pertinent decisions on the reports on the rendering of accounts submitted by the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, the People’s Supreme Court, the Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic and the Provincial Assemblies of People’s Power; r. revoking those provisions or decree-laws of the Council of State and the decrees or resolutions of the Council of Ministers which are contrary to the Constitution or the law;

Federal review of subnational legislation

s. annulling or modifying those resolutions or provisions of the local organs of People’s Power which encroach on the Constitution, the laws, the decree-laws, the decrees and other provisions issued by a superior organ, or those which are detrimental to the interests of other localities or the general interests of the nation; t. granting amnesty;

Referenda

u. calling for the holding of a referendum in those cases provided by the Constitution and others which the Assembly considers pertinent; v. establishing its rules and regulations; and

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w. exercising all other powers invested by this Constitution. Attorney general Referenda

ARTICLE 76 All laws and resolutions of the National Assembly of People’s Power, barring those in relation to reforms in the Constitution, are adopted by a simple majority vote.

ARTICLE 77 All laws approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power go into effect on the date determined by those laws in each case. Laws, decree-laws, decrees and resolutions, regulations and other general provisions of the national organs of the State are published in the Of�cial Gazette of the Republic. Extraordinary legislative sessions

ARTICLE 78 The National Assembly of People’s Power holds two regular sessions a year and a special session when requested by one-third of the membership or when called by the Council of State.

Quorum for legislative sessions

ARTICLE 79 More than half of the total number of deputies must be present for a session of the National Assembly of People’s Power to be held.

Public or private sessions

ARTICLE 80 All sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power are public, except when the Assembly resolves to hold a closed-door session on the grounds of State interests.

ARTICLE 81 The President of the National Assembly of People’s Power is invested with the power to: a. preside over the sessions of the National Assembly and see to it that its regulations are put into effect; b. call the regular sessions of the National Assembly; c. propose the draft agenda for the sessions of the National Assembly; ch. sign and order the publication in the Of�cial Gazette of the Republic of the laws and resolutions adopted by the National Assembly; d. organize the international relations of the National Assembly; e. conduct and organize the work of the permanent and temporary commissions appointed by the National Assembly; f. attend the meetings of the Council of State; and g. exercise all other powers assigned to him by this Constitution or the Assembly. Compensation of legislators

ARTICLE 82 The status of deputy does not entail personal privileges or economic bene�ts. During the time that they spend in the effective discharge of their functions, deputies earn the same salary or pay as they do at their work center, and maintain the af�liation

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with it for all purposes. Immunity of legislators

ARTICLE 83 No deputy to the National Assembly of People’s Power may be arrested or placed on trial without the authorization of the Assembly—or the Council of State if the Assembly is not in session—except in cases of �agrant offenses.

ARTICLE 84 The deputies to the National Assembly of the People’s Power have the duty to perform their work for the bene�t of the people’s interests, to maintain contact with their electors, to hear their proposals, suggestions, and criticism, and to explain the policy of the State to them. They shall also render an account of the performance of their duties as established by the law. Removal of individual legislators

ARTICLE 85 The deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power may be recalled by their electors at any time in the ways and means prescribed by law.

Legislative oversight of the executive

ARTICLE 86 The deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power have the right to make inquiries to the Council of State, the Council of Ministers or the members of either and to have these inquiries answered during the course of the same session or at the next session.

ARTICLE 87 It is the duty of all State organs and enterprises to provide all necessary cooperation to the deputies in the discharge of their duties. Initiation of general legislation

ARTICLE 88 The proposal of laws is the responsibility of: a. the deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power; b. the Council of State; c. the Council of Ministers;

Legislative committees

ch. the commissions of the National Assembly of People’s Power; d. the National Committee of the Central Organization of Cuban Trade Unions and the national of�ces of the other social and mass organizations;

Supreme court powers

e. the People’s Supreme Court, in matters related to the administration of justice; f. the Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic, in matters within its jurisdiction; and

Legislative initiatives by citizens

Standing committees

g. the citizens. In this case it is an indispensable prerequisite that the proposal be made by at least 10,000 citizens who are eligible to vote.

ARTICLE 89 The Council of State is the organ of the National Assembly of People’s Power that represents it in the period between sessions, puts its resolutions into effect and complies with all the other duties assigned by the Constitution.

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It is collegiate; and, for national and international purposes, it is the highest representative of the Cuban State. Head of state powers

ARTICLE 90 The Council of State is invested with the power to: a. summon special sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power; b. set the date for the elections for the periodic renovation of the National Assembly of People’s Power;

Head of state decree power

c. issue decree-laws in the period between the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power; ch. give existing laws a general and obligatory interpretation whenever necessary; d. exercise legislative initiative; e. make all the necessary arrangements for the holding of referenda called for by the National Assembly of People’s Power;

Head of state decree power

Cabinet removal

f. decree general mobilizations whenever the defense of the country makes it necessary and assume the authority to declare war in the event of aggression or to approve peace treaties—duties which the Constitution assigns to the National Assembly of People’s Power—when the Assembly is in recess and cannot be called to session with the necessary security and urgency; g. replace, at the initiative of its President, the members of the Council of Ministers in the period between the sessions of the National Assembly of People’s Power; h. issue general instructions to the courts through the Council of Government of the People’s Supreme Court; i. issue instructions to the Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic; j. appoint and remove, at the initiative of its President, the diplomatic representatives of Cuba in other states; k. grant decorations and honorary titles; l. name commissions; ll. grant pardons;

International law Treaty rati�cation

m. ratify or denounce international treaties; n. grant or refuse recognition to diplomatic representatives of other states; ñ. suspend those provisions of the Council of Ministers and the resolutions and provisions of the Local Assemblies of People’s Power which run counter to the Constitution or the law or which run counter to the interests of other localities or to the general interests of the country, reporting on this action to the National Assembly of People’s Power in the �rst session held following the suspension agreed upon; o. revoke those resolutions and provisions of the Executive Committees of the local organs of People’s Power which infringe the Constitution, the laws, the decreelaws, the decrees and other provisions issued by a higher organ or when they are detrimental to the interests of other localities or to the general interests of the nation; p. approve its rules and regulations; and q. exercise all other powers conferred by the Constitution and laws or granted by the National Assembly of People’s Power.

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ARTICLE 91 All the decisions of the Council of State are adopted by a simple majority vote of its members.

ARTICLE 92 The mandate entrusted to the Council of State by the National Assembly of the People’s Power expires when the new Council of State, elected as a result of the periodic renovation of the former, takes of�ce. Head of state powers

ARTICLE 93 The President of the Council of State is Head of Government and is invested with the power to: a. represent the State and the government and conduct their general policy; b. organize, conduct the activities of, call for the holding of and preside over the sessions of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers; c. control and supervise the development of the activities of the ministries and other central agencies of the administration; ch. assume the leadership of any ministry or central agency of the administration; d. propose to the National Assembly of People’s Power, once elected by the latter, the members of the Council of Ministers; e. accept the resignation of the members of the Council of Ministers or propose either to the National Assembly of People’s Power or to the Council of State the replacement of any of those members and, in both cases, propose the corresponding substitutes;

Deputy executive

Designation of commander in chief

f. receive the credentials of the heads of foreign diplomatic missions. This responsibility may be delegated to any of the Vice Presidents of the Council of State; g. to perform the Supreme Chieftainship of all the armed institutions, and to determine its general organization; h. to preside over the National Defense Council; i. to declare the State of Emergency in the instances speci�ed in this Constitution, reporting his decision as soon as the circumstances allow to the National Assembly of the People’s Power, or to the Council of State, if the former cannot convene, for the pertinent legal purposes;

Head of state decree power

j. to sign decree-laws and other resolutions of the Council of State, and the legal provisions adopted by the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee, and to order their publication in the Of�cial Gazette of the Republic; k. any others attributed to him by this Constitution or the laws.

Deputy executive Head of state replacement

ARTICLE 94 In case of the absence, illness or death of the President of the Council of State, the First Vice President assumes the President’s duties.

Establishment of cabinet/ministers

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ARTICLE 95 The Council of Ministers is the highest-ranking executive and administrative organ and constitutes the Government of the Republic. The number, denomination and functions of the ministries and central agencies making up the Council of Ministers are determined by law.

ARTICLE 96 The Council of Ministers is composed of the Head of State and Government, as its President; the First Vice President; the Vice Presidents; the Ministers; the Secretary; and the other members that the law determines.

ARTICLE 97 The President, the First Vice President and the Vice Presidents, and other members of the Council of Ministers determined by the President comprise its Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may decide on matters assigned to the Council of Ministers, during the periods intervening between one and another of its meetings. Powers of cabinet

ARTICLE 98 The Council of Ministers is invested with the power to: a. organize and conduct the political, economic, cultural, scienti�c, social and defense activities outlined by the National Assembly of People’s Power; b. propose the projects for the general plans for the socio-economic development of the State and, after these are approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power, organize, conduct and supervise their implementation;

Foreign affairs representative Treaty rati�cation

c. conduct the foreign policy of the Republic and relations with other governments; ch. approve international treaties and submit them for rati�cation by the Council of State;

International law

d. direct and control foreign trade; Budget bills

e. draw up the draft for the State budget and, once it is approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power, see to its implementation; f. adopt measures aimed at strengthening the monetary and credit system; g. draw up bills and submit them for consideration to the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State, accordingly; h. see to national defense, the maintenance of order and security at home, the protection of citizens’ rights and the protection of lives and property in the event of natural disasters; i. direct the administration of the State, and to unify, coordinate and supervise the activity of the agencies of the Central Administration and of the Local Administrations; j. implement the laws and resolutions of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the decree-laws and provisions issued by the Council of State and, if necessary, dictate the corresponding regulations; k. issue decrees and provisions on the basis of and pursuant to the existing laws and supervise their implementation;

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l. revoke the decisions of the Administrations subordinate to the Provincial or Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power adopted on the basis of powers delegated by the agencies of the Central State Administration, when they contravene superior norms to which compliance is obligatory; ll. propose to the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power the revocation of dispositions adopted in their speci�c activity by the provincial and municipal administrations subordinate to them, when they contravene the norms approved by the agencies of the Central Administration of the State in the exercise of its functions; Treaty rati�cation

m. revoke the orders of the chiefs of the agencies of the Central Administration of the State when they contravene superior norms to which compliance is obligatory; n. propose to the National Assembly of the People’s Power or to the Council of State the suspension of resolutions of the Local Assemblies of the People’s Power that contravene the laws and other orders in effect, or impair the interests of other communities or the general interests of the country; ñ. create the commissions it deems necessary to facilitate the ful�llment of the tasks assigned to it; o. appoint and remove of�cials in keeping with the powers it is invested with by the law; and p. assume any duty assigned to it by the National Assembly of People’s Power or the Council of State. The law regulates the organization and operation of the Council of Ministers.

Cabinet removal Legislative oversight of the executive

ARTICLE 99 The Council of Ministers is accountable to and periodically renders accounts of its activities to the National Assembly of People’s Power.

ARTICLE 100 The members of the Council of Ministers are invested with the power to: a. conduct the affairs and tasks of the ministries or agencies under their care, issuing the necessary resolutions and provisions to that effect; b. dictate, in the event that it is not the speci�c duty of another State organ, the necessary regulations to make possible the implementation of those laws and decree-laws which concern them; c. attend the sessions of the Council of Ministers, with the authority to speak and vote, and submit to the consideration of the Council whatever bill, decree-law, decree, resolution or any other proposal they consider advisable; ch. appoint, according to the law, the of�cials of their agencies; and d. exercise any other powers with which the Constitution and laws invest them.

ARTICLE 101 The National Defense Council convenes and prepares, during times of peace, to direct the country under state of war conditions, and during the war, the general mobilization or state of emergency. The law regulates its organization and functions.

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CHAPTER XI. THE POLITICALADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION Subsidiary unit government

ARTICLE 102 For political-administrative purposes, the national territory is divided into provinces and municipalities, the number, boundaries, and designations of which are established in the law. The law may also establish other divisions. The province is the local society, with juridical personality for all legal purposes, organized politically by law as an intermediate link between the central and municipal governments, [covering a] surface area equivalent to that of municipalities in its territorial demarcation. It discharges the functions and ful�lls the State and administrative duties within its jurisdiction, and has the primary obligation of promoting the economic and social development of its territory. To this end, it coordinates and controls the execution of the policy, programs, and plans approved by the higher State organs with the support of its municipalities, gearing them to the interests of the latter.

Municipal government

The municipality is the local society, with juridical personality for all legal purposes, organized politically by the law on a territorial extension determined by necessary economic and social relations of its population, and with the capacity to satisfy the minimal local requirements. The provinces and municipalities, in addition to discharging their own functions, cooperate in the accomplishment of the goals of the State.

CHAPTER XII. LOCAL ORGANS OF PEOPLE’S POWER Subsidiary unit government

ARTICLE 103 The Assemblies of the People’s Power, established in the demarcated politicaladministrative areas into which the national territory is divided, are the local higher organs of the State’s power, and, consequently, they are endowed with the highest authority to discharge the State functions within their respective demarcated areas; and, to this end, they exercise the government within the bounds of their authority and conforming to the law. They also contribute to the performance of the activities and the implementation of the plans of units established in their territory that are not subordinate to them, in conformity with that provided by the law. The Local Administrations established by these Assemblies direct the locally subordinate economic, productive, and service entities, for the purpose of satisfying the economic, health and other assistance-related, educational, cultural, sports, and recreational needs of the collectivity of the territory to which the jurisdiction of each one extends. For the discharge of their functions, the Local Assemblies of the People’s Power rely on the People’s Councils, and on the initiative and full participation of the population, operating in close cooperation with the mass and social organizations.

Subsidiary unit government Municipal government

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ARTICLE 104 The People’s Councils are established in cities, villages, neighborhoods, settlements, and rural zones; they are endowed with the highest authority for the discharge of their functions, represent the demarcated area in which they operate, and they are, simultaneously, representatives of the municipal, provincial, and national organs of the People’s Power. They work actively for ef�ciency in the development of the productive and service activities, and for the ful�llment of the population’s assistance, economic, educational, cultural, and social needs, promoting the population’s full participation, as well as local initiatives, for the solution of its problems. They coordinate the actions taken by the entities existing in their area of activity, they promote cooperation among them, and exercise control and supervision over their activities. The People’s Councils are established with delegates elected in the districts, and must elect from among them the one who is to preside over them. Representatives of the mass organizations and the leading institutions in the demarcated area may serve on them. The law regulates the organization and functions of the People’s Councils. Subsidiary unit government

ARTICLE 105 Within the bounds of their authority, the Provincial Assemblies of the People’s Power have the following functions:

National vs subnational laws

a. to comply, and to require compliance with the laws and other provisions of a general nature adopted by the superior organs of the State; b. to approve and control, according to the policy decided by the authorized national agencies, the execution of the ordinary plan and budget of revenues and expenditures of the province; c. to elect and recall the President and Vice President of the Assembly itself; ch. to designate and replace the Secretary of the Assembly; d. to participate in the elaboration and control of the execution of the budget and the technical-economic plan of the State corresponding to the entities established in their territory and subordinate to other levels of authority, according to the law; e. to control and supervise the activity of the organ of Administration of the province, aided in this by their working commissions; f. to designate and replace the members of the provincial organ of Administration, at the proposal of their President; g. to determine, according to the principles established by the Council of Ministers, the organization, functioning, and tasks of the entities responsible for engaging in economic, productive, service, educational, health, cultural, sports, environmental protection, and recreational activities that are subordinate to the provincial organ of Administration; h. to adopt resolutions on administrative matters concerning their territorial demarcation which, according to the law, do not come under the general authority of the Central Administration of the State or that of the municipal organs of State power;

Subsidiary unit government

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i. to approve the creation and organization of the People’s Councils at the proposal of the Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power;

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j. to revoke, within the bounds of their authority, the decisions adopted by the provincial organ of administration, or to propose their revocation to the Council of Ministers, when they have been adopted on the basis of powers delegated by the agencies of the Central Administration of the State; k. to be apprised of, and to evaluate the reports rendering accounts, submitted to them by their organ of Administration and the Assemblies of the People’s Power on a lower level, and to adopt the pertinent decisions regarding them; l. to form and dissolve working commissions; ll. to attend to all matters relating to implementation of the policy on cadres devised by the higher organs of the State; m. to reinforce the legality, internal order, and defense capacity of the country; n. any other attributed to them by the Constitution and the laws. Municipal government

ARTICLE 106 Within the bounds of their authority, the Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power have the following functions:

National vs subnational laws

a. to comply, and to require compliance with the laws and other provisions of a general nature adopted by the superior organs of the State; b. to elect and recall the President and Vice President of the Assembly; c. to designate and replace the Secretary of the Assembly; ch. to exercise supervision and control over the entities with municipal subordination, relying on their working commissions; d. to revoke or modify the resolutions and orders of the organs or authorities subordinate to them that violate the Constitution, the laws, decree-laws, decrees, resolutions, and other provisions issued by the superior organs of the State, or that impair the interests of the community or of other territories, or the general interests of the country; or to propose their revocation to the Council of Ministers, when they have been adopted on the basis of powers delegated by the agencies of the Central Administration of the State; e. to adopt resolutions and dictate provisions within the framework of the Constitution and the laws in effect, on matters of municipal interest, and to control their implementation; f. to designate and replace the members of the organ of Administration at the proposal of their President; g. to determine, according to the principles established by the Council of Ministers, the organization, functioning, and tasks of the entities responsible for engaging in economic, productive, service, and health activities, and others of an assistance, educational, cultural, sports, environmental protection, and recreational nature that are subordinate to their organ of Administration; h. to propose the creation and organization of People’s Councils, in accordance with what is established in the law; i. to establish and dissolve working commissions; j. to approve the socio-economic plan and the budget of the municipality, gearing it to the policies revised for this purpose by the authorized agencies of the Central State Administration and to control their execution; k. to contribute to the performance of activities and to the ful�llment of the production and service plans of the entities established in their territory that are not subordinate to them; for this purpose, they may rely on their working commissions and their organ of Administration;

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l. to be apprised of, and to evaluate the reports rendering accounts, submitted to them by their organ of Administration, and to adopt the pertinent decisions regarding them; ll. to attend to all matters relating to implementation of the policy on cadres devised by the higher organs of the State; m. to reinforce the legality, internal order, and defense capacity of the country; n. any other attributed to them by the Constitution and the laws.

ARTICLE 107 The ordinary and special sessions of the Local Assemblies of the People’s Power are public, except in instances wherein it is decided to hold them inside closed doors, for reasons of the State’s interest, or because matters pertaining to the honor of persons are to be discussed.

ARTICLE 108 Required for the validity of the sessions of the Local Assemblies of the People’s Power is the presence of over half the total number of their members. Their decisions are adopted by a simple majority of votes.

ARTICLE 109 The entities organized to satisfy the local requirements for attaining their speci�c objectives are governed by laws, decree-laws, and decrees; by resolutions of the Council of Ministers; by provisions issued by the heads of the agencies of the Central Administration of State, in matters of general interest within its competence, requiring national regulation; and by resolutions of the local organs to which they are subordinate.

ARTICLE 110 The permanent working commissions are established by the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power, attending to the speci�c interests of their locality, to aid them in conducting their activities and, especially, in exercising control and supervision over the locally subordinate entities, and the others corresponding to different levels of subordination that are established within their territorial demarcation. The commissions of a temporary nature perform the speci�c tasks assigned to them within the term speci�ed for them.

ARTICLE 111 The Provincial Assemblies of the People’s Power shall be replaced every �ve years, which is the term for the mandate of their delegates. The Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power shall be replaced every two and a half years, which is the term for their delegates’ mandates. Said mandates will only be able to be extended by a decision of the National Assembly of the People’s Power, in the instances speci�ed in Article 72.

ARTICLE 112 The mandate of the delegates to the Local Assemblies is revocable at any time. The law determines the manner, causes, and procedures to be revoked.

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ARTICLE 113 The delegates ful�ll the mandate conferred upon them by their electors in the interests of the entire community, for which purpose they must coordinate their functions as such with their usual responsibilities and tasks. The law regulates the manner in which these functions are to be discharged.

ARTICLE 114 The delegates ful�ll the mandate of their electors in the interest of all the community, and they must: a. make the opinions, needs and problems expressed by their electors known to the Assembly; b. report to their electors on the policy of the Assembly and the measures adopted for solving the problems raised by the people or outline the reasons why they have not been solved; and c. render accounts of their work on a regular basis to their electors and to the Assembly to which they belong.

ARTICLE 115 The delegates to the Provincial Assemblies of the People’s Power are obligated to perform their work for the bene�t of the collectivity, and to render an account of their personal management according to the procedure that the law establishes.

ARTICLE 116 The Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power elect their President and Vice President from among their delegates. The election is held by virtue of the candidacies proposed in the manner and according to the procedures that the law establishes.

ARTICLE 117 The Presidents of the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power are, simultaneously, presidents of the respective Organs of Administration, and represent the State in their demarcated territorial areas. Their functions are established by the law.

ARTICLE 118 The organs of Administration established by the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies of the People’s Power operate in a collegiate manner, and their composition, formation, functions, and obligations are established in the law.

ARTICLE 119 The Provincial and Municipal Defense Councils, and the Defense Zone Councils, are established and prepared, during times of peace, to direct in their respective territories, under state of war conditions and during the war, the general mobilization or state of emergency, based on a general plan for defense and for the role and responsibilities that correspond to the military councils of the armies of the Armed Forces. The National Defense Council determines the organization and functions of these Councils in accordance with the law.

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CHAPTER XIII. TRIBUNALS AND ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE Supreme court selection Structure of the courts Ordinary court selection

ARTICLE 120 The function of imparting justice emanates from the people, and is exercised in their name by the People’s Supreme Tribunal and the other Tribunals that the law institutes. The law establishes the principal objectives of judicial activity, and regulates the organization of the tribunals, the extent of their jurisdiction and authority, their powers and the means of exercising them, the requirements to be met by judges, the method for their selection, and the causes and procedures for their recall or dismissal from the exercise of their functions.

Judicial precedence Structure of the courts

ARTICLE 121 The tribunals constitute a system of State organs, structured with functional independence from any other, and subordinate hierarchically to the National Assembly of the People’s Power and the Council of State. The People’s Supreme Tribunal exercises the maximum judicial authority, and its decisions in this respect are de�nitive. Through its Council of Government, it exercises legislative initiative and regulatory power; it makes decisions and issues rules for mandatory compliance by all tribunals and, based on the experience of the latter, issues instructions of a mandatory nature for the establishment of a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law.

Judicial independence

ARTICLE 122 Judges, in their function of imparting justice, are independent, and owe obedience solely to the law.

ARTICLE 123 The sentences and other decisions of the tribunals, pronounced or enacted within the limits of their jurisdiction, must be obeyed and implemented by State agencies, economic and social institutions and citizens, by those directly affected and by those who do not have a direct interest in their implementation but have the duty to participate in it.

ARTICLE 124 For the acts of the imparting of justice, all Tribunals operate in a collegiate manner, and both professional judges and lay judges participate in them with equal rights and obligations. The discharge of the judicial functions assigned to a lay judge, in view of its social signi�cance, has priority over his usual working occupation.

ARTICLE 125 The tribunals render an account of the results of their work in the form and with the periodicity that the law establishes. 258

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ARTICLE 126 The power to recall judges is incumbent on the organ that elects them.

Attorney general

ARTICLE 127 The Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic is the State organ to which, as its fundamental objectives, the control and preservation of the legality—based on monitoring strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws, and other legal provisions on the part of State agencies, economic and social entities, and citizens, and the promotion and exercise of public penal suits—[it is responsible,] as the representative of the State. The law determines the other objectives and functions, as well as the manner, extent, and occasion on which the Attorney General’s Of�ce is to exercise its powers for the aforementioned purpose.

Attorney general

ARTICLE 128 The Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic is an organic unit subordinate only to the National Assembly of the People’s Power and the Council of State. The Attorney General of the Republic receives direct instructions from the Council of State. The direction and regulation of the activity of the Attorney General of the Republic’s Of�ce throughout the entire national territory corresponds to the Attorney General of the Republic. The organs of the Attorney General’s Of�ce are established vertically in the entire nation; they are subordinate only to the Of�ce of the Attorney General of the Republic, and are independent of all local organs.

Attorney general

ARTICLE 129 The Attorney General of the Republic and the deputy attorneys general are elected and may be recalled by the National Assembly of the People’s Power.

Attorney general

ARTICLE 130 The Attorney General of the Republic renders an account of his administration to the National Assembly of People’s Power in the manner and with the periodicity that the law establishes.

CHAPTER XIV. ELECTORAL SYSTEM Secret ballot

ARTICLE 131 All citizens with the legal capacity for doing so are entitled to intervene in the direction of the State, either directly or through their representatives elected to membership in the organs of the People’s Power; and for that purpose, to participate, in the manner provided in the law, in periodic elections and popular referendums, to be held with a free, equal, and secret ballot. Each voter is entitled to only one vote.

Restrictions on voting

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ARTICLE 132 All Cubans 16 years of age and over, men and women alike, have the right to vote, except those who: a. are mentally disabled and have been declared so by a court, or b. have committed a crime and, because of this, have lost the right to vote. Eligibility for �rst chamber Eligibility for head of state Minimum age of head of state Eligibility for cabinet Minimum age for �rst chamber

ARTICLE 133 All Cuban citizens, men and women alike, who have full political rights can be elected. If the election is for deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power, they must be 18 years old or over.

ARTICLE 134 Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and other military institutions of the nation have the right to elect and be elected just like any other citizen. Municipal government Subsidiary unit government

ARTICLE 135 The law determines the number of delegates comprising each of the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies, in proportion to the number of inhabitants in the respective demarcations into which the national territory is divided for electoral purposes. The delegates to the Provincial and Municipal Assemblies are elected by free, direct, and secret ballot on the part of the electors. The law also regulates the procedure for their election.

ARTICLE 136 To be considered elected as a deputy or delegate, it is necessary to have obtained more than half of the number of valid votes cast in the electoral demarcation. If this requirement is not met, or in other instances of vacant seats, the law regulates the manner in which the procedure is to take place.

CHAPTER XV. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT Constitution amendment procedure Unamendable provisions

ARTICLE 137 This Constitution can only be modi�ed by the National Assembly of People’s Power, by means of resolutions adopted by roll-call vote by a majority of no less than two-thirds of the total number of members; except [where the modi�cation] regards the political, social and economic system, whose irrevocable character is established in Article 3 of Chapter I, and the prohibition against negotiations under aggression, threats or coercion by a foreign power as established in Article 11. If the modi�cation has to do with the integration and authority of the National Assembly of the People’s Power or its Council of State or involves any rights and duties contained in the Constitution, it shall also require the approval of the majority of citizens with the right to vote by means of a referendum called upon for this purpose by the Assembly itself.

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SPECIAL PROVISIONS The Cuban people, almost in its totality, between the 15 and 18 of the month of June of 2002, expressed their unconditional support for the amendments to the Constitution proposed by an Extraordinary Assembly of all the mass organizations held on the 10th of this month of June, in which was rati�ed in all its parts this Constitution of the Republic that sets forth the irrevocability of its socialist character, political system and social content as a worthy and categorical response to the exigencies and threats [made by] the imperialistic government of the United States [of America] on the 20 of May, 2002. The proposal was approved unanimously by Resolution No. V-74, adopted by an Extraordinary Session of the V Legislature, held on the 24, 25 and 26 of June, 2002.

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Topic index A Access to higher education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Advisory bodies to the head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Attorney general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 24, 36

B Budget bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 28

C Cabinet removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 26, 29 Cabinet selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Compensation of legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Compulsory education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Conditions for revoking citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Constitution amendment procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Constitutional interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

D Deputy executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 27 Designation of commander in chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Duty to obey the constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 21 Duty to pay taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Duty to serve in the military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Duty to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

E Economic plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 22 Eligibility for cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Eligibility for �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Eligibility for head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 37 Emergency provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Equality regardless of gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Equality regardless of origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Equality regardless of race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Equality regardless of religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Equality regardless of skin color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Establishment of cabinet/ministers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Extraordinary legislative sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

F Federal review of subnational legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 First chamber selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Foreign affairs representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Free education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 19 Freedom of assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Freedom of association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Freedom of expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 262

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Freedom of opinion/thought/conscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Freedom of press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Freedom of religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 19

G General guarantee of equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

H Head of state decree power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 26, 27 Head of state powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27 Head of state removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Head of state replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Head of state selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Human dignity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 8, 11, 17

I Immunity of legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Inalienable rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Initiation of general legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 International human rights treaties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 International law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 26, 28 International organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

J Judicial independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Judicial precedence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

L Leader of �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Legislative committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Legislative initiatives by citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Legislative oversight of the executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 25, 29

M Minimum age for �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Minimum age of head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 37 Motives for writing constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Municipal government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 32, 37

N Name/structure of executive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 National anthem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 National capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 National �ag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 National motto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 National vs subnational laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32

O Of�cial or national languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Ordinary court selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Ownership of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10

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P Political theorists/�gures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Power to declare/approve war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Power to deport citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Powers of cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Preferred political parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Principle of no punishment without law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Protection from ex post facto laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Protection from expropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12, 13 Protection from unjusti�ed restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Protection of environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Protection of stateless persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Provision for matrimonial equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Public or private sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Q Quorum for legislative sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

R Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Reference to art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 15 Reference to country's history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Reference to fraternity/solidarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 9 Reference to science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Referenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 24 Regional group(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Regulation of evidence collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Regulation of marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Removal of individual legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Requirements for birthright citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Requirements for naturalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Restrictions on voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Right of petition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Right to counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Right to culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 11, 15 Right to development of personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Right to enjoy the bene�ts of science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Right to health care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 18 Right to just remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Right to overthrow government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Right to own property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12 Right to renounce citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Right to rest and leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Right to safe work environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Right to self determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Right to shelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Right to transfer property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12 Right to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 264

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Rights of children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

S Secret ballot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Separation of church and state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Source of constitutional authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7 Standing committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 25 State operation of the media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 State support for the disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 State support for the elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Structure of legislative chamber(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Structure of the courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Subsidiary unit government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 31, 37 Supreme court powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Supreme court selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Supreme/ordinary court judge removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

T Telecommunications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Term length for �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Treaty rati�cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 28 Type of government envisioned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

U Ultra-vires administrative actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Unamendable provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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Cuba's Constitution of 2019

Draft of 2018 with amendments resulting from the popular consulation, published on January 5, 2019; approved by the public in a national referendum on February 24, 2019 This complete constitution has been generated from excerpts of texts from the repository of the Comparative Constitutions Project, and distributed on constituteproject.org. 267

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Table of contents Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Title I. Political Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter I. Fundamental Principles of the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapter II. International Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Title II. Economic Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Article 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Article 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Article 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Article 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Article 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Article 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Article 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Article 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Article 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Title III. Principles of Educational, Scienti�c, and Cultural Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Article 32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Title IV. Citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Article 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Title V. Rights, Duties, and Guarantees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter I. General Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter II. Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Chapter III. Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter IV. Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Chapter V. The Rights and Duties of Foreigners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Chapter VI. Guarantees of Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Title VI. The Structure of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Chapter I. Functional and Organizational Principles of the Organs of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Chapter II. The National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Chapter III. The President and Vice President of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chapter IV. The Government of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Chapter V. The Tribunals of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Chapter VI. The Attorney General of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chapter VII. The Comptroller General of the Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chapter VIII. Regulatory Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 268

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Title VII. The Territorial Organization of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Article 166 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Article 167 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Article 168 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Article 169 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Title VIII. Local Organs of People's Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chapter I. The Provincial Government of People's Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chapter II. Municipal Organs of the People's Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Title IX. The Electoral System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Chapter I. General Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Chapter II. The National Electoral Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Title X. Defense and National Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter I. General Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter II. The National Defense Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter III. The Armed Forces of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter IV. Extraordinary Situations and Disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Title XI. Reform of the Constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Article 226 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Article 227 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Article 228 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Article 229 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Special Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 FIRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 SECOND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Transitory Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 FIRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 SECOND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 THIRD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FOURTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 FIFTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 SIXTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 SEVENTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 EIGHTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 NINTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 TENTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 ELEVENTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 TWELFTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 THIRTEENTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Final Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 FIRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 SECOND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

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Preamble WE, THE PEOPLE OF CUBA,

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

inspired by the heroism and patriotism of those that fought for a free, independent, sovereign, and democratic homeland of social justice and human solidarity, forged through the sacri�ce of our ancestors; by the indigenous peoples who resisted submission; by the slaves that rebelled against their masters; by those that awoke the national conscience and Cuban desire for our liberty and homeland; by the patriots that started and participated in our struggles for independence against Spanish colonization beginning in 1868 as well as those whose �nal efforts of 1895 were denied victory with the beginning of the military intervention and occupation of Yankee imperialism in 1898; by those that fought for over �fty years against imperialist domination, political corruption, the lack of rights and liberties, unemployment, the exploitation imposed by capitalists, landowners, and other social evils; by those who promoted, participated in, and developed the �rst organizations of laborers, farm workers, and students; disseminated socialist ideas; and founded the �rst revolutionary, Marxist, and Leninist movements; by the members of the vanguard of the generation of the 100th anniversary of Martí's birth, who, nourished by his teaching, led us to the victorious popular revolution in January of 1959; by those that, in sacri�cing their lives, defended the Revolution and contributed to its de�nitive consolidation; by those that completed heroic international missions together; by the epic resistance and unity of our people; GUIDED by the most advanced revolutionary, anti-imperialist, Cuban-Marxist, Latin American, and universal thought, in particular by the ideal and example of Martí and Fidel, as well as the social emancipation ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin; SUPPORTED

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

in proletariat internationalism, fraternal friendship, the help, cooperation, and solidarity of the peoples of the world, particularly those of Latin America and the Caribbean; DETERMINED to carry forward the triumphant Revolutions of Moncada and Granma, of the Sierra, of the underground struggle, and of Girón that, sustained in the contribution and unity of the principal revolutionary forces and the people, conquered full national independence, established revolutionary power, realized the democratic transformations and initiated the construction of Socialism; COMMITTED to Cuba never returning to capitalism as a regime sustained by the exploitation of man by man, and that it is only in socialism and communism that a human being can achieve his or her full dignity; CONSCIOUS

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that national unity and the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, born through the unitary will of the organizations that decisively contributed to the triumph of the Revolution and legitimized by the people, constitute fundamental pillars and guarantees of our economic, social and political order; IDENTIFIED with the tenets displayed in the concept of Revolution, as expressed by the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on the 1st of May of the year 2000; WE DECLARE our will that the law of the laws of the Republic be presided over by this profound yearning, �nally achieved by José Martí, "I wish that the �rst law of our Republic be the devotion of the Cubans to the full dignity of man;" WE ADOPT by our free and secret vote, through a popular referendum, one hundred and �fty years after our �rst Mambí Constitution, approved in Guáimaro on April 10, 1869, the following:

Title I. Political Foundations Chapter I. Fundamental Principles of the Nation Type of government envisioned Reference to fraternity/solidarity Human dignity

National capital Type of government envisioned National anthem National �ag Of�cial or national languages

Article 1 Cuba is a democratic, independent and sovereign socialist State of law and social justice, organized by all and for the good of all, as an indivisible and unitary republic, founded by the labor, dignity, humanism, and ethic of its citizens for the enjoyment of liberty, equity, justice, and equality, solidarity, and individual and collective well-being and prosperity.

Article 2 The name of the Cuban State is the Republic of Cuba, the of�cial language is Spanish, and the capital is Havana. The national symbols are the �ag of the lone star, the Bayamo Anthem, and the coat of arms of the royal palm. The law de�nes the characteristics that identify them, their use, and their conservation.

Article 3 In the Republic of Cuba, sovereignty resides nontransferably with the people, from which all of the State's power emanates. The people exercise this power directly and via Assemblies of People's Power and other organs of the State that are derived from them, in the form and according to the norms established by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 4 Duty to serve in the military

The defense of our socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban. Treason is the most serious of crimes, whoever should commit treason will be subject to the most severe sanctions. The socialist system that this Constitution supports is irrevocable.

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Right to overthrow government

Citizens have the right to combat through any means, including armed combat when other means are not available, against any that intend to topple the political, social, and economic order established by this Constitution.

Preferred political parties

Article 5 The Communist Party of Cuba, unique, Martiano, Fidelista, and Marxist-Leninist, the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, sustained in its democratic character as well as its permanent linkage to the people, is the superior driving force of the society and the State. It organizes and orients the communal forces towards the construction of socialism and its progress toward a communist society. It works to preserve and to fortify the patriotic unity of the Cuban people and to develop ethic, moral, and civic values.

Article 6 The Union of Young Communists, a vanguard organization of the Cuban youth, is recognized and supported by the State, contributes to the education of the youth in the revolutionary principles as well as the ethics of our society, and promotes their active participation in the edi�cation of socialism. Duty to obey the constitution

Article 7 The Constitution is the supreme norm of the State. All are obliged to comply with it. The orders and acts of the organs of the State, their leaders, functionaries, and employees will act in conformity with that which is prescribed by the Constitution.

Legal status of treaties International law

Article 8 That which is prescribed in international treaties that are in force for the Republic of Cuba constitute or form part of national legislative regulations, as applicable. The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba takes priority over international treaties.

Article 9 All are obligated to strictly adhere to socialist law. Furthermore, the organs of the State, their leaders, functionaries, and employees ensure its respect in the lives of all people and act within the limits of their respective responsibilities.

Article 10 The organs of the State, its leaders, functionaries, and employees are obligated to respect, care for, and respond to the people, to maintain close links with the people, and to submit to their oversight in the forms established by the Constitution and the laws. International law

Article 11 The State exercises its sovereignty and jurisdiction: a. Over the entire national territory, comprised of the Island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, the other adjacent islands and cays, the interior waters, and the extended maritime territories established by the law, the aerospace that extends over these territories, and the radio spectrum;

Ownership of natural resources Ownership of natural resources

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b. Over the environment and the natural resources of the country; c. Over the natural resources, both living and nonliving, of the waters, the seabed, the waters above it, and the subsoil of the sea within the Republic's exclusive economic zones according to the territorial extensions set by the law and in accordance with International Law, and

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d. Over the continental shelf as far as the law prescribes and in accordance with International Law. Likewise, the State exercises jurisdiction in the contiguous zone that corresponds to International Law. International law

Article 12 The Republic of Cuba repudiates and considers illegal and void the treaties, concessions, or pacts agreed to under conditions of inequality or that alienate or diminish its sovereignty or territorial integrity.

Article 13 The State's essential objectives include the following: a. To channel the efforts of the nation in the construction of socialism and to strengthen national unity; b. The maintain and to defend the independence, integrity, and the sovereignty of our homeland; c. To preserve national security; d. To guarantee effective equality in the enjoyment and exercise of rights, and in compliance with the duties enshrined in the Constitution and the laws; e. To promote sustainable development that secures individual and collective prosperity, and to obtain greater levels of equity and social justice, as well as to preserve and to multiply the achievements of the Revolution; Human dignity

f. To guarantee the dignity of people and their integral development; g. To strengthen and preserve the ideology and the ethics inherent to our socialist society;

Right to culture Reference to science

h. To protect the natural, historical, and cultural patrimony of the nation, and i. To secure the educational, scienti�c, technical, and cultural development of the country.

Right to culture

Article 14 The State recognizes and stimulates the social and mass organizations that bring together distinct sectors of the population, that represent their speci�c interests and that involve them in the tasks that edify, consolidate, and defend the socialist society. The law establishes the general principles that these organizations are based upon and recognizes the practice of other associative forms. Freedom of religion

Article 15 The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees religious liberty.

Separation of church and state

The Republic of Cuba is secular. In the Republic of Cuba, the religious institutions and fraternal associations are separate from the State and they all have the same rights and duties. Distinct beliefs and religions enjoy equal consideration.

Chapter II. International Relations

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Article 16 The Republic of Cuba bases its international relations on the exercise of its sovereignty as well as on the antiimperialist and internationalist principles in accordance with the interests of the people and, in consequence: a. Reaf�rms that economic, diplomatic, and political relations with any other State may never be negotiated under the force of aggression, threat, or coercion; Right to self determination

International organizations Customary international law International law

Regional group(s)

b. Rati�es its aspiration for a digni�ed, true, and valid peace for all states, based on the respect for independence and sovereignty of the people and their right to free determination, expressed in the liberty to choose their political, social, economic, and cultural system as an essential condition to secure peaceful coexistence between nations; c. Sustains the will to observe, without restrictions, the principles and norms that constitute international law, in particular the equality of laws, territorial integrity, the independence of states, the nonuse of threats of force in international relations, international cooperation for mutual and equal bene�t and interest, the peaceful resolution of controversies on the basis of equality, respect, and the other principles proclaimed in the United Nations Charter; d. Reaf�rms its will to integrate and collaborate with the countries of Latin American and the Caribbean; e. Promotes the unity of all Third-World countries and condemns imperialism, fascism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and other forms of subjugation in any of its manifestations;

Protection of environment

f. Promotes the protection and conservation of the environment as well as responding to climate change, which threatens the survival of the human species, through the recognition of common, yet differential, responsibilities; the establishment of a more just and equitable international economic order as well as the eradication of irrational patterns of production and consumption; g. Defends and protects the enjoyment of human rights and repudiates any manifestation of racism or discrimination;

International law

Telecommunications International law

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

International law

Terrorism

Radio International organizations

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h. Condemns direct or indirect intervention in the internal or external affairs of any State and, therefore, also condemns armed aggression, any form of political or economic coercion, unilateral blockades that violate International Law, or any other type of interference or threat to the integrity of the States; i. Rejects the violation of the non-renounceable and sovereign right of all States to regulate the use of and the bene�ts from telecommunications within their territory, according to universal practices and to the international agreements to which Cuba belongs; j. Classi�es wars of aggression or conquest as an international crime, recognize the legitimacy of battles of national liberation and armed resistance to aggression, and considers it our international duty to act with solidarity with the assaulted party and with the people who �ght for their liberation and self-determination; k. Promotes complete and general disarmament and rejects the existence, proliferation, or use of nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction or those with similar effects, as well as the development and use of new weapons, including autonomous weapons and new forms of waging war, such as cyberwarfare, that transgress International Law; l. Repudiates and condemns terrorism in any of its manifestations, in particular, State terrorism; m. Rati�es our commitment to the construction of a society of information and knowledge centered on the people and oriented towards sustainable development, in which all may create, consult, utilize, and share information and knowledge in order to improve their quality of life; and defends the cooperation of all states and the democratization of cyberspace, and condemns its use and the Page 8

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m. use of the radio spectrum for purposes contrary to those purposes stated above, including the subversion and destabilization of sovereign nations; Reference to fraternity/solidarity

Customary international law International law

n. Bases its relationships with countries that edify socialism on fraternal friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance; ñ. Maintains and fosters friendly relations with countries that, despite having a different political, social, and economic system, respect our sovereignty, observe the norms of coexistence between States, and adopt a reciprocal attitude with our country, in accordance with the principles of International Law, and o. Promotes multilateralism and multipolarity in international relations, as alternatives to the domination and political, �nancial, and military hegemony or any other manifestation that threatens peace, independence, and the sovereignty of peoples.

Protection of stateless persons

Article 17 The Republic of Cuba may concede asylum, in accordance with the law, to those who are persecuted because of their ideals or their �ghts for national liberation, progressive activities, socialism and peace, democratic rights and its assertions, as well as to those who �ght against imperialism, fascism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and any other form of domination, discrimination, or racism.

Title II. Economic Foundations Article 18 The Republic of Cuba is governed by a socialist economic system based on ownership by all people of the fundamental means of production as the primary form of property as well as the planned direction of the economy, which considers, regulates, and monitors the economy according to the interests of the society.

Article 19 The State directs, regulates, and monitors economic activity, reconciling national, territorial, collective, and individual interests for the bene�t of society. Socialist planning constitutes the central component of the system of governance for economic and social development. Its essential function is to design and conduct strategic development, planning for relevant balances between resources and needs.

Article 20 Workers participate in the processes of economic planning, regulation, management, and monitoring. The law regulates the participation of labor collectives in the administration and management of state-governed business entities and budgetary units. Reference to science Right to enjoy the bene�ts of science

Article 21 The State promotes the advance of science, technology, and innovation as indispensable elements of economic and social development. It also implements forms of organization, �nancing, and management of scienti�c activity, and fosters the systematic and accelerated introduction of its results into service and production processes, within the appropriate institutional and regulatory framework.

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Right to own property

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Article 22 The following are recognized as forms of property: a. Socialist property of the entire population: in which the State acts as a representative and bene�ciary of the people as property owner. b. Cooperative property: that which is sustained through the collective labor of partner owners and through the effective exercise of the principles of cooperativism. c. Property of political, social, and mass organizations: ownership that they exercise over their goods designed to ful�ll their roles. d. Private ownership: that which is exercised over speci�c means of production by natural or legal persons, Cubans or foreigners; with a complementary role in the economy. e. Mixed property: that which is formed through the combination of two or more forms of ownership. f. Institutional and associative property: that which these groups exercise over their goods for non-pro�t purposes. g. Personal property: that which is exercised over one's belongings that, without constituting means of production, contribute to the satisfaction of the material and spiritual necessities of their owner. All forms of ownership over means of production interact in similar ways; the State regulates and monitors the way in which they contribute to economic and social development. The exercise and attainment of these forms of ownership are regulated by the law.

Ownership of natural resources

Article 23 The following are socialist property of the people: the lands that do not belong to individuals or cooperatives composed of these individuals, the subterranean areas, mineral deposits, the mines, the forests, the waters, the beaches, the means of communication, and the natural resources both living as well as nonliving within the exclusive economic zone of the Republic. These goods may not be transferred as property to natural or legal persons and are governed by principles that render them unalienable, imprescriptible, and unseizable.

Standing committees

The transfer of other rights not involving the transfer of property of these goods must have prior approval of the Council of State, according to that which is prescribed by law and provided that it is for the purpose of the country's economic and social development and does not affect the political, economic, or social foundations of the State.

Right to transfer property

Article 24 Socialist property that belongs to the entire population includes other goods, such as general interest infrastructure, key industries, and economic and social facilities, as well as other goods that are strategic for the country's economic and social development. These goods may not be seized and may be transferred as property only in exceptional cases, provided that it is for the purpose of the country's economic and social development and does not affect the political, economic, and social foundations of the State. They require the prior approval of the Council of Ministers. The transmission of other rights over these goods and their management will take place according to that which is prescribed by law.

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Budgeted institutions and state-governed business entities possess other goods that are socialist property of the entire population, over which the rights that correspond and accord with the provisions of the law are exercised.

Article 25 The state creates budgeted institutions to accomplish essentially state and social functions.

Article 26 The State creates and organizes state-governed business entities with the objective of developing economic activities, such as production or the provision of services. These entities act in response to the obligations incurred by their patrimony, which are consistent with the limits determined by the law. The State does not respond to the obligations within the contracts of state-governed business entities, and these entities do not act in response to those of the State.

Article 27 A socialist state business is the primary subject of the national economy. They have autonomy in their administration and management, perform the primary role in the production of goods and services, and comply with their social responsibilities. The law regulates the principles of their organization and operation.

Article 28 The State promotes and provides guarantees to foreign investment as an important element for the economic development of the country, which is based upon the protection and the rational use of the natural and human resources as well as respect for national sovereignty and independence. The law establishes regulations with respect to foreign investment within the national territory. Right to transfer property

Article 29 Private property over land is regulated by a special framework. Leasing, sharecropping, and mortgage loans to individuals are prohibited. The onerous trading or transmission of this good may only be realized in compliance with the requirements established by the law, and without prejudice to the preferential right of the State to the acquisition of land through the payment of a just price. Non-onerous transfer of ownership or of rights of use and enjoyment of this property is carried out with prior authorization of the competent authority and in accordance with that which is prescribed in the law.

Article 30 The concentration of property in natural or legal non-state persons is regulated by the State, which also guarantees an increasingly just redistribution of wealth in order to conserve the limits that are compatible with the socialist values of equity and social justice. The law establishes regulations that guarantee its effective enforcement.

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Article 31 Duty to work Right to work

Labor is a primordial value in our society. It constitutes a right, a social duty, and a source of honor for all people who are able to work.

Right to reasonable standard of living

Paid labor must be the principal source of income that sustains digni�ed living conditions, allows for the improvement of material and spiritual well-being and the realization of individual, collective, and social projects.

Right to just remuneration

Payment in accordance with the labor performed is complemented by the just and free ful�llment of universal social services and other provisions and bene�ts.

Right to culture Reference to science

Title III. Principles of Educational, Scienti c, and Cultural Policy Article 32 The State orients, fosters, and promotes education, the sciences, and culture in all of their forms. In its educational, scienti�c, and cultural policy, the State abides by the following tenets: a. It is based on the advances in science, creation, technology, innovation, thought, and the progressive Cuban and universal pedagogical traditions;

Separation of church and state

b. Teaching is a function of the State; it is secular, and based on the contributions of science and on the principles and values of our society; c. Education promotes knowledge of the nation's history and develops a high level of ethical, moral, civic, and patriotic values; d. It promotes the participation of citizens in the realization of their political, educational, scienti�c, and cultural policy; e. It orients, fosters, and promotes physical culture, recreation, and sports in all of their forms as a means of education and a means to contribute to the holistic development of citizens;

Right to enjoy the bene�ts of science

f. Creative and investigative activity in science is free. Scienti�c and technical research with a focus on development and innovation is encouraged, prioritizing that which is oriented towards solving problems of social concern and that bene�t the population; g. It fosters the education and employment of people required for the development of the country in order to ensure scienti�c, technological, and innovative capacities;

Reference to art

h. Freedom of artistic creation is promoted in all of its expressions, in accordance with the humanist principles upon which the State's cultural policy and the values of socialist society are based;

Reference to art

i. It fosters and develops artistic and literary education, the vocation of creation, the cultivation of art, and the capacity to appreciate it;

Reference to art

j. It defends the Cuban identity and culture, and safeguards the artistic, patrimonial, and historic wealth of the nation, and

Reference to art

k. It protects national monuments and locations that are noted for their natural beauty or their recognized artistic or historical value.

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Title IV. Citizenship Article 33 Cuban citizenship is acquired through birth or through naturalization. Requirements for birthright citizenship

Article 34 A person is a Cuban citizen through birth if:

International organizations

a. They are born within the national territory, with the exception of the children of foreigners that are in the service of their government or an international organization. The law establishes the requirements and the formalities for cases involving the children of foreigners who are not permanent residents within the country; b. They are born abroad to a Cuban mother or father, who were completing an of�cial mission, according to the requirements and formalities established by the law; c. They are born abroad to a Cuban mother or father, having previously complied with the requirements and formalities indicated by the law, or d. They are born outside the national territory to a mother or father native to the Republic of Cuba that has lost Cuban citizenship, as long as they reclaim it in the form indicated by the law.

Requirements for naturalization

Article 35 A person is a Cuban citizen through naturalization if: a. They are a foreigner that acquires citizenship according to the provisions of the law.

Head of state powers

b. Having been arbitrarily deprived of their citizenship in their country of origin, they obtain Cuban citizenship at the discretion of the President of the Republic.

Article 36 The acquisition of other citizenship does not imply the loss of Cuban citizenship. Cuban citizens, as long as they are within national territory, are governed by this condition, in the terms established by the law, and may not make use of another citizenship.

Article 37 Neither marriage, civil union, nor legal separation will affect the citizenship of spouses, partners, or children. Conditions for revoking citizenship

Article 38 Cubans may not be deprived of their citizenship, except for legally sanctioned causes.

Right to renounce citizenship

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The law establishes the procedure to be followed in order to formalize the loss or renouncement of citizenship as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.

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Article 39 Cuban citizenship may be recovered in accordance with the requirements and formalities prescribed by the law.

Title V. Rights, Duties, and Guarantees Chapter I. General Provisions Human dignity

Article 40 Human dignity is the supreme value that underpins the recognition and exercise of the rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution, treaties, and laws.

General guarantee of equality

Article 41 The Cuban State recognizes and guarantees to a person the non-renounceable, indivisible, and interdependent enjoyment and exercise of human rights, in correspondence with the principles of progressivity and nondiscrimination. Their respect and guarantee are obligatory for all.

Equality regardless of sexual orientation Human dignity Equality regardless of origin Equality regardless of religion General guarantee of equality Equality regardless of skin color Equality regardless of age Equality regardless of gender Equality for persons with disabilities

Article 42 All people are equal before the law, receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities, and enjoy the same rights, liberties, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic origin, skin color, religious belief, disability, national or territorial origin, or any other personal condition or circumstance that implies a distinction injurious to human dignity. All people have the right to enjoy the same public spaces and service facilities.

Right to just remuneration

Likewise, they receive equal salary for equal work, with no discrimination whatsoever. The violation of this principle is proscribed and is sanctioned by law.

Equality regardless of gender

Article 43 Women and men have equal rights and responsibilities in the economic, political, cultural, occupational, social, and familial domains, as well as in any other domain. The State guarantees that both will be offered the same opportunities and possibilities. The State encourages the holistic development of women and their full social participation. It ensures the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights, protects them from gender-based violence in all of its forms and in all spaces, and creates the institutional and legal mechanisms to do so.

General guarantee of equality

Article 44 The State creates the conditions necessary to guarantee the equality of its citizens. It educates all people from the earliest age possible in the respect of this principle. The State effectuates this right with the implementation of public laws and policies to encourage social inclusion and the safeguard of the rights of people whose condition requires it.

Article 45 The exercise of these rights of the people are only limited by the rights of others, collective security, general well-being, respect for public order, the Constitution, and the 280

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laws.

Chapter II. Rights Right to culture Right to life Right to health care

Reference to fraternity/solidarity Right to development of personality

Article 46 All citizens have the right to life, physical and moral integrity, justice, security, peace, health, education, culture, recreation, sports, and to their holistic development.

Article 47 The people have the right to the free development of their personality and must conduct themselves with respect, fraternity, and solidarity.

Right to privacy

Article 48 All people have the right to personal and familiar privacy, to their own image and voice, their honor, and their personal identity.

Regulation of evidence collection Right to privacy

Article 49 The home is an inviolable space. One may not enter in another dwelling without permission of the inhabitants, except through a warrant issued by a competent authority following the legal formalities and for a motive previously de�ned by the law.

Right to privacy

Article 50 Correspondence and other forms of communication between persons are inviolable. They may only be intercepted or registered through a warrant issued by a competent authority in the cases and with the formalities established by the law. Documents of information obtained in violation of this principle do not constitute evidence within any legal proceeding.

Prohibition of cruel treatment Prohibition of torture

Article 51 People may not be subject to forced disappearance, torture, or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

Freedom of movement

Article 52 People have the right to enter, remain in, travel through, and exit from the national territory, or to change their residence or domicile without any limits other than those established by the law.

Right to information

Article 53 All people have the right to request and receive information from the State that is true, objective, and timely, and to access the information generated by organs of the state and its entities, according to the established regulations.

Freedom of opinion/thought/conscience Freedom of expression

Article 54 The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees people freedom of thought, conscience, and expression. Conscientious objection may not be invoked with the intention of evading compliance with the law or impeding another from the exercise of their rights.

State operation of the media Freedom of press

Article 55 People's freedom of press is recognized. This right is exercised according to the law and for the good of society.

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The fundamental means of social communication, in any of their forms, are the socialist property of all people or of political, social, and mass organizations, and may not be categorized as any other type of property. The State establishes the principles of organization and operation for all means of social communication. Freedom of association Freedom of assembly

Article 56 The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association for legal and peaceful purposes are recognized by the State whenever they are exercised with respect to public order and in compliance with the precepts established by the law.

Freedom of religion

Article 57 Any person has the right to profess or not profess their religious beliefs, to change them, and to practice the religion of their choice with the required respect to other beliefs and in accordance with the law.

Right to own property Protection from expropriation

Article 58 All people have the right to enjoy their personal property. The State guarantees its use, enjoyment, and free disposal, in accordance with what is established in the law. The expropriation of goods is solely authorized for the purpose of attending to reasons of public utility or social interest with the required indemnity. The law establishes the means to determine their utility and necessity, the required guarantees, and the procedure for their expropriation and the form of indemnity.

Article 59 Con�scation of property may only be applied as a sanction issued by a competent authority in the cases and through the procedures determined by the law. When the con�scation of property is ordered in an administrative procedure, a person is always guaranteed the ability to defend their right before the competent courts.

Article 60 Within its penitentiary policy, the State favors the social reintegration of persons deprived of liberty, guarantees the respect for their rights and the compliance with the norms established for their treatment within prison establishments. Likewise, it is responsible for the assistance and social reintegration of persons who ful�ll their criminal penalties or comply with other measures imposed by the courts. Right of petition

Article 61 People have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities, who are obligated to process and respond to them in a timely and pertinent manner that is based on the term and procedure established in the law.

Provisions for intellectual property

Article 62

International law

People's intellectual property rights are recognized according to the law and to international treaties. The rights acquired are exercised by the author and owners in compliance with the law and according to public policies.

Right to transfer property

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Article 63 The State recognizes the right to succession in the case of death. The law regulates its content and scope. Right to work

Article 64

Right to choose occupation

The State recognizes the right to work. Any person that is able to work has the right to obtain a digni�ed employment according to their choice, quali�cations, aptitude, and the demands of the economy and society. The State organizes institutions and services that facilitate the ability of working families to carry out their responsibilities.

Right to just remuneration

Article 65 All people have the right for their work to be remunerated according to its quality and quantity, which expresses the socialist principle of distribution: "from each according to their ability, to each according to their labor."

Limits on employment of children

Article 66 Child labor, performed by children or adolescents, is prohibited. The State grants special protection to adolescents who have graduated from vocational school or others who, in exceptional circumstances de�ned by the law, are permitted to work with the purpose of guaranteeing their training and holistic development.

Right to rest and leisure

Article 67 Workers have the right to a break, which is guaranteed through the eight-hour workday, a weekly break, and annual paid vacations. The law de�nes other cases in which exceptions may be made to approve alternative workdays or working systems, with the necessary proportion of time devoted to work and breaks.

Article 68 People who work have a right to social security. The State, through the social security system, guarantees adequate protection when a person �nds themselves unable to work due to age, maternity, paternity, disability, or illness. Likewise, in accordance with the law, the State protects grandparents or other relatives of minors in their care and attention. In the case of a worker's death or retirement, the State grants similar protection to his or her family, in accordance with that which is established in the law. Right to safe work environment

Article 69 The State guarantees the right to safety and health at work through the adoption of suitable means to prevent work-related accidents or illnesses. Any person who suffers an accident during their labor or contracts a work-related illness has the right to medical attention, subsidy, or pension in the case of a temporary or permanent incapacity to work, or to other forms of social security protection.

State support for the unemployed

Article 70 The State, through social assistance, protects persons without resources or shelter, those who are unable to work, those without family members who are able to care for them, and the families that, due to low income, require it, according to the law.

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Right to shelter

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Article 71 The State recognizes the right to adequate housing and a safe and healthy home for all people. The State works to make this right effective through shelter construction programs, with the participation of entities and of the population, in correspondence with public policies, the norms of territorial and urban order, and the laws.

Right to health care

Article 72 Public health is a right of all people and it is the State's responsibility to guarantee access to quality medical attention, protection, and recovery services, free of charge. The State, in order to effectuate this right, institutes a healthcare system at all levels that is accessible to the population and develops prevention and education programs, in which the society and families contribute. The law de�nes the mode in which health services are provided.

Access to higher education

Article 73

Free education

Education is a right of all people and the responsibility of the State, which guarantees free, accessible, and quality education services to its citizens for their holistic development, from preschool until the postgraduate level. The State, in order to effectuate this right, establishes a broad system of educational institutions of all types and education levels, which allows the possibility of attending school during any stage of life according to one's aptitudes and the country's social demands and socioeconomic development needs. Society and families have the responsibility of education.

Compulsory education

The law de�nes the scope of the obligatory nature of attending school; the basic general preparation that must be minimally acquired; the education of adults and those whose postgraduate or other complementary studies may extraordinarily be remunerated.

Article 74 People have the right to physical education, sports, and recreation as essential elements of their quality of life. Rights of children

The national education system guarantees the inclusion of teaching and practicing physical education and sports as an integral part of childhood, adolescent, and teenage education. The State works to guarantee the necessary resources dedicated to the promotion and practice of sports and recreation for all people, as well as for the preparation of, attention to, and development of athletic talent.

Protection of environment

Article 75 All persons have the right to enjoy a natural environment that is healthy and stable. The State protects the environment and the country's natural resources. It recognizes their close linkage with the sustainable development of the economy and society to make human life more rational and to ensure the security of current and future generations.

Article 76 Right to water

All people have the right to water.

Right to water

The State works to guarantee access to potable water and to its sanitation, with the required compensation and rational use.

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Article 77 All people have the right to a healthy and adequate diet. The State works to achieve the food security of the entire population. Protection of consumers

Article 78 All people have the right to consume quality goods and services that are not counter to their health, the right to access truthful and adequate information about these items, and the right to receive a digni�ed and equitable treatment in accordance with the law.

Right to culture Reference to art

Article 79 All people have the right to participate in the artistic and cultural life of the nation. The State promotes culture and the distinct artistic formats in accordance with cultural policy and the law.

Article 80 Cuban citizens have the right to participate in the formation, exercise, and monitoring of the power of the State, for which purpose they may, in accordance with the laws: a. Be registered within the electoral registry; b. Propose and nominate candidates; c. Elect of�cials and be elected for of�ce; Referenda

d. Participate in elections, plebiscites, referendums, popular consultations, as well as other forms of democratic participation; e. Make pronouncements regarding the release of documents or information for the purposes of accountability that are provided by elected of�cials; f. Revoke the mandate of elected of�cials; g. Exercise the powers of the legislature as well as the power of constitutional reform; h. Perform public functions or roles, and i. Be informed of the management of the organs and authorities of the State.

Chapter III. Families Right to found a family

Article 81 All people have the right to start a family. The State recognizes and protects families, regardless of their structure, as the basic cell of society, and works to guarantee that the holistic achievement of their objectives. They are formed by legal, de facto, or emotional ties, and are based on the equality of rights, duties, and opportunities of its members. Legal protection of the diverse types of families is regulated by the law.

Regulation of marriage

Article 82

Provision for matrimonial equality

Marriage is a social and legal institution. It is one of the organizational structures of families. It is based on free consent and on the equality of rights, obligations, and legal capacity of spouses. The law determines how they are constituted and their effects.

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Furthermore, it recognizes the stable and singular union with legal capacity that effectively forms a common life plan that, under the conditions and circumstances indicated in the law, generates the rights and obligations that the law provides. Rights of children

Article 83 All children have equal rights.

Mentions of social class

All titles regarding the nature of one's birth are prohibited. The State guarantees, through suitable legal procedures, the determination and the recognition of maternity and paternity.

Article 84 Maternity and paternity are protected by the State. Mothers and fathers have essential responsibilities and roles in the holistic education and upbringing them as citizens with moral, ethical, and civic values in correspondence with life within our socialist society. Mothers and fathers or other relatives by blood or marriage who perform the roles of guardianship and caretakers have the duty to feed children and adolescents, respect and guarantee the full exercise of their rights, protect them from all types of violence, and contribute actively to the holistic development of their personality. Children, in turn, are obligated to respect, care for, and protect their mothers, fathers, and other relatives, in accordance with that which is established by law.

Article 85 Violence within the family, in any of its manifestations, is considered destructive to the people involved, to families, and to society, and is punishable by law. Rights of children State support for children

Article 86 The State, society, and families grant special protection to children and adolescents in order to guarantee their harmonic and holistic development, keeping their best interests in mind in the decisions and actions that concern them. Children and adolescents are considered to have full possession of their rights and enjoy the rights that are recognized in this Constitution, in addition to the rights that are speci�c to their special condition as a developing person. They are protected from all types of violence.

Article 87 The State, society, and families recognize young people as active participants in society, for which they create the conditions for the full exercise of their rights and their holistic development. State support for the elderly

Article 88 The State, society, and families, in their respective roles, have the obligation to protect, aid, and provide the conditions to satisfy the necessities and improve the quality of life of the elderly. Likewise, they are obligated to respect their self-determination, guarantee the full exercise of their rights, and promote their social integration and participation.

State support for the disabled

Article 89 The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect, foster, and ensure the full exercise of rights for disabled persons. The State guarantees the required conditions for their rehabilitation or the improvement of their quality of life, their personal autonomy, and their social inclusion and participation.

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Chapter IV. Duties Article 90 The exercise of the rights and liberties provided for in this Constitution implies responsibilities. They are duties of Cuban citizens, in addition to the other duties established by this Constitution and the laws, are: Duty to serve in the military Duty to obey the constitution

a. To serve and defend the homeland; b. To comply with the Constitution and other legal norms; c. To respect and protect the national symbols;

Duty to pay taxes

d. To contribute to the public expenditures in the form established by the law; e. To demonstrate the required respect to the authorities and their agents;

Duty to serve in the military

f. Perform military or social services according to the law; g. To respect the rights of others and to not abuse one's own rights; h. To conserve, protect, and make rational use of the goods and resources that the State and society provide to the people;

Protection of environment

i. To comply with the requirements established for the protection of environmental health and hygiene;

Protection of environment

j. To protect the natural resources, �ora, and fauna, and to safeguard the preservation of a clean environment, and k. To protect the country's cultural and historic patrimony, and

Reference to fraternity/solidarity

l. To act, in one's relations with other people, according to the principle of human solidarity and with respect to the norms of a proper social coexistence.

Chapter V. The Rights and Duties of Foreigners Article 91 Foreigners residing in the Republic are equal to Cubans: a. In the Protection of their person and property; Duty to obey the constitution Duty to pay taxes

b. In the obligation to observe the Constitution and the law; c. In the obligation to contribute to the public expenditures in the form and quantity established by the law; d. In their submission to the jurisdiction and rulings of the courts of justice as well as the authorities of the Republic, and e. In the enjoyment of the rights and compliance with the duties set forth within this Constitution under the conditions and within the limits established by the law. The law establishes the cases and the form in which foreigners may be expelled from the national territory as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.

Chapter VI. Guarantees of Rights Article 92 The State guarantees, in accordance with the law, that people may access judicial bodies in order to obtain effective protection of their rights and legitimate interests. Cuba 2019

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Ful�llment of judicial decisions is obligatory and disrespect of these decisions will result in liability for those who violate them.

Article 93 The State recognizes the right of people to settle their disputes using alternate methods of con�ict resolution, in accordance with the Constitution and the legal norms that are established for such purposes. Guarantee of due process

Article 94 All people, as a guarantee of their legal protection, enjoy due process in the legal sphere as well as the administrative sphere and, consequently, enjoy the following rights: a. To enjoy equality of opportunities in all processes in which they participate;

Right to counsel

b. To receive legal assistance in order to exercise their rights in all processes in which they participate;

Regulation of evidence collection

c. To provide pertinent means of proof and request the exclusion of those that have been obtained in violation of established law;

Judicial independence

d. Access to a competent, independent, and impartial trial, when appropriate; e. To not be deprived of their rights except by the ruling of a competent authority or �nal judgement of a court; f. To bring a pertinent action or procedure against the judicial or administrative rulings, when appropriate;

Right to speedy trial Protection from false imprisonment Ultra-vires administrative actions

g. Proceedings without undue delay, and h. Redress for material and moral damages and compensation for resulting harm.

Article 95 Furthermore, in criminal proceedings, all people have the following guarantees: a. To not be deprived of liberty, unless by a competent authority and for the legally prescribed amount of time;

Right to counsel Presumption of innocence in trials

Regulation of evidence collection Human dignity

Protection from self-incrimination

b. To have access to legal assistance from the start of the proceedings; c. To the presumption of innocence until declared guilty through a �nal sentence of a court; d. To be treated with respect for their dignity and physical, mental, and moral integrity, and to not be a victim of violence and duress of any kind in order to coerce a testimony; e. To not testify against oneself, one's spouse, civil partner, or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of af�nity; f. To be informed of an accusation against them;

Principle of no punishment without law

g. To be judged by a legally pre-established court and in virtue of previous laws regarding the crime; h. To communicate with their relatives immediately, in the case they are arrested or detained. In the case of foreigners, a noti�cation to their consulate will be made, and

Protection of victim's rights Protection from unjusti�ed restraint

i. If they are the victim of a crime, to enjoy protection of the exercise of their rights.

Article 96 Anyone illegally deprived of liberty, of their own account or by a third party, has the right to submit a writ of Habeas Corpus to a competent court, according to the requirements

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established in the law. Right to information

Article 97 The State recognizes the right of all people to access their personal information in public registries, archives, or other databases, as well as request its non-disclosure or obtain a due correction, recti�cation, modi�cation, update, or deletion. The use and treatment of these data is performed according to that which is established in the law.

Ultra-vires administrative actions

Article 98 All people who have suffered undue harm or prejudice by leaders, functionaries, or employees of the State while exercising the duties of their position have the right to issue a complaint and receive the corresponding redress or indemnity as established by the law.

Ultra-vires administrative actions

Article 99 Anyone whose rights as enshrined in this Constitution are violated and who, as a consequence, has suffered harm or prejudice by organs of the State, its leaders, functionaries, or employees while exercising their duties of their position or by undue oversight of these duties, as well as by individuals or by non-State entities, has the right to issue a complaint with the court to obtain restitution of their rights and, in accordance with the law, the corresponding redress or indemnity. The law establishes the rights protected under this guarantee, and the preferential, expedited, and reduced proceedings to comply with it.

Protection from ex post facto laws

Article 100 The legal system is governed by the principle of non-retroactivity of laws, except in penal matters when they are favorable to the accused or to the sanctioned person, and in the case of other laws, when they expressly permit it with regard to matters of social interest or public utility, which they must explicate in their content.

Title VI. The Structure of the State Chapter I. Functional and Organizational Principles of the Organs of the State Article 101 The organs of the State are formed and develop their activities upon the foundation of the principles of socialist democracy, which are expressed in the following rules: a. All the representative organs of State power are elected and renewable; b. The people monitor the activity of the State organs, their leaders, functionaries, representatives, and delegates, in accordance with that which the law prescribes; c. Elected representatives have the duty to periodically release required documentation regarding the performance of their duties and may be removed from of�ce at any moment; d. Each State organ develops, according to its role and within the framework of its competency, initiatives designed to take advantage of resources and local possibilities and the incorporation of the social and mass organizations to their activity;

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e. The orders of the superior State organs are obligatory for the subordinate State organs; f. The subordinate State organs respond to the superior organs and they submit documentation regarding their management; g. The liberty of discussion, the exercise of criticism and self-criticism, and the subordination of the minority to the majority govern in all of the collegial State organs, and h. State organs and their leaders and functionaries act with due transparency.

Chapter II. The National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State Section One. The National Assembly of People's Power Article 102 The National Assembly of People's Power is the supreme organ of the power of the State. It represents the entire population and expresses their sovereign will. Structure of legislative chamber(s)

Article 103 The National Assembly of People's Power in the only organ with legislative and constituent power within the Republic.

Secret ballot First chamber selection

Article 104 The National Assembly of People's Power is composed of representatives elected through a free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors, in the proportion and according to the procedure determined by the law.

Term length for �rst chamber

Article 105 The National Assembly of People's Power is selected for a period of �ve years. This period may only be extended by the Assembly itself through an agreement adopted by a majority of no less than two thirds of the total number of its members in cases of exceptional circumstances that impede the normal process of elections and only while those circumstances persist.

Article 106 Leader of �rst chamber

The National Assembly of People's Power, upon convening a new legislature, selects its President, Vice President, and Secretary from among its representatives. The law regulates the form and the procedure through which the Assembly is constituted, and the election is realized.

Standing committees

Article 107 The National Assembly of People's Power elects from among its representatives the Council of State, the organ that represents it between one or another period of sessions, executes its agreements, and performs the other functions that the Constitution and the law attribute to it.

Article 108 The following duties correspond to the National Assembly of People's Power: a. To agree upon reforms to the Constitution, according to that which is established in Title XI; 290

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Constitutional interpretation

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b. To issue a general and obligatory interpretation of the Constitution and the laws, in necessary cases, in correspondence with the procedure prescribed by the law; c. To approve, modify, or derogate the laws and to submit them to the prior consultation of the people when deemed appropriate, with attention to the nature of the legislation concerned; d. To adopt agreements in correspondence with the laws in force and to ensure and monitor their enforcement; e. To ensure the constitutionality of the laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, and other general provisions in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the law; f. To ratify decrees with the force of law and agreements of the Council of State;

Constitutional interpretation Head of state decree power

Municipal government National vs subnational laws Federal review of subnational legislation Constitutional interpretation Economic plans

g. To completely or partially revoke decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, agreements, and general provisions that contradict the Constitution or the laws; h. To completely or partially revoke the agreements or rulings of the municipal assemblies of the People's Power that violate the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees, and other provisions dictated by an organ that is hierarchically superior, or those that affect the interests of other localities or the generals of the country; i. To discuss and approve the general objectives and methods of the annual plans as well as the country's short-, medium-, and long-term social and economic development; j. To approve the principles of the management system of economic and social development;

Budget bills

k. To discuss and to approve the budget of the State and to monitor compliance with it; l. To arrange the monetary, �nancial, and �scal systems; m. To establish, modify, or terminate taxes; n. To approve the general guidelines of the country's internal and external relations;

International law

ñ. To declare the State of War or to declare War in the case of military aggression and to approve peace treaties;

Treaty rati�cation Power to declare/approve war

Legislative committees

o. To establish and to modify the political-administrative division; to approve regimes of administrative subordination, special systems of regulation for municipalities or other territorial demarcations as well as the administrative districts according to that which is established in the Constitution and the laws; p. To appoint permanent or temporary commissions and friendly parliamentary groups; q. To exercise the highest levels of supervisions over the organs of the State; r. To be familiar with and to evaluate the reports and analyses of the State business systems that are pertinent due to their size as well as their social and economic transcendence;

Legislative oversight of the executive

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s. To be familiar with, evaluate, and to adopt decisions regarding the accountability reports presented to it by the Council of State, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers, the People's Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, and the organizations of the Central Administration of the State, as well as of the provincial governments;

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t. To create or to terminate the organizations of the Central Administration of the State or to arrange any other organizational method that is appropriate; u. To grant amnesty; Referenda

v. To arrange for the convocation of referendums or plebiscites in the cases prescribed by the Constitution and in others that the Assembly itself considers appropriate; w. To agree upon its regulation and that of the Council of State, and x. The other duties conferred to it by this Constitution.

Article 109 The National Assembly of People's Power, in the exercise of its duties: Deputy executive Head of state selection

Standing committees Head of government selection Cabinet selection

Supreme/ordinary court judge removal

a. Chooses the President and Vice President of the Republic; b. Chooses its President, Vice President, and Secretary; c. Chooses the members of the Council of State; d. Designates, at the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister; e. Designates, at the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Deputy prime ministers and other members of the Council of Ministers; f. Chooses the President of the People's Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic and the Comptroller General of the Republic;

Supreme court selection Attorney general Electoral commission Supreme/ordinary court judge removal

g. Chooses the President and the other members of the National Electoral Council; h. Chooses the vice presidents and the magistrates of the People's Supreme Court as well as the lay judges of this body;

Supreme court selection

i. Chooses the deputy attorneys general and deputy comptrollers general of the Republic; Head of state removal Cabinet removal Head of government removal Supreme/ordinary court judge removal

j. Revokes or substitutes the people it has chosen or designated. The law regulates the procedure to make these duties effective.

Article 110 The National Assembly of People's Power in its operations is governed according to the following principles: a. The laws and agreements that it emits, except those exceptions prescribed by the Constitution, are adopted by a simple majority vote;

Extraordinary legislative sessions

b. It meets for two ordinary periods of sessions each year and for extraordinary sessions when they are convoked by the Council of State or requested by one third of their members. The extraordinary sessions will deal with the issues that motivated it;

Quorum for legislative sessions

c. In order to hold its sessions, the presence of more than half of the total number of the members of the Assembly is required; and

Public or private sessions

d. Its sessions are public, except when the Assembly itself agrees to hold them with closed doors due to the interests of the State.

Article 111 The following duties correspond to the President of the National Assembly of People's Power:

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Duty to obey the constitution Leader of �rst chamber

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a. To comply with and to ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws; b. To preside over the sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State, and to ensure the application of the bylaws of both organs; c. To convoke the ordinary sessions of the National Assembly;

Extraordinary legislative sessions

d. To convoke the ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Council of State; e. To propose the daily agenda of the National Assembly and the Council of State; f. To sign laws, decrees with the force of law, and agreements adopted by the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of the State, as needed, and to issue the publication of the decrees with the force of law and agreements of both organs in the Of�cial Bulletin of the Republic; g. To direct the international relations of the National Assembly of People's Power;

Legislative committees

h. To direct and to organize the labor of the permanent and temporary commissions that are created by the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State, as needed; i. To direct and to organize the relations of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State with the State organs; j. To monitor compliance with the agreements of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State; k. To ensure suitable bonds between the representatives and the electors, and l. The other duties that this Constitution, the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State assign to it.

Article 112 In the case of absence, sickness, or death of the President of the National Assembly of People's Power, the Vice President will serve as a substitute in the President's role in accordance with the law.

Section Two. Representatives and Commissions of the National Assembly of People's Power Article 113 The representatives have the duty of carrying out their work for the bene�t of the interests of the people, to maintain bonds with their electors, to attend to their approaches, proposals, suggestions, criticisms, and to explain the policies of the State to them. Additionally, they report on their performance with respect to their duties according to that which is established in the law. The National Assembly of People's Power adopts the methods that guarantee the suitable bonds of the representatives with their electors and with the local organs of the People's Power in the territory in which they were elected. Standing committees Immunity of legislators

Article 114 No representative may be detained nor submitted to a penal process without the authorization of the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State if the Assembly is not meeting, except in cases of �agrant crime.

Compensation of legislators

Article 115 Serving as a representative does not grant personal privileges nor economic bene�ts. During the time that they discharge their duties, representatives will receive the same remuneration as their place of work and they will maintain their link to it for the relevant purposes.

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Removal of individual legislators

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Article 116 Representatives' mandate may be revoked at any moment in the form, for the causes, and according to the procedures established in the law.

Legislative oversight of the executive

Article 117 Representatives have the right to ask the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, or the members of one or the other during the sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power; they also have the right for their questions to receive a response during the sessions during which they are asked or during the next session.

Legislative committees

Article 118 The National Assembly of People's Power, in order to better exercise its functions, creates temporary and permanent commissions composed of representatives, according to the principles of organization and operation prescribed by the law.

Article 119 Legislative committees

The representatives and the commissions have the right to request that the State organs or entities provide the necessary collaboration for them to carry out their operations, and they are obligated to provide it within the terms established by the law.

Standing committees

Section Three. The Council of State Article 120 The Council of State is collegial, responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power, and reports to it regarding all of its activities. The decrees with the force of law and agreements that the Council of State adopts will be sent for rati�cation by the National Assembly in the upcoming session.

Article 121 The President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the National Assembly of People's Power are also a part of the Council of State, which is composed of the other members selected for it. Eligibility for cabinet

Members of the Council of Ministers may not be members of the Council of State, nor may the highest authorities of the judicial, electoral, or State monitoring organs be members of the Council of Ministers.

Article 122 The following duties correspond to the Council of State: a. To ensure the implementation of the Constitution and the laws; b. To give a general and obligatory interpretation, in necessary cases, for the laws in force; c. To issue decrees with the force of law and agreements; Extraordinary legislative sessions

Municipal government

d. To arrange for the holding of extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power; e. To agree upon the date of the elections for and convene the periodic renovation of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power; f. To analyze the legal proposals submitted for the consideration of the National Assembly of People's Power;

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g. To mandate the implementation of the agreements of the National Assembly of People's Power; Head of state decree power Constitutional interpretation

National vs subnational laws Municipal government Federal review of subnational legislation Constitutional interpretation

National vs subnational laws Subsidiary unit government Constitutional interpretation Federal review of subnational legislation

h. To suspend the presidential decrees, decrees, agreements, and other provisions that contradict the Constitution and the laws, informing the National Assembly of People's Power in the �rst session held after said suspension; i. To suspend the agreements and decrees of the municipal assemblies of the People's Power that do not comply with the Constitution or the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees, and other orders issued by competent organs; or those that affect the interests of other localities or the generals of the country, informing the National Assembly of People's Power in the �rst session that is held after said suspension; j. To revoke or to modify the agreements and other orders of the provincial governors or councils that contradict the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, the presidential decrees, decrees and other dispositions issued by an organ that is superior in rank within the hierarchy, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country; k. To choose, designate, suspend, revoke, or substitute, between periods of the National Assembly of People's Power's sessions the individuals that may occupy the roles that this Assembly is responsible for deciding, with the exception of the President and Vice President of the Republic, the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the National Assembly of People's Power, the members of the Council of the State, and the Prime Minister. The President of the People's Supreme Court, the District Attorney of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, and the President of the National Electoral Council, may only be suspended from the exercise of their responsibilities. In all cases, the Council of State informs the National Assembly of People's Power during its next session of the corresponding actions;

Power to declare/approve war

l. To assume, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, the powers to declare the State of War or to declare War in case of aggression or to make peace, which the Constitution otherwise attributes to the National Assembly of People's Power, when it is in recess and may not be convened with the security and urgency required; m. To give instructions of a general character to the courts through the Council of Government of the People's Supreme Court;

Legislative committees International law Treaty rati�cation

n. To create commissions; ñ. To ratify and to renounce international treaties; o. To designate and to remove, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, the chiefs of Cuba's diplomatic missions within other states; p. To exercise the monitoring and supervision of the organs of the State; q. During the periods that take place between the sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power, to create or terminate the organizations of the Central Administration of the State or to arrange any other organizational means that is deemed proper; r. To approve the methods of foreign investment that correspond to it; s. To examine and approve, between periods of the National Assembly of People's Power's sessions, the adjustments that are necessary to realize the budgetary provisions of the State;

Legislative committees

t. To coordinate and to guarantee the activities of the representatives and of the permanent or temporary working commissions of the National Assembly of People's Power, and u. The other powers conferred by this Constitution and the laws established by the National Assembly of People's Power.

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Article 123 All decisions of the Council of the State are adopted by a simple majority vote of its members.

Article 124 The mandate entrusted to the Council of the State by the National Assembly of People's Power expires once the new Council of State elected in virtue of the Council's periodic renovations takes of�ce.

Chapter III. The President and Vice President of the Republic Name/structure of executive(s)

Article 125 The President of the Republic is the Chief of State.

Article 126 Eligibility for head of state Head of state term length Head of state selection Legislative oversight of the executive

The President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly of People's Power from among its representatives, for a period of �ve years, reports to the Assembly, and is responsible for the management of the Assembly.

Head of state selection

To be elected President of the Republic an absolute majority vote is required.

Head of state term limits

The President of the Republic may exercise the role for two consecutive periods, after which a person may not run for of�ce again.

Minimum age of head of state

Article 127

Eligibility for head of state

To be President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-�ve, enjoy full civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen by birth, and not possess any other citizenship. One must also be under the age of sixty in order to be elected to a �rst term in of�ce.

Head of state powers

Article 128 The following duties correspond to the President of the Republic:

Duty to obey the constitution

a. To comply with and ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws; b. To represent the State and to direct its general policies;

Foreign affairs representative

c. To direct in matters related to foreign policy, relations with other states, and with regard to the defense and security of the nation; d. To sign the laws emitted by the National Assembly of People's Power, and to arrange for their publication in the Of�cial Gazette of the Republic in accordance with the law; e. To present to the National Assembly of People's Power, upon election by this body, in that session or the following session, the members of the Council of Ministers;

Head of government removal Electoral commission Attorney general Subsidiary unit government

f. To propose to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State, according to whom the matter corresponds, the selection, designation, suspension, revocation, or substitution of persons occupying the roles of the Prime Minister, the President of the People's Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the President of the National Electoral Council, and the members of the Council of Ministers;

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Municipal government

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g. To propose to the appropriate delegates of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power the election or revocation of provincial governors and deputy governors;

Subsidiary unit government

h. To be familiar with, evaluate, and adopt decisions regarding the reports presented by the Prime Minister documenting his or her management, as well as those of the Council of Ministers, or those of the Executive Committee; Designation of commander in chief

Power to declare/approve war Advisory bodies to the head of state

Emergency provisions

Selection of active-duty commanders

Right to renounce citizenship

i. To discharge the duties of Commander in Chief of the armed forces and to determine their general organization; j. To preside over the Council of National Defense and to propose to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State, as necessary, to declare the State of War or War in cases of military aggression; k. To order a general mobilization when the defense of the country requires it, as well as to declare a state of emergency or a situation of disaster, in the cases prescribed by the Constitution, giving notice of the decision as soon as possible to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State; in the event that they may not be convened, the proper legal remedies will be applied; l. To promote in rank and role the top of�cials within the hierarchy of the military institutions of the nation and to order their cessation, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the law; m. To decide, in appropriate cases, on the granting of Cuban citizenship, to accept renunciations, and to issue orders regarding the loss of Cuban citizenship;

Conditions for revoking citizenship

n. To propose, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the law, the suspension, modi�cation, or revocation of the orders and agreements of the organs of the State that contradict the Constitution or the laws, or that affect the general interests of the country; Head of state decree power

ñ. To issue, in the exercise of the of�ce's powers, presidential decrees and other orders; o. To create commissions or temporary working groups for the realization of speci�c projects;

International organizations

p. To propose to the Council of the State the designation or removal of the chiefs of Cuba's diplomatic missions within other States, organisms, or international organizations; q. To concede or to retract the rank of the ambassador of the Republic of Cuba; r. To grant decorations and honori�c titles;

Foreign affairs representative

s. To grant or to deny, on behalf of the Republic of Cuba, the approval of heads of diplomatic missions from other States;

Deputy executive

t. To receive the credentials of the chiefs of foreign missions. The Vice President may assume this function in exceptional circumstances;

Foreign affairs representative Power to pardon

u. To grant pardons and to request concessions of amnesty from the National Assembly of People's Power; v. To participate by his or her own right in the meetings of the Council of State and to convene them when deemed necessary; w. To preside over the meetings of the Council of Ministers or the Executive Committee, and x. The other powers that are assigned through this Constitution and the laws.

Deputy executive

Article 129 To be Vice President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-�ve, be in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth and not possess any other citizenship.

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The Vice President is elected in the same form and for the same period and mandate limit as the President of the Republic. Deputy executive

Article 130 The Vice President of the Republic performs the responsibilities and possesses the powers delegated or assigned by the President of the Republic.

Deputy executive Head of state replacement

Article 131 In the case of absence, illness, or the death of the President of the Republic, the Vice President will temporarily substitute for the President. In the case of a de�nite absence, the National Assembly of People's Power will choose the new President of the Republic. While the role of the Vice President of the Republic remains vacant, the National Assembly of People's Power will select a substitute. If the absence is de�nitive, both in the case of the President or in the case of the Vice President of the Republic, the National Assembly of People's Power will select their substitutes. Until an election is realized, the President of the National Assembly of People's Power will assume, during the interim, the role of the President of the Republic. The law regulates the procedures for substitution in these cases.

Article 132 The President and the Vice President of the Republic remain in of�ce until the election of their successors takes place within the National Assembly of People's Power.

Chapter IV. The Government of the Republic Establishment of cabinet/ministers

Section One. The Council of Ministers Article 133 The Council of Ministers is the maximum executive and administrative organ and it constitutes the Government of the Republic.

Article 134 The Council of Ministers is composed of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers, the Secretary, and the other members determined by the law. The Secretary General of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba will participate in the sessions of the Council of Ministers by his or her own right.

Article 135 The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Secretary, and other members of the Council of Ministers determined by the President of the Republic will compose the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may make decisions regarding the questions sent to the Council of Ministers during the periods that take place between its sessions. Legislative oversight of the executive

Article 136 The Council of Ministers is responsible and must periodically submit reports of its activities to the National Assembly of People's Power.

Powers of cabinet

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Article 137 The following duties correspond to the Council of Ministers: Duty to obey the constitution Reference to science

Economic plans

Treaty rati�cation

a. To comply with and ensure compliance with the Constitution and the laws; b. To organize and to direct the execution of the political, economic, cultural, scienti�c, social, and defense activities agreed to by the National Assembly of People's Power; c. To propose the general goals and objectives for the development of the State's short-, medium-, and long-term social and economic development plans of the State, and, once they have been approved by the National Assembly of People's Power, to organize, direct, and monitor their execution; d. To approve and to submit international treaties for the rati�cation of the Council of State;

International law

e. To direct and to monitor foreign commercial relations as well as foreign investment; Budget bills

f. To prepare the budget of the State and, once approved by the National Assembly of People's Power, to ensure its execution; g. To implement and to demand compliance with the approved objectives in order to strengthen the monetary, �nancial, and �scal systems; h. To prepare legislative proposals and to submit them for the consideration of the National Assembly of People's Power of the Council of State, as appropriate; i. To provide for the national defense, the maintenance of internal security and order, and the protection of citizens' rights, as well as to safeguard lives and property in case of disaster; j. To direct the administration of the State, as well as to unify, coordinate, and supervise the activity of the organizations of the central administration of the State, the national entities, and the local administrations; k. To evaluate and adopt decisions regarding the reports provided by the provincial governments; l. To create, modify, or terminate subordinate or appointed entities of the Council of Ministers and, when appropriate, of the organizations of the central administration of the State;

Subsidiary unit government

m. To orient and to monitor the management of the provincial governors; n. To approve or to authorize the appropriate forms of foreign investment; ñ. To execute the laws and agreements of the National Assembly of People's Power, as well as the decrees with the force of law and the decrees of the Council of State, presidential decrees, and, in necessary cases, to regulate them as appropriate;

Head of government decree power

Federal review of subnational legislation Standing committees Municipal government Federal review of subnational legislation Subsidiary unit government

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o. To issue decrees and agreements with a foundation in and in compliance with the laws in force and to monitor their implementation; p. To propose to the Council of State the suspension of the agreements of the municipal assemblies of People's Power that contravene the law and other policies in force or that affect the interests of other communities or the general interest of the country; q. To suspend the agreements and other policies of the Provincial Councils and the other councils of the municipal administrations that are not in accordance with the Constitution, laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, or other policies of the superior organs, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country, reporting to 299

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q. the Council of State or to the National Assembly of People's Power, for the corresponding purposes as appropriate; Subsidiary unit government Federal review of subnational legislation

r. To revoke completely or partially the policies issued by provincial governors when they contravene the Constitution, the laws, the decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, decrees, or other policies issued by competent organs, or those that affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country; s. To revoke completely or partially the policies of the chiefs of the State's central administration organizations when they contravene the higher norms that they are obligated to comply with; t. To create the commissions deemed necessary to facilitate compliance with the tasks assigned to it; u. To designate or to substitute leaders and functionaries in accordance with the powers conferred by the law; v. To submit its statutes for the approval of the National Assembly of People's Power or of the Council of State, and w. The other duties conferred to it through the Constitution, the laws, or assigned by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.

Article 138 The Council of Ministers is collegial and its decisions are adopted through a simple majority vote of its members.

Article 139 The Council of Ministers remains in of�ce until the government within the new legislature is designated.

Section Two. The Prime Minister Name/structure of executive(s)

Article 140 The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of the Republic.

Head of government selection

Article 141

Head of government term length

The Prime Minister is designated by the National Assembly of People's Power, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, for a period of �ve years. To be designated as the Prime Minister, one must obtain an absolute majority vote in favor.

Legislative oversight of the executive

Article 142 The Prime Minister is responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power and before the President of the Republic, to whom the Prime Minister must report to and inform of his or her activities, those of the Council of Ministers or of its Executive Committee, on the occasions indicated to the Prime Minister.

Minimum age of head of government Eligibility for head of government

Article 143 To be Prime Minister, one must be a representative within the National Assembly of People's Power, have reached the age of thirty-�ve, be in full enjoyment of the civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth, and not possess any other citizenship.

Head of government powers

Article 144 The following duties correspond to the Prime Minister:

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Duty to obey the constitution

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a. To comply with and to ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws; b. To represent the Government of the Republic; c. To convene and to direct the sessions of the Council of Ministers or its Executive Committee; d. To attend to and to monitor the performance of the activities of the State's central administration organizations, the national entities, or the local administrations; e. To assume, temporarily and under extraordinary circumstances, the direction of any of the State's central administration organizations;

Cabinet removal

f. To notify the President of the Republic when the pertinent organizations are interested in replacing members of the Council of Ministers and, in each case, to propose the corresponding replacement; g. To monitor the labor of the heads of the State's central administration organizations; h. To deliver instructions to the provincial governors and monitor their implementation; i. To adopt, in exceptional circumstances, decisions regarding the executiveadministrative issues within the competency of the Council of Ministers, when the urgent character of the situation or the issue to solve require it, informing this body or its Executive Committee of the decision after the fact; j. To designate or to substitute leaders or functionaries, in accordance with the powers conferred by the law; k. To sign legal orders adopted by the Council of Ministers or by its Executive Committee and to make them available by publication in the Of�cial Gazette of the Republic; l. To create commissions or temporary working groups for the realization of speci�c projects, and m. Any other duty assigned by the Constitution and the laws.

Section Three. Members of the Council of Ministers Powers of cabinet

Article 145 The following duties correspond to the members of the Council of Ministers: a. To represent the Council of Ministers or the Prime Minister under circumstances that demand it; b. To comply with the agreements and other decrees of the Council of Ministers and its Executive Committee that correspond to them and to report to the Prime Minister regarding their compliance; c. To complete the tasks assigned to them by the Prime Minister and to exercise the duties that, in each case, are delegated to them; d. To manage the matters and projects pertaining to the Ministry or organizations under their supervision, issuing the necessary resolutions and decrees; e. To issue, where it is not the express function of another state organ, the provisions required for the execution and application of the laws, decrees with the force of law, and other provisions that concern them; f. To attend the Council of Ministers sessions, with full voting rights, and present proposals for laws, decrees with the force of law, decrees, resolutions, agreements, or any other proposal deemed appropriate;

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g. To designate or substitute executives and functionaries with the powers granted to them under the law, and h. Any other duty assigned to them by the Constitution and the laws.

Section Four. The State's Central Administration Article 146 The number, denomination, mission, and functions of the ministries and other organizations that form part of the Central Administration of the State are determined by law.

Chapter V. The Tribunals of Justice Structure of the courts

Article 147 The function of imparting justice emanates from the people and is exercised in their name by the People's Supreme Court as well as the other tribunals that are established by the law.

Supreme court selection Supreme/ordinary court judge removal Eligibility for supreme court judges

The law establishes the objective principles of the judiciary's activity and regulates the organization of the courts; the jurisdiction and the extension of their competencies; the form in which they are constituted in order to administer justice; the participation of the lay judges; the requirements to serve as a magistrate within the People's Supreme Court or as a judge; the form of election of these as well as the causes and procedures for the removal or the cessation of their functions.

Article 148 Judicial independence

The courts constitute a system of State organs, structured with functional independence from any other. The People's Supreme Court exercises the maximum judicial authority and its decisions are de�nitive. Through its Council of Government, it does not exercise the legislative initiative or the regulatory power, it makes decisions and dictates norms that all courts are obligated to comply with, and, based upon their experiences, it imparts obligatory instructions to establish a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law.

Article 149 Supreme court selection

The magistrates and lay judges of the People's Supreme Court are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State. The law determines the election of other judges.

Supreme court term length

Article 150

Judicial independence

The magistrates and judges, in their function of imparting justice, are independent and do not owe obedience except to the law. Additionally, they are irremovable from their position as long as there are no concurrent legal actions for the cessation of their duties or removal from their of�ce.

Article 151 The sentences and other �nal resolutions of the courts, issued within the limits of their competence, must be obligatorily obeyed by the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens; both those who are directly affected by them as well as those without a direct interest in their execution must take part in them.

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Article 152 In the judicial proceedings in which the lay judges participate, they have the same rights and duties as the professional judges. The performance of their judicial duties, given their social importance, has priority with respect to their habitual occupation. Right to public trial

Article 153 The audiences of all courts are public, except in cases in which State security, morality, public order, or respect for the person harmed by the crime or their family necessitate that they are held behind closed doors.

Article 154 The People's Supreme Court reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the results of its activities in the form and with the frequency established by the law. Supreme/ordinary court judge removal

Article 155 The ability to remove magistrates or judges corresponds to the organ that elects them.

Attorney general

Chapter VI. The Attorney General of the Republic Article 156 The Attorney General of the Republic is the organ of the State that has, as its fundamental mission, the exercise of oversight over criminal investigations and the exercise of the public penal action in representation of the State; additionally, the Attorney General ensures that the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens observe strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws and other legal provisions. The law determines the other objectives and functions, as well as the form, extension, and opportunity in which the Attorney General will exercise the powers of the of�ce.

Article 157 The Attorney General of the Republic constitutes an organic, indivisible, and functionally independent unit that is subordinate to the President of the Republic. The management and regulation of the activity of the Attorney General's Of�ce throughout the entire national territory corresponds to the Attorney General of the Republic. The organs of the Attorney General's Of�ce are organized vertically throughout the country, are subordinate only to the Attorney General of the Republic and are independent of all local organs.

Article 158 The Attorney General of the Republic and the deputy attorneys general are elected and may be removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.

Article 159 The Attorney General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency established by the law.

Chapter VII. The Comptroller General of the Republic

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Article 160 The Comptroller General of the Republic is the organ of the State whose fundamental mission is to ensure the proper and transparent administration of public funds and the superior monitoring of administrative management. The law regulates the other functions and aspects related to the Comptroller General's performance of his or her duties.

Article 161 The Comptroller General of the Republic has functional independence with respect to any other organ, is vertically structured throughout the country and is subordinate to the President of the Republic. The Comptroller General of the Republic is its maximum authority and the management and regulation of the Comptroller's activity throughout the country corresponds to this of�ce.

Article 162 The Comptroller General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency prescribed by the law.

Article 163 The Comptroller General of the Republic and the deputy comptrollers general are elected or removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State.

Chapter VIII. Regulatory Provisions Section One. Legislative Initiative Initiation of general legislation

Article 164 The initiative of the laws pertains to: a. To the President of the Republic; b. To the Representatives of the National Assembly of People's Power;

Standing committees

c. To the Council of State; d. To the Council of Ministers;

Legislative committees

e. To the commissions of the National Assembly of People's Power; f. To the National Council of the Workers' Central Union of Cuba and to the national leadership of other social and mass organizations;

Supreme court powers

g. To the Council of Government of the People's Supreme Court, with regards to issues pertaining to the administration of justice;

Attorney general

h. To the Attorney General of the Republic with regard to issues within the Attorney General's competence; i. To the Comptroller General of the Republic with regard to issues within the Comptroller General's competence;

Electoral commission Legislative initiatives by citizens

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j. To the National Electoral Council, with regard to electoral matters, and k. To the citizens. In this case it will be an indispensable requirement that initiative is exercised by a minimum of ten thousand electors

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The law establishes the procedure to make its exercise effective.

Section Two. Formulation, Publication, and Taking Effect Head of state decree power

Article 165 The laws and decrees with the force of laws issued by the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State, as appropriate, take effect on the date that, in each case, the respective regulatory provision determines. Laws, decrees with the force of laws, presidential decrees, decrees, resolutions, and other provisions of general interest issued by the competent organs are published in the Of�cial Bulletin of the Republic. The law establishes the procedure for the formulation and publication of these regulatory provisions, as well as when they will take effect.

Title VII. The Territorial Organization of the State Article 166 The national territory, for political and administrative purposes, is divided into provinces and municipalities; their number, limits, and denomination are established by the law. The law may establish other divisions or attribute regimes of administrative subordination and systems of special regulation to the municipalities or other territorial demarcations as it determines, based on their geographic location or their economic and social importance. In all cases, the representation of the people through the organs of people's power must be guaranteed. Administrative districts may be organized within the municipalities, in accordance with the law. Subsidiary unit government

Article 167 Provinces enjoy legal personhood with all the legal effects thereof and are organized by the law as an intermediate level between the central State structures and the municipalities. The have a territorial extension that is equivalent to the total of the municipal territories within their territorial demarcation, which is under the direction of the Provincial Government of People's Power.

Municipal government

Article 168 The municipality is the local society, organized by the law, that constitutes the primary fundamental political-administrative unit in the organization of the nation; a municipality enjoys autonomy and legal personhood, including all the legal effects thereof, with a territorial extension determined according to the necessary economic and social relations of its population as well as the interests of the nation, with the purpose of satisfactorily achieving the local necessities. A municipality is supported through its own funds in addition to allocations that it receives from the Government of the Republic for the purposes of the economic and social development of its territory, and for other goals of the State, under the direction of a Municipal Assembly of People's Power.

Reference to fraternity/solidarity Municipal government

Article 169 The autonomy of the municipality includes the election or designation of its authorities, the ability to decide how to use its resources, and the exercise of corresponding

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competencies, as well as to issue agreements and regulatory provisions necessary to exercise its powers in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. The autonomy is exercised in accordance with the principles of solidarity, coordination, and collaboration with the other territories of the country and without harming the interests of the nation.

Title VIII. Local Organs of People's Power Subsidiary unit government

Chapter I. The Provincial Government of People's Power Section One. General Provisions Article 170 Each province is governed by a Provincial Government of People's Power which works closely with the people and is composed of a Governor and a provincial council.

Article 171 The Provincial Government of People's Power represents the State and its fundamental mission is to work for the social and economic development of the territory, in accordance with the general objectives of the country and to act as a coordinator between the State's central structures and the municipalities, for which the provincial government contributes to harmonizing the interests of the province and its municipalities, and exercises the duties and functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 172 The Provincial Government of People's Power assists with the development of activities as well as with the implementation of the plans of the entities established within its territory that are not subordinate to it, in accordance with that which is outlined in the Constitution and the laws.

Article 173 The Provincial Government of People's Power, in the exercise of its functions and duties, may not assume nor interfere in those that, according to the Constitution and the laws, are powers granted to the municipal organs of People's Power.

Section Two. The Provincial Governor and Deputy Provincial Governor Article 174 The Governor is the maximum executive-administrative authority within the province. Municipal government

Article 175 The Governor is elected by delegates of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power, upon the proposal of the President of the Republic, for a period of �ve years and in accordance with the procedures established in the law.

Article 176 In order to serve as a Governor, one must be a Cuban citizen by birth and may not possess any other citizenship, have reached the age of thirty, reside within the province, and be in full enjoyment of his or her civil and political rights. 306

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Article 177 The Governor is responsible before the National Assembly of People's Power, the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, and the Provincial Council, to whom the governor must report and provide information regarding his or her performance at the opportunity and with regard to the issues that they request.

Article 178 The Governor organizes and directs the provincial administration for which he or she is assisted by the appropriate administrative entity. The law determines the creation, structure, and functioning of the provincial administration, as well as its relations with the national and municipal organs of People's Power.

Article 179 The following duties correspond to the Governor: Duty to obey the constitution

a. To comply with, and ensure compliance with, the Constitution and the laws; b. To convene and preside over the meetings of the Provincial Council; c. To direct, coordinate, and monitor the labor of the organizing structures of the Provincial Administration and, within the area of his or her competence, to issue regulatory provisions and adopt the corresponding decisions; d. To call for and to monitor the implementation of the economic development plan as well as the implementation of the province's budget, in accordance with the policy agreed to by the competent national organs; e. To call for and to monitor the implementation of the territorial and urban development and organization plans; f. To designate and to substitute the leaders and functionaries of the provincial administration, and to submit for the rati�cation of the Provincial Council those cases that are prescribed by the law; g. To present to the Council of Ministers, with prior agreement of the Provincial Council, the policy proposals that contribute to the province's holistic development; h. To inform the Council of Ministers, with prior agreement of the Provincial Council, of those decisions of the superior organs that affect the interests of the community or are considered to have overstepped the authority of those that adopted them; i. To suspend the agreements and orders of the councils of the Municipal Administration that do not conform with the Constitution, the laws, decrees with the force of law, presidential decrees, and other acts of the organs of the State, or when they affect the interests of other localities or the general interests of the country, informing the respective Municipal Assembly of People's Power during the �rst session held after said suspension occurs; j. To revoke or to modify the decrees that are adopted by the administrative provincial authorities that answer to it that contravene the Constitution, the laws, and other orders that are in force, or those that affect the interests of other communities or the general interests of the country; k. To create temporary commissions or working groups; l. To arrange for the publication of the agreements of the Provincial Council that are of a general interest and to monitor their implementation, and m. The other duties that the Constitution or the laws assign to it.

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Article 180 The Deputy Governor is elected in the same way, for the same period, and must meet the same requirements as the Governor.

Article 181 The Deputy Governor performs the tasks delegated or assigned by the Governor. Additionally, the Deputy Governor replaces the Governor in the case of absence, illness, or death, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the law.

Section Three. The Provincial Council Article 182 The Provincial Council is a deliberative and collegial organ that performs the functions prescribed within this Constitution and the laws. Its decisions are adopted through a favorable vote of a simple majority of its members. Municipal government

The Provincial Council is presided over by the Governor and is composed of the Deputy Governor, the presidents and vice presidents of the corresponding local assemblies of People's Power, and the municipal mayors.

Article 183 The Provincial Council holds its ordinary sessions with the frequency established by the law, and the extraordinary sessions are held when they are convened by the Governor or requested by more than half of the members of the Provincial Council.

Article 184 The following duties correspond to the Provincial Council: Duty to obey the constitution

a. To comply with, and, with respect to matters concerning the Council, to ensure compliance with, the Constitution and the laws adopted by the competent State organs, as well as with the Provincial Council's own agreements; b. To approve and to monitor, with regard to that which corresponds to it, the economic plan as well as the budget of the province; c. To adopt agreements within the framework of the Constitution and the laws;

Reference to science

d. To orient and to coordinate the political, economic, cultural, scienti�c, social, defense, and public order activities provided for by the State; e. To evaluate the results of the Municipal Administration's management and approve the actions to be realized; f. To approve policy proposals that contribute to the province's holistic development, before their presentation to the Council of Ministers; g. To reach decisions, upon the Governor's request, on matters regarding the competent organs that affect the community's interests or are considered to have overstepped the authority of those that adopted them; h. To periodically analyze the provincial and municipal entities' attention to the proposals of the electors within their territory as well as the complaints or requests of the population; i. To make recommendations to the Governor regarding his or her reports and other issues for which the Governor consults the Provincial Council;

Municipal government

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j. the municipal assemblies' acts contravene the superior legal norms or otherwise affect the interests of the community; Municipal government

k. To propose the revocation or modi�cation of the agreements or orders of the municipal assemblies of People's Power within their territory to the National Assembly of People's Power when the municipal assemblies' acts contravene the superior legal norms or otherwise affect the interests of the community; l. To create commissions or temporary working groups, and m. The other duties that the Constitution or the laws assign to it.

Municipal government

Chapter II. Municipal Organs of the People's Power Section One. The Municipal Assembly of People's Power Article 185 The Municipal Assembly of People's Power is the superior organ or the State within the locality and, in consequence, it is invested with the highest authority within its territory; in order to do this, it will exercise the duties that the Constitution and the laws assign to it within the areas of its competence.

Article 186 The Municipal Assembly of People's Power is composed of the representatives elected within each of the districts into which its territory is divided into for electoral purposes through the free, equal, direct, and secret vote of the electors.

Article 187 The Municipal Assembly of People's Power with be renewed every �ve years, which is the term during which its representatives will hold of�ce. This mandate may only be extended through a decision of the National Assembly of People's Power, in the cases prescribed by the Constitution.

Article 188 Upon its creation, the Municipal Assembly of People's Power will elect its President and Vice President and designate its Secretary, from among its representatives and in accordance with the requirements and the procedure prescribed by the law. The President of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power represents the State within its territory. The law establishes the duties of the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power.

Article 189 The ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power are public, except in cases that the council agrees to hold behind closed doors, due to the interests of the State or due to the issue under consideration referring to the honor of the people involved.

Article 190 During the sessions of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power, a quorum of more than half the total members must be present. The assembly's agreements are adopted by a simple majority vote.

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Article 191 The following duties correspond to the Municipal Assembly of People's Power: Duty to obey the constitution

a. To comply with and ensure compliance with the Constitution and other general regulatory provisions; b. To approve and oversee, as appropriate, the economic plan, the budget, and the holistic development of the municipality; c. To approve the urban and territorial development plans, and to oversee their implementation; d. To select, designate, revoke, or substitute the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the Assembly, as necessary; e. To designate or to substitute the Municipal Mayor, upon the proposal of the President of the Municipal Assembly; f. To designate or to substitute the rest of the members of the Municipal Administration, upon the proposal of the Mayor; g. To adopt agreements and to enact regulatory provisions within the area of its competency with regard to matters of municipal interest, and to ensure their realization; h. To monitor and to oversee the activities of the Council of the Administration of the Municipality, assisting with its labor commissions, without prejudice to the monitoring activities performed by other organs and entities;

Protection of environment Reference to science

i. To organize and supervise, with regard to issues that concern it and in accordance with that which is established by the Council of Ministers or the Provincial Government, the operation and duties of the entities charged with realizing activities regarding the economy, production, service, health, assistance, prevention and social care, science, education, culture, recreation, sports, environmental protection, and other matters within the municipality; j. To ensure and monitor compliance with legal obligations as well as the strengthening of the law, internal order, as well as the defensive capacity of the state within its territory; k. To propose to the Council of Ministers or to the Governor, depending on the case, the revocation of the decisions adopted by their subordinate organs or authorities; l. To revoke or to modify the decisions adopted by the subordinate organs or authorities when they contravene the superior legal norms, affect the interests of the community, or exceed the faculties of those that adopted them; m. To approve the creation of the people's municipal councils, with prior consultation of the Council of the State; n. To assist, in accordance with that which is prescribed by the law, with the execution of the policies of the State within its territory, as well as with the development of the production and service activities of the other entities within the territory that are not subordinated to it; ñ. To create working commissions and to approve the general guidelines for their work, and o. Any other duty that is assigned to it by the Constitution and the laws.

Article 192 The Municipal Assembly of People's Power, in order to exercise its functions, is supported by its working commissions, the people's councils, the initiatory and the 310

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ample participation of the population, and acts in close coordination with social and mass organizations.

Section Two. The Delegates of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power Article 193 The delegates perform the mandate that has been conferred upon them by their electors, in the interest of the entire community, for which they must share these functions, with their responsibilities and usual tasks. The law regulates the form in which they will perform these functions.

Article 194 The delegates have the following rights: a. To participate with voice and vote in the sessions of the Municipal Assembly and in the meetings of the commissions and popular councils that they are a part of; b. To request information from the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly, the members of the commissions, and the Council of the Administration regarding issues relevant to the exercise of their functions, and to obtain a response within the same session or as soon as possible; c. To request attention and information from entities throughout the territory with respect to situations or problems that affect their electors, with the obligation to respond in a timely manner, and d. Any other right that the Constitution and the laws recognize.

Article 195 The representatives have the following duties: a. To maintain a permanent relationship with their electors, promoting the community's participation in the solution of its problems; b. To inform the Municipal Assembly and the administration of the locality of the opinions, needs, and dif�culties that are communicated to them by their electors, and to work towards generating solutions for them, with regard to that which pertains to them; c. To inform the electors about the policies that are adopted by the Municipal Assembly as well as the means adopted to resolve the necessities proposed by the population or the dif�culties encountered in attempting to resolve them; d. To periodically report to the electors regarding their activities, in accordance with that which is established in the law, and to inform the Assembly, the Commissions, and the People's Council to which they belong regarding their compliance with the tasks that have been entrusted to them when required, and e. Any other duty that is recognized the Constitution and the laws.

Article 196 The representatives' mandate is revocable at any moment. The law determines the form, causes, and procedures for revocation.

Section Three. Commissions of the Municipal Assembly of People's Power Article 197 The permanent working commissions are constituted by the Municipal Assembly of People's Power that attends to the speci�c interests of the locality. They are formed in Cuba 2019

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order to assist with the realization of the activities within their locality and, in particular, in order to monitor the subordinate municipal entities. Additionally, the commissions may request that the entities of other subordinate levels within the territory keep them informed regarding matters that directly affect the locality. The temporary commissions perform the speci�c tasks assigned to them within the period indicated to them.

Section Four. The People's Council Article 198 The People's Council is a local organ of People's Power that is representative, vested by the highest authority to perform its functions and, without constituting an intermediate authority for the purposes of the political-administrative division of the country, it is organized within cities, towns, neighborhoods, villages, and rural areas; it is made up of delegates elected within the districts of the locality's territorial demarcation. The delegates elected must also determine who among them will preside over the council. Representatives of the social and mass organizations, as well as important entities within the territory, may be invited to the meetings of the People's Council, depending upon the issues and themes to be dealt with, with the principal objective of strengthening coordination and collective effort for the bene�t the community, within the functions that they themselves perform.

Article 199 The Popular Council represents the population of the area within which it acts as well as the Municipal Assembly of People's Power. It monitors the entities of production and services with a local impact, and it actively works to satisfy economic, health, welfare, educational, cultural, sport, recreational, and other needs as well as those in the area of prevention and social care, thereby promoting the maximum participation of the population and local initiatives in order to achieve these initiatives. The law regulates the organization and duties of the People's Council.

Section Five. Guarantees of the Right to Petition and Local Popular Participation Article 200 The Municipal Assembly of People's Power, in order to guarantee the rights of petition and citizens' participation: a. Convenes a popular consultation for matters of local interest in accordance with the Assembly's powers; b. Guarantees adequate attention to the proposals, complaints, and requests of the population; c. Guarantees the right of the municipality's population to propose to the Assembly the analysis of issues within its competence; d. Maintains an adequate level of information for the population regarding the decisions that are of a general interest to them when they are adopted by the organs of People's Power. e. Analyzes, upon a petition of the citizens, its own agreements and orders or those of the subordinate municipal authorities if they are claimed to harm the interests of the citizens, both individual or collective in nature, and adopts the corresponding means of resolving them, and f. Implements, within its competence, any other action that is necessary to guarantee these rights. 312

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The law establishes the form and the way in which the citizens may exercise these guarantees.

Section Six. Municipal Administration Article 201 The Municipal Administration's essential objective is to satisfy the needs of the collectivity within the territory under its jurisdiction with respect to the economy, health, welfare, education, culture, sports, recreation, and other needs, as well as to perform tasks related to prevention and social care. The law determines the organization, structure, and operation of the Municipal Administration.

Article 202 The Council of the Administration is designated by the Municipal Assembly of People's Power, to which it is subordinate and must report. Its composition, membership, and functions are established by the law.

Article 203 The Council of the Municipal Administration is presided over by the Mayor, is collegial, performs executive and administrative functions, and manages the Municipal Administration.

Title IX. The Electoral System Chapter I. General Provisions Secret ballot Referenda Claim of universal suffrage

Restrictions on voting

Article 204 All citizens with the legal capacity to do so have the right to contribute to the management of the State, either directly or through their elected representatives within the organs of People's Power and to participate, for this purpose, in the form prescribed by the law, through periodic elections, plebiscites, and popular referendums that will be free, equal, direct, and secret. Every elector has the right to a single vote.

Article 205 Voting is a citizen's right. The vote is exercised voluntarily by Cuban citizens, both men and women, that have reached the age of sixteen, except: a. Those who have been judicially restricted from exercising their legal capacity due to a disability; b. Those who have been judicially disquali�ed, and c. Those who do not meet the requirements for residency in the country as prescribed in the law.

Article 206 The Electoral Registry is public and permanent; it is composed ex of�cio of all citizens with the legal capacity to vote in accordance with that which is prescribed by the law. Minimum age for �rst chamber

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Article 207 Cuban citizens, both women and men, that are in full enjoyment of their political rights and meet the other requirements established by law have the right to be elected. If the election is for representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power, they must be over the age of 18.

Article 208 Members of military institutions have the right to elect and to be elected, just as any other citizen. First chamber selection

Article 209

Size of �rst chamber

The law determines the number of representatives that will make up the National Assembly of People's Power, in proportion to the number of inhabitants within the respective districts in which, for electoral purposes, the national territory is divided into.

Municipal government Secret ballot

The representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power and the delegates on the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power are elected through a vote of the electors that is free, equal, direct, and secret. The law regulates the procedure for their election.

First chamber selection

Article 210 To be considered elected, a representative or a delegate must have obtained more than half of the valid votes cast within the electoral district that the individual seeks to represent. In the case that a vote of more than half is not obtained, or in other cases of vacant positions, the law regulates the form in which the election will proceed.

Electoral commission

Chapter II. The National Electoral Council Article 211

Referenda

The National Electoral Council is the permanent organ of the State with the fundamental mission of organizing, directing, and supervising the elections, popular consultations, plebiscites, and referendums that are convened. It handles and responds to the complaints that are lodged with regard to elections and performs the other functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws. The National Electoral Council guarantees the veracity, transparency, ef�ciency, publicity, authenticity, and impartiality of the processes of democratic participation.

Article 212 The National Electoral Council has functional independence with respect to any other organ and reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the performance of its functions. Additionally, once an electoral process is complete, it informs the nation of the result.

Article 213 The National Electoral Council is made up of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and the other members prescribed by the law. The members of the National Electoral Council are elected and removed, as necessary, by the National Assembly of People's Power or, in some cases, the Council of State.

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Article 214 The organization, functioning, membership, and designation of the electoral authorities at all levels is regulated by the law. Outside professions of legislators

Persons that are nominated or who occupy popularly elected of�ces may not be members of the electoral organs.

Article 215 The National Electoral Council monitors the production of and updates to the Electoral Registry, in accordance with that which is established in the law.

Article 216 All State organs, their leaders and functionaries, and other entities are obligated to collaborate with the National Electoral Council in the exercise of their functions.

Title X. Defense and National Security Chapter I. General Provisions Article 217 The Cuban State bases its policy of Defense and National Security on the defense of independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, and peace through the prevention and consistent engagement with the risks, threats, and aggressions that affect their interests. Its strategic conception of defense is based on the War of All the People. Advisory bodies to the head of state

Chapter II. The National Defense Council Article 218 The National Defense Council is the superior organ of the State whose primary mission is to organize, direct, and prepare the country during times of peace to defend itself and to ensure compliance with the norms in force related to the defense and security of the nation. During extraordinary situations or disaster, it directs the country and assumes the duties that correspond to the organs of the State, with the exception of constituent power.

Article 219 The National Defense Council is composed of the President of the Republic, who presides over it and, in turn, designates a Vice President and the other members determined by the law. The law regulates the organization and operation of the National Defense Council and its structures at its various levels.

Chapter III. The Armed Forces of the State

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Article 220 The military institutions of the State are the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the armed formations of the Ministry of the Interior that, in order to achieve their functions, rely on the participation of military and civilian personnel. The law regulates the organization and operation of these institutions as well as the military service that citizens must perform.

Article 221 The military institutions' essential mission is to ensure and maintain the independence and sovereignty of the State, its territorial integrity, its security, and peace. Emergency provisions

Chapter IV. Extraordinary Situations and Disaster Article 222 In the interest of guaranteeing national defense and security in the case of foreign military aggression, the imminent threat of such aggression, or other circumstances that affect the nation's security and defense, extraordinary situations—the State of War, War, General Mobilization, or the State of Emergency—may be temporarily decreed throughout the entire country. The State of Emergency may also be decreed within a part of the national territory. The law regulates the form in which situations of exception are declared, their effects, and their termination.

Article 223 In the case of a disaster of any kind that affects the population or the economic or social infrastructure and that exceeds the capacity or the normal response and recovery of the country or of the territory affected, a Situation of Disaster may be decreed. The law regulates the establishment, effects, and termination of Situations of Disaster.

Article 224 While situations of exception and disaster are in force, the law determines the rights and duties recognized by the Constitution, whose exercise must be regulated in a different manner.

Article 225 Advisory bodies to the head of state

The National Defense Council, upon reestablishing normalcy within the country, reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding its decisions and management during this period.

Constitution amendment procedure

Title XI. Reform of the Constitution Article 226 This Constitution may only be reformed by the National Assembly of People's Power through an agreement adopted, in a nominal vote, by a majority of no less than two thirds of the total membership.

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Article 227 The following are able to promote Constitutional reforms: a. The President of the Republic; Standing committees

b. The Council of State; c. The Council of Ministers; d. The representatives of the National Assembly of People's Power, through a proposition signed by no less than a third of its members; e. The Central National Council of Cuban Workers and the national authorities of other mass and social organizations, and f. The citizens, through a petition directed to the National Assembly of People's Power, signed before the National Electoral Council by a minimum of �fty thousand electors. The law establishes the procedure, requirements, and guarantees for the request and realization of constitutional reforms.

Referenda

Article 228 When a reform refers to the composition and operation of the National Assembly of People's Power or of the Council of State, to the duties or the term of of�ce of the President of the Republic, or to the rights, duties, and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution, a favorable vote of the majority of the electors within the nation during a referendum held for this purpose will also be required.

Unamendable provisions

Article 229 In no case will the pronouncements be reformed regarding the irrevocability of the socialism system established in Article 4 or the prohibition on negotiating under the circumstances prescribed in section a) of Article 16.

Special Provisions FIRST The representatives of the National Assembly of People's Power of the ninth legislature will maintain their of�ces until their term is over.

SECOND The current mandates of the representatives of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power are extended to �ve years, counting from the date they take of�ce. Transitional provisions

Transitory Provisions FIRST Prior to the passage of six months after this Constitution has taken effect, the National Assembly of People's Power will approve a new Electoral Law that will regulate the election of the representatives on the National Assembly, its President, Vice President,

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and Secretary; the Council of State, the President and Vice President of the Republic; the members of the National Electoral Council; the provincial governors and deputy provincial governors; and the representatives of the municipal assemblies of People's Power, their President and their Vice President.

SECOND After approving the Electoral Law, the National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of three months, will elect from among its members its president, Vice President, Secretary, the other members of the Council of State, and the President and Vice President of the Republic.

THIRD Once elected, the President of the Republic proposes to the National Assembly of People's Power the appointments for Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, the Secretary, and other members of the Council of Ministers.

FOURTH The provincial assemblies of People's Power will remain in of�ce until the governors, deputy governors, and the provincial councilors take of�ce.

FIFTH The President of the Republic, once elected and within a period of three months, proposes the election of municipal governors and deputy municipal governors to the respective municipal assemblies of People's Power through their delegates.

SIXTH Within a period of three months and following the election of provincial governors and deputy provincial governors, the municipal assemblies of People's Power will designate the individuals who will serve as mayors.

SEVENTH The National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of one year after the entrance into force of this Constitution, will approve its bylaws and those of the Council of State.

EIGHTH The Council of Ministers, within a period of two years after this Constitution takes effect, will present their proposal for new bylaws to the National Assembly of People's Power for the Council of Ministers and for the provincial governments.

NINTH The National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of two years after the Constitution takes effect, will approve the bylaws of the municipal assemblies of People's Power and of their councils of administration.

TENTH The Council of Government of the People's Supreme Court, within a period of eighteen months after this Constitution takes effect, will present to the National Assembly of People's Power a proposal of a new Law of the People's Courts that will have been adjusted to the changes presented by this Constitution as well as to the proposed 318

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modi�cations to the Law of Penal Procedure and to the Law of Civil, Administrative, Labor, and Economic Procedures, where appropriate.

ELEVENTH In response to the Referendum that took place, the National Assembly of People's Power will, within a period of two years after the Constitution takes effect, begin the process of popular consultation and referendum for the Family Code program, which must include the form that a marriage may take.

TWELFTH The National Assembly of People's Power, within a period of eighteen months after this Constitution takes effect, will approve the legislative modi�cations required to effectuate that which is prescribed in Article 99, which refers to the possibility of citizens to access legal institutions in order to defend their rights.

THIRTEENTH The National Assembly of People's Power will approve, within a period of one year after this Constitution takes effect, a legislative schedule for the implementation of the laws developed by the precepts established in this Constitution.

Final Provisions FIRST The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba of February 24th, 1976, is derogated, which includes the changes made during the reforms of 1978, 1992, and 2002.

SECOND The present Constitution, once certi�ed, will take effect upon its publication in the Of�cial Bulletin of the Republic.

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Topic index A Access to higher education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Advisory bodies to the head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 49, 50 Attorney general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 37, 38

B Budget bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 33

C Cabinet removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 34 Cabinet selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30 Claim of universal suffrage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Compensation of legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Compulsory education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Conditions for revoking citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 30 Constitution amendment procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Constitutional interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28 Customary international law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

D Deputy executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 31, 32 Designation of commander in chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Duty to obey the constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 21, 26, 30, 33, 34, 41, 42, 44 Duty to pay taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Duty to serve in the military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 21 Duty to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

E Economic plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 33 Electoral commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 38, 48 Eligibility for cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Eligibility for head of government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Eligibility for head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Eligibility for supreme court judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Emergency provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 50 Equality for persons with disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of sexual orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equality regardless of skin color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Establishment of cabinet/ministers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Extraordinary legislative sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 28

F Federal review of subnational legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 33 320

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First chamber selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 48 Foreign affairs representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Free education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Freedom of assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Freedom of association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Freedom of expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Freedom of movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Freedom of opinion/thought/conscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Freedom of press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Freedom of religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 16

G General guarantee of equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Guarantee of due process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

H Head of government decree power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Head of government powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Head of government removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30 Head of government selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 34 Head of government term length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Head of state decree power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 30, 39 Head of state powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 30 Head of state removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Head of state replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Head of state selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30 Head of state term length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Head of state term limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Human dignity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5, 7, 14, 22

I Immunity of legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Initiation of general legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 International law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 8, 16, 24, 28, 33 International organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 13, 30

J Judicial independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 36

L Leader of �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 26 Legal status of treaties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Legislative committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 26, 28, 38 Legislative initiatives by citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Legislative oversight of the executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 30, 32, 34 Limits on employment of children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

M Mentions of social class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Minimum age for �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Minimum age of head of government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Cuba 2019

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Minimum age of head of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Motives for writing constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Municipal government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 30, 33, 39, 40, 42, 43, 48

N Name/structure of executive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 34 National anthem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 National capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 National �ag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 National vs subnational laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28

O Of�cial or national languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Outside professions of legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Ownership of natural resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 10

P Political theorists/�gures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Power to declare/approve war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 30 Power to pardon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Powers of cabinet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 35 Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Preferred political parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Presumption of innocence in trials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Principle of no punishment without law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Prohibition of cruel treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prohibition of torture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Protection from ex post facto laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Protection from expropriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Protection from false imprisonment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Protection from self-incrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Protection from unjusti�ed restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Protection of consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Protection of environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 18, 21, 44 Protection of stateless persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Protection of victim's rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Provision for matrimonial equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Provisions for intellectual property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Public or private sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Q Quorum for legislative sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

R Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Reference to art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 19 Reference to country's history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Reference to fraternity/solidarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 5, 8, 15, 21, 39 Reference to science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 9, 12, 33, 42, 44 Referenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 24, 47, 48, 51 Regional group(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 322

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Regulation of evidence collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 22 Regulation of marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Removal of individual legislators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Requirements for birthright citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Requirements for naturalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Restrictions on voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Right of petition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Right to choose occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Right to counsel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Right to culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12, 15, 19 Right to development of personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Right to enjoy the bene�ts of science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 12 Right to found a family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Right to health care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 18 Right to information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 23 Right to just remuneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 14, 17 Right to life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Right to overthrow government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Right to own property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 16 Right to privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Right to public trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Right to reasonable standard of living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Right to renounce citizenship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 30 Right to rest and leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Right to safe work environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Right to self determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Right to shelter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Right to speedy trial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Right to transfer property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11, 16 Right to water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Right to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 17 Rights of children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 20

S Secret ballot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 47, 48 Selection of active-duty commanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Separation of church and state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12 Size of �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Source of constitutional authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Standing committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 24, 26, 27, 28, 33, 38, 51 State operation of the media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 State support for children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 State support for the disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 State support for the elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 State support for the unemployed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Structure of legislative chamber(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Structure of the courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Subsidiary unit government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 30, 33, 39, 40 Supreme court powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Supreme court selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 36 Cuba 2019

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Supreme court term length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Supreme/ordinary court judge removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 30, 36, 37

T Telecommunications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Term length for �rst chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Transitional provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Treaty rati�cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 28, 33 Type of government envisioned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

U Ultra-vires administrative actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 23 Unamendable provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

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Cuba and the Rule of Law

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS GENEVA 1962

326

The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization which has Consultative Status, Category “ B ”, with the United Nations Eco nomic and Social Council. The Commission seeks to foster understanding of and respect for the Rule of Law. The members of the Commission are : JOSEPH T. THORSON (Honorary President) VIVIAN BOSE (President) PER T. FEDERSPIEL (Vice-President) JOSfi T. NABUCO (Vice-President) SIR ADETOKUNBO A. ADEMOLA ARTURO A. ALAFRIZ GIUSEPPE BETTIOL DUDLEY B. BONSAL PHILIPPE, N. BOULOS U CHAN HTOON A. J. M. VAN DAL ELI WHITNEY DEBEVOISE SIR OWEN DIXON MANUEL G. ESCOBEDO THUSEW S. FERNANDO ISAAC FORSTER FERNANDO FOURNIER

OSVALDO ILLANES BENITEZ JEAN KREHER AXEL HENRIK MUNKTELL SIR LESLIE MUNRO

PAUL-MAURICE ORBAN STEFAN OSUSKY LORD SHAWCROSS SEBASTIAN SOLER PURSHOTTAM TRIKAMDAS H. B. TYABJI

President of the Exchequer Court of Canada Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe; Member of the Danish Parliament; Attorneyat-Law, Copenhagen Member of the Bar of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Chief Justice of Nigeria Solicitor-General of the Philippines; former President of the Federation of Bar Associations of the Philippines Member of the Italian Parliament; Professor of Law at the University of Padua United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York; immediate Past President of the Asso ciation of the Bar of the City of New York. Deputy Prime Minister, Government of Lebanon; former Governor of Beirut; former Minister of Justice Former Judge of the Supreme Court of the Union of Burma Attorney-at-Law at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands Attomey-at-Law, New York; former General Counsel, Office of the USA High Commissioner for Germany Chief Justice of Australia Professor of Law, University of Mexico; Attorneyat-Law; former President of the Barra Mexicana Judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon; former AttorneyGeneral and former Solicitor-General of Ceylon First President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Senegal Attorney-General; President of the Bar Association of Costa Rica; Professor of Law; former Ambassador to the United States and to the Organization of American States Judge of the Supreme Court of Chile Advocate at the Court of Appeal, Paris, France Member of the Swedish Parliament, Professor of Law at the University of Upsala Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists; former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations; former Ambassador of New Zealand to the United Nations and United States Professor of Law at the University of Ghent, Belgium ; former Minister; former Senator Former Minister of Czechoslovakia to Great Britain and France; former Member o f the Czechoslovak Government Former Attorney-General of England Attomey-at-Law; Professor of Law; former AttorneyGeneral of Argentina Senior Advocate of the Supreme C ourt of India; Secretary, Indian Bar Association; sometime Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi Barrister-at-Law, Karachi, Pakistan; former Judge of the Chief Court of the Sind

Secretary-General: SIR LESLIE MUNRO, K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O. Former President o f the General Assembly of the United Nations Administrative Secretary: EDWARD S. KOZERA Former Lecturer in Government, Columbia University INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS, 6 , RUE D U M ONT-DE-SION, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

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CONTENTS I ntroduction by the Secretary-General o f the International

C ommission of J u r i s t s ..........................................................

N ote

on s o u r c e s ....................................... .......................................

vii

Part One G eneral Survey

I. II.

Chronology of the Most Im portant Events in the History of C u b a ...................................................................................

The Land A. G e o g ra p h y ....................................................... ....

III.

IV.

328

B. C haracteristics of the L a n d ...........................................

C. Adjacent Islands................................................................

The Economy A . A griculture...........................................................................

.................................. ....................

C. I n d u s t r y ............................................................................

D. T r a n s p o r t .......................................................................

C o m u n ic a tio n s ..............................................................

Foreign T rade..................................................................

F i n a n c e ..........................................................................

Mineral Resources

The People A.

General F e a t u r e s ..........................................................

In stitu tio n s.....................................................................

1. Political Parties ...................................................... (a) Parties under the democratic regime . . . . (b) Political life under B a t i s t a ............................. 2. Trade U n i o n s .......................................................... 3. The A r m y .................................................................. 4. The C atholic C h u r c h .............................................. 5. Economic groups and business interests . . . . 6 . University graduates, professional workers and intellectual groups...................................................... 7. Foreign business firm s..............................................

26 27 36 43 47 49

51 52 53 TTT

The History o f the C uban Revolution Between Two Speeches A.

“ History Will Absolve Me ” .....................................

Stages o f the C uban R ev o lu tio n .................................

The Judiciary and the Bar U nder the Castro Regime

C astro’s Speech of December 1, 1 9 6 1 .....................

C onclusions.......................................................................

A p p e n d ic e s ................................................................................... ....

Part Two T he Constitutional L egislation

Cuba

I n t r o d u c ti o n .........................................................................

II.

The 1940 C o n s titu tio n ..........................................................

Dogm atic P art of the C onstitution

.........................

Organic P art of the C onstitution.................................

III.

IV.

Changes

in the C onstitutional Order ................................

The C onstitutional Act o f 1952 ................................

The Short-Lived Restoration of the 1940 C onstitution

C onstitutional Variations U nder the C astro Regime A.

Amendments to the 1940 C o n s titu tio n .....................

The Fundam ental Law of the Republic of C uba of February 7, 1959 ..........................................................

Amendments to the Fundam ental L a w .............................

VI. C onclusions

............................................................................

112

Part Three T he Criminal L egislation I.

Cuba

Substantive C riminal L e g isla tio n ........................................

114

Regulation No. 1 and Act N o. 3 3 .............................

116

C riminal Law of 1896

..................................................

117

Act No. 425 .............................................................. .... .

119

IV 329

Act No. 664 ........................................................................

123

Act No. 7 1 9 ........................................................................

125

Act No. 732 ......................................................................... . 126

Act N o.

858 .................................................................

127

Act No. 923 ........................................................................

127

Act No. 988 ........................................................................

128

Act No. 1 0 1 8 ....................................................................

130

C o n c lu s io n s ......................................... .....................................

130

II. Legislation on C riminal P r o c e d u r e ......................................

131

Regulation No. 1 and Act No. 3 3 .............................

131

Criminal Procedure Act of 1882 and Procedural Law of 1896 ................................................................................ .......... .133

Act No. 425 ........................................................................

136

Act No. 634 .........................<.............................................

139

Act No. 925 ........................................................................

141

C o n c lu s io n s ..............................................................................

141

Part Four Statements

W itnesses

I n t r o d u c t i o n ........................................ .............................

142

II.

The Position of the J u d i c i a r y .........................................

142

III.

The Revolutionary Courts in A c t i o n ............................

152

IV.

The Case of the A irm en.....................................................

181

Violations of Personal F r e e d o m .....................................

191

Mass Arrests

...............................................................

191

Individual A r r e s t s ......................................................

195

VI.

C onditions in C uban P r i s o n s .........................................

204

VII.

C ruel, Inhum an and Degrading T r e a t m e n t ................

219

Religious Persecution

225

VIII. IX. X.

.............................................

Infringements o f Labour R i g h t s ....................................

230

Offences against Property

241

.............................................

v 330

XI.

Infringements of the Freedom of the Press...................

245

XII.

Violations o f the Freedom o f E ducation........................

248

X III.

The Right o f Asylum in C u b a ........................................

252

XIV.

On Leaving C u b a .............................................................

256

XV.

C onclusions..........................................................................

259

Co n c l u sio n ............................................................................................

264

VI 331

INTRODUCTION The International Commission of Jurists submits in the present R eport the results of its inquiry into the situation of the Rule of Law in Cuba under the revolutionary regime o f Dr. Fidel Castro. Dr. Castro and his adherents themselves so describe his rule as revolutionary. The C ommission’s enquiry has extended over a period of years and has involved not only the examination o f oflicial and unofficial documents, but as well the interviewing and careful examination of scores of witnesses to events in C uba before and after the overthrow o f the Batista dictatorship. The Cuban revolution offers for the consideration of international legal opinion an object lesson of cogent interest. The revolution was born under the sign o f freedom and democracy and apparently inspired by the highest principles of constitutional government. Its main objective was to overthrow the cruel and oppressive dictator ship of Fulgencio Batista and to restore the C onstitution of 1940. Few revolutionary movements have been welcomed with more satisfaction and have engendered more hopes than th at o f Fidel Castro. The International Commission o f Jurists expressed the prevalent feelings of the participants at the International Congress o f Jurists in New Delhi when it addressed in January 1959 a telegram of congratulations and best wishes to the first revolutionary govern m ent appointed by Fidel Castro and headed by the distinguished jurist, Dr. Jose M iro C ardona. There can be no doubt th at the Batista regime—cruel, autocratic and corrupt as it undoubtedly was—fell amid universal condemnation. The C ommission’s opposition to the Batista regime is well-known. The efforts in 1956 and 1957 to establish an effective national section to fight the injustices in C uba met with failure due to new and stringent laws which forbade the form ation of groups and associations. The Commission nevertheless maintained close relations with lawyers and jurists in C uba whose support of the Rule of Law was unques VII

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tioned and who opposed as vigorously as possible the injustices of the Batista regime. But as early as August 1959 the Commission voiced its concern and issued a warning respecting the precarious situation of the Rule of Law in C uba at that time [see Bulletin of the International C ommission of Jurists, No. 9 (August 1959), pp. 36-39]. In June 1960 the Commission sent to C uba a distinguished Professor o f Law at the University of Caracas, Dr. Antonio Moles Caubet, to express the Commission’s concern over alleged violations of hum an rights by the new C astro government. Dr. Moles met with officials as well as with a large num ber of lawyers and sub mitted a report to the Commission. As a result of his visit, the Com mission sent a questionnaire on December 1, 1960, to the Minister of Justice of Cuba inquiring about points of concern to the Commission. No reply was received. A cable was also sent at the same time to Dr. Fidel C astro regarding the trial of the distinguished lawyer Dr. Um berto Sori M arin who was a M inister in Dr. C astro’s govern ment and had served from the earliest days in Sierra M aestra as the legal adviser to the revolutionary army in the fight against Batista. The Commission requested inform ation on the charges against Dr. Sori and expressed concern about the nature o f his trial. No reply was received. Dr. Sori was executed in April 1961. On September 22, 1961, I sent a cable to the Minister of Justice asking that the Commission be perm itted to send an observer to the trial of seventy persons accused of security offences. The trial had become an object of world-wide concern. The C ommission’s request was not granted. In M arch 1962 the Commission asked the Cuban Government to permit Lie. Ricardo Franco Guzman, Professor of Penal Law at the University of Mexico, to attend the trial of persons arrested in connection with the unsuccessful invasion of Cuba. Lie. Guzman sent a cable to Dr. Raul Roa, M inister o f External Affairs o f Cuba. In reply D r. R oa stated th at “ it was decided to send this message to the President of the C ourt because it is a m atter of his absolute competence ”. The trial was completed at the time the answer was received. It was apparent that a widening gap had appeared between the avowed aims and the recorded practices o f the leaders o f the revolu tionary government. Less than two years later, that is in 1961, the

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establishment of a totalitarian regime had been completed and Fidel C astro proclaimed—retrospectively, as it were—the marxist-leninist character of the C uban revolution. In fact his respect for the Rule of Law revealed itself on the same level as th at achieved by Batista. Thus, the ominous circle from oppression to freedom and back to oppression appears once again to have been closed. W hatever the future development of the C uban revolution may bring, a flagrant betrayal of its proclaimed objectives is clear on the evidence adduced in the Report. It is no longer necessary to search for definitions of the type of regime now prevailing in Cuba. It has been publicly identified by the leader of the C uban people himself as being nourished from sources alien to C uban traditions and hostile to the freedom of the individual. The International Commission o f Jurists has studied with growing concern the various stages of this development and its underlying reasons. The history o f the C uban revolutionary legislation, which had at the beginning raised so many long-suppressed hopes of the C uban people, emerges from such study as a process of systematic concentration of power having for its ultim ate objective the setting up of a centralized dictatorship. In its Declaration o f Delhi of January 1959, the International Commission of Jurists adopted the proposition th at “ the Rule of Law is a dynamic concept for the expansion and fulfilment o f which jurists are primarily responsible and which should be employed not only to safeguard and advance the civil and political rights of the individual in a free society, but also to establish social, economic, educational and cultural conditions under which his legitimate aspira tions and dignity may be realized. ” This m odern elaboration o f the content o f the Rule o f Law, confirmed and further developed at the African C onference on the Rule of Law held in Lagos in January 1961, presupposes acceptance of progressive social and economic change. O f course, the Commission has never compromised on its basic postulate th at such a development m ust be pursued and achieved through and n o t above the Rule o f Law. Social and economic reforms devoid o f deep respect for the Rule of Law or, indeed, breeding new illegality, are bound to provoke added suffering and end in ultim ate failure. The first unchecked erosion of the cornerstone of freedom leads sooner or later to the collapse of the entire structure IX 334

o f the Rule o f Law. of such a course.

C uba has once again dem onstrated the fatality

During the less than four years of its existence, the government of Fidel C astro moved from a m oderate climate of democratic reform into the violent atmosphere o f an extremist authoritarian regime. “ Freedom with bread and w ithout terror ” was the slogan of the first days. “ Terror w ithout freedom and with insufficient bread ” is the solution arrived at today. Perhaps it is not the theory and technique of, in many respects, a unique revolution by which its achievement will be judged in history, but rather by the ways in which it has affected the lives of the people. The C astro regime has had and continues to have a dominating and compulsive im pact on all aspects of the life of the C uban popula tion. The regime permeates both the public and the private sphere o f hum an endeavour and subjects all to strict control. A flood of Acts, by-laws, administrative decrees and police orders has swept away all safeguards of individual freedom. The false image of the country’s social and economic backwardness, created and spread by the C astro regime, has served to justify the gradual establishment of a totalitarian system and to legitimize the corollary violations of the Rule of Law. Consequently, it would be futile to analyse in the present R eport only the C uban revolutionary legislation and to ignore the history, the social and economic features and the main political events influencing and often determining the course of the recent revolutionary process. The following scheme has therefore been adopted in the preparation of this Report. The R eport is divided into four parts. The first comprises in five chapters a survey of the relevant political, sociological and economic features of C uba and deals in particular with various aspects o f the country’s geography, economy, ethnology and history. Special attention is given to the m ost im portant institutions, groups and enterprises, the interaction o f which affected the pattern of C uba’s society before the C astro revolution. The last chapter of this first part records the various stages of the development of the ideology of the new regime and o f its im plementation as seen through two crucial speeches made by Fidel C astro in 1953 and 1961 respectively. The position of the Judiciary and of the Bar has been analysed here

x 335

in the context o f m ajor institutional changes brought about by the revolution. P art Two of the R eport deals with constitutional legislation in Cuba. A chronological approach has been adopted and the Constitu tion o f 1940 used as the basis for comparison with later enactments. It will be noted th at while a return to th at instrum ent has been one of the revolution’s declared aims, a new Fundam ental Law of Cuba has subsequently been prom ulgated and then again radically altered by sixteen major amendments. A study of the substantive and pro cedural provisions of the new C uban penal legislation makes up P art Three o f the Report. The ever-expanding scope o f acts punishable under revolutionary legislation, the ominous vagueness of the concept o f counter-revolutionary crimes and the broad jurisdiction o f the revolutionary tribunals with their extreme and brutally sudden penalties are the salient features of recent developments in this field. While Parts Two and Three contain the constitutional and legislative framework o f the present C uban revolutionary regime, P art F our brings out the practical consequences through reports and testimonies of victims and witnesses from all walks of C uban life. These reports and testimonies speak only too well for themselves. The tragic implication of these statements is that the government of Fidel C astro, apart from violating the Rule of Law, has been equally contemptuous of its own revolutionary legislation. Although this R eport is designed to be as comprehensive as possible, it does not aspire to be an all-inclusive survey o f the present C uban situation. A further study devoted to other im portant aspects of the problem may later appear desirable. It is hoped, however, that this R eport adequately illustrates the effect o f the studied distortions, abuses and, so constantly and blatantly, the complete and brutal disregard of the processes of criminal procedures followed by a civilized Jurisprudence. After the fall of the Batista dictatorship, the International C om mission o f Jurists had hoped for an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the revival of the Rule of Law in Cuba. T hat oppor tunity has been denied the Commission. The evidence cited in the following R eport makes melancholy reading. But those innocents who have died, or who are still in gaol will not have undergone their ordeals in vain. Freedom may be submerged: it is never lost. As I have said elsewhere before, “ the Commission, through all those in XI 336

so many countries who support it, must be fearless and unceasingly vigilant to resist the totalitarian and aggressive trends and develop ments which menace the structure and traditions o f the Law, be it national or international. ”

November 1962

L eslie M unro

Secretary-General

XII 337

Note on sources The following list o f official documents, books, journals and other materials used in the preparation of this R eport is not exhaustive. The references cited here are intended only as an indication of the broad research conducted in connection with the study. A large num ber o f newspaper articles and editorial comment as well as other secondary materials were consulted but are not listed in full in this note on sources. A part from the Gaceta Oficial de la Republica de Cuba, edited in H avana, use was made of official laws, decrees, administrative regul ations and court judgments published in Cuba. Wherever possible, official English traslations were utilized; these were issued either by the Government of Cuba, or the Secretariat o f the Organization of American States in W ashington, D.C . The text o f the C onstitution o f 1940 used is the English translation in Amos J. Peaslee, Consti tutions o f Nations (The Hague: M artinus Nijhoff, Second Edition, 1956). The laws appearing in Folletos de Divulgacion Legislativa, which consists of over twenty volumes published by Editorial Lex, La H abana, were also used as a semi-official reference. The following publications, among others, were consulted in con nection with the study of the social and economic situation in C u b a: Boletin Economico para America Latina, and its statistical supple ments as well as the English edition of the Boletin; Annuaire Statistique 1961 (New Y ork: United Nations) and the excellent Report on Cuba, which was published in 1951 (The Johns Hopkins Press) and contained in over one thousand pages the findings and recommendations of an economic and technical mission organized by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in collaboration with the Govern m ent of C uba. W ith reference to the latter work the seventeen-person mission was headed by Francis Adams Truslow and performed its work during the regime of President C arlos Prio Socarras who was overthrown by the coup d ’etat of Batista in M arch 1952. It is one o f the best and most authoritative sources on the situation in C uba at th at time. The geographical aspects of C uba and their relationship to social and economic problems are discussed on the basis of the standard work by Antonio Nunez Jimenez, Geografia de Cuba (La H abana, 1954). Professor Nunez Jimenez is one of the closest and m ost loyal collaborators o f Dr. Fidel C astro. Also used in this con nection was the book by Preston E. James, Latin America (3rd e d .; New Y ork: The Odyssey Press, 1959). O f value was the monthly xm

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magazine, Hispanic American Report, published by the Institute of Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies at Stanford University, California, which has been highly critical o f United States policies in Latin America. Also used were the following magazines: Combate (San Jose, C osta Rica: Institute Internacional de Estudios Politicos y Sociales de San Jose); Cuademos (Paris: Congreso p or la Libertad de la Cultura); Revista Internacional (Prague: Publication Teorica e Informativa de los Partidos Comunistas y Obreros); International Affairs (Moscow: Soviet Society for the Popularisation o f Political and Scientific Knowledge). The publications of Oficina Internacional de Investigaciones Socia les de FERES (Friburg, Switzerland, and Bogota, C olombia) and El C entro de Investigaciones Socio-Religiosas (Brussels, Belgium) were also consulted in connection with questions dealing with population, urbanization, social classes, political institutions, and rural problems. Among the works consulted w ere: La Poblacion en America Latina, by Federico Debuyst (1961); La Urbanization en America Latina (Vols. I, II, III), by Jaime Dorselaer y Alfonso Gregory; La Familia en America Latina, by Berta C orredor (1962); Las Clases Sociales en America Latina, by Federico Debuyst (1962); Transformation en el Mundo Rural Latinoamericano, Num. 2, by Berta C orredor y Sergio Torres (1961); Las Instituciones Politicos en America Latina, by Raul Cereceda (1961). A large num ber of secondary sources were also referred to, chief among which were: Cuba: a B rief Political and Economic Table (London: Oxford University Press, 1958); Jules Dubois, Fidel Castro: Rebel, Liberator or Dictator (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1959); Fernando Benitez, La Batalla de Cuba (Mexico: Ediciones Era, 1960); Una Nueva Diplomacia (La H abana: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de C uba, 1959); Leo Huberm an and Paul M. Sweezy, Cuba: Anatomy o f a Revolution, (New Y ork: M onthly Review Press, Special Issue, July-August 1960); C. W right Mills, Listen, Yankee (New Y ork: Ballantine Books, 1960); Stefan Baciu, Cortina de ferro sobre Cuba (Rio de Janeiro, 1961); Antonio F. Silio, Aspectos de la Revolution Cubana y un Mensaje, (1961); Jose Luis Masso, Que Pasa en Cuba, (1961); K arl E. Meyer and Tad Szulc, The Cuban Invasion (New Y ork: Frederick A. Praeger, 1962); Daniel James, Cuba: the First Soviet Satellite in the Americas (New Y ork: Avon Books, 1961); Nathaniel Weyl, Red Star Over Cuba (New Y ork Hillman Books, 1961); Theo dore Draper, Castro’s Revolution: M yths and Realities (New Y ork: XIV

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Frederick Praeger Inc., 1962); Sartre on Cuba (New Y ork: Ballantine Books, 1960); Rafael Otero Echeverria, Reportaje a una Revolution (Santiago de Chile: Editorial del Pacifico, 1959). Finally, research was conducted in C uba itself on various occasions since the advent to power o f D r. Fidel C astro. In addition, over one hundred witnesses were interviewed by the Commission’s legal staff and certified depositions obtained. The names of these witnesses, whose testimony and evidence will be found in P art IV of this Report, have been withheld because of the fear o f reprisals. The names and depositions, in full stenographic reports, are on file in the offices of the Comission in Geneva. All facts and data supplied by the wit nesses have been verified and checked against other information.

xv 340

P ar t One

GENERAL SURVEY I.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF CUBA

1492

October 28: Christopher Columbus lands on the north coast of C uba and establishes Spanish rule.

1762

August 14: British occupation o f Havana. End of British occupation of Havana on July 6 , 1763.

1809-1825 W ars against the Spanish Crown for the independence o f Spanish America. C uba remains loyal to Spain. 1823

December 2: The President o f the United States, James M onroe, sends a message to Congress in which he lays down the famous doctrine which bears his name. The M onroe Doctrine declared th at the United States would consider any attem pt by European powers to extend their “ system ” to the Western Hemisphere as dangerous to peace and to the security of the U nited States.

1853

Birth in Havana o f Jose M arti, C uban national hero.

1868

The “ grito de Y ara ” (cry of Yara) marks the beginning o f the ten-year war between Spain and Cuba.

1878

End o f the ten-year war with Spain, with a peace treaty and promises by Spain to pay attention to popular claims.

1895

Beginning o f the W ar of Independence. Marti.

1898

February 15: The U nited States battleship Maine, anchored in Havana harbour, blows up. In April, the United States declares war on Spain. Occupation of Cuba. Beginning of United States military government in Cuba. Signature o f Treaty of Paris on December 10. The United States undertakes not to exercise any sover eignty, jurisdiction or control over Cuba, except insofar as is necessary to secure complete pacification. It also undertakes to leave the government and control of the island in C uban hands.

D eath of Jose

1 341

;

1900

The C uban C onstituent Assembly holds its first sessions.

1901

M arch 2: The President of the U nited States signs the Law of Amendment to the Army Appropriations Bill proposed by Senator Orville H. Platt. By this measure, known as the “ Platt Amendment ”, the conditions were laid down under which the C uban people would be allowed to govern the island. The United States retained the right to intervene in C uban internal affairs in order to preserve C uban independence and to m aintain ade quate government for the protection of life, property and individual freedom. June 12: The C uban C onstituent Assembly approves the Platt Amendment as an appendix to the C uban Constitution. December 31: The first presidential elections are held and Tomas Estrada Palma is elected.

1902

M ay 20: Authority is transferred from the United States military government to the President-Elect, Tomas Estrada Palma. End of U nited States military govern m ent in Cuba.

1903

February 16: The President of C uba signs in Havana a convention with the U nited States leasing to the latter, for such time as may be necessary and for the purpose of establishing naval bunkering stations, stretches of land and water at Guantanam o and Bahia Honda. May 22: A permanent treaty is signed between Cuba and the U nited States incorporating the Platt Amend m ent as an additional safeguard.

1906

Estrada Palma re-elected for a further period of four years. In August, an armed uprising occurs against the Government whereupon Estrada Palma calls upon the U nited States to exercise its right of intervention under the Platt Amendment. Charles M agoon, a Nebraska lawyer, is appointed governor of the island and administers it from September 29, 1906, to January 28, 1909.

1909

Jose M anuel Gomez is elected President of Cuba.

1912

A n insurrection among the Negro population of Cuba causes serious disorder, especially in the eastern part of the country. U. S. forces threaten to intervene, but energetic action by President Jose Manuel Gomez is notified in time to the President of the United States, William Taft, and intervention by U. S. troups is avoided.

1913

Beginning of the government of M ario Garcia Menocal.

342

1917

Re-election of Garcia Menocal, charges of rigged elec tions, uprising by the army. These disturbances cause the United States M inister to C uba to issue a statement th at no government resulting from a revolution will be recognized. The presence of United States troops helps to put an end to the uprising. The United States declares war on Germany. follows suit.

Cuba

1921

Election o f Alfredo Zayas as President o f Cuba. Wash ington sends special envoy, General Enoch Crowder, as adviser to the President of Cuba.

1924

Form ation of the C uban National W orkers’ C onfeder ation under the leadership of anarchist-syndicalist groups.

1925

Election o f Gerardo M achado as President of Cuba, marking the beginning o f the dictatorship known as the “ m achadato ”.

1928

Re-election of Gerardo M achado, acute economic and political crisis, active resistance by student bodies (the ABC) and workers.

1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt, newly elected President of the U nited States, launches the “ good neighbour ” policy with the objective o f improving relations with Latin American Republics. Sumner Welles sent to C uba as Ambassador in May. In August, opposition groups call a general strike. The army demands a change o f government. On August 12 M achado flees by air to the Bahamas, thus ending the “ m achadato ”. August 12: The provisional government of Carlos M a nuel de Cespedes is installed. September 4: The “ Sergeants’ Revolution ” takes place. Sergeant Fulgencio Batista enters the scene, promotes him self to Colonel and seizes control of the army. A pro visional collective government (the Pentarchy) takes over. November 4: The Pentarchy comes to an end and Ram on G rau San M artin becomes provisional President. The United States does not recognize this government.

1934

In January, a new provisional President, Carlos Mendieta, takes office and is recognized by the United States Govern ment. On M ay 29 C uba and the United States sign a treaty repealing the Platt Amendment. C uba obtains complete political independence. The United States retains the naval base at Guantanamo. 3

343

1935

Miguel M ariano Gomez is elected President o f Cuba. Fulgencio Batista remains at the head o f the army.

1936

Miguel M ariano Gomez takes office as President of C uba. In December, following a constitutional conflict, C on gress removes President Gomez from office. He is succeeded by the Vice-President, Federico Laredo Bru.

1939

Outbreak o f the Second W orld War. Presidential elec tions held in November and Fulgencio Batista is elected President.

1940

A new C onstitution for the Republic is promulgated on July 5, drafted with the assistance o f almost all sections o f political life.

1941

In December, C uba declares war on Germany, Japan and Italy.

1942

C uba, following the policy o f the U nited States, establishes diplomatic relations with Russia.

1944

Ram on G rau San M artin is elected President o f Cuba.

1948

Carlos Prio Socarras is elected President of Cuba.

1952

M arch 10: A military coup d ’etat ushers in the dictator ship o f Fulgencio Batista.

1953

July 26: Fidel C astro leads the attack on the Moncada Barracks at Santiago de Cuba. C astro is arrested, tried and sentenced to prison. His defence plea to the court is published under the title History Will Absolve Me.

1954

November 1: General Fulgencio Batista is elected President without opposition. Fidel C astro is released from prison under a general amnesty.

1956

December 2: Fidel C astro lands in C uba from Mexico with 82 followers and establishes himself in the Sierra M aestra.

1959

January 1: President Batista resigns and flees by plane to the Dominican Republic. January 2: Fidel C astro proclaims M anuel U rrutia Leo provisional President of the Republic of Cuba. January 3: President U rrutia is sworn in at Santiago de C uba, the provisional capital of the revolutionary government. He then appoints Fidel Castro as Commander-in-C hief o f the armed forces. January 5: Jose M iro C ardona is appointed Prime Minister. February 16: Fidel C astro takes over the post o f Prime Minister, replacing M iro C ardona.

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1959

1960

April 15: Fidel C astro arrives in the United States on an unofficial visit. April 17: Speaking before the American Society of Newspaper Editors in W ashington, C astro declares that he is not a communist, th at C uba has no intention of ending its treaty with the U nited States regarding the Guantanam o naval base and th at C uba will not confiscate property belonging to foreign-owned private firms. April 22: C astro states in New Y ork to a group o f United Nations correspondents that the holding o f free elections in C uba might m ean the return o f “ oligarchy and tyranny ”. He promises that elections will be held within four years. M ay 11: C astro promises the early winding up o f the revolutionary courts and the restoration of habeas corpus. May 17: The Land Reform Act is passed. Establish ment of the National L and Reform Institute (INRA). July 17: Fidel Castro announces his resignation as Prime Minister owing to differences of opinion with President M anuel Urrutia, whom he accuses, however, o f behaviour bordering on treason. Resignation of President U rrutia. Appointm ent o f Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado as new President. July 18: Osvaldo Dorticos is sworn in and announces th at the Cabinet has rejected Fidel C astro’s resignation. July 26: Fidel C astro resumes his post as Prime Minister. February 4-13: Visit to C uba by the Soviet Deputy Prime Minister, Anastas Mikoyan. June 28: Fidel C astro announces the confiscation of all property belonging to U nited States citizens if the United States cuts the sugar im port quota. June 29: The C uban Government confiscates United States and British-owned oil refineries. July 6 : President Eisenhower suspends the C uban sugar im port quota. The same day the C uban Government orders the expropriation of all U.S.-owned property in Cuba. July 9: The Soviet Prime Minister, N ikita Khrushchev, threatens to give Cuba military protection if the United States intervenes in the island’s internal affairs. October 14: Nationalization o f banks and trading companies. December 21: A purge o f the judiciary. Seventeen Supreme C ourt judges dismissed. 5

345

1961

346

January 3: The United States breaks off diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba. February 3: The C uban Government orders the dismissal o f 120 judges. M arch 22: The Revolutionary Council, under the leader ship of Jose M iro C ardona, is formed in exile. April 17: Unsuccessful invasion of C uba by forces opposed to Castro. M ay 1: C astro declares in a speech that C uba is a socialist state and that there will be no elections because his Government is based on the direct support of the people. M ay 17: Fidel C astro offers to exchange the 1,200 pri soners taken during the invasion of April 17 for 500 heavy tractors and bulldozers estimated to cost about U.S. $20 million. June 2: The “ Tractors for Freedom ” Committee, set up by private citizens in the United States, informes Fidel C astro that it is prepared to send the 500 tractors in exchange for 1,214 prisoners. June 6 : Fidel C astro proposes exchanging his prisoners for alleged political prisoners in United States, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan and Spanish prisons. June 7: The C uban Government decrees the nationali zation of education. June 14: Six experts of the “ Tractors for Freedom ” C ommittee interview Fidel C astro, who raises his demand to thousand tractors for agriculture or 500 of a special, heavier type. He also declares that the exchange would involve only 1,167 prisoners instead of the 1,214 he had originally promised. June 23: The Committee is dissolved on the ground that Fidel C astro has not accepted its offer. July 26: Fidel C astro announces in a speech celebrating the establishment o f his July 26 M ovement that all political parties in C uba must be integrated into the U nited Socialist Revolutionary Party (PURS). August 2: The Government announces the reorgani zation of the C onfederation o f Cuban W orkers under direct government control. August 4: The Government announces that 500,000 per sons belong to district, factory and farm vigilance com mittees. September 17: 136 C atholic priests are deported by the C uban Government.

December 1: Fidel C astro, in a televised speech lasting five hours, proclaims himself to be a Marxist-Leninist. 1962

January 2: Fidel C astro repeats his previous statement. January 22: Conference of Foreign Ministers o f the 21 American Republics meets in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to consider collective action against Cuba. January 31: The Conference of Foreign Ministers votes by 14 to 1 (Cuba) and 6 abstentions (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico) to exclude C uba from participation in the Inter-American system. February 3: President Kennedy proclaims an embargo on almost all U. S. trade with C uba with the exception of certain foods and medicines. February 8 : Argentina severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. This is the 14th American state which has severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. The others a re : Colom bia, C osta Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Para guay, Peru, United States, and Venezuela. M arch 10: C onstitution of a 25-men directorate of the Integrated Revolutionary Organization as an expres sion of the “ collective leadership ”. M arch 12: Fidel Castro announces nation-wide food and soap rationing to become effective on M arch 19. The rationing affects all staple goods and most household commodities; each person is allowed up to % of a pound of meat, up to 1 1/2 pounds of beans per week, up to 6 pounds of rice and 1 cake o f soap per month. M arch 23: The United Nations Security Council rejects by a vote of 7 to 2 a C uban charge that the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) violated the U N C harter in barring Cuba from the Inter-American system. The Security Council also rejected by a vote of 7 to 4 a C uban request that the question of the legality of the O.A.S. action be submitted to the International C ourt of Justice. On the same day, Fidel C astro takes the post of First Secretary o f the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations. His brother Raul is nam ed Second Secretary. M arch 25: Fidel C astro creates the office of VicePremier. Raul C astro is appointed to the post. M arch 26: Fidel C astro, in a radio-television broadcast, denounces Anibal Escalante, an old-time C ommunist Party member, for having brought chaos to all the country and having tried to create an apparatus to pursue personal ends. 7

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1962

8 348

M arch 29: The C astro regime begins a trial o f 1,182 pri soners captured after the unsucessful invasion of April 17, 1961. A five-man military court tries the case. April 3: Trial of prisoners ends. Ecuador severs diplo matic relations with Cuba. April 8 : Military courts sentence each o f the prisoners to loss of citizenship and payment o f damages ranging from US $25,000 to US $500,000. Those who cannot pay the penalty shall serve jail sentences ranging to a maximum o f 30 years. June 16: Government parades tanks, troops and artillery through the streets of Cardenas, a port 90 miles east of Havana, in response to popular demonstrations over food scarcities. August 20: Press reports state that between July 27 and July 31, twenty Soviet ships arrived at 4 ports in Cuba with 3,000 to 5,000 technicians from the C ommunist bloc, and large quantities of goods and weapons. September 2: Soviet-Cuban joint communique on Soviet military and technical aid to Cuba. September 12: The Soviet Union warns the United States th at an attack on Cuba or on Soviet ships bound for C uba would m ean war. September 26: The United States Congress authorizes the President to use force if necessary to oppose Communist agression or subversion from C uban bases. September 26: Cuba and the USSR announce plans for building a fishing port in C uba in the framework of Soviet economic and technical aid. October 22: President Kennedy reveals the construction of missile launching pads and the presence of offensive rockets in Cuba. The United Sates imposes a partial blockade (variously called peaceful blockade or quaran tine) to stop deliveries o f such weapons by the Soviet U nion and calls for an emergency session of the Security C ouncil. October 28: Premier Khrushchev agrees to dismantle Soviet bases and to ship offensive weapons back to the USSR. October 30-31: Acting Secretary General o f the United Nations, U Thant, visits Cuba to discuss the procedure o f dismantling the Soviet missile bases in C uba under United Nations control.

II. A.

THE LAND

Geography

C uba is the largest island in the C aribbean Sea. It is situated between N orth and South America, is very close to the Tropic of Cancer and lies in the earth’s torrid zone. In relation to neighbouring countries, C uba is located 111 miles from Key West at the tip o f the Florida Peninsula in the USA; 125 miles from the Yucatan Peninsula in M exico; 87 miles from the island o f Jamaica and 49 miles from Haiti. C uba has an area of 44,218 square miles: it is about 785 miles long from east to west and varies from 25 to 120 miles (at its eastern end) in width from north to south. C om pared with the other islands of the Caribbean, C uba is by far the largest. It is only one fifth the size of France but it is larger in area than Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary or Denmark. It is also larger than such other LatinAmerican countries as the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, G uate mala, Haiti, Honduras and Panama. From the geo-political standpoint C uba lies in what has been called “ the American M editerranean ”. Viewed from this approach the C aribbean Sea has never been considered as a factor of division between the islands of the C aribbean and the N orth American m ainland. Occupied by Columbus in 1492, Cuba was regarded by Spain as the “ key to the New W orld ”. It was the operational base used by Spanish military power for the conquests o f the Peninsula of Florida and the Aztec Empire, and H avana was an obvious port of call for all the Spanish fleets loaded with precious metals from America or with goods from Spain. Owing to C uba’s strategic value a num ber of powers have tried to conquer and occupy it. F or example, English forces seized C uba on August 14, 1762, and stayed for alm ost a year. Its strategic im portance was further enhanced by the construction of the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914 and the maintenance by the United States of a naval base at Guantanam o. These geographical factors have led to a profound cleavage of opinion among the Cubans themselves. Some have felt that by the nature of the country’s geography, union with the United States was inevitable. Some, on the other hand, have taken an uncompromising stand for full independence. The experiment of Fidel C astro’s government constitutes so far the most determined effort to break up the community of political, economic and cultural interests which has been fostered by C uba’s physical proximity to the United States. 9 349

Characteristics of the Land

About a quarter of C uba’s total area is m ountainous. West from Guantanam o Bay and north from the port of Santiago de C uba stretches the Sierra M aestra which, in places, reaches a height of 8,000 feet. The Sierra M aestra is about 157 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. It consists o f a num ber of parallel ranges, the biggest of which is nearest the coast. The highest m ountain is the Turquino. In addition to the Sierra M aestra there are two other mountainous areas of lesser importance. In the centre of the island there are the Trinidad mountains which reach a maximum height of 3,700 feet; to the west of H avana is the Sierra de los Organos with a maximum height of 2,500 feet. A part from these m ountain ranges the remainder of the island consists o f rolling countryside. Over half the area of C uba is suited to mechanized farming. The moderate tropical climate, combined with adequate and well-distributed rainfall, makes it possible to grow a variety o f crops. Some sections of the coastline are marshy but by and large the whole island is well drained. The coastline contains a num ber of natural harbours, the largest of which are Havana, Santiago and Guantanam o. The tem perature is fairly uniform without any m arked extremes. During the summer it may rise to about 30° C. while the annual average for C uba is around 25° C , this uniformity being due to the longitudinal shape o f the island. C.

Adjacent Islands

Cuban territory consists not only of the m ain island, Cuba, although the latter is o f course the largest part; there are also four groups of numerous islands o f varying size. The first of these groups, called Santa Isabel Archipelago or Los Colorados, is situated to the north of Pinar del Rio. The second group, called SabanaCamaguey Archipelago or the Jardines del Rey, with 400 rocky islets and small islands, lies to the north o f the Provinces o f M atanzas, Las Villas and Camaguey. The biggest island is Cayo Romano with almost 320 square miles. To the south of the latter province lie the islands known as the Jardines de la Reina. Finally, to the south of Matanzas, Havana and Pinar del Rio, lies the archipelago of Los Canarreos. These four groups of islands off the coast of Cuba, inhabited by mainly fishermen, are particularly im portant because they abound in fish, shellfish, sponges, and other species. They are also rich in timber and contain a number of mineral deposits, while their natural beauty attracts numerous tourists. Reference should be made to the Isla de Pinos, which also is in the Archipelago of Los Canarreos and lies to the south of Havana, 10 350

with an area of 1,120 square miles. The population o f the island totals a mere 10,000 inhabitants. This island contains the biggest prison in C uba .1 HI.

THE ECONOMY

Despite the fact that C uba is the youngest Latin American republic, a comparative analysis of the economic development o f the Latin American countries shows th at it has become one of the most advanced. Owing to its strategic position, its im portance as a producer of sugar, and its historical background, C uba was closely tied to the economic interests of the United States. Two factors contributed towards the development of C uba’s natural resources. The first was the ability and remarkable drive o f Cuban businessmen; the second was the realistic policy o f protec tion followed by C uban governments. This second factor, despite political upheavals, fostered the growth of industries such as footwear, textiles, fibres, etc. U nder this protectionist policy specially low tariffs were levied on imports of machinery. This was used to equip plants to process sugar by-products such as bagasse (pressed sugar cane pulp), paper mills, steel mills, fertilizer plants, basic chemical factories, cement works, oil refineries, etc. It is a fact that in recent years, before the C astro revolution, foreign capital was being gradually but steadily replaced by C uban capital, a development of major im portance for the country’s economic and social structure. A.

Agriculture

1. General. C uba is predominantly an agricultural country and 51 % of its surface is considered suitable for farming. F or many years C uban and foreign businessmen concentrated exclusively on growing sugar cane. This single crop system was criticized in C uba as the cause of the island’s vulnerable economic structure. C uban businessmen and governments set about re-shaping the national economy. Misssions of experts from international bodies which carried out surveys in C uba at various times agreed that: (1) the C uban economy, far from being on the brink of ruin, was developing rapidly; (2) the skills of C uban businessmen and workers, backed by foreign capital investment, were gradually diversifying the economy; (3) the main obstacles to even faster economic development were administrative dishonesty and political illegality; (4) once this public immorality had been eliminated C uba would, because of its economic potential, develop at a much faster speed.

1 Antonio Nunez Jimenez, Geografia de Cuba (Havana, 1954), pp. 11-29. 11 351

The years following 1950 saw in fact the beginning of intensive cultivation o f tobacco, coffee, rice, maize, potatoes, vegetables, beans, pineapples, etc. Despite this diversification C uba remained the w orld’s leading sugar producer and exporter, achieving a record output in 1952 of 7,011,637 Spanish long tons. The special features of sugar grow ing produced specific social and economic patterns which will be discussed in more detail later. In terms of foreign trade, C uba’s competitive position in the international m arket was greatly enhanced by the United States policy of buying a fixed annual quota o f sugar at a price higher than that in the international market. The total area o f C uba is 28,631,000 acres, of which 79.3%, or 22,691,750 acres, formed part o f estates or farms. O f this area forming parts of estates or farms, only 21.7%, or 4,916,010 acres, were in fact under cultivation in C uba in 1945. Pasture land, whether natural or sown, accounted for 42.9% o f the total area forming parts o f estates or farms. The characteristic feature o f C uban agriculture was the concen tration by its farmers on a single product. This was true not only of the sugar plantations but also of the tobacco, coffee and stockraising farms. In 1945, 26% of the total num ber o f farms grew sugar cane, which was the main source of agricultural income. Sugar cane rep resented about 56% of the total area under cultivation. The second crop in order o f importance was tobacco, which was produced by 21.5% o f the farms with an area equivalent to 3.4% of the total area under cultivation. The farms engaged in growing cereals and vegetables amounted to 16.8 % of the total number. Maize-growing was widespread in C uba and most o f the crop was consumed within the country. Rice accounted for 3 % o f the total area under cultivation and in 1945 was grown by 18.4% of the total num ber of farms. The large stock-raising farms tended to be concentrated in eastern C uba, especially in C amaguey and in Oriente Province. O f the total num ber of estates and farms, 18 % were engaged in stock raising. 2. Land Distribution. The Spanish Colonial Government was impelled by the needs of conquest to parcel out the land in large estates. R ural settlement was very scanty. There was only one m ajor town on the north coast of C uba within 40 miles of Havana. Two other small towns on the coast were Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. There were no towns o f any size in the interior, which remained uninhabited for a long time. Cultivation of the sugar cane began around Havana in the 18th century and led to the im portation o f Negro slaves from Africa. 12 352

A census held in 1899 showed that already 47 % of the land under cultivation was given over to sugar cane, while small proportions of the remaining land were used to grow tobacco, coffee, bananas, maize and other foodstuffs. At that time, however, only 3 % o f the total area o f C uba was under cultivation. F rom 1900 onwards the area under sugar cane expanded rapidly. The treaty o f 1901 between the United States and C uba reduced the tariff on imported Cuban sugar by 20 %. This, in turn, led to large scale investment o f United States capital in C uba, which brought about changes in the pattern o f land ownership. In 1900, there were 207 sugar mills in Cuba, m ost o f them in the area to the south-east of Havana. M any were quite small. The influx of capital, mainly from the U nited States, was followed, however, by the construction of large mills. As regards the C uban sugar industry one point should be made concerning the development o f C uba’s economy and social structure: once sugar processing became a large-scale industry, natural growth led to the replacement of foreign capital by C uban capital. For example, in 1939, out o f a total o f 134 sugar mills in existence, 66 accounting for 55.07% o f total production belonged to United States citizens; 56 accounting for 22.42% o f production belonged to C uban citizens; 33 accounting for 14.92% of production belonged to Spanish citizens; 10 accounting for 4.83% of production belonged to C anadian citizens; 4 accounting for 1.41 % of production belonged to British citizens; 3 accounting for 0.76% of production belonged to D utch citizens; and 6 accounting for 0.59 % of production belonged to French citizens. By 1958 the C anadian-, British- and Dutch-owned mills had all passed into C uban hands. O f the 161 mills then in operation only one, accounting for 0.27% of production, was French-owned; 3 mills accounting for 0.95% of production were Spanish-owned, while 36 mills accounting for 36.65 % of production were owned by United States firms. C uban capital controlled 121 mills representing 62.13 % o f production. It must be emphasized th at sugar growing in C uba did not go through the pre-industrial stage as it was in many other parts o f Latin America. Sugar growing was organized to meet the needs o f m odem industry. It follows that the C uban agrarian problem is not charac teristic of Latin America as a whole. In 1945 there were 159,958 estates or farms in C uba with an average area of 141.75 acres. Of the total, a third had an area of less than 25 acres, approximately 70% o f the holdings consisted o f less than 60 acres. A bout 45% were between 100 acres and only about 1.5% exceeded 750 acres. According to official sources, in 1945 about 30% of the total num ber o f estates or farms, representing some 32 % of the total area 13 353

of farmland, were cultivated by their owners. A bout 6 % of the farms, representing some 25% of the total area under cultivation, were m anaged by agents, while about 30 % of the total area belonging to farms or estates was cultivated by tenant farmers. Some 20% of the workers on the large estates were share farmers, and about 9%, occupying 3% o f the total areas suited for cultivation, were squatters or occupants without any legal title. The degree of concentration of land ownership is clearly brought out by the fact th at farms of less than 49 acres accounted for 70 % of the total num ber of farms but for only 11 % of the total area. On the other hand, only 894 farms amounting to 0.055% o f the total num ber of farms were in excess of 2,471 acres; yet they represent ed 36% of the total area. Cubans had long been concerned about the best use and distri bution o f land. A report published in 1951 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the conclusions of which have been largely followed in this section) describes the historical process which led to the distribution of farm ownership in Cuba. There were four main stages. The first was the expansion of cane-growing on a constantly increasing num ber of small farms. This period lasted from 1790 until 1870. The second stage saw the appearance of large estates devoted to the growing of sugar cane. This stage lasted until the end of the W ar o f Independence. The third stage reflected the economic influence of the U nited States and it was during this stage that Cuba developed into an economic power in its own right based on an industrialized type of agriculture. The large sugar mills date from this time. The fourth stage, which began around the year 1933, witnessed the slow down of the sugar industry and the placing of restrictions on the big estates. The report o f the International Bank omits to mention an im portant fact about this last stage, viz., the gradual increase of Cuban ownership o f the sugar mills in oper ation which was mentioned on page 13 above. 3. The Tenant Farmer. The C uban sugar growers were protected by a special enactment passed on September 2, 1937, which gave all sugar growers security of tenure. In fact this right could be inherited, sold or mortgaged. F or the term stipulated by law the landlord forfeited all right to the land except for this claim to a rent as fixed by the Sugar C oordination Act. This negotiable right was w orth more than the land itself. The owners o f some very large estates were prevented by it from disposing o f m ost o f their land, because the sugar growers were to all intents and purposes their own masters. 14 354

U nder subsequent legislation the proportion of the output to which the grower was entitled was increased to approximately 50% o f the total. There was also special protection for the small grower entitling him to the whole of his output quota even when restrictions were in force. In addition, growers were guaranteed a minimum o f 6 arrobas (1 arroba = 25.3 lbs.) of sugar for every 100 arrobas o f cane. Thus the effect of the legislation on the sugar industry was to strengthen greatly the rights of the growers as compared with the rights of the land owners and also to strengthen the rights of the small growers as compared with the big growers. Security of tenure 1 was subsequently extended to all tenants, sub-tenants and even squatters working on farms of less than 5 “ caballerias ” (1 caballeria = 33.18 acres) (Decree No. 247 of 1952). This enactment also granted the right for an indefinite period, so that it could be bequeathed to the heirs of a deceased tenant or squatter. The only condition was that the rent must have been paid, the rental rates being fixed in the same legislative decree. They were restricted to 5 % of the sale price of the property given in the M uni cipal Land Register on January 1, 1948, and were proportionate to the area occupied by the peasant. Usually this sale price was lower than the actual value, from which it follows that the rent paid by a peasant to occupy his land indefinitely v/as equal to less than 5 % o f its true value. Other tenants, with farms bigger than 5 caballerias, were protected in similar ways. Under an Act dated November 25, 1948, (No. 7) all leases, with a few exceptions, were to be for a minimum o f 6 years and could be prolonged at will for the same period. The 6 years prescribed by the Act elapsed at the end of 1954 and the exten sion would have expired at the end of 1960. In other words, at the time Fidel Castro took power, all the tenant farmers in Cuba were already assured of a security of tenure of their land, for which they also paid very low rents. It appears from the foregoing that the C uban tenant farm er had many o f the rights which are normally associated with full ownership of land but without the obligations which are usually involved. Conversely, the C uban system did not encourage the tenant farm er to make long-term plans to expand output and improve the soil.2 4. Factors o f Agricultural Evolution. In concluding this general account of C uban agriculture, it may be helpful to refer to the most im portant factors which according to the 1951 R eport of the Inter 1 On the subject of security of tenure see Manual Dorta Duque and Manuel D orta Duque y Ortiz: Derecho Agrario y Proyecto de Codigo Cubano de Reforma Agraria, La Habana, C uba, especially pp. 134-142. 2 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Report on Cuba, (The Johns Hopkins Press, 1951), p. 81-126. 15 355

national Bank for Reconstruction and Development, have influenced its evolution. History. C uba grew rich as the w orld’s sugar plantation, at least until world conditions changed and revealed that this state o f affairs would not continue indefinitely. But during the recovery o f 19391948, when real income per capita increased by no less than one third, sugar once more gave a striking dem onstration of its economic potential. Through all these periods, C uban m ental attitudes became as firmly rooted as the sugar cane itself. It will take a long time to change them. Capital. F o r historical reasons the big landowners and those with sufficient capital to employ the most up-to-date agricultural methods were largely engaged in sugar production. Other crops were left to those who found it more difficult to obtain capital. Techniques. Again for historical reasons the agricultural and technical knowledge m ost readily available in C uba was connected with the growing o f cane and the production o f sugar. Ease of cultivation. Sugar growing in C uba is greatly favoured by nature. There is plenty o f land available which is suited to the crop. Once it is planted it goes on giving a good harvest for many years. C ompared with other crops it requires little work, at least by using the extensive farming methods employed in Cuba.

Generally speaking agricultural credit in C uba had only been adequate and available in the case of sugar and (to a lesser extent) tobacco. Credit.

Roads. The lack o f roads from the farms to the markets affected the growing of m ost other crops. But it did not affect the sugar industry, which among other facilities, had its own network of private railways linked with the public system and connected with the ports.

The marketing facilities available in C uba catered primarily for sugar. The sugar producers were fully protected in the disposal o f their product, whereas the growers o f other crops had to sell in a worse organized m arket and were defenceless against the m anipulations o f middlemen who were not subject to any regula tion. Marketing.

Sugar prices varied but long-term inter national contracts and agreements exercised a stabilizing influence. With most other C uban crops there were far bigger and frequent price swings, unless the level was fixed by regulation. Uncertainty about prices.

Government control. Since the bulk o f C uba’s sugar output was sold abroad, the Government did everything in its power to secure 16 356

the highest price for sugar compatible with its international relations. But as regards many other farm products, the Government pursued an opposite policy with the aim o f keeping down the cost of living. Price and other controls indirectly favoured unscrupulous middlemen by giving them a weapon with which to beat down the price paid to the farmer. Similarly, price control destroyed any incentive to improve the quality o f crops other than sugar and this in turn made customers less willing to buy them and encouraged the im port of foreign products. Freight charges.

Flat charges for freight have also favoured sugar.

Mineral Resources

C uba has metallic, non-metallic and combustible mineral resources. It is particularly rich in metallic mineral deposits, the most im portant among which are chrome, manganese, copper, iron and nickel. Gold, silver, zinc, tungsten and lead are also found in smaller quan tities. Among the non-metallic minerals, limestone, clay and slate are found in large deposits almost everywhere in the island. Gypsum and barytes are also found in appreciable quantities. These nonmetallic minerals are often found in a virtually pure state over large areas. Cuba lacks fuel deposits o f any im portant size. Oil and natural gas are produced in small quantities but cannot meet domestic needs. In 1954 new oil deposits were discovered and hopes were aroused th at output might eventually be increased. Nickel is C uba’s most lucrative mining industry. Production was confined almost entirely to the formerly United States-owned plant in Oriente Province. According to the Report of the Inter national Bank for Reconstruction and Development the growth of the Cuban mining industry was prom oted either by the United States Government or by N orth American firms. Usually the motive was the real or potential danger o f war, and apart from a handful of exceptions, the Bank’s Report states th at the economic interest o f C uba was not considered. It should be added that owing to the attractions of growing and processing agricultural products, neither the C uban Government nor the C uban businessmen took any great interest in the mining industry. Consequently the proportion of the economically active population engaged in mining was about 5% of the total—which illustrates the m inor im portance o f this industry in Cuba. C.

Industry

The production of sugar is C uba’s biggest industry. But, as we have seen, sugar cane is also the leading product of C uban agri culture. It is this coordination o f agriculture and industry which 17 357

gives C uba its unique economic and social structure and sets it apart from the other Latin American countries. It also means that while C uba is fundamentally a sugar-growing agricultural country, sugar production is on an equally high level. The output of all other industries (including those based on sugar by-products) is of minor importance. Estimates of their contribution to the national income ranged from 10-15%. Whereas the 161 sugar mills in operation are evenly distributed throughout Cuba, thet remaining industries show a high degree of concentration in the H avana area. According to official sources, there were in 1950 in Havana Province, 8,330 industrial establish ments with a declared capital of (US) 1117,400,000 which substan tially exceeded the total capital investment in the remainder of the country. A part from sugar, the leading m anufactured products have been cigars, cigarettes, rum, rayon fibre, cottons and cloth, foot wear, beer, spirits, fertilizers, soft drinks, canned foods, ham, m otor car tyres and inner tubes, matches, and cement. Although there are many modern industrial plants, small business tended to predominate. Leaving aside the sugar mills, there were only 145 plants in 1953 with m ore than 100 workers and only 14 had more than 500. Protective tariffs for C uban industries date from 1927. Other Government measures to protect industry included exemption from the payment of customs duties on im ported industrial machinery and on raw materials. The “ slack period ” or large-scale seasonal unemployment which follows the ending o f the sugar harvest is one o f the chief features of C uban economic life. C onstant efforts have been made to introduce complementary industries and crops to overcome this difficulty of the “ slack season ”. The problem has two sides to it. On the one hand, there is unemployment which occurs when the sugar industry has dealt with the crop, and, on the other hand, there is the impact on the whole of C uba’s economic life caused by the seasonal character of the country’s basic industry. During the sugar harvest the whole o f C uba’s domestic economy enjoys a boom. The farmers and the workers spend their money as it comes in. Industry, for its part, is anxious to tap this source of spending money as soon as possible. The result is that industry does not work at an even rate over the whole year; instead it tries to produce goods as quickly as they can be sold and in order to do so takes on as many workers as possible during the sugar harvesting season. This is particularly true of the consumer goods industries. 18 358

In consequence there is seasonal unemployment also in other in dustries which have no direct connection with sugar but have never theless their seasonal peaks synchronized with the sugar harvest. This preponderance of sugar growing in C uba, which affects the whole economic life, and makes it vulnerable to price fluctuations o f the international sugar m arket, has led one writer to describe Cuba as a “ diabetic m onster ” . 1 D.

Transport

C om pared with other countries at a similar stage o f economic development, C uba has an excellent network of major and minor roads. The famous C entral Highway is 710 miles long and runs from Pinar del Rio in the west to Santiago de C uba in the east. In 1950, C uba possessed 495 miles o f good secondary roads, 1,000 miles of secondary roads under construction and about 620 miles of m inor roads in bad condition. W hen it is borne in mind that at the time these statistics were compiled (1950) C uba had a population of 5,200,000 and that the area of C uba is 44,218 square miles, it will be seen th at the Cuban road network reflected a considerable degree of development. The survey carried out by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development showed th at 22.1% of the roads in C uba were hard-surfaced and considered to be in good condition, that 45.1 % of the roads were under repair or being built and that 32.8 % were in poor condition. Weaknesses o f the C uban road system were the lack o f an intelligent m aintenance policy, the absence of any well thought-out long-term building plan and high costs. As regards transport facilities, the trucking and bus industries expanded at a remarkable rate after the second W orld W ar. In the years 1946-1950, the num ber of trucks in C uba increased from 15,196 to 29,368. O f these vehicles, 18,025 were trucks o f a capacity between one to three tons, 9,062 were trucks of between three and eight tons while 2,281 had a capacity of more than eight tons. There were more than 100 trucking firms in C uba as well as about 200 bus companies running to regular schedules. The 1953 census showed that 104,000 members of the economically active population, i.e., 5% of the total, were engaged in transport. C uba has an extensive railway system with about 11,000 miles of track, over one quarter of which belongs to the public system, the remainder being operated privately, mainly by the sugar mills. The largest public railway lines were the “ Ferrocarriles C onsolidados de C uba ” which were owned by United States investors, and the 1 Jean-Paul Sartre, Sartre on Cuba (New York: Ballantine Books, 1960), pp. 38-43. 19 359

“ Ferrocarriles Occidentales de C u b a” which until 1953 were Britishowned. International air communications were excellent and about 20 C uban cities were served by local lines. The fact th at there were over 90 public and private airports gives some idea o f the growing im portance o f air transport in Cuba. E.

Communications

• I. Telephones. The main telephone service in C uba was pro vided by the C ompania C ubana de Telefonos, which was incorpo rated in the United States, and controlled by the International Tele phone and Telegraph Company. This company had a virtually unlimited concession to provide service throughout the whole of C uba. It was also granted a 30-year concession to provide an international radio-telephone service. The progress in this field can be gauged from the fact th at in 1935 C uba possessed about 38.000 telephones, in 1940 there were 59,000, in 1945 the total grew to 74,000, in 1949 to 106,000 and in 1958 to 170,000. In addition to the public telephones C uba also had a large num ber o f private circuits which were used by the sugar mills. The quality o f the telephone service appears to have been open to criticism, but the rapid expansion of the network reflects the rate of C uba’s economic growth. 2. Radio and Television. In 1958 there were in C uba 94 radio stations and about 900,000 radio receivers. Among Latin American countries, Cuba came second after Argentina with one receiver for every 5 inhabitants. There were also 11 television stations and 365.000 receivers. 3. Films and Press. In 1959 C uba possessed 519 cinemas and 58 periodical publications including daily newspapers and reviews with an average of 129 copies per 1,000 inhabitants—a figure exceeded in Latin America only by Argentina and Uruguay . 1 F.

Foreign Trade

C uba’s overseas trade was dominated by two closely related factors. The first was that the country exported only one product of any importance and the second that most of its overseas trade was with the United States. The total value o f C uban exports in 1957, 1958 and 1959 was U S $ 844.7, 763.2 and 638 million, respectively. The total value 1 642. 20 360

Statistical Yearbook, 1961, (New York: United Nations), pp. 638 and

o f im ports in the same years am ounted to US $ 894.2, 888 and 736 million respectively. Sugar accounted for 83 % of C uban exports . 1 The second export product in order of im portance was tobacco which accounted for 7% of the total. In 1957 C uban exports represented 30.6% of the gross national product. C uban exports to the U nited States in 1958 totalled 490.7 million dollars, i.e., 65% o f the total. It is worth comparing this figure with the value of exports to some other countries during the same y ear: to C anada 16 million, to Latin America as a whole 10.5 million, to Japan 46.7 million, to the United Kingdom 36.6 million, to Yugo slavia 1.2 million, to the USSR 14.1 million dollars. As regards im ports the picture was the same. In 1958, total imports from the U nited States were valued at 557.3 million dollars, i.e., 73% o f the total, as com pared with imports from C anada of only 17.2 million, from Latin America o f 92.4 million, from the United Kingdom of 27.2 million, from the USSR o f 0.3 million, etc. After the second W orld W ar the proportion o f total exports by value accounted for by sugar and its by-products rose higher than ever. There was a ready m arket for sugar because of the heavy world dem and during the immediate post-war years. Later the K orean W ar led to a further jum p in world sugar prices. In 1952 there was over-production of sugar in Cuba which led to a fall in C uban sugar prices. There was a period of recovery from 1956 onwards. This vulnerability o f C uba to fluctuations of the world sugar m arket was to some extent mitigated by her m arketing agreements with the United States which by law fixed an annual im port quota for C uban sugar to be purchased at a higher price than th at obtaining on the free world market. From 1949 onwards about 55% on the average o f C uba’s total sugar exports were benefit ing o f this arrangement which was suspended by the U nited States Government on July 6 , 1960. The remainder o f C uba’s sugar was sold in the free m arket, the main buyers in recent years being Japan, G reat Britain, Western Germany and the USSR. Since 1953 the am ount o f sugar that could be sold in the free m arket has been subject to quotas under the International Sugar Agreement .2 G.

Finance

Financially speaking C uba was, until mid-1960, wholly within the dollar area. Economic and financial links with the United States were so close th at until 1951 the United States dollar was legal tender 1 International Finance Statistics, IMF, August 1959. 2 Enrique Perez Cisneros, Cuba y el Mercado Azucarero Mundial (La Habana, 1957), pp. 83-127. 21 361

in Cuba. Moreover, the Cuban peso remained at par with the U.S. dollar until 1960, when Fidel C astro began his policy of confis cating American property and the United States quota for Cuban sugar was suspended. According to the Royal Institute of International Studies, the C uban National Bank possessed very large reserves o f gold and foreign currency, which in 1955 reached a peak level of US $493 m illio n . In 1957 C uba’s dollar reserve at US 1441 million was among the highest in Latin America. Foreign investment was a major factor in bringing capital into C uba. By the end of 1956 direct United States investment in C uba am ounted to approximately 774 million dollars .1 Other countries, such as Spain and C anada, had investments in C uba, but they were virtually insignificant compared with those o f the United States .2 IV. A.

TH E PE O PL E

General Features

The population of C uba is different from th at of most o f the other C entral American and C aribbean republics. Like in C osta Rica, its nucleus is white and of pure Spanish descent. According to estimates made during the last official census in C uba in 1953, the white population represented 73.46% of the total. This figure also included the descendants o f other European immigrants, e.g., Poles, Italians, French and Germans. It m ust be stressed th at C uba, like the remainder o f the Latin American republics, was not only a Spanish colony but was actually and densely settled by Spaniards. As these early Spanish settlers were followed by more Spanish and European immigrants the island came to be inhabited predominantly by whites of direct European descent. The second group o f the population, in order of size, are the de scendants o f the African slaves who were brought to C uba to work on the sugar plantations. The Negro population represents 11.83% o f the total. The Mestizos produced by the mingling of the black and white races account for 13.39% of the population. This racial mixture of Spaniards with Africans is both a cause and an effect of the absence o f racial prejudice—a cause because the Spaniards mingled their blood 1 United States Department of Commerce: Survey o f Current Business, August 1957. 2 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Report on Cuba Book VII, pp. 509-776. 22 362

freely with th at of the Negroes and an effect because the Mestizos and M ulattos were, and still are, a living link between the two races .1 Persons of oriental background m ake up 0.38% o f the population. The aboriginal Indian population of C uba was never very large. Unlike the Indians in many other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia where they represent a sub stantial segment of the population, those of C uba have virtually disappeared. M any of the original inhabitants mingled with die Europeans and Africans, and at present some Mestizos, with Indian features, can still be encountered in remote parts of the Sierra M aestra and the mountains of the Baracoa region. All these racial groups have brought their cultural traditions to the C uban melting pot; an example of the result is C uban music, which is known throughout the world. According to the 1907 census C uba had a population o f 2,048,980; by 1919 the count had risen to 2,289,004 while the 1931 census showed a total of 3,962,344 inhabitants. The last population census carried out in 1953 revealed th at it had increased to 5,827,000. In 1959 the population has been estimated as 6,599,000 inhabitants. Projected population growth is as follows: Year 1965 1970 1975 1980

Total population 7,533,000 8,341,000 9,183,000 10,175,000

C uba has a population density of approximately 115 persons to the square m ile .2 During the years 1953-1957 the Economic C om mission for Latin America estimated the birthrate to be 30.32 per thousand inhabitants. The death rate during the same years was estimated by the same source at 10.11 per thousand inhabitants (all figures are annual averages). C ompared with other Latin American republics, the Cuban birth and death rates are fairly low .3 According to official estimates for 1960, the urban population of C uba totalled 3,731,000 inhabitants while the rural population am ounted to 3,088,000 inhabitants. Thus the proportion o f town dwellers was 55%—higher than in most Latin-American countries, with the exception o f Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela .4 1 Antonio Nunez Jimenez, Geografia de Cuba (Havana). 2 World Facts and Figures, United Nations, New York. 3 Economic Bulletin for Latin America, Statistical Supplement, Vol. V, Santiago de Chile, November 1960, United Nations, p. 10. 4 Op. cit., p. 13. 23 363

According to the 1953 census, the breakup of the economically active population by category and sex was as follows: Employers and self-employed persons: M en Women

447,000 27,000

Salaried employees and wage-earners: M en W omen

1,195,000 226,000

Unpaid fam ily workers: Men Women

74,000 3,000

According to these figures the total economically active population of Cuba in 1953 was 1,972,000, i.e., 33.84% o f the total population. Again according to the 1953 census, the breakup of this econom ically active population by branches o f the economy was as follows i1 Agriculture and stock-raising Services M anufacturing Commerce Transport Construction Mining Public utilities Others

819.000 396.000 327.000 232.000 104.000 65.000

10.000

8,000

11,000

Illiteracy is a serious factor. According to the 1953 census, only 61.49% o f the C uban population could read. Oriente Province contained, with nearly 53%, the largest proportion o f illiterates. C ompared with other Latin American countries, C uba was, however, one o f the m ost advanced and was surpassed only by Argentina, Uruguay and Costa Rica. Its educational problems, although serious, were much less acute than those of other Latin American countries .2 In terms o f popular diet, as expressed in the consumption of calories per capita per day, C uba ranked third in Latin America as a whole with 2,730 calories, after Argentina with 3,110 and Uruguay with 2,990. As regards housing, the 1953 census showed that there were 793,446 urban and 463,148 rural homes making a total o f 1,256,594. O f the urban population, 57.7 % possessed a supply of inside running 1 Economic Bulletin for Latin America, op. cit., p. 15. 2La situacion educatiya en America Latina, UNESC O, 1960, pp. 55-56. 24 364

water and 78.9% possessed inside or outside running water, as compared with only 6.7 and 14.6% respectively of the rural popula tion. Electricity was laid on in 82.9 % of urban homes but in only 8.7 % o f rural homes. In addition, 62.4% of urban homes had baths but only 9.2 % o f rural homes were so equipped. It is worth m en tioning that according to these statistics the average num ber of baths in C uban homes (42.8% in 1953) was higher than the average for France (10.4% in 1954), and Denm ark (31.6% in 1955).1 One feature of the C uban social structure was the existence of a large middle class 2. The political and economic conditions of Cuba produced a middle class made up of the descendants of the new politically minded generations and, to a large extent, of the descendants o f immigrants. This middle class, as we shall see later, found two quite separate outlets for its energies. One part was attracted towards business and produced the C uban businessman who was responsible for the growing transfer of foreign-owned con cerns into C uban hands. The other section of the C uban middle class entered the professions, the Universities or other intellectual pursuits. Its members were to be found in the civil service, in teaching, in literary societies, in professional associations, etc . 3 Side by side with this expansion and strengthening of the middle class, an energetic and progressive-minded industrial working class was growing up in Cuba. It had its origins in the sugar and tobacco industries and grew as production grew. It was a well-paid and well-protected industrial working class and, taken together with the urban and rural middle class, formed a very large segment of the population which might have served as the foundation for stable political and social institutions. M any observers of the C uban social scene agree in emphasizing the high level of ability of the C uban people—their intelligence, their efficiency, their m anual dexterity and their energy. These same observers always refer to C uba’s human capital as one of its sources of wealth. There was, however, a third section of the population which had not been touched by social and economic progress—the “ m ontunos ”. These were the m ountain folk who eked out a living by doing casual jobs and had no trade union or political party to protect them. The disparity between the sugar worker and the m ountain dweller was all too apparent; it was one of the most serious problems facing Cuba, and C astro exploited it cleverly. The “ m ontuno ” was held up as typical o f the rural population o f C uba. A section o f the Rebel Army was also recruited from this source. 1 Statistical Yearbook 1961, United Nations, pp. 597-599. 2 Federico Debuyst: Las Clases sociales en America Latina, Oficina Internacional de Investijaciones sociales de Feres. Fribourg (Switzerland), Bogota (Colom bia), 1962, pp. 165-173. 3 Lino Novas Calvo “ La Tragedia de la Clase Media Cubana ”, in Bohemia Libre (Second Stage, No. 13, January 1, 1961). 25 365

Yet it was the Cuban middle class which was the backbone of the July 26 Movement led by Fidel C astro. This comparatively large and influential class, following a young leadership and reacting against the discredited old political parties, decided to give uncondi tional support to the vague political programme o f Fidel C astro. The main points in this programme were the assertion that Batista had held power illegally and the promise that the 1940 C onstitution must be restored. The revolutionary leadership was and still is composed mostly of middle class elements. Even though C astro’s programme gave no indication of what was later to happen in Cuba, it was worded in a vague and unprecise way in order to win the support of the middle class which eventually brought C astro to power .1 B.

Institutions

It may be helpful in understanding the legal position in C uba to describe in broad outline its main sociological patterns. C ompre hensive survey will be attem pted o f the social and political institutions which can be regarded as an integral part of the national life. They are th e following: 1.

political parties; 2 . trade unions; 3. the Army; 4. the Catholic Church; 5. economic groupings; 6 . graduates, professional men and intellectuals; 7. foreign business firms. 1. Political Parties. From the time C uba became independent, her political life was m arked by violence and neglect o f legal forms. In this respect C uban politics were typical of m ost Latin American countries. C uba owed its birth to political revolution. Independence from Spain did not m ean that C uba became fully sovereign. The socalled Platt Amendment to the United States Army Appropriations Bill, attached to the 1901 C uban C onstitution as an appendix, en titled the U nited States to intervene in C uban national affairs and it was regarded by many political leaders as a national humiliation. The argument over the Platt Amendment accounted to a large extent for the exceptionally violent character o f political strife in C uba. 1 See Royal Institute of International Studies: Cuba: A B rief Political and Economic Table (Oxford University Press, September 1958) and Theodore Draper, Castro’s Revolution (New York: Frederic Praeger, 1962), pp. 42-48. See also the speech by Fidel Castro on December 1 ,1961, in which he proclaimed his MarxistLeninist convictions, pp. 69-71 of this Report. 26 366

It was with its repeal in 1933 that the m odern history o f C uba can be said to begin. And the whole o f this period until December 31, 1958, was dominated by the military figure of Fulgencio Batista. Political democracy in Cuba had three opportunities o f expressing itself freely: in 1940, by the approval o f the C onstitution of that year and by the election of President Fulgencio Batista; in 1944, by the election o f President G rau San M artin; and in 1948, by the election of President Prio Socarras. The latter was overthrown by the coup d ’etat o f M arch 10, 1952, led by Fulgencio Batista who, as we have just said, remained in power until December 31, 1958. The most powerful parties in C uban political life since 1933 have been the Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party and the Orthodox Cuban People's Party, but C uba has never possessed a majority poli tical party with a stable organization, run in accordance with the requirements o f democratic life. The absence of majority parties, coupled with the large num ber of political groupings and “ tickets ”, led to the form ation of coalitions which took part as such in the election campaigns. F or example, a coalition of three parties elected the President in 1936, while another coalition of seven groups or parties elected Batista in 1940. A coa lition of the Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party, the group known as ABC, and the Republican Party elected G rau San M artin as President in 1944. a) Parties under the democratic regime

An analysis o f the political parties at the end o f the Government of Carlos Prio Socarras, i.e., at the end of the brief period of gen uine C uban democracy in 1951-1952, leads to some enlightening conclusions about their position in the institutional life o f Cuba. This period of C uban political activities may be considered as a characteristic one of C uban democratic life. Presidential elections were due to be held in June 1952. Accord ing to the official register o f party affiliations, compiled in 1951, two and one half million persons were legally qualified to vote in June 1952. Nine political parties had declared their intention of taking part in the elections. Their order o f importance, based on membership, was as follows: Authentic C uban Revolutionary Party . . Orthodox C uban People’s P a r t y ................ Unitary A c t i o n ............................................. Democratic P a r t y ......................................... C uban N ational Party ................................. Liberal P a r t y ................................................. C uban Party ................................................. C ommunist Party (Socialist People’s Party) Republican P a r t y .........................................

621,000 330,000 204,000 195,000 189,000 185,000 94,000 53,000 40,000 27 367

The Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party had its origin in the forces which fought the dictatorship o f Machado in 1930. The administrations o f G rau San M artin (1944-1948) and ofP rioS ocarras (1948-1952) figure in C uban political history as Authentic govern ments. They were characterized by their liberal and progressive tendencies. F or example, two o f the main items o f legislation passed under Prio Socarras were the Pensions Act and the so-called “ Bateyes ” Act. The former was designed to give financial security to retired government employees; and the latter aimed at prevent ing certain sugar companies from exploiting their workers. The “ Bateyes ” Act made it illegal to compel company wage-earners and salaried employees to purchase their supplies in company shops. The sugar companies were also required to provide decent housing, to ensure healthy working conditions, to provide medical care for their workers and to m ake cultural facilities available in the “ bateyes ”. (A “ batey ” is the part o f a sugar estate containing the housing, sugar mill, sheds, etc.) In December 1951, D r. Carlos Hevia, a possible presidential candidate of the Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party in the 1952 elections and also head o f the National Development Commission, defined the main points in his programme. In the first place he declared th at C uba m ust continue to form part o f the bloc o f democratic nations and to take an active share in the fight against communism. As regards domestic policy, he proposed the strengthening o f the national economy and the social and economic betterm ent of the working masses by means of the planned development of natural resources. He urged that new industries should be established and that the land should be cultivated intensively in order to absorb the unemployed. In foreign trade m atters, the programme o f the Authentic Party called for the expansion o f overseas markets for C uban goods together with an increase in the United States sugar quota. H e also defined its policy towards foreign investment, stating th at it should be encouraged provided it helped to absorb the unem ployed and operated to the benefit o f Cuba. He concluded his pro gramme by declaring his intention o f maintaining close diplomatic relations with all the countries o f the free world, and particularly with the U nited States. Another feature o f the two Authentic governments was their demo cratic origin. Both came to power in free elections and can be said to have represented the interests of the middle and working classes. While not confined to the Authentic governments only, adm in istrative corruption and “ gangsterism ” severely m arred the period of their dom ination of C uban politics. In November 1951, when speaking before the First N ational Congress of the Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party, the President, C arlos Prio Socarras, after con demning the dictatorship ruling at th at time in certain Latin American countries, declared, among other things, that “ gangsterism ” and the 28 368

embezzlement o f public funds had plagued C uban g o v ern m e n ts for the previous six years. This period covered the adm inistration of G rau San M artin (1944-1948) and his own (1948-1951). The word “ gangsterism ” was used in C uba to describe the activities of certain heavily armed private groups which tried to obtain their objectives by means of crime and violence. As regards the embezzlement of public money, it was quite common in C uba for form er office holders to be publicly denounced on this score. G rau San M artin and his circle were accused of having pocketed 174 million pesos, and sim ilar charges were made against Prio Socarras himself after the coup d ’etat of Fulgencio Batista on M arch 10, 1952. The accusations were not always justified but they caused an immense scandal and shook popular confidence in the government. The O rthodox Cuban People's Party can be regarded as an off shoot of the Authentic Party. Its founder, Eduardo Rene Chibas, was one of the group of students who, in 1930, launched the struggle againstthe dictator, Gerardo M achado. When the Authentic Party was established, Chibas was one of its members and was elected deputy and later senator for the Province of Pinar del Rio, a post which he held until his death. During the government of G rau San M artin, Eduardo Chibas left the Authentic Party, denouncing the govern m ent’s corruption, and founded the Orthodox Cuban People's Party. He was its leader and its candidate for presidency of the Republic, poll ing 400,000 votes against the 900,000 cast for Carlos Prio Socarras. For many years the Orthodox Party concentrated on making public denunciations of the corruption of the Authentic governments. The leader in this fight was Eduardo Chibas himself. But his denun ciations were often exaggerated, and were not always backed by proof, e.g., his denunciation of Aureliano Sanchez Arango, the former M inister of Education of G rau San M artin. This denunciation was regarded as a political manoeuvre to divide the Authentic Party in the 1952 elections and to give a major propaganda point to the candi dates o f the Orthodox Party. During the uproar which followed this denunciation, Chibas offered to produce proof of it on television. But when the programme producers refused to adjust their schedule to meet his requirements, he shot himself during the programme and died a few days later. Before dying, Chibas managed to say that he had resorted to this extreme measure for the sake of his party and his country. C hibas was succeeded as leader of the party by Roberto Agramonte who summed up its policy by saying that its two funda m ental principles were political freedom and public morality. A year before the presidential elections of 1952, attempts to form alliances o f political parties began to take shape. In April 1951, the Authentic Government carried out a cabinet reorganization and brought in representatives o f the political parties which would support its candidature for the 1952 elections. The Government Coalition then consisted of the Authentic, Democratic and Liberal parties. 29 369

Fulgencio Batista, who had been the strongman of C uba since 1933, was the leader of the Unitary Action Party, later called the Progressive Action Party. The Party was founded in 1949, after Batista returned from Miami, where he was in exile. This party was allied with the Cuban National Party, headed by Nicolas Castellanos. In Decem ber 1951, Batista decided to break with C astellanos alleging th at the latter had tried to reach an understanding with the government of Prio Socarras. While these coalitions were being formed, a num ber o f splits took place in the leadership and membership of the political parties themselves, and new splinter parties emerged. F or example, the Cuban National Party, which has just been referred to, was founded by leaders who had formerly belonged to the Republican Party. G rau San M artin, the leader of the old Authentic Party, founded the Cuban Party in 1951. The expulsion or resignation of political leaders from their parties was also a salient feature of C uban politics. Examples of this were the resignation o f M anuel Bisbe (later delegate o f the C astro Governm ent to the U nited Nations) from his candida ture for the post of M ayor o f H avana in 1949, and thq resignation of Jorge M anach from his post of C ultural Adviser. Both men belonged to the Orthodox Party. The latter announced in September 1951 th at he could no longer fulfil his duties in view o f the violent partisan spirit which was agitating the party. The expulsion of Miguel Suarez Fernandez, former Prime M inister in the administration o f President Prio Socarras, together with that o f other prominent leaders o f the Authentic Party, is further evidence o f th at tendency. Politics in C uba were not wholly in the hands of the political parties. In addition there were also groups dedicated to revolu tionary action. Their political aims varied but they agreed that violence was the only way to achieve power. These groups included the Revolutionary Institutional Union (UIR), the Revolutionary Socialist Movement, the Guiteras Revolutionary Action, etc. The presidential elections planned for 1952 did not take place because of the military coup d ’etat led by Fulgencio Batista on M arch 10 of that year. This interruption in the constitutional rhythm o f Cuba, after three successive periods o f democratic elections, was to have serious consequences. The seizure of power by Batista inten sified the violence o f C uban political life, with the result that the Government became m ore oppressive and the opposition more intolerant. Notwithstanding these happenings, the crisis of leader ship caused by dissension, personal ambition and other characteristics of C uban public life continued to exist .1 1 The above review of the activities of C uban political parties is based mainly on information provided by the Hispanic American Report, a monthly publication of the Institute of Hispanic American and Luzo-Brazilian Studes at Stanford University, California. This publication acquired a wide reputation for objective and independent research. 30 370

C uba was the theatre of operations o f one of the biggest and most powerful communist parties in Latin America. The Cuban Commu nist Party was o f key importance for a num ber of reasons. It was the first communist party in Latin America to place one o f its members in the N ational Government, thereby providing a dem onstration of the way the communists often co-operate with dictatorships in order to seize power in the labour movement and eventually in the admin istration itself. In more recent years the C uban Communists have given a fresh twist to the party’s two-pronged tactics for dealing with the typical kind of military dictatorship encountered in Latin America. The Cuban Communist Party was founded while Gerardo M achado was President in 1925. During the 1920s the communists set up “ front ” organizations of the classic type of which the Anti-Imperialist League was the most im portant. This League, for example, organized a group o f 150 workers who distributed pamphlets denouncing a Pan-American Conference held in Havana in 1928. The Com munists also published an illegal weekly review entitled “ El Communista ”, with a circulation of between 1,000 and 1,500 copies. The first General Secretary of the Communist Party was Julio A. Mella, a student at Havana University, who was later m urdered in Mexico. The communists were particularly active in the W orkers’ Trade U nion Movement (MSO). They organized revolutionary factions in many o f the trade unions, especially among the railwaymen, the textile workers and the tobacco workers. They played a leading part in the National C uban W orkers’ C onfederation, which was established in 1924 under the leadership of a number' of anarchistsyndicalist groups. The C onfederation later passed under the control of the communists and one of them, Cesar Yilar, became its General Secretary. The communists also took an active part in the resistance against the dictatorship o f Machado. U nder their leadership, the National C uban W orkers’ Confederation called a general one-day strike against M achado. Despite the fact th at the C onfederation was de clared illegal by M achado, the unions continued their strikes, which culminated in the sugar workers’ strike at the beginning of 1933. This strike was organized by the National Sugar W orkers’ Conference in December 1932, under the auspices of the National C uban W orkers’ C onfederation. The outcome of this general strike was the formation o f the N ational Sugar W orkers’ Union, which was the first nation wide trade union to be formed in Cuba. Towards the end of the M achado dictatorship, the communists were active in other fields. They tried to organize regional peasant leagues and also to infiltrate into the army. The part played by the Communist Party and its fellow-travelling organizations in the expul sion o f M achado has not been definitely established. There can be no doubt that the general strike in 1933 did much to hasten the trium ph

371

o f the revolution, but it would be inaccurate to credit the communists with its leadership. As a result of this strike, M achado was forced to hand over power to M anuel de Cespedes. Three weeks later, Cespedes was dislodged from power by a coup d ’etat organized by the army and the Student Directorate, a group o f university students led by Dr. Ram in Grau San M artin, Professor o f Medicine at Havana University. Despite the fact that this government proclaimed a radical pro gramme for Cuba, which was particularly aimed against the N orth American firms operating in the country, the communists blindly opposed G rau San M artin and openly called on the people to fight against the government. During the three and one h alf m onths of G rau San M artin’s government the communists played an active part in the workers’ movement. The N ational C uban W orkers’ Confederation comprised m ost of the C uban trade unions. C ommunist agitation in the towns and in the countryside gave the United States ample justification for denying recognition to the new government on grounds th at it did not control the country. As a result o f this refusal to recognize the government of G rau San M artin, C olonel Batista, the unquestioned leader of the armed forces, organized a coup d ’etat in January 1934 and replaced G rau by Colonel M endieta, whose government was subsequently recognized by the U nited States. In early 1935, the Cuban Communist Party adopted the communist world strategy o f the popular front. F or the next two and a half years the country endured the same terror and suppression o f civil liberties as under M achado. The real master of the situation was Batista. After replacing M endieta and two of his successors, he changed course. One o f the first signs of this shift in policy was the permission granted to the communists to organize a new “ front ” party—the Revolutionary Union Party—in 1937. This body was headed by Juan Marinello, one o f the best known communist intellectuals in C uba. It distinguished itself by the num ber o f intel lectuals it m anaged to attract, e.g., Salvador Garcia Aguero, who was its first vice-president, Nicolas Guillen, Augusto Rodriguez M iranda, M aster of the C uban M asonic G rand Lodge, and Antonio Macias. In December 1937, Batista ordered a general political amnesty. Immediately afterwards he suggested the calling o f a constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution for the Republic. Despite the fact that the Communist Party was still illegal, Batista allowed it to publish a daily newspaper called Hoy as from May 1, 1938. Two months later, the party held its tenth general meeting which decided th at the communists should adopt a m ore posi tive attitude towards C olonel Batista. Bias Roca, whose real nam e is Francisco Calderio, was then General Secretary o f the Party. H e commented as this meeting that should Batista find the path towards democracy, the Party would help 32 372

r ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ■ —

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him. A week later, Bias Roca and Joaquin Ordoqui were invited to talks with Batista at his headquarters in C olumbia C amp near Havana. It will never be possible to find out exactly what was agreed on between the communist leaders and Batista. However, the non communist groups have asserted that the communists agreed to back B atista’s plan for a new constitutional assembly in exchange for his recognition of the Party’s legal existence and permission to re-organize the working class movement under communist control. To judge by later events these claims were not far off the mark. In any event the Communist Party officially endorsed Batista’s proposal, put forward through Juan Marinello and the Revolutionary Union Party, th at a single party should be established comprising the Revolutionary Union Party, the Authentic Party, the National Agrarian Party and other groups. The Authentic Party rejected these over tures. A short time after the interview o f the communist leaders with Batista, the latter announced to the press that the Communist Party, under its constitution, was a democratic party which sought to achieve its objectives within the capitalist system and renounced violence as a political weapon. Accordingly it was entitled to the same status as other parties in Cuba. Following upon this statement, the Com munist Party was declared legal, for the first time in the 13 years of its existence, in September 1938. The first public dem onstration by the Party was held at the Estadium Polar, which it is estimated was attended by about 80,000 per sons. After this meeting, the “ front ” Revolutionary Union Party disappeared as a logical sequence of the recognition o f the Communist Party. There were close links between the C uban communists and the U nited States Communist Party, and Bias Roca paid a fraternal visit to the U nited States in October 1938. In a further move, the Confederation o f Cuban Workers (CTC) was founded on January 23,1939, with Lazaro Pena as its first General Secretary. C ontrol of the organisation was firmly assumed by the communists. Henceforth, until the end of the Batista administration in 1944, the communists were favoured by the C uban Ministry of Labour. U nder communist control of the CTC, the Cuban trade unions acquired the habit of avoiding direct collective agreements and of taking all their problems and collective disputes directly to the Ministry for settlement. During the elections for the 1940 Constituent Assembly, the com munists merged with the Revolutionary Union Party to form the Communist Revolutionary Union, which won six seats in the C onsti tuent Assembly. The communist delegation was headed by Juan Marinello, and Bias Roca was one o f the leading members. 33 373

During the following elections held in July 1940, after the convening o f the C onstituent Assembly, the communists backed the candidature o f Fulgencio Batista for the Presidency o f the Republic, as part of the Democratic Socialist Coalition. A t these elections, the commu nists obtained 10 seats in the C ham ber of Deputies and over 100 seats in the municipal councils. During the first eighteen months o f the Second World War, the C uban communists followed the line o f their international movement, i.e., opposition to the Allies. They used their control o f the trade unions to obtain the support o f the CTC for their opposition to the democratic powers. After the USSR entered the war, the line followed by the C uban communists was adjusted to the new policy and the party even changed its name, henceforth calling itself the Socialist People’s Party. In 1943 Juan M arinello (now Rector of Havana University appointed by Fidel C astro) became the first communist in the whole of Latin America to be appointed a cabinet m inister in a national government. In the elections held in 1944 to choose a successor to President Batista, the communists supported Batista’s candidate, who headed the coalition list. But this candidate was defeated by the Authentic Party represented by Dr. G rau San M artin. His election was undoub tedly a setback for the communists. It endangered their position in the trade union movement, because the CTC contained many members who followed the leadership o f the Authentic Party. Even before he took office, G rau declared that it was necessary to re-organize the CTC on the ground that it should not be used as a political pawn by a small group. A t the same time, Eusebio Mujal, who was Chairm an of the National Labour Committee of the Authen tic Party, also attacked the communist leadership of the CTC. W ithout a working majority in Congress and with the army group controlled by Batista, G rau San M artin was forced to compromise with the communists. This agreement between the latter and the Authentic Party broke up in M ay 1947, when the CTC held its Fifth Congress, and throughout that year a furious struggle was waged between the two parties, resulting in a split in the C TC . The commu nists then tried to organize the Independent Cuban W orkers’ Confed eration. By 1950, the communists had lost two-thirds of their membership and had almost completely lost control of the working class movement. A t the last C TC congress there were only 11 communists among a total of 4,500 delegates. O ut of 3,000 trade union organizations, only 20 were firmly in communist hands. Batista’s coup d ’etat on M arch 10, 1952, opened a new chapter in the history o f the Cuban Communist Party (now the Socialist People's Party), which began to recover its lost ground. Batista announced 34 374

at the outset th at he did not intend to outlaw the communists. In April 1952 the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Batista when his government refus ed to admit two diplomatic couriers who arrived in C uba from M exico without having gone through the norm al customs formalities. Batista thereupon retaliated against the Socialist People's Party. In 1953 he arrested its m ain leaders and outlawed the party. F or some time in the past, the communists had practiced a two-pronged strategy, benefiting from the existence of two parallel organizations under their control. One of them was the Socialist People's Party while the other was a clandestine organ ization kept ready for emergencies such as occurred in 1953. Bias Roca was the official head o f both groups. Fabio Grobat, a Pole, was for a long time the leader of the underground organization. Instead of clashing openly with the government, the communists used this organ ization to infiltrate the party of Batista. H e and his followers, for their part, welcomed support from this new quarter. W hen Batista seized power in 1952 he had very little support among the masses, especially among the organized workers. He willingly accepted the offer o f those who promised him backing from the working class. Despite the fact th at at the end of 1954 the Socialist People's Party was still outlawed, a num ber o f leading communists held positions in Batista’s party and even in his administration. A study o f Cuban politics at the end of the Prio Socarras regime (1952) described above, leads to the following observations and conclusions: 1.

There were no parties representing a solid majority.

There was also a lack of ideological foundation and institu tional stability among existing political parties.

There was a multiplicity o f groupings which divided the political leaders o f Cuba.

Movements arose which promised large-scale social and economic reforms, m ost o f them belonging to the Left.

The political leaders of these parties, once in power, forgot their promises and were guilty of the same abuses and corrup tion they had themselves criticized.

The result was the discredit and popular m istrust of political parties, which went far to undermine democracy in Cuba.

There was a lack o f responsibility on the part o f C uban leaders, whether in government or in opposition—in government because they not only failed to carry out their election promises but were often guilty o f embezzlement and corruption, and in opposition because to avoid persecution they often con nived in the actions of the government which they pretended to oppose. 35 375

Because o f these conditions, no party or political grouping had the m oral authority or political power to oppose the sweeping advance of Fidel C astro and his followers .1

b) Political Life under Batista

All the characteristics o f C uban political life remained during the Batista regime, although political tension and bitter opposition were increasing. On April 4, 1952, Batista issued a C onstitutional Act, reforming the 1940 C onstitution (see below, Part Two, pp. 83-84). O n July 26, 1953, a young student led an uprising against Batista. Batista called it “ a crazy attem pt ” ; others described it as “ abortive to those who had wished it success, it was clearly a m atter o f “ too little at the wrong time and the wrong place ”. The time was early Sunday morning; the place was the M oncada Barracks, just outside Santiago, in the eastern province o f Oriente, the traditional cradle of revolutions. The leader was Fidel C astro, who was arrested and brought to trial .2 His personal defence before the court is now known as History Will Absolve M e (see p. 55). Batista addressed the C uban people on July 27, from his strong hold at Camp Columbia, praising the Army and deploring what had happened. H e took the opportunity to say that, in view o f the circumstances, the government m ust be more energetic than ever “ to protect the people and the nation ” 3 In October 1953, the Orthodox Party had split into five separate units, while the Authentic Party had formed two different groups. One group followed form er president Prio Socarras, who at that time was in exile in Miami, and the other group followed former president Ram on G rau San M artin. The division o f the two most im portant parties m ade it easy for Batista to m aintain his position. Batista staged elections on November 1, 1954. There were to be elected the President and Vice-President of the Republic, Governors in 6 provinces, 54 senators, 150 representatives, 126 mayors and 2,214 councillors .4 Nine nation-wide political parties had registered by December 10, 1953, the last date for registration of political parties which would participate in the presidential elections. 1 The foregoing account of the history of the Cuban Communist Party has been based on Communism in Latin America, by Robert J. Alexander, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1957, pp. 270-294. The date of publication of that book is important in view of the fact that the names of leading communists mentioned there, such as Bias Roca, Joaquin Ordoqui, Anibal Esca lante, Lazaro Pena reappear in the National Directorate of Combined Revolu tionary Organizations which is the chief policy-making body of the Castro regime. 2 Hispanic-American Report, Vo 1, VI., No. 7 (August 1953). 3 Hispanic-American Report, loc. cit. 4 Hispanic American Report (Stanford University, California), Vol. VII, No. 10 (November 1954). 36 376

Batista approached the elections with confidence. Strong control of the internal situation, exercised on the one hand through dictatorial measures and, on the other, through internal dissensions in the political parties and the personal rivalries among their leaders para lysed all possibility of coordinated opposition. U nder these circumstances, the Orthodox Party refused, from the very beginning, to take part in the elections, on the grounds that Batista was using his dictatorial power to rig the elections in his favour, and that the main objective of the dictator was to cloak his regime, which was initiated after the coup d ’etat of M arch 10, 1952, with the appearance of legality. The Authentic Party, under the leadership o f G rau San M artin, adopted a confused tactical attitude towards the elections. “ G rau’s on again, off again policy once more surprised Cuba on October 30, when he announced th at he was withdrawing from the election because “ it was rigged in favour o f Batista ” .1 G rau San M artin accused Batista followers of the arrest o f and threats against Authentic Party voters. Elections took place on the day appointed by the Government; Batista was the only candidate for the presidential post. But in the elections for other positions a peculiar development occurred. The ballot papers of the Authentic Party were already printed, as were the ballot papers of the other parties taking part in the elections. In spite of G rau San M artin’s last minute withdrawal, the ballot papers printed with the full list o f candidates o f the Authentic Party were sent to the polls. A num ber of Authentic Party candidates were elected. In addition, 18 out o f 54 seats in the Senate were allotted by law to the minority party, in this case the Authentic Party. Grau San M artin asked the elected Authentic Party candidates to resign or to be expelled from the party. None of the candidates did so .2 In M ay 1955, Batista’s Congress passed the Amnesty Law. Under this law, three hundred exiles came back to C uba and many political prisoners were released, among them Fidel C astro .3 The opposition concentrated all its forces on demanding free elections in 1956. The negative attitude of Fulgencio Batista, who considered himself to be the constitutionally elected President, stim ulated violent opposition. Student riots, military plots, arrests, killings and all kinds of violence spread over Cuba. Advocates o f peaceful opposition were unable to convince Batista of the advantages of holding elections in 1956. The way was open to those proclaiming violence as the only way to remove the Batista dictatorship. 1 Hispanic American Report, Vol. VII, No. 10 (November 1954). 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., Vol. VIII, No. 5 (June 1955). 37 377

The leading figure of the July 26 Movement was Fidel Castro, a name remembered from the attack on the M oncada Barracks in 1953, Fidel C astro was then in Mexico training revolutionary units. He was jailed there temporarily, for his activities, but managed to land on December 2, 1956 with 82 men on the south-east coast of C uba in his yacht “ Gram m a ”. His planned popular uprising against the Batista regime failed. “ By the time o f the landing, hundreds of the Santiago students and other supporters were in jail. His movement was supported neither by the general public nor by the regular opposition parties. There was no general strike and the Army remained loyal . 5,1 In spite o f the apparent failure o f C astro’s forces, the landing o f 1956 was the m ost im portant political fact in the fight against Batista. This event also gave to Fidel C astro a political stature as the unquestioned leader of the opposition to Batista. The July 26 Movement had all the drive and dynamism o f a young group. C ompared with the other parties, it had one undeniable advantage—it had no past. As the old parties became discredited, all the young leaders flocked to its standard. This Movement appeared to be inspired by what—with more romanticism than precision—was defined as “ humanism There was a crusading determination to “ regenerate and renew ” Cuban political life. M ost, if no t all, the leaders came from the Cuban middle class, mainly from the professions and the universities. A list of the C astro government as of December 1960 has been published. O f 18 members, 8 were lawyers, one a professor, one an architect, three were university students, one a naval captain, one a doctor, one an engineer, one a graduate in philosophy and one a m ayor . 2 In response to C astro’s challenge, Batista’s terror and sabotage increased. H avana University was closed. This period of Cuban history was compared to the worst days of the Machado dictatorship during the thirties. C onstitutional guarantees were suspended. The United Press stated that in the 54 years of the C uban Republic’s life, censorship had been imposed 21 times, the m ost severe of which had been that of Batista. A campaign of hit-and-run skirmishes against units o f the Army m aintained the whole country in permanent tension. On M arch 13, 1957, a m ajor attem pt was made against Batista’s life. A group of 21 rebels attacked the Government Palace and fired on the guards. “ Some of the rebels actually reached the second floor and threw a hand grenade at Batista’s office door before all 21 were killed. The grenade proved to be a dud. In the meantime, another rebel group led by Jose Antonio Echevarria, president of the student federation of the H avana University, attacked “ Radio Reloj ” 1 Ibid., Vol. X, December 1956. 2 See Theodore Draper, op. cit., p. 43. 38 378

(Clock radio station) in the large radio centre building and forced the speaker to announce Batista’s death and the ousting of his army chief. U pon leaving the station and heading for the Palace, Echevarria and others were killed in an exchange o f gunfire with the police. In a few hours the bloody revolt was crushed by the army. ” 1 A total o f 40 dead and 60 wounded was reported. Fidel C astro’s programme has been rather ambiguous in regard to its ideological foundations. In July 1957, the first political mani festo was published in the Sierra M aestra. This declaration was signed by Fidel C astro and two other leaders: Felipe Pazos, the first president of the National Bank, an economist, and Paul C hibas, leader of the Orthodox Party. The declaration includes the following objectives: ( 1) to form a revolutionary civic front with a common purpose and strategy; (2 ) to establish a provisional government presided over by a well-known and respected civilian, selected by the civic leaders of the country; (3) to reject any kind o f military ju n ta; (4) to reject any m ediation or intervention by a foreign government in the domestic affairs o f C uba; (5) to support the efforts o f C uban exiles at the U nited N ations headquarters; (6 ) to request the United States to suspend all shipments o f arms to Batista; (7) to maintain the armed forces separated from politics; ( 8) to hold general elections within a year after the provisional government was established; (9) to grant a political and military amnesty; ( 10) to re-establish individual free dom and freedom of communications; ( 11) to appoint provisional mayors everywhere; ( 12) to hold free labour union elections; and (13) to inaugurate a new political and economic policy. This last point was the subject of more detailed elaboration. The declaration says that the new political and economic policy would include: (a) greater diversification of C uban production and consumption; (b) the development o f the merchant m arine; (c) the establishment of a career civil service in order to eliminate corruption and graft; (d) the nationalization of all mining with proper compensation; (e) the use o f private and foreign capital to develop the country; ( f) the security of foreign investments in the sugar industry. “ This document, if sincere, served to place Fidel C astro in a moderate, nationalistic, revolutionary position with emphasis on broad civic leadership rather than personal power. ” 2 In July 1957, six opposition parties, i.e., Autenticos Inscritos, under G rau San M artin; Ortodoxos Inscritos, under Emilio Ochoa; the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) under Pardo Llada; 1 Ibid., Vol. X, August 1957, p. 351; see also Fidel Castro, History will absolve me', Draper, op. cit., pp. 15-60; and below, the section on “ The History of C astro’s Revolution between two speeches ”, pp. 55-60. 2 Hispanic American Report, March 1957, p. 125. See also: Royal Institute of International Studies: Cuba: A B rief Political and Economic Table (Oxford University Press, September 1958). 39 379

the Autenticos Abstencionistas under Antonio de Varona; the Democratas No Inscritos under Jose Raimundo A ndreu; and the Cuban Socialist Party under Raul Lorenzo, decided to form a com m on front called the Civic Political Front, issuing a manifesto in favour of a constitutional solution to the C uban crisis. To obtain this solution they suggested giving the post o f chief executive to the senior magistrate o f the Supreme C ourt as provided by the C onstitution o f 1940, and called for general elections within 90 days. Other opposition groups were in favour of the elections that Batista was planning for June 1958. Among these groups were: the Ortodoxos L itres under Carlos M arquez Starling and the Radical Liberation Movement under Amalio Fiallo. Besides these two parties, G rau San M artin, although his party joined the Civil Political Front, announced that he would take part in the elections of June 1958. It was apparent th at the opposition to Batista was far from reaching the unity necessary to defeat him. The first time th at the opposition parties arrived at a co-ordinated movement was in September 1957. Opposition groups met in Miami and formed the Council o f Cuban Liberation. The Council published a ten point programme similar in content to the Manifesto of Sierra M aestra mentioned above. The opposition groups on the Council were: (1) Fidel C astro’s July 26 Movement, represented by Felipe Pazos; (2) Ortodoxos, represented by Manuel Bisbe and Roberto Agram onte; (3) Autenticos, represented by former President Carlos Prio Socarras, Antonio de Varona and Carlos Hevia; (4) Organization Autentica (the overt revolutionary sector of the Authentic Party), represented by Carlos M aristany; (5) FEU, Federation o f University Stundents, represented by Ram on Prendes; (6) Revolutionary Direc torate, represented by Faure C haum on; (7) Revolutionary Directorate o f Workers, represented by Angel Cofino. The m ain points of the new programme w ere: (1) the establish ment of a provisional government; (2 ) the call for early general elections; (3) the promise from the future provisional president that he would not be a candidate for any kind of public office; (4) the restoration o f the C uban C onstitution of 1940, that Batista pretended to have restored in 1954; (5) the release o f all political prisoners, civilian and m ilitary; (6) the establishment of a career civil service; (7) the separation of the armed forces from political affairs; (8) the opportunity for Labour Unions to conduct free elections; (9) the promulgation o f new economic, social and industrial reforms; (10) the rejection of Batista’s proposed elections in June 1958; (11) the insistence that fighting would continue until Batista and his govern ment were removed from power. The Council also called on the United States to cancel all shipments of arms to the C uban govern ment as long as the state o f civil war existed and added th at it would 40 380

seek recognition as a belligerent body from the U nited Nations and the Organization of American States. A t this time the Government had the support o f a coalition formed by B atista’s own Progressive Action Party and the Liberal, Democratic and Radical Union parties. These four parties were prepared to take part in the June 1958 elections. The life of the Council o f Cuban Liberation was not an easy one. On December 14, 1957, Fidel C astro published a personal letter withdrawing his July 26 Movement from the Council, the legalistic argument being that Felipe Pazos was not authorized to sign the programme of the Council. The main reason was that the “ Council was fighting an imaginary revolution from comfortable quarters in the U.S. while the leaders of the July 26 Movement are fighting in C uba a real revolution ” .1 A nother argument was that in any case, the July 26 Movement claimed for itself the function o f maintaining public order and “ reorganizing the armed forces o f the Republic upon the fall of the Batista government The C astro letter of December 14, 1957, was the first recognition that the July 26 Movement was reserving for itself special powers to dominate the post-Batista period. The Hispanic American Report made at the time the following point: “ C astro’s ’ take it or leave it ’ attitude smacked o f authoritarianism which he and his followers were purportedly fighting to eliminate, and this, plus the abrupt treatm ent of the distinguished international economist and banker Felipe Pazos, cast a shadow o f doubt on the C astro cause.” 2 In spite of reserving powers of control for the post-Batista period, Fidel C astro stated th at the “ prime duty o f the provisional govern ment was to hold general elections and to recognize the right of political parties to organize themselves and participate in the elections ” .3 In the February 1958 issue o f Coronet magazine Fidel C astro published a statement entitled Why We Fight. Once again C astro expressed his programme in the same spirit as th at prevailing in the Manifesto of Sierra M aestra and in the letter to the C ouncil of C uban Liberation, but in this new statement emphasis was on the corruption of C uban political life, on illiteracy and, with respect to industrialization, on private and foreign investments. On that subject, Fidel C astro said: “ I personally have come to feel that nationalization is at best, a cumbersome instrument. It does not seem to make the state any stronger, yet it weakens private enterprise . . . foreign investments will always be welcome and secure here.” 1 Hispanic American Report, op. cit., Vol. XI, No. 1 (January 1958), p. 20 2 Ibid. 3 See: Theodore Draper, op. cit., p. 16. 41 381

The Catholic Church m ade an unprecedented move into the political crisis of C uba, issuing a statem ent calling for a “ government o f national unity which can prepare the return o f our country to a norm al and peaceful political life M ost o f the political leaders o f C uba, both oppositionist and pro-Batista, welcomed the ideas o f the proposals but none did any thing in practice. Batista announced that he would rem ain in his position until a newly elected President took power. In July 1958, exiled revolutionary leaders met in Caracas, signing a pact among various anti-Batista groups. The “ Pact of C aracas ” created the Revolutionary Civic F ront and announced th at Manuel Urrutia, supported by Fidel C astro, had been elected as “ President of C uba in Arms ”, and Provisional President upon the fall o f Batista. The resistance to Batista took a variety of forms: from burning sugar fields to kidnapping American citizens or famous figures, like Juan M anuel Fangio, the world racing car champion. The position o f Batista’s supporters was increasingly deteriorat ing. The army was included in this process o f disintegration (see below pages 47-49). The suspension o f constitutional guaran tees was, as has been pointed out before, extended for a continuing period o f 45 days. In spite o f violence, revolution, and suspended constitutional guarantees, Batista insisted on holding elections on November 3, 1958. Fidel C astro called this an “ electoral farce ”, and G rau San M artin, the Authentic Party leader, said that elections were to be held “ under the reign of bullets and without guarantees ”. U nder pressure of the opposition leaders, Batista’s delegate to the United Nations submitted a request for observers to be sent to watch the elections of November 3. The request was rejected by the United N ations because no facilities to observe the proceedings were available. Finally, the elections were held. Four presidential candidates registered for the election: Andres Rivero Agiiero, former Prime M inister and close friend o f Fulgencio Batista, representing the coalition o f four above-mentioned government parties, Carlos M arquez Starling representing the Free People’s Party (Partido del Pueblo Libre), former President Ram on G rau San M artin represent ing the Authentic Party and Alberto Salas Amaro for the Union Cubana. Only 40% o f the 2,600,000 electors cast their ballots. The government coalition won the elections by a margin of 4 to 1 over the closest opposition candidate C arlos M arquez Sterling. Fidel C astro com m ented: “ The elections will make no difference . . . The revolution is proceeding in stages . . . Time is on our side 1 1 The New York Times, November 5 and 10, 1958. 42 382

The growth of the Rebel Army and the defeat in November of the official army in the Battle o f Santa C lara, capital o f Las Villas province and the central part of the island, made a real impact on the morale o f the Batista officers. A t the New Y ear’s eve banquet, the m ost im portant group of high officers of the Army advised Batista to leave C uba; he then escaped to the Dominican Republic on January 1, 1959 followed by his closest supporters. He appointed a provisional President o f the Republic, Carlos Manuel Piedra who was not recognized by Fidel C astro. On January 3, 1959, Manuel U rrutia y Lleo, already appointed President o f the “ Republic o f C uba in Arms ”, was sworn in as President of the Revolutionary Government in the Oriente Province. On January 5, President U rrutia went to Havana. “ After an intentionally slow and triumphal march through the length o f the island, Castro finally entered Havana on January 8 , at the head of a two-mile-long column of troops and arm oured vehicles. While planes flew overhead, ships in H avana’s harbour fired 21 -gun salutes, and church bells pealed.” 1 2. Trade Unions. The C uban worker has been described as possessing the following characteristics: 1. he rapidly acquires industrial skill; 2 . as an individual he takes readily to team work and is intelligent

and keen;

3. he has remarkable consideration for the self-respect of those around him and therefore expects the same consideration towards himself from others; 4. he dislikes being watched while at work because he considers th at he is perfectly capable of doing his jo b without super vision or help; 5 . as a consequence of these qualities, he shows a certain lack of

discipline, which in turn affects his productivity;

6 . his trade union movement having been influenced by politics

from the start, he is strongly political-minded.

The sugar worker and, to a lesser extent, the industrial worker, were the best paid wage-earners in the whole country. The sugar worker in particular had a whole series of privileges which made him better off than workers in other industries. F o r example, he almost entirely tided over the slack season by the availability of credit or employement on such jobs as sowing and repairs. In addition, he was entitled to a share in the difference between the price of sugar at the time o f milling and at the time of sale. 1 Hispanic American Report, Vol. XII, No. 1 (March 1959), p. 24., 43 383

This privileged section o f the working class also included the tobacco workers and the workers in industry. Throughout Cuba, over the past 30 years a substantia], prosperous middle class and a well-paid and apparently well-organized working class had emerged. Until C astro’s nationalization measures, the C uban sugar worker, from the social standpoint, was in a special position. He was not a typical peasant of the kind encountered in such countries as Mexico, Brazil or Bolivia. The Cuban sugar worker was more akin to an in dustrial wage-earner. He did not cultivate a plot of land to feed his family; he worked for the sugar mill which paid his wage, out of which he met his own and his family’s needs. Sugar production in C uba brought about a social pattern unique in the whole of Latin America .1 The “ peasant ” in the sense of a m an tied to the land and culti vating a small holding from which he earns his livelihood and derives the illusion of ownership, has not been an im portant figure in C uba. The only representatives of this poverty-stricken class, in great need of social betterment, are the so-called “ m ontunos ”—the minority of the population living in the Sierra M aestra and the other m ountain areas. The theory of a “ peasant revolution ” spearheaded by this underprivileged group and forming the foundation of the July 26 Movement was propounded by some political writers but is not borne out by facts .2 The above described sociological pattern of the C uban agricultural population had a decisive influence on land reform because, as was confessed by the leading C uban communist Bias Roca, “ It was a straightforward and easy m atter to hand over to the tenant farmers and squatters the actual holdings they were farming . . . but it was obvious th at this could not be done without seriously disrupting production in the case o f the large estates employing great numbers of farm labourers. To m ake these labourers the owners o f small holdings carved out of the plantations on which they worked would have had two draw backs: in the first place, output would have fallen because the benefits of large-scale cultivation and organization would have been lost, and in the second place it would have been a socially retrograde step to turn the workers into propietors.” The C uban communist leader concluded by saying th at “ in this case ” it was necessary to establish co-operatives on the sugar plantations andpeople’s farms in the rice fields. He concluded by arguing that this new system 1 Preston E. James, Latin America (3rd ed.; New York: The Odyssey Press, 1959). 2 Theodore D raper: Castro’s Cuba. A Revolution Betrayed ? The New Leader, March 27,1961, p. 11. See also, by the same author, Castro’s Revolution. Myths and Realities. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1962, pp. 3-57. A contrary opinion may be found in Leo Huberman and Paul Sweezy, Cuba. Anatomy o f a Revolution. Monthly Review, Yol. 12, special issue, pp. 78 and following. 44 384

would retain the advantages o f large-scale production while at the same time making it possible to improve the living conditions o f the farm workers at once .1 If the preceding paragraph is stripped o f its propagandist trim mings and the facts about Cuba given in this chapter are borne in mind, it will be seen that from the workers’ standpoint, land reform has meant, if not the lowering so at least no improvement of his previous status. The big estates have been preserved because, as Bias Roca himself acknowledged, breaking them up would have m eant the loss of “ the benefits of large-scale cultivation and organ ization Furtherm ore, the Government decided in August 1962 to turn the allegedly mismanaged co-operative farms into state-run “ people’s farms ”, thus abandoning any pretense of prom oting a social betterment of the agrarian worker. The history of the trade union organization o f the C uban working class is part o f the political vicissitudes o f the Republic. During its earliest stage, the movement came under the ideological control of the anarchist-syndicalist followers of Bakunin. This group was stamped out during th e dictatorship of Machado. Subsequently, the trade union movement became a prim ary target o f the communists. The Communist Party was founded during the presidency of Gerardo M achado in 1925 and its members penetrated the virtually leaderless working class movement. They organized revolutionary factions in a num ber of unions, especially those of the railway and tobacco workers, and from 1933 to 1947, i.e., from the “ Sergeants’ Revolution ” until the end of B atista’s first presi dency, they were in complete control o f the C uban trade union movement. The Confederation o f Cuban Workers (CTC) which was founded on January 23, 1939, was firmly controlled by the com munists and headed by Lazaro Pena .2 In 1948, the communists lost control of the working class move ment to the leaders of the Authentic Party, which was in power at the time. The communist trade union leader Lazaro Pena reappeared, however, as G eneral Secretary o f the C TC in 1961 under the C astro regime. The non-communist control o f the C uban working class movement continued until the fall o f the Prio Socarras government on M arch 10, 1952, when Batista carried out his coup d ’etat. From then on the communists began to regain the ground they had lost. After 1952, Batista secured the support o f the trade unionist Eusebio Mujal, who had been a m ilitant communist but had since 1 “ Nueva Etapa de la Revoluci6n Cubana ”, Revista International, No. 10, 1961, Year IV, October, p. 3. 2 See Report on Cuba, International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, 1951, p. 365; and Robert Alexander, op. cit., p. 280. 45 385

broken with the Party. M ujal was opposed to the trade union leaders belonging to the Authentic Party, and preferred to negotiate his “ workers’ conquests ” by political means. His tactics were to make inflated claims and then to settle for some gains in exchange for a reduction in the claims. During Batista’s second presidency, this venture of the trade union movement into politics became even more marked. Because of this political engagement of the trade union leadership, many o f the senior members of the movement became strongly opposed to Batista and ended up in exile, where they joined the July 26 Movement, which at that time was the hope of the democratic forces. The instability o f the trade union movement and its complete dom ination by politically minded leaders were once more demon strated on January 20, 1959, when, after the fall o f the Batista govern ment, the C astro regime proceeded to “ re-organize ” the C TC and appointed a provisional executive board. The preamble of the relevant Act stated that: “ The late tyranny used every means in its spurious power to rig the trade union elections and to fill posts in the central trade union organization, as well as in its federations and trade unions, with criminals who had no links with the working class and in fact were the servants of interests opposed to that class Accordingly, pending the holding o f “ free elections ”, Act No. 22 authorized the appointm ent o f nine provi sional trade union officials, and named David Salvador M anso as Secretary G eneral .1 It should be added that David Salvador is now in a Cuban prison because he failed to follow the “ line ” laid down by the C astro regime. Lazaro Pena, the old guard communist, was appointed as his successor. Once again, the holders of political power have handed over control of the C uban working class movement to their minions, in this case the communists. To sum up the C uban trade unions from the same standpoint as the political parties : 2 1. There were many trade union organizations claiming to represent hundreds o f thousands o f workers. F o r example, in 1950 the C TC claimed to have a membership of about 800,000. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development said in its 1951 report on C uba that these figures were exaggerated and th at no reliable figures were available. According to figures obtained at first-hand in Cuba during 1960 by well-informed observers, the largest trade unions were the Sugar W orkers’ 1 See Gaceta Oficial, No. 8, January 23, 1959. 2 This survey of the Cuban trade union movement is supplemented by the section dealing with violations of the freedom of association; see Part IV. 46 386

U nion with about 400,000 members, the Tobacco W orkers’ U nion with 200,000 members, the Dock W orkers’ U nion with 180,000 members, the building workers with a fluctuating member ship, followed by the electrical, banking, railway, printing, catering workers’ unions, etc. 2. There was no relationship between the impressive numerical size o f these unions and the small part they played in C uban social and economic life. 3. The unions were permanently subject to political influences. When the C TC was under communist control, the unions began the practice of avoiding the negotiation of collective agreements with employers’ organizations and tended to take all problems and collective disputes straight to the Ministry of Labour. 4. This political influence on the unions affected them in two different ways. Firstly, by distorting their purpose, it weakened them in the discharge o f their true trade union functions, and prevented them from tackling production problems, training, and the education o f their members in economic and social matters. Secondly, their social gains depended on the fate of the political regime in' power. 5. The C uban trade union leaders were individually very capable. First-hand interviews, initially in C uba and later in exile, with many of these leaders show that m ost of them came originally from the Authentic Party and spent a short time in the ranks of Fidel C astro’s July 26 Movement. All these leaders, because they remainded faithful to liberal and democratic social principles, were expelled from the unions and replaced by communist officials with the approval of the Castro regime. 3. The Army. The C uban army was another key national institu tion. Until the dictatorship of M achado it could have been regarded as a professional army on the European model. But the “ Sergeants Revolution ” on September 4, 1933 dealt a fatal blow to the Cuban military structure. Batista, who at the time was a sergeant, prom oted himself to the rank of colonel and, having seized power, turned the professional army into his own personal instrument, dismissing the career officers and replacing them by his own men. The command structure and discipline suffered accordingly and the army became yet another tool in the hands o f the political leadership. Batista filled the senior posts in the army with non-commissioned officers or appointees who had never been to a military school or undergone any training. W hen G rau San M artin took over the presidency o f C uba in 1944, he obviously could not allow Batista’s “ officers ” to remain in com m and of the army. By that time the army had become a kind of 47 387

personal guard instead o f a national institution. G rau San M artin once m ore tried to make the army into a professional body, but Batista returned to power with a coup d ’etat on M arch 10, 1952. Moreover, the political crisis which gripped Cuba under Prio Socarras also affected the army, and the demagogy and administrative corrup tion of Prio’s last years left it powerless to resist the onslaught of Batista. Interviews with regular army officers point to the conclusion that this coup d ’etat of M arch 10, 1952, was in the eyes of C uban profes sional officers, another “ Sergeants’ Revolution ” . Batista filled the senior posts o f the army with a hundred men faithful to himself, who reorganized it to buttress the Government. The corruption of the~ Batista regime found its m ost willing ally in this army. Every political intrigue and rivalry had repercussions in the barracks and at the time Batista tried to m aster C astro’s armed revolution which was beginning in the Sierra M aestra, the whole military organization had been undermined from within. C om pared with C astro’s forces, it was a giant—but it was a sleeping giant. In these circumstances, it was an easy m atter for those who were fighting against Batista to create diversion within the army. Fidel C astro played off officer against officer and troops against officers. H e promised all of them that revolutionary justice would only be imposed on the “ guilty leaders ” . W hen the revolution triumphed, the officers and their young troops were unperturbed, believing that nobody had anything against them. They assumed that they would remain to defend the humanist revolution promised by Fidel C astro. On January 13, 1959, 13 days after the seizure o f power, the Castro Government passed Act No. 13 This Act temporarily suspended the Army Act as the first step towards reorganizing the armed forces, which included not only the army but also the navy and the national police force. The stages in the revolution carried out by the C astro Government in the C uban armed forces were the following, (a) The old army was dissolved—a task which was entrusted to R aul C astro. Nobody supported the army which had “ defended ” Batista and, since it was completely discredited, it was unresistingly and ingloriously dis banded. (b) The rebel army which had fought in the Sierra M aestra took over from B atista’s army. This rebel army was made up, especially in its higher ranks, of idealistic young men from the C uban middle class, many of them university graduates, (c) The people’s militias were the instrum ent used by Fidel C astro to overcome the inevitable resistance from the rebel army, since the shift from a demo cratic nationalist revolution to marxism would not be readily 1 See Gaceta Oficial, No. 3, dated January 14, 1959. 48 388

accepted by the men who had launched the struggle against Batista. C astro gradually replaced the leaders of the rebel army and eliminated the soldiers who did not sympathise with his communist tendencies. The people’s militias and the remainder of the rebel army were headed by R aul Castro. The foregoing account makes it clear that the Cuban army never became a well-established, stable, non-political institution. C ertain characteristics of the C uban army are worth repeating, as they give better insight into the deep-seated crisis through which C uba is passing: 1.

the relative absence of a professionally-trained officer corps;

the undermining of the principles of authority and command;

the permanent subordination o f the senior army officers to the political power;

the effect of the national political crisis on this disorganized army, resulting in large numbers of military conspiracies;

ambition for power and lack of discipline, which induced the bolder members of the army to seek rapid but undeserved prom otion, thereby weakening still further the already seriously impaired command structure;

the embezzlement o f army funds by the officers through whose hands they passed . 1

4. The Catholic Church. C uba is one of the group o f Latin American republics which were colonized and christianized by Spain. Consequently, ever since its origins the Republic of Cuba has belonged both in culture and religion to the C hristian West. Article 35 of the 1940 Constitution, which was later taken over verbatim in the Fundam ental Law of the C astro regime, allows citizens to profess any religion and to practise any faith “ provided only that they respect C hristian morality and public order ” . Article 35 also states that “ the Church shall be separated from the State, which shall not subsi dize any faith ”. To complete this picture of the position o f religion in C uba from the constitutional standpoint, Article 43, which deals with family life, states: “ M arriage may be dissolved by agreement 1 See the series of nine articles published in the review Bohemia Libre, Nos. 4048, between June 9 and September 3,1961, under the title “ Por que el Ejercito no derroto a Castro ”, by Colonel Petro A. Barrera P6rez, based on an account by Rodolfo Rodriguez Zaldivar. See also the “ Respuesta al Colonel Barrera Perez ” by Colonel Rego Rubido, in the review Bohemia Libre, No. 53, on October 8, 1961. See also Edwin Lieuwen: Arms and Politics in Latin America, published for the Council on Foreign Relations by Frederick A. Praeger Inc., New York, 1960, especially pp. 97-100. 49 389

between the spouses or at the request o f either o f them for such reasons and in such m anner as are prescribed by law We have referred to these constitutional clauses to make it clear that C uba was one o f the Latin American republics in which the separation o f C hurch and State was complete. While this indepen dence o f the C hurch limited its m oral influence on governments, it also helped to keep it above political strife. The Catholic Church, which had played a leading part in the struggle against other Latin American dictatorships, e.g., in Argentina and Venezuela, only came down into the political arena when the fighting between the Castro rebels and Batista brought the situation in C uba to such a critical point th at intervention by a body wielding considerable m oral authority became necessary. The C hurch, which possessed such authority, was regarded as the only body capable o f inducing the two parties to agree to a truce. A letter from the Archbishop o f Havana, C ardinal Arteaga, the Archbishop of Santiago, Enrique Perez Servantes, and the bishops of six provinces, was published at the end o f February 1958, calling for the form ation of a government o f national unity to restore norm al political life. This call was a blow to Batista, because it put the Government and the rebels on the same footing. Such appeals for reconciliation exercised at first some appeal, but failed ultimately to affect the developments and the revolution took its full course .1 C uba, before C astro’s seizure o f power, possessed more than 700 parish priests and members of religious order. Today, only 125 remain to m inister to the entire population of the island. Accord ing to Vatican sources, 598 priests have been expelled or forced to leave the country .2 In pre-C astro C uba there were Catholic primary and secondary schools and even a Catholic university. All o f these institutions have been nationalized under the new regime. Sociological factors help to explain the degree of religious feeling in Cuba. The majority of practising Cuban Catholics belong to the middle class .8 As a consequence, there were few native C uban priests and the church administration in C uba depended on large numbers of Spanish priests. The fact that they were both immigrants and Spaniards put them in a position o f social inferiority, and liberal extremists tended to label them “ Falangists ” and “ bodegueros ”

1 See: Royal Institute of International Studies, Cuba, a Brief Political and Economic Table, op. cit., and Hispanic American Report, Vol. XI, No. 2 (February 1958), p. 87. 2 See L ’Osservatore Romano, January 24, 1962. 8 The Cuban masses, while religious, are not active Catholics. 50 390

(grocers), the latter being the popular term for Spanish immigrants in Cuba. This propagandist tendency to undermine the social standing of the clergy was exploited by Fidel C astro, who finally ordered the expulsion o f the Spanish priests and members o f religious orders from Cuba. Once again Fidel Castro found an institution, or a group o f persons within an institution, whose ability to resist had been sapped long before. The C uban Catholics tried to resist the new Governm ent’s openly communist policies, but their reaction came too late, when they were already helpless. The army and the police were in Government hands, the polical parties had been broken and driven into exile, and the trade unions had fallen under the Governm ent’s control. This short account m ay suffice to explain why, at the critical time, the Church in C uba was unable to defend itself with the vigour it had displayed in other Latin American countries. 5. Economic Groups and Business Interests. Since the early thirties, a new middle class emerged in C uba, together with an indus trial working class. This middle class, which we have already des cribed, produced the Cuban businessman. The few available surveys of C uban business and, above all, direct research, show that the C uban businessman is remarkable for his technical and practical abilities. His characteristics seem to be: (a) creative im agination; (b) intel ligence in managerial planning; (c) practical ability in executing projects; and (d) drive. It was these qualities which led to the grad ual transfer of the large United States-owned sugar mills to C uban hands. C uban employers and businessmen also had their own asso ciations; e.g., the associations o f landowners, sugar growers, stock breeders, manufacturers, tobacco manufacturers and wholesalers, mining employers, etc. A very large proportion o f this industrial and commercial middle class consisted of the descendants of immigrants, m ost of them Spaniards. This hard-working, business-like group o f C uban em ployers gave the country a large middle class, ranging from m inor clerks to big businessmen. From the sociological standpoint, C uba can be regarded as one o f the rare Latin American countries in which social differences and class distinctions afforded little justification for social upheaval. Cuba, like Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina can be considered to a considerable extent as middle class country1. The picture of Cuba as a country dominated by a powerful, closed oligarchy while the mass o f the population lived in abject poverty is a product o f one-sided propaganda. 1 Federico Debuyst: Las closes sociales en America Latina. See above footnote 2 p. 25. See also John J. Johnston: Political Change in Latin America: The Emerg ence o f the Middle Sectors. Stanford University Press, California, 1958. 51 391

The political and social structure of C uba was such that the middle class was to be found in the rural areas as well as in the towns. The sugar growers are one example o f this semi-urban, semirural middle class. But despite all this, C uban businessmen never succeeded in achiev ing a clear collective awareness of their responsibilities as the repre sentatives of the most dynamic forces in Cuba. Extensive govern m ent intervention in economic affairs had created a certain submis siveness to the political authorities, and when C uban businessmen awoke to the danger it was too late. 6. University Graduates, Professional Workers and Intellectual Groups. This middle class produced another social group which entered the professions, the administration or politics. Several reasons have been given to explain the preference of sons o f middle class families for professional or political careers. In the first place, this m eant a higher social standing which exercized a strong attraction for young people, while at the same time removing any opposition from their parents, who themselves were often immigrants. The prospect o f a university degree would, of course, add lustre to the family, and overcome parental wishes that the sons should carry on the business. There can be no doubt that in Cuba there were too many graduates in relation to the country’s economic resources. This surplus group tried to enter the civil service and, together with those who remained outside, formed a kind of professional prole tariat.

As a result, these offsprings o f the middle class were receptive to political and social ideas which, from 1930 onwards, led to constant revolutionary ferment. It was they who provided the impetus behind C uban social legislation, which was among the most advanced in the whole of Latin America. This can readily be confirmed by examin ing the rights embodied in the 1940 C onstitution. This professional proletariat was both the cause and the victim of C uba’s tumultuous political life. A period at Havana University became a compulsory stepping stone for any future political leader. The professional organizations supported and fostered political unrest among their members. The gulf between fathers in business and sons at the universities cut off the graduates from the commercial world. The father might be a grocer, shop-keeper, manufacturer, landlord or sugar grower, but his graduate son, now a “ doctor ”, lived in a completely different world. H e had savoured the “ new ideas ” but made little effort to relate this new ideology to the realities o f his economic and social environment. He did not realize that his freedom to think and to explore new ideas was dependent on the support from his own class. He did not realize that once his country’s social structure would crumble before the onslaught of these ideas, 52 392

he and his own private world would be swept away in an almost irresistible process. This was the result of having a class of university graduates who went in for politics with more enthusiasm than wisdom and who were ready to tolerate many breaches of the fundamental principles of law for the sake o f a hazy mirage of “ the Revolution These middle class graduates, so brilliant and so astute in the political struggles o f by-gone years, were ultimately defeated by the sophistry, the organization and the influence o f the seasoned communist leaders of the old guard. Before they were able to assemble their forces to counter-attack, the professional associations had been taken over or dissolved and individuals could only protest in isolation .1 This account of the C uban intellectual and professional classes helps to explain, although it in no way justifies, the breaches of human rights which have occurred in C uba since January 1959, both in prin ciple and in practice. They sanctioned and tried to justify to the free world the introduction o f retroactive criminal legislation, the confiscation o f property for political reasons and other emergency measures which, so they believed, would only apply to the principal leaders o f the defeated Government. But before very long they themselves fell victim to these “ emergency measures ”, which were extended to include everyone who refused to submit to the new regime. 7. Foreign Business Firms. It is impossible to survey the soci ology and institutions of the Latin American countries without referring to the large foreign firms established there. These firms, backed by powerful financial interests, have played and still play a very im portant part in the internal affairs o f these countries. The weaker a country is politically and socially, the greater the influence o f such business concerns. The case of Cuba, however, has a num ber of distinctive features. The fact that the country did not achieve political independence in the same way as the other Latin American republics affected the investment o f foreign capital in the island. As we have seen, C uba’s achievement of independence from Spain did not immediately enable her to become a sovereign State. Besides its political effects, the Platt Amendment had also an economic significance by protecting the rights of United States capital invested in Cuba. M oreover, Cuba’s economic position at the end o f the W ar o f Independence was very critical. The W ar had largely destroyed the main centres o f industry so that it was essential to reconstruct the island’s economy. This was done initially under United States mili tary government from 1898 until 1902 and subsequently under the 1 See: Nino Novas Calvo, “ La Tragedia de la Clase Media Cubana, ” in Bohemia Libre, Ano 53 (Segunda etapa), No. 13, January 1961, and Theodore Draper; Castro’s Revolution M yths and Realities, op. cit., pp. 10 and 42. 53 393

Governm ent o f the Republic, subject to the conditions laid down in the Platt Amendment. As was mentioned in the chapter on the C uban economy, the 1901 Treaty between the United States and Cuba made a reduction o f 20% in the tariff on im ported C uban sugar. This in turn led to heavy capital investment by the United States in C uba, reaching over the years a total of about $1,000 mllion. O f the 207 sugar mills in existence in C uba in 1900, the great m ajority were scrapped and replaced by about 60 big mills. Sub sequently th at num ber increased and reached 161 by 1952. : In this way, C uban economic development avoided the feudal, pre-industrial stage. This, as we have seen, had a num ber o f advan tages, especially for the sugar workers themselves. But the result was a huge influx o f foreign capital out o f all proportion to C uba’s actual stage of political and social development. This investment therefore produced consequences in C uba which have already been observed in Latin America as a whole .1 In the first place, the country’s political life was affected because the foreign firms made alliances with the local leaders in order to safeguard their own interests. In the second place, the arrival of these big companies had a m arked social impact. It created an industrial proletariat with few skills and little social power compared with the om nipotent employer or group of employers. Moreover, the transplanting to an under-developed country o f production m eth ods evolved in a developed country led to a false emphasis. The m a x im u m stress was laid on the economic aspect, while the social implications were completely ignored. In the third place, these big firms influenced the whole structure of the C uban economy by accentuating the single-crop system which had been characteristic of the country since the colonial era and by m aking very difficult the slow process toward diversification o f the C uban economy. In the fourth place, industrial policies were pursued which swelled the profits of the companies but held back the country’s development. Lastly, the dem and for trained workers led to the spread of tech nical skills without any previous fundamental education. This pro duced a class o f skilled but almost illiterate workers. The close links established between the big firms and members of the upper classes should be borne in mind. Several conclusions emerge from this general picture. One o f them, which is, perhaps the m ost im portant for the future, is the need to recognize the col lective responsibility o f C uban citizens and foreign investors alike for the deficiencies of the country’s economic and social situation. 1 Raul Chavani Porpeta, “ Vecindad y enemistad de los Estados Unidos e Iberoamerica, ” in Revista de Estudios Politicos, No. 116, March-April, 1961, Madrid, pp. 149-172. 54 394

This is the m ore im portant as the big firms had investments not only in the sugar industry but also in tobacco, mining, rice growing, public utilities, etc. Conclusions. The foregoing survey o f C uba’s political and social institutions reveals that for various reasons C uba had not, by De cember 31, 1958, succeeded in consolidating its institutional structure. M any institutions, especially those of an industrial and economic character, were slowly maturing. But the trade unions and the army were caught up in the political crisis. This lack o f general political stability reflected the weakness of C uba’s inner structure. The Republic o f C uba had an excellent written C onstitution drawn up in 1940. But despite the fact that this C onstitution was the work of a free constituent assembly, it did not reflect C uba’s real situation. This disparity between the written C onstitution o f the country and its real structure is but one aspect of the problem. Yet it does explain the lack of authority of the written C onstitution, which was frequently suspended, violated or modified. If we add to this institutional immaturity the political corruption and violence of C uban political life, which further divided the nation, we can better understand the success o f Fidel C astro and his July 26 Movement and the feeble resistance to its gradual evolution into a new totalitarian dictatorship. This wholly material explanation o f what happened in C uba is in no way a justification. On the contrary, it is believed that C astro has destroyed all existing possibilities of further developing and consolidating the country’s maturing social and economic institutions. In view of the course of events in C uba, C astro’s revolution can indeed be described as the final trium ph of the destructive forces over the many fine qualities and developing institutions o f the C uban people. V.

THE HISTORY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION BETWEEN TWO SPEECHES

“ History Will Absolve Me ”

On October 16, 1953, Fidel C astro appeared before a court at Santiago de C uba to make a plea in his defence in the criminal trial being held as a result o f the armed attack on the M oncada Barracks. This speech was published after he seized power under the title History Will Absolve M e.1 In this long speech, which was later amended and added to, Fidel C astro covered a wide variety of subjects, ranging from reflec 1 English text published in the United States by Liberal Press, Inc. 55 395

tions about himself and his associates in the attack on M oncada to scathing criticisms of the Batista regime and an account o f his own plans for government. This speech in his own defence has been regarded by students o f the C uban revolution as the authentic voice o f Fidel Castro. We shall examine the sections of the speech which cast the most direct light on Fidel C astro’s ideas and political plans. 1. Lawyers. W ith regard to lawyers, Fidel C astro said in the first part o f his p lea: Never has a lawyer had to practise his profession under more difficult conditions; never against an accused have more over whelming irregularities been committed. Here, counsel and accused are one and the same. As attorney for the defence I have been denied even a look at the indictment. As the accused, I have been, for the past seventy-six days, shut away, in solitary confinement—held incommunicado in violation o f every legal and hum an consideration. There was no lack of generous colleagues who would have defended me and the Bar Association of H avana appointed a courageous and com petent jurist, Dr. Jorge Pagliery, D ean of the Bar of the city, to represent me in this case. But he was not permitted to perform his undertaking. The prison gates were closed to him as often as he tried to see me. Only after a m onth and a half, and through the intervention of the C ourt, was he (finally) granted a ten-minute interview with me in the presence of a sergeant of the Military Intelligence Service. It is taken for granted that a lawyer should converse privately with his client. This right is respected all over the world—except here, where a C uban prisoner o f war is in the hands o f an impla cable tyranny that abides by no code, legal or humane. 2. Principles o f Criminal Law. After reviewing the proceedings of the earlier sessions (during which he was allowed at his own request to leave the dock and sit in the section reserved for counsel), Fidel C astro said: I am going to m ake only one request of this court; I trust it will be granted as a compensation for the many abuses and outrages the accused have had to tolerate without protection of the law. I ask that my right to express myself be respected without restraint. Otherwise, even the merest semblance of justice cannot be main tained, and the last episode (of this trial) would be, more than any other, one of ignominy and cowardice. Referring to the principles of C riminal Law, he stated that: Fundam ental matters o f principle are being debated here, the right of m en to be free is on trial, the very foundations o f our existence as a civilized and democratic nation are in the balance . . .

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It is a fundamental principle of Penal Law that an imputed offense must correspond exactly to the offense as described in the law. If no law applies exactly to the controversial point, there is no offense. 3. Legislative Plans o f the Future Government. As regards the programme of his government should he ever come to power, C astro forecast his future legislation. His words were: In the brief of this cause there must be recorded the five revolu tionary laws that would have been proclaimed immediately after the capture of the M oncada barracks and would have been broad cast to the nation by radio. It is possible that Colonel Chaviano may deliberately have destroyed these documents, but even if he has done so, I conserve them in my memory. The First Revolutionary Law would have returned power to the people and proclaimed the Constitution o f 1940 the supreme law o f the land, until such time as the people should decide to modify or change it. And, in order to effect its implementation and punish those who had violated it—there being no organization for holding elections to accomplish this—the revolutionary move ment, as the momentous incarnation of this sovereignty, the only source of legitimate power, would have assumed all the faculties inherent to it, except th at of modifying the C onstitution itself: in other words it would have assumed the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The Second Revolutionary Law would have granted property, not mortgageable and not transferable, to all planters, subplanters, lessees, partners and squatters who hold parcels o f five or less ‘ caballerias ’ of land, and the state would indemnify the former owners on the basis of the rental which they would have received for these parcels over a period of ten years. The Third Revolutionary Law would have granted workers and employees the right to share 30% of the profits of all the large industrial, mercantile and mining enterprises, including the sugar mills. The strictly agricultural enterprises would be exempt in consideration o f other agrarian laws which would have been implemented. The F ourth Revolutionary Law would have granted all planters the right to share 55 % of the sugar production and a minimum quota of forty thousand arrobas for all small planters who have been established for three or more years. The Fifth Revolutionary Law would have ordered the confisca tion of all holdings and ill-gotten gains of those who had com m itted frauds during previous regime, as well as the holdings and ill-gotten gains of all their legatees and heirs. To implement this, special courts with full powers would gain access to all 57 397

records of all corporations registered or operating in this country (in order) to investigate concealed funds o f illegal origin, and to request th at foreign governments extradite persons and attach holdings (rightfully belonging to the C uban people). H alf o f the property recovered would be used to subsidize retirement funds for workers and the other h alf would be used for hospitals,^asylums and charitable organizations. 4. Views on Cuban National Policy in the Western Hemisphere. Fidel C astro went on to give his views on national policy under his program m e: Furtherm ore, it was to be declared that the Cuban policy in the Americas would be one of close solidarity with the democratic people of this continent, and that those politically persecuted by bloody tyrants oppressing our sister nations would find generous aylum, brotherhood, and bread in the land of M arti. N ot the persecution, hunger and treason that they find today. Cuba should be the bulwark of liberty and not a shameful link in the chain o f despotism. 5. Fundamental Points o f the Future Programme o f Government. After referring to the other fundamental laws dealing with land reform, educational reform and the nationalization of the electricity and telephone companies, he summed up his programme in the following w ords: The problems concerning land, the problem o f industrialization, the problem of housing, the problem of unemployment, the problem o f education and the problem o f the health of the people; these are the six problems we would take immediate steps to resolve, along with the restoration of public liberties and political democracy. About Political Life in Cuba before Batista’s coup d'etat on March 10, 1952. W ith regard to political life in C uba before the coup d ’etat o f M arch 10. 1952, C astro made the following declara tion: 6.

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a Republic. It had its constitution, its laws, its civil rights, a President, a Congress, and law courts. Everyone could assemble, associate, speak and write with complete freedom. The people were not satisfied with the government officials at that time, but (the people) had the power to elect new officials and only a few days remained before they were going to do so ! There existed a public opinion both respected and heeded and all problems o f common interest were freely discussed. There 58 398

were political parties, radio and television debates and forums, and public meetings. The whole nation throbbed with enthusiasm. This country had suffered greatly and although it was unhappy, it longed to be happy and had a right to be happy. It had been deceived many times and it looked upon the past with real horror. This country believed—blindly—that such a past could not return; the people were proud of their love o f liberty and they carried their heads high in the conviction that liberty would be respected as a sacred right; they felt confident that no one would dare commit the crime of violating their democratic institutions. They desired a change for the better, aspired toward progress; and they saw all this at hand. All their hope was in the future. 7. The Right to Resist Despotism. Fidel C astro devoted a large part of his pleadings to justifying the right to resist despotism and quoted many thinkers in all ages, including John o f Salisbury, St. Thomas Aquinas, M artin Luther, Juan M ariana, Althusius, John M ilton, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, etc. He also quoted the American Declaration of Independence o f July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of the Rights o f M an of the French Revolution. There is not a single reference to any book or doctrine which might link him with Marxism-Leninism. 8 . The Constitution o f the State. In his lengthy speech, Fidel C astro also gave his views on the C onstitution:

The C onstitution is understood to be the basic and supreme law o f the land—to define the country’s political structure, regulate the functioning of government agencies and determine the bound aries o f their activities. It m ust be sui generis, stable, enduring— and to a certain extent inflexible. It is a fundamental principle of Civil Law th at there can be no unconstitutionality where the executive and the legislative powers reside in the same body. W hen the C abinet makes the laws, the decrees and the rules—and at the same time has the power to change the C onstitution in ten m inutes’ time—then why the devil do we need a C ourt of C onstitutional Rights ? . 9. Gratitude to the Members o f the Court o f Justice. C astro concluded by expressing, in the following words, his gratitude to the members o f the court who had listened to his long speech: To the Honorable Magistrates, my sincere gratitude for having allowed me to express myself freely without petty interruptions. I hold no bitterness toward you. I recognize that in certain aspects you have been hum ane and I know that the Presiding Officer of this court, a m an of unimpeachable private life, cannot disguise his repugnance at the current state of affairs that oblige him to dictate unjust verdicts. 59 399

These were the ideas th at sustained Fidel C astro until he came to power on January 1, 1959. A very complex situation then developed as the different groupings, ranging from the m ost m oderate to the m ost extreme, came into conflict. B.

Stages of the Cuban Revolution

1. Writers supporting Fidel C astro and the communists have distinguished three main stages. The first stage led up to the seizure of power and the slogan was “ Freedom with bread and without fear The declared policy was that of a liberal, democratic and progressive movement. The second stage consisted of revolutionary nationalism which, according to these writers, began with the passing of the Land Reform Act on May 17, 1959. This Act is regarded as the first measure by the C astro regime to have any far-reaching effect on C uba’s economic structure. This second stage was completed by the passing of legislation nationalizing the public utilities and the oil and sugar companies (Act No. 851 dated July 6 , 1960). F or many C uban leaders this second stage was the final goal of the revolution. But to quote Osvaldo Dorticos, provisional President of C uba, “ these measures in themselves were not sufficient to enable our revolution to be called socialist ”.a W hat for many C ubans was the goal was for the communists simply the point o f departure. With the passing on October 13, 1960, o f Acts Nos. 890 and 891 nationalizing the country’s main industries and banking system res pectively, the first step was taken in the transition towards socialism. The third stage was the establishment of a marxist regime in Cuba. This was done publicly in a proclam ation of the “ socialist ” character of the C uban revolution by Fidel C astro on April 16, 1961, the day before the unsuccessful landing in the Bay of Pigs. The machinery used by the C astro regime to establish its socialist dictatorship is defined and described by Osvaldo D orticos : 2 (a) the N ational Land Reform Institute (INRA ); (b ) new ministries set up to perform new functions assumed by the State, e.g., the Ministry of Industries, the Ministry of Internal Trade, the Ministry o f External Trade, etc.; (c) the C entral Planning Board; and (d) the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI). (a) The IN R A . The N ational Land Reform Institute was estab lished by P art VI of the Act introducing Land reform in C uba and consisting of six Sections. The Institute was established as an auto nomous body with incorporated status for the purpose of putting the 1 See article by Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado entitled “ Los cambios institucionales y politicos de la revolution socialista cubana, ” in Cuba Socialista, September 1961. a Idem. 60 400

Land Reform Act into effect. The work of the Institute fell into two distinct stages: during the first, it expropriated or confiscated land and organized the so-called co-operatives, while during the second it became a State agency with responsibility for directing and planning agriculture and stock raising. According to Bias Roca ,1 land distri bution in C uba over 1961 as a whole was as follows: 1. 2. 3.

People’s farms and co-operatives . . . . 3,816,100 hectares Peasants with fewer than 5 caballerias belonging to the ANAP . . . . . . . . 3,544,900 hectares Farm ers with between 5 and 30 caballerias 1,814,400 hectares

The “ socialist ” sector 2 accounts for 41 % o f the land. The peasants belonging to the ANAP (National Smallholders’ Asso ciation), who receive government loans and co-operate in carrying out the agricultural plans, hold 39 % o f the land. The farmers with over 5 and under 30 caballerias (which is the upper limit allowed by law) own 20 % o f the land. As regards the co-operatives, Section 43 o f the Land Reform Act requires the IN R A to prom ote the establishment of farm co-opera tives “ wherever possible ”, but adds that these co-operatives, when formed to farm land confiscated or expropriated by the IN RA , remain subject to control by the Institute, which reserves the right to appoint managers. In other words, the Institute is empowered to expropriate or confiscate land, establish co-operatives with persons of its own choosing, appoint the managers and control them “ until they are granted greater antonom y by law ”. The National Smallholders’ Association (ANAP) was set up by the IN R A to organize the small farmers. Members o f the Associa tion receive “ technical, financial and organizational assistance, guar anteed prices, and political training to strengthen the alliance between the working class and the peasants, which is the key to the trium ph of the socialist revolution » 3. It can be concluded from this latter explanation by the provisional President of Cuba that 80 % o f the farm land o f the country is directly or indirectly controlled by Fidel C astro’s regime. (b) The New Ministries. On February 23, 1961, the C ouncil of Ministers passed six enactments reorganizing large sections of the country’s public administration. These enactments were: Act N o. 930 prescribing the functions of the C uban National Bank; Act No. 931 defining the functions of the C uban N ational Bank in the 1 Revista International, No. 10, October 1961 (a theoretical and informa tional publication issued by the communist and workers’ parties), article entitled “ Nueva etapa de la revoluci6n cubana ”. 2 Of people’s farms and co-operatives a See article by Osvaldo Dorticos, quoted above, p. 60. 61 401

reorganization of the country; Act No. 932 establishing the Ministry of Industries; Act No. 933 establishing the Ministry o f Internal T rad e; Act No. 934 establishing the Ministry o f External T rad e; and Act No. 935 establishing the C entral Planning B oard1. The Act establishing the M inistry of Finance was passed on February 28,19612. This Act completed the administrative machinery of the Castro Government and enabled it to plan and carry out any project affecting industrial, internal or external trade and the finances of the State. (c) The Central Planning Board, which consists o f senior officials of the Castro regime, was set up to plan the Cuban economy and to draw up the first four-year economic development plan. (d) The Integrated Revolutionary Organizations. The culmina tion of this thorough-going process of centralization was the establish ment of the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI). Theoret ically, the purpose was to amalgamate the groups or movements which continued to support the Castro regime during 1961. The O R I was regarded as the first stage in the formation o f the United Socialist Revolutionary Party. During this stage, efforts were made to establish the prim ary organizations and to draw up a common political programme3. The second phase entailed the formation of the United Socialist Revolutionary Party o f Cuba. Its worth noting that the ORI claimed to contain the July 26 Movement, the Revo lutionary Student Directorate and the Cuban People's Socialist (i.e., C ommunist) Party. The July 26 Movement is now only a facade in Cuba, because m ost o f the leaders who founded it are either in exile or in prison; the Revolutionary Student Directorate has shared much the same fate. This left only the Cuban People's Socialist Party (PSP) and the senior members o f the C astro regime. The second phase m arked the beginning of the systematic transform ation of C uba into a one-party State. The formation of the O R I and the comple tion of the progress of centralizing power, which has been referred to, coincided with the issue o f Act No. 988, dated November 29, 1961, which officially proclaimed “ revolutionary terror ” in C uba. It was then, says Draper, that “ C uba entered on a stage of forced industrial ization, revolutionary terror and totalitarian organization o f the State. ” 4 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special No. 6, February 23,1961. 2 Gaceta Oficial, No. 40, February 23, 1961. 3 See Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, a leader of the Cuban People’s Socialist (i.e., Communist) Party and a member of the executive of the ORI: “ C uba on the Threshold of 1962, ” New Times, published by Trud (Moscow), No. 1, January 1, 1962. 1 Theodore Draper, “ El Communismo de Castro ”, Revista Cuadernos (Paris), No. 58 (March 1962). 62 402

The Judiciary and the B ar under the Castro Regim e

1. The Judiciary followed the same process o f deterioration as other basic Cuban institutions under the Castro regime. From the very beginning of the revolutionary government, the existence of two trends regarding the reorganization of the Judiciary in C uba was apparent. One was seeking to reorganize the Judiciary according to democratic patterns established in the 1940 C onstitution. The other group demanded a “ popular judiciary according to the new aims o f the C uban revolution ”. The first group was represented by a num ber o f outstanding members of the C uban legal profession. They looked with suspicion at the first attitudes o f the C astro regime towards justice, and later they started a quiet resistance to avoid the to tal disintegration of the Judiciary in C uba .1 The pressure of the C astro regime on the members of the Judiciary who were willing to establish a real independent judicial power took different ways. One o f the m ost evident was the organization of the popular militia. Those who were advocating a “ popular judiciary ” accepted immediately the double function of magistrates and mili tiamen. This double standard in the Judiciary was one of the worst violations of the internal discipline of the judicial branch. Successive constitutional amendments to the Fundam ental Law deprived the Supreme C ourt of its original jurisdiction in constitu tional questions. These constitutional amendments also deprived the Supreme C ourt of its administrative functions regarding members of the Judiciary and employees, as fulfilled through the Government Division of the Supreme C ourt. (See P art Two, Reforms to the Fundam ental Law, pages 107-110). The revolutionary courts gave rise to conflict of jurisdiction with the Supreme C ourt. In October 1960, the C ourt of C onstitu tional and Social Guarantees decided a leading case in which it was recognized th at there was no appeal for unconstitutionality against decisions o f the M ilitary Tribunals. The opinion o f the majority was based on the legal argument that the am endment to the Funda m ental Law perm itted the organization o f the revolutionary courts independently of the Supreme C ourt. The minority held th at appeals for unconstitutionality should be adm itted “ because the social revolutionary jurisdiction applies only to crimes that should be considered as ’ counter-revolutionary ’, and this is a m atter th at should be decided in the last instance by the Supreme C ourt. This in fact is an interpretation according to the Universal Declaration o f Hum an

1 For a distinction in the very beginning of the Castro regime between “ revolu tionary law ” and “ the old law ”, see Bulletin of the International Commission of Jurists, No. 9 (August 1959), pp. 36-39. 63 403

Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.” 1 This applies especially to cases concerning the death penalty, long term imprisonment or total confiscation of property. But the point is th at members of the Judiciary were also under the jurisdiction o f the Revolutionary Tribunal when accused of “ counter-revolutionary ” activities. C onstant talk about the necessity to “ cleanse ” the Judiciary in the middle o f 1960, supported later by articles in government newspapers, were the prelude to a “ purge ” in November 1960 and a subsequent bitter attack by Fidel C astro on the C uban Judiciary in December 1960. These rum ours were to the effect th at the regime was considering the creation of Soviet styled “ people’s courts ” . On November 15, 1960, two members o f the Supreme C ourt, C hief Justice Dr. Emilio Menendez and Associate Justice Dr. Jose M orell Romero, resigned and took political asylum in the Argenti nian and Mexican Embassies, respectively .2 Dr. Menendez had been appointed President o f the Supreme C ourt of C uba by Fidel Castro in January 1959. This defection came as no surprise because of the rumours m entioned above. On November 17, a special session of the Supreme C ourt was called to declare the two absent members “ traitors Only 21 of the remaining 30 members of the Supreme Court appeared for the session and 9 of the 21 refused to endorse the condemnation o f their colleagues. The dissenting members were “ purged ” within a week and went into exile. On December 26, 1960, the C astro regime passed a decree dismis sing officially 17 Supreme C ourt justices. Nine o f them had already resigned and were in exile. In order to implement the purge, the C astro regime suspended once more the irremovability o f judges for 45 days .3 On February 3, 1961, the C astro regime continued the purge o f the C uban Judiciary, dismissing for “ counter-revolutionary activi ties ” or “ manifestly immoral conduct ” one magistrate o f the Supreme C ourt, the presidents of six of the seven national Provincial Appeal C ourts, 26 appeal magistrates and 87 judges of lower courts through out the country .4 1 Jos6 Morell Romero, former Magistrate of the Supreme C ourt in Cuba, “ La lucha en el Frente Juridico, ” Special Report, unpublished. s New York World Telegram, November 16, 1960, and Gazette de Lausanne, November 17, 1960. See text of the resignations in Appendix No. 1 a, b to this part. 8 See Part Two, p. 110; also see Hispanic American Report, Vol. XIII, No. 12, p. 881, and Bohemia, published in Havana, January 1, 1961. 1 See Hispanic American Report, Vol. XIV, No. 2, p. 127; The New York Times, February 4,1961, and Bohemia, February. 12,1961. 64 404

On August 21, 1961, the Government Division o f the Supreme C ourt proclaimed publicly the “ socialist character o f the new C uban revolutionary justice Judges should be “ active guardians of socialist legality ” and to implement this trend courses on “ socialism ” were organized largely for members of the Judiciary. The G o vernment Division of the Supreme C ourt was in charge of all administrative m atters of the Judiciary and was formed by the Presi dent o f the Supreme C ourt and six members thereof, elected annually from among the Presidents of Divisions and Magistrates of the C ourt (Article 159 of the Fundam ental Law). The above document was largely quoted by the Public Pro secutor of the Supreme C ourt, Dr. Santiago C uba, in his speech of September 1961, delivered to initiate the judicial term 1961-1962. It was the official declaration of the objectives of the C astro regime regarding the Judiciary. The Public Prosecutor stated th at there were “ two different ways taken by the counter-revolutionary activities of the C uban Judiciary. Firstly, through decisions against the interests o f the people, for instance, in agrarian m atters, in a period of less than one year the former C ourt o f C onstitutional Guarantees increased the am ount of the indemnization for expropriations to more than 15 million C uban pesos which the people should pay to the big land owners, in many cases into the hands o f foreign corporations. In the same period the C ourt of C onstitutional Guarantees rejected 51 appeals submitted by IN R A and accepted only 9. On the other hand, appeals of the big landowners were accepted in 64 cases while the C ourt rejected only 3. The second way of counter-revolutionary activity by the C uban Judiciary was the support given by m ost o f its members to ancient theories about the separation o f powers, and about independ ence and political neutrality o f the judicial branch. This theory was also diffused among the members of the adm inistration of justice and, in some cases, among the people. It was an attem pt to oppose the old conception of the Judicial Power to the Revolutionary Pow er. . . The power of the State, whatever the social and economic system is, is only one power. This political power is in the hands of the people or in the hands o f the exploiters of the people. The power is in the hands o f the working class, in the hands of the peasants, in the hands of the workers, as it is in C uba, or the political power is in the hands o f oligarchical and exploitory minorities like in the United States, Spain, the Dominican Republic or any other example of ‘represen tative democracy’. ” This long quotation contains the main points o f the introduction o f the Public Prosecutor’s speech. In the following paragraphs the Public Prosecutor referred to the crisis of November 1960 and the subsequent “ purge ” o f the Judiciary, saying that because of the previous suspension o f the irremovability o f the Judiciary, the New 65 405

Year was received “ with the house clean of those who attem pted to detain the course o f history The second part of the speech was dedicated to the new tasks of the Judiciary in its new revolutionary life. To determine these tasks the Public Prosecutor referred to a resolution o f the Govern ment Division of the Supreme C ourt on August 21, 1961, which was m entioned previously. This document, as quoted by the Public Prosecutor, says further: “ The function o f the C ourts is that of deciding cases o f Justice. This means th at before making any judgm ent the legal norm to be applied to the concrete case under decision must be studied. . . But the socialist justice goes further. Socialist justice serves besides to build and improve socialism, because the courts, in deciding each case, are teaching the citizen to be loyal to the socialist m otherland and its institutions.” With regard to the members o f the Judiciary the document was quoted as follows: The members o f the Judiciary cannot make an interpretation of the revolutionary legislation without a close regard to the social reality which supports this legislation. It m ust be understood that the revolution has drastically eliminated the former legal regime which has been replaced by a new regime, both in its formal basis and in its profound content. Only when judges and magis trates get fully acquainted with their true mission as active guar dians o f socialist legality, would it be possible to create a new pattern o f adjudication of the fundamental laws of the revolution. The Public Prosecutor enum erated the new tasks o f the Judiciary as follows: To contribute to the process o f establishing a new socialist state the judicial branch, as an organ of the new State, should undertake the active, efficient and energetic defence of the political, social and economic organization which the C uban people have estab lished in exercising their own sovereignty. 1. First o f all, the Judiciary should defend the revolutionary state against attacks from internal or foreign enemies . . . 2. It is also im portant that the Judiciary defend the social property o f all people against the counter-revolutionary attacks . . . 3. A nother objective is the defence of the revolutionary legality ... 4. Lastly, it is of great im portance to educate the masses through judicial decisions. Judicial decisions should, besides deciding the case, be inspired as a form o f message for the revolutionary education o f the masses. The Public Prosecutor ended his long speech with a reference to practising lawyers, saying th at there would be a great possibility for professionals in law to practise in Cuba. “ Like other institutions, 66 406

the practice o f the legal profession changes (in a socialist state) and the practising lawyer is no longer the intransigent defender of egoistic interests but the contributor to the general tasks of the people . ” 1 As stated by the C uban Judiciary in Exile, representing more than 400 C uban judges who left C uba for political reasons, “ all organs of the judicial Branch lack the elementary guarantees necessary for the fulfilment of their functions within the national territory and the C uban judiciary is subject to constant threatening and vexation ” .2 2. The Bar Association o f Havana is one hundred years old. Its present Statutes date from M ay 24, 1949, when they were approved by the competent authority, the Government Division of the Supreme C ourt. In accordance with the Organic Act of the Judiciary, this body rules on the constitutionality of the Statutes of the Bar Association and the appointm ent or election of its organs 3. The last elections held in C uba to renew the organs of the Association were held in August 1958; the term of office being three years it was to terminate on June 8 , 1961. The Bar Association of Havana had four thousand three hundred registered members. On July 5, 1960, during the night, a group o f lawyers, some in militia uniform, entered the Headquarters of the Bar Association and took possession of the offices. They issued a statement to the press saying that they intended to remain in occupancy of the premises under a guard of lawyers who were members of the militia. On July 6 , the group published a manifesto addressed to the Governing Board of the Bar Association of Havana, calling upon it to declare Dr. Jose Miro C ardona “ a traitor to the Country and the Revolu tion ”. This ultimatum was accompanied by a warning th at failure to comply would bring “ whatever action the circumstances should require ”. On July 8 , the militia lawyers m et again and published a declaration to the effect that they were dismissing the Governing Board from office and taking over the administration and management of the Association. Subsequently, on August 18, 1960, the same group called a meeting of the General Assembly of the Association to consider the following agenda: First: Resignations to be submitted by all members of the two opposing Governing Boards; Second: Crisis confronting the Bar Association and action necessary to overcome it; 1 The foregoing statements have been taken from Colegio de Abogados de La Habana, Boletin Oficial, Ano No. 16, Segunda Epoca, June-November 1961, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, transcript of the speech read by Dr. Santiago C uba, Public Prosecutor of the Supreme C ourt, at the inauguration of the judicial term 1960-1961. 2 Statement o f the Cuban Judiciary, published by the Cuban Judiciary Association in Exile, Miami, Florida. 3 Sections 332-335 of the Organic Act of the Judiciary. 6 7

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Third: Amendment o f the Statutes if necessary to achieve that aim. The announcement o f the meeting was signed by one of the lawyers, Alberto Suarez Ortega, as “ officer responsible for the Secretariat ” and bore the visa of another, Andres Silva Valdes, in the function of “ co-ordinator The meeting was finally held on December 9, 1960, after one duly announced postponement. According to available inform ation about 100 persons attended the Assembly, including 30 who were not lawyers. The meeting adopted new Statutes and elected new organs, thus giving the usurpation an appearance of legality. The legitimate Governing Board of the Bar Association met out side its headquarters, since these were occupied by the “ militia lawyers ”, and unanimously decided to issue a communique stating that it had not called the aforesaid meeting and could not recognize it, and inviting members not to attend it. This communique is con tained in appendix 2 to this part. The Governing Board then appealed to the Government Division of the Supreme C ourt of Justice, as the authority having jurisdiction in the m atter o f the appointm ent or election of the organs of the Association, requesting it not to approve the decisions taken by the meeting called by the “ militia lawyers ”. The Governing Board continued to hold clandestine meetings; faced with the impossibility of continuing the struggle for the Bar Association in C uban territory, it met in exile in the city o f Miami. A t that meeting it unanimously agreed to “ continue to execute fully the m andate entrusted to the present Governing Board of the Bar Association of H avana by the overwhelming majority o f the members o f that Association in the elections held in August 1958. ” The complete statem ent is included in appendix 3 to this part. On June 8, 1961, a “ Lawyers’ Day ” was celebrated in Havana. The Official Bulletin published by the Bar Association of Havana, now run by the group o f persons th at occupied the Association’s premises, printed an article entitled “ A Distinguished C ommemora tion ” which commented on “ Lawyers’ D a y ” as follows: “ W hat we can say about this of June 8 is that it has served to show that lawyers too are becoming impregnated with the new morality, that they are ready to com bat tirelessly all tendencies towards favouritism and nepotism and all outrages to truth, that their device is one and one only: Towards socialism, with the People, under the guidance o f the O.R.I. ” 1 At this point in the revolutionary process in C uba, nothing has been left of any o f the principles that Fidel C astro had expounded in his defence plea on October 16, 1953. Every obstacle was placed in the way o f lawyers in the exercise of their profession; the courts 1 See Bar Association of Havana, Official Bulletin, 16th year, Second Period, June-Nov. 1961, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. 68 408

o f justice did not respect “ the right to speak with complete freedom ” which Fidel Castro had asked for and obtained during his own trial; the “ elementary principles of criminal law ” were violated in both law and practice; the 1940 C onstitution was superseded by the socalled Fundam ental Law; despite his belief th at the C onstitution should be “ stable, lasting and on the whole inflexible ”, there were m ore than 20 constitutional reforms up to August 1961; his idea th at C uba should be a “ bulwark o f freedom and not a shameful link in the chain of despotism ” culminated in the approval of the “ law o f terror How did Fidel C astro, who had promised “ bread with freedom and without fear ”, justify the change to “ fear without bread and without freedom ” ? D.

Castro’s Speech of December 1, 1961

This im portant address to students at the revolutionary training schools is an attem pt to explain the ideological motives behind the revolutionary process. Its central theme was the need to establish the United Socialist Revolutionary Party. In this speech, which was somewhat auto-biographical in character, Fidel C astro declared himself to be a convinced Marxist-Leninist revolutionary. Some of the views expressed in this lengthy discourse are quoted below. 1. On the “ revolutionary movement ” : “ Finally, then, the revolution seized power. In what circum stances did the revolution seize power? Did it do so with an organized disciplined movement fully prepared to take over the tasks of govern m ent? No. D id it do so with all the revolutionary forces in the country organized within this revolutionary movem ent? No. There is only one revolutionary movement. There are not two or three or four revolutionary movements. And since there is only one revolu tionary movement, in the last analysis we have to choose between revolution and counter-revolution. A revolutionary movement may be partial or it may n o t be partial. A revolution may confine itself to carrying out certain types o f undeniably revolutionary tasks; it then comes to a halt and from that time onwards is no longer a genuiinely revolutionary movement or, alternatively, the revolutionary movement goes on. In other words, a movement may be m ore radical or less radical, but you cannot have two, three or four revolutionary movements—that would be absurd. M oreover, it would be to play the game of the counter-revolution. ” This statem ent links up with Fidel C astro’s declaration that “ anti-communism is counter-revolution ”, thereby sweeping aside all the groups which had taken part in the struggle against the Batista regime but resisted growing penetration of the communists. 2. Referring to the circumstances which favoured his revolu tionary movement, he said: 69 409

“ But this analysis m ust not be over-simplified because there was a series of circumstances which favoured our revolutionary movement, circumstances which prevented people from taking us seriously. Secondly, many people thought th at we were a romantic group who were bound to die down there. Thirdly, it was believed that we were over-ambitious. Fourthly, it was believed that the revolutionary leaders had conservative rather than radical ideas. There can be no doubt that if, at the time when we began to gain strength, we had let it be known th at our ideas were extremely radical, all the social classes which today are fighting against us would have fought against us at the time and not since we came to power. ” 3. Dealing with the ideas put forward in his defence plea in 1953, he made the following com m ent: “ Am I a convinced revolutionary? Yes, I am a convinced revolu tionary. F or the benefit of those who have asked me whether my opinions at the time of the attack on the M oncada Barracks were the same as today, I can answer that they were very similar to my opinions today. This is the truth. Anyone who reads our procla mation issued at that time will see that many of the fundamental ideas o f the revolution are expressed in it. That proclamation was drawn up with care. It was drawn up with sufficient care to put over a num ber of fundamental ideas without at the same time making commitments which might restrict our freedom of action within the revolution and without allowing our movement, which we were convinced would overthrow Batista, to be outrailed and ham strung thereby. In other words, our movement had to be made as broadly based as possible. I f we had not drawn up this proclam ation with care, if it had con tained a more radical programme, it is certain that, although many people were a little sceptical about political programmes and often ignored them, the revolutionary movement against Batista would not have acquired the impetus that it did and which made victory possible. Whoever reads the proclam ation and the speech I made at that time will see for himself what these fundamental ideas were. ” 4. Later in the speech C astro publicly confessed his marxist-leninist faith in a way which recalls a religious creed: “ Do I believe in Marxism ? I believe absolutely in Marxism. Did I believe in it on January 1 ? I did believe in it on January 1. Did I believe in it on July 26 ? I did believe in it on July 26. Did I inter pret it then as I interpret it today? Between the way I interpreted it then and the way I interpret it now there is a big difference. Was I prejudiced? Yes, I was prejudiced on July 26. Was I a thorough going revolutionary on July 26? No, I could not call myself a thorough-going revolutionary. Was I a thorough-going revolutionary on January 1 ? No, only to a certain extent. Am I a thorough-going revolutionary today? T hat would mean that I was satisfied with wath

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I know and I am not satisfied—far from it. Have I any doubts about M arxism and do I think th at certain interpretations are wrong and should be revised? I have no doubts whatever. ” 5. After several pages devoted to praising the Soviet Union, he stated : “ Our country had to choose between two policies—either the policy of capitalism, the policy of imperialism, or the policy of anti imperialism, the policy of socialism. It is essential to bear in mind that there is no middle way between capitalism and socialism. Those who persist in looking for a third position are merely deluded seekers after Utopia. ” Later, he enlarged on this point when he said: “ It was necessary to carry out a thorough anti-imperialist revo lution. But the anti-imperialist and socialist revolution must be one, a single revolution, because there cannot be more than one revolution. T his is the great dialectical truth of humanity. Imperialism or anti imperialism. The result is socialism, the trium ph of socialism, the opening of the era of socialism, the end of the era o f capitalism and imperialism, and the beginning of the era of socialism, followed by the era of communism. There is no cause for alarm... ” 6.

Dealing with the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI), Fidel C astro stated that the groups belonging to it had made the following contributions: “ The revolution was able to count on all the cadres of the revolu tionary organizations. The Socialist Party made an invaluable contribution in the shape o f its seasoned militants who had been educated in the school of socialism, educated by the Socialist Party. The Directorate contributed its young leaders, while as for the July 26 Movement, it supplied uncounted leaders with long years of political education behind them who were filled with their youthful revolu tionary vocation and all the experience they had acquired in the struggle for power. In short, we have all contributed something. In one way or another we have represented the nation’s elementary forces. These forces were bound to combine to form a single organ ization and this explains why they have joined the ORI. ” 7. Dealing with the party programme, the final version o f which was postponed until some date in the future, Fidel C astro said: “ It will be a marxist-leninist programme adapted to the specific needs o f our country. In other words, we shall adopt as our own programme the fundamental principles of marxism-leninism... ” 8 . As regards the direction of the party, C astro proclaimed the principle of “ collective leadership”. He stated: 71 411

“ F o r some time the revolutionary leadership was in the hands of one m an— of course, it was not dictatorial or capricious, nothing like that; but for some time the decisions were taken by virtue o f the confidence vested in the Prime M iinster o f the Revolutionary Govern ment, so th at the key decisions were taken by him. I have said, I say, and I repeat, that I am firmly convinced th at this is wrong. I have nothing to reproach myself with. It was simply the result of the revolutionary process. ' “ Well, then, what are we to think about this ? We think that it is absolutely wrong. Moreover, for some time there was concern about the leaders. W hat would happen if a leader lost his life and the revo lution was left without anyone in control? We had to m ake arrange ments as quickly as possible. It was essential to create a revolutionary executive and party. This is the best safeguard, and in fact the only worthwhile safeguard, which can ensure that the revolutionary power and policy are continued. “ I sincerely believe that of all the political systems that have been devised by m an throughout his history, his progress through history, the best is a system o f government based on the control o f the State by a revolutionary, democratic and collectively-run party. ” E.

Conclusions

The appointm ent o f the National Directorate o f the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations (ORI) was publicly announced in C uba in M arch 1962. M ost of the members o f this Directorate belonged to the C uban C ommunist Party and included such leaders of the communist old guard as Bias Roca, Anibal Escalante, Lazaro Pena, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, Joaquin Ordoqui. The natural conclusion to be drawn from Fidel C astro’s speech on December 1 was that power would be taken over by the C uban communist leaders as the authentic interpreters of marxism-leninism. However, the first conflict occurred on M arch 27, 1962, when Fidel C astro publicly condemned Anibal Escalante, one of the leading C uban communists and a member o f the N ational Directorate of the ORI. Anibal Escalante is now one of the six leaders of the Cuban Communist Party in exile in Czechoslovakia .1 Another example o f the struggle between the communist old guard and the leaders o f the C astro movement is provided by the form ation o f the Secretariat o f the National Directorate, which consisted o f six men with Fidel C astro as first secretary and his brother Raul as second secretary. The other members o f the Secretariat are: Ernesto Guevara, Osvaldo Dorticos, Emilio Aragones and Bias Roca. The last m entioned is the only old guard communist in that group. 1 Le Monde, Paris, March 28 and May 12, 1962. 72 412

It is interesting to note the approval given by Pravda, the official organ o f the C ommunist Party o f the USSR, to C astro’s condemna tion of Anibal Escalante .1 The latest attack on what might be called “ communist sectarian ism ” was delivered by C astro on M ay 11, 1962. It m ust be empha sised, however, th at Fidel C astro’s criticism does always invoke the authority of marxism-leninism .2 The foregoing account provides a background to the transform a tion which C uba has undergone, especially as reflected in its constitu tional, criminal and administrative law. Fidel C astro’s own words, which clearly reveal the final aims of his movement, explained why C uba has had to endure the totalitarian oppression and the violations of hum an rights referred to in the conclusion of this report. C astro and his colleagues are forcing C uba along the path towards commun ism. The growing opposition to this change was treated with the same harshness which had been meted out to the henchmen of Batista. The so-called “ emergency ” laws, which originally had applied to those who held posts of responsibility under Batista, were gradually extended to deal with any opposition to the C astro regime.

APPENDIX 1 a Letter o f Resignation by Supreme Court Judge Jose Morell Romero Havana, 12 November, 1960. To the President of the Republic By courtesy of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice Sir, The purpose of the present is to convey to you my resignation from the office of Judge of the Supreme C ourt of Justice which I have occupied since the year 1950. My decision is motivated by the following facts: 1. I do not share the opinion of the majority of the members of the Court of Constitutional and Social Guarantees and the Government Division, as expressed in their judicial or executive action, concerning the scope of the powers of the de facto Government in respect to what they have been pleased to call its “ constitutive powers ”. I must repeat that the constitutive power resides in the people alone and must be manifested through a public referendum, as was done in 1940 when the lawful C onstitution of the Republic was adopted. The de facto Government, product of a revolution, must keep faith with the programme which served as its platform, and the revolution which took place in Cuba from 1952 to 1959 had as its basic programme the restoration and faithful observance of the tenets of the 1940 Constitution. Consequently, and at least as regards funda mental rights, the de facto Government is not empowered to take measures of a constitutive nature that conflict with those adopted by the People in lawful organ isation and constitution and which form the historical basis of the Cuban nation. 1 Soviet News, April 12, 1962, published by the Press Department of the Soviet Embassy in London. 2 Le Monde, Paris, May 12, 1962. 73 413

2. Furthermore, I do not share the opinion of the majority of the members of the above mentioned Court in interpreting the Constitution and other laws presently in force. I have repeatedly made my views clear through innumerable personal votes but although they have thus been placed on record for history, I fear they cannot help to solve, in this crucial moment, the problems of the Cuban nation. Nor, after so many of my verbal declarations in the plenum and votes in judicial proceedings have met with negative results, do I nourish any hope of a change in the consensus of that body. /, 3. The independence of the Judiciary, which is so vital a factor in any dem ocratic regime is increasingly threatened, so much so that it is constantly being “ purged ” of elements alleged to have “ failed to adapt themselves to the revolu tionary process ”. It has been recognized that officials and auxiliaries of the Judiciary Power may belong to the militia and that they have a military mission; an attempt has even been made to oblige them to perform their judicial functions wearing the uniform of the militia. This amounts to utter disregard for the specific functions of the judicial branch as they stand at all times, whether under conditions of emer gency or not, since the Constituent Assembly of 1940 entrusted the lofty mission of administering justice to the judicial branch as an independent organ, to the exclusion of any other body not permanently bound up with, and it is evident that such functions cannot but be incompatible with an interposed military regime. 4. The revolutionary tribunals have been permitted to judge the judges and magistrates to whom the Constitution adopted by the sovereign people gave special privilege and statute for the safeguard of their independent exercise of their functions. They are thus rendered defenceless and the entire judicial system is threatened. 5. With the suppression of the normal legal remedies and the appeal against breach of constitutional rights—vital safeguards of fundamental human rights— the Court of Constitutional and Social Guarantees has been rendered unfit for the accomplishment of the high ends for which the lawful constituent body designated it. 6. Mr. President: I have carefully considered the question of whether I might not be too impatient in expecting a state of lawful rule to be restored after the revolutionary process; I understand perfectly that any revolution requires a transitional regime in order to reach such a state, but I have observed with deep pain that there is increasingly less possibility of re-establishing legal order. Under the circumstances, I have preferred to resign from the charge entrusted to me by the Republic. Yours faithfully Jose M o r e l l R o m e r o .

APPENDIX 1 b Letter o f Resignation by Supreme Court President Emilio Menendez To the President of the Republic, Presidential Palace Havana. Sir,

Havana, 14 November, 1960.

The present letter is to beg you to accept my resignation from the office of President of the Supreme C ourt of Justice to which I was appointed in January, 1959, when the Revolutionary Government took up the burden of directing the nation. 74 414

To you, who have been a jurist, the reasons for my withdrawal will be obvious. The judicial branch was established and organized by the Fundamental Law pro mulgated by the Revolutionary Government in identical terms to those used in the 1940 Constitution, fruit of the endeavours of all sectors of Cuban public opinion and the political parties which represented it, including the Communist Party. The elements of the Government over which you preside have departed from this salutary path, taking over more openly day by day the general functions of govern ment and depriving the judiciary power of the authority it needs in order to fulfil its rightful task and achieve its high purpose. I do not feel able to endorse by silence and abstention a process that may initially have been a natural necessity of the tumultuous and convulsive period of revolution. The fabric of government, made up of manifold powers and duties, is falling into folds which reveal with increasing clearness that the essential spirit of our Republic, its raison d'etre, is being relegated to oblivion: I refer to the independence and well-being of all in a climate of free citizenship, whose first champion must be the Judiciary with the ample powers bestowed on it by the Constitution presently in force. That Constitution has not changed the structure of the Cuban State; it requires from all public officials, and particularly from those of the branch over which I have the honour to preside, the most scrupulous respect of human dignity and individual liberty. A state of legality like that which, according to our C onstitution, governs us, implies equal privileges and restrictions for all the various organs responsible for administering it, and it is not compatible with this type of State organisation that the Executive or bodies depending from its authority should absorb those functions which in a democratic regime like ours are divided among the various sectors of government activity. I am not one of those who believe that the ills of democracy can be cured by totalitarian methods; they require, precisely, greater freedom of action and increased effectiveness in the working of democracy itself. When a Minister of State can publicly declare that the standards of officials of the Judiciary are too anti-progressive for them to be capable of interpreting what the Minister calls revolutionary standards (which amount more or less to unlimited licence without reference to any scale of values whatsoever or any rules of collective conduct), then any doubts that one might have entertained concerning the basic orientation of the government of this country are settled beyond all question. Such an attitude cannot be justified merely by parading the slogan of improving the condition of the lowly and claiming on their behalf what our previous governments were never interested enough to give them, in spite of the demagogical line taken by some of them. The rights so claimed are not something to be granted by the government as a favour; they constitute an ineluctable obligation of the government towards those who most need its help. And they can and must be given full play through other, more effective methods that respect, at one and the same time, the public weal and the freedom of each individual which no true government dare neglect. Since it appears to me that the scope of individual liberties is narrowing day by day and that the people of Cuba are basically refractory to the measures taken to govern it, a fact which will inevitably bring days of sorrow to the entire Republic, I do not wish the judicial functions (although they are independent of and separate from those of the Executive) to suffer the repercussions of these errors that will cause the country so much suffering. I am convinced that the extreme effort which, with a group of Judges of great moral valour, I made in the Supreme C ourt to eradicate certain apparently endemic evils, was well worthwhile; nor do I regret the enthusiasm which led me, with my singularly courageous colleagues, to strive night and day to restore to the Judiciary Power the prestige that it had lost in part because of the unfortunate waverings of our traditional policies. Every good and honest endeavour bears its fruit and instils renewed courage into those who devote themselves wholly to it in a high and disinterested purpose and with noble intentions. God will that our Republic enjoy the days of happiness to which all peoples are entitled and especially so the noble and altruistic people of Cuba. Emilio M e n e n d e z y M e n e n d e z . 75 415

APPENDIX 2 Statement by the Governing Board o f the Bar Association o f Havana The Governing Board of the Bar Association of Havana, at its meeting held today, unanimously agreed to make public the following: Firstly, that it did not summon and refuses to recognize the meeting of the General Assembly of members announced for 5 p.m. on the 9th day of the present month. Secondly, that the members of the Governing Board have not resigned, nor do they intend to resign, from the office to which they were elected in such brutal struggle against tyranny; they do not consider that there are sufficient grounds for a decision of that nature. Thirdly, that it reiterates its previous exhortation to all members of the Bar Association not to attend the said meeting or any meeting of the Association as long as the Headquarters are occupied as they now are. Fourthly, that it is communicating the present statement to the Government Division of the Supreme C ourt of Justice, denouncing the unlawfulness of the convocation circulated for the said meeting. Havana, 7 September 1960.

THE GOVERNING BOARD Manuel M a r i n a s Silvio S a n a b r i a Dean Secretary p.s.

APPENDIX 3 COLEGIO DE ABOGADOS DE LA HABANA HAVANA BAR ASSOCIATION (IN EXILE) 1209 Huntington Medical Building 168 First Street Northeast Miami 32, Florida

FRanklin 4-3067

In the city of Miami, Florida, on the night of December 8, 1960, the legal Governing Board of Havana Bar Association met in exile for the first time in its long history of more than one hundred years of existence. After a thorough analysis of the dramatic situation in Cuba, the conduct of the Cuban lawyers and the complete absence of a rule of law in the Fatherland of Jose Marti and Antonio Maceo, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: First: That the Mandate conferred upon the present Governing Board in the elections of August 1958, by an enormous majority of the members is still in effect. Second: That in the elections of August 1958, the lawyers of Havana, of their own free will, resolutely approved the conduct of repudiation of the tyrannical regime then ruling C uba as maintained for seven long years by the Governing Board. Third: That the physical occupation of the Havana Bar Association’s offices in the month of July 1960, by a small group of lawyers, aided and abetted by well known active members of the Communist Party with the purpose of designating a Governing Board and subsequently repudiated by practically all lawyers, was carried out with the purpose of destroying the Association’s structure, silencing 76 416

the voice of its governors and taking one more step in the consolidation of the totalitarian regime by eventual suppression of all free and democratic institutions. Fourth'. That this Governing Board, legitimate representation of the lawyers of Havana, continued to meet secretely in C uba for as long as its members managed to avoid the vigilance and persecution of the repressive forces of the Communist regime until the prevailing conditions forced its members to seek the hospitality of this Republic and continue from exile the struggle to denounce, repudiate and combat the Red Tyranny. Fifth: That in view of these exceptional circumstances, this Governing Board of the Havana Bar Association established its provisional seat in the city of Miami, Florida, from whence it shall continue to exercise all its powers and duties in defence of the supreme democratic ideals of the people of C uba and of the profession it represents until a democratic form of government with freedom and justice for all, is reestablished in our country. Sixth: That in this memorable meeting the Governing Board of Havana Bar Association appeals to all C uban lawyers to intensify the struggle against the totalitarian Communistic regime ruling Cuba and renews its firm decision to continue its traditional policy defined in the Declaration of Purposes of the Code of Ethics of the Lawyers of Cuba, as “ an attitude of permanent watchfulness to safeguard the rule of law and justice ”. Seventh: To ratify and adhere to the statements of the President, Dr. Silvio Sanabria Santamarina, contained in his letter of December 5, 1960, to the socalled Revolutionary Board that has usurped the powers of the Board of Governors of the Havana Bar Association. Eighth: To notify the preceding resolutions to the Division of Government of the Supreme C ourt of Cuba, and to all members of the Cuban Bar for all legal, regulatory and statutory effects in order. Ninth: To notify these resolutions to the Interamerican Bar Association and to all the Bar Associations of America requesting their moral and internal help in this new struggle of the lawyers of Cuba. Tenth: To notify these resolutions to all professional colleges and associations and to all the civic organizations of C uba and the Free World. Miami, December 9, 1960.

Silvio S a n a b r i a President Havana Bar Association

77 417

P a r t two

THE CONSTITUTIONAL LEGISLATION OF CUBA I.

INTROD UCTION

The constitutional history of Cuba may be divided into five periods: the first covers the colonial period up to the prom ulgation o f the 1902 C onstitution; the second goes from that>date until July 8 , 1940 when the C onstitution of that year was adopted; the third reaches from that date until 1952; the fourth period begins on M arch 10, 1952 and ends on December 31, 1958. This period coin cides with B atista’s coup d ’etat and his abdication o f power. The fifth period begins with the advent o f C astro’s regime. This chapter will merely deal with the constitutional structure of C uba during the last o f these five periods. Nevertheless, it must be mentioned th at in its 60 years of existence as an independent country, the Republic o f C uba has on two occasions only been governed by a constitution freely expressing the will of the people. The first occasion was in 1901, following the W ar of Independence against Spain. That C onstitution came into force on M ay 20, 1902. The other period of free constitutional development was entered by Cuba on July 8 , 1940, the date o f the publication o f the second C onstitution in the Gaceta Oficial. H.

THE 1940 C ONSTITUTION

The 1940 Constitution governed the life of C uba for 12 years. During th at period three Presidents of the Republic followed each other through free elections. They were Fulgencio Batista, Emilio G rau San M artin and Carlos Prio Socarras. This period was the only time in the history of C uba when its political representatives have been elected on a democratic basis. There were considerable and undoubted evils and defects in this period, but the observance of the will of the people by the rulers should not be denied. This brief period of democratic experience was interrupted on M arch 10, 1952, and the legal continuity of the political system acquired in 1940 was broken. The establishment o f Batista’s personal rule, his dictatorial methods and the growing political tension in C uba resulted in armed resistance. The declared purpose of this strife against Batista was to restore the 1940 C onstitution; an idea th at united and harmonised all opposition groups. W hether it was to stimulate active strife or to prom ote passive resistance, the 1940 C onstitution became the banner under which the citizens of C uba fought and ultimately forced out Batista. 78 418

W hat were the most noteworthy characteristics of the 1940 C onstitution? D rafted with the collaboration of practically all the sectors representing the C uban political opinion, it is characterised by the rare balance it established between republican, liberal and democratic postulates on one hand and the demands o f social justice and economic advancement on the other. It comprises 286 Articles, grouped in 19 Titles. It also lays down several transitional provisions the value of which from the viewpoint of constitutional law is rather dubious. A.

Dogmatic Part of the Constitution

The dogmatic part of the C onstitution, laying down the principles that will govern the life o f the Republic and establishing individual rights, constitutional guarantees, the rights of the family and education, the right to work and to own property, and the right of suffrage, comprises 117 articles. Title I of the 1940 C onstitution defines “ The Nation, its Territory and Form of Government ” . It states th at “ C uba is an independent and sovereign N ation organized as a unitary and democratic republic, for the enjoyment o f political liberty, social justice, individual and collective welfare, and hum an solidarity ” (Article 1). Article 2 stipulates th at “ Sovereignty rests in the people and from the people all public powers emanate ”. Title II deals with to Nationality, the right to citizenship in C uba; Title III refers to Alienage, general rules about aliens. Title IV is concerned with the definition of Funda m ental Rights (Section I). The main articles are: equality before the law (Art. 20); non-retroactive nature of criminal law; prohibi tion of the confiscation o f property (Art. 21 and 22); prohibition of the death penalty for civilians, except in the case o f spying on behalf o f the enemy in time o f war (Art. 25); the right to b e tried (Art. 27 and 28); the right of habeas corpus (Art. 29); freedom o f movement (Art. 30); the right o f asylum (Art. 31); inviolability o f mails (Art. 32); freedom o f thought and speech (Art. 33); inviolability of domicile (Art. 34); freedom o f worship (Art. 35); right to petition authorities (Art. 36); freedom to m eet and to form associations for lawful purposes (Art. 37). Section II o f Title IV refers to C onstitutional Guarantees and states th at in cases where the security of the State should require it the above guarantees may be suspended for a period o f not more than 45 days. Title V deals with the Family and C ulture. In section I, it declares th at the family, maternity, and marriage have the protection o f the Nation. I t is stated th at m atrim ony is the legal basis of the family which rests on absolute equality o f rights for husband and wife. The principle of full civil rights of women is admitted. M arriage may 79 419

be dissolved by agreement between husband and wife or upon petition by either party, in accordance with the law (Art. 43). W ith regard to culture (Section II) it is stated that free and com pulsory prim ary education shall be granted (Art. 48). Freedom of teaching is recognized. Special mention is made o f the need to eliminate and prevent illiteracy by means of rural schools (Art. 49). In addition, the autonomy of the University o f Havana is guaranteed (Art. 53), and private universities are recognised (Art. 54). Title VI refers to Labour and Property. Section I states that “ labour is an inalienable right o f the individual ” (Art. 60). The State assumes responsibility for full employment. Foundations are laid for a minimum wage, and the principle o f equal pay for equal work is adopted (Art. 62). Payment o f wages in promissory notes or in kind is prohibited (Art. 64). Social security for workers is estab lished (Art. 65). A maximum working day o f eight hours and a work ing week of 44 hours are guaranteed (Art. 66 ). The right to a paid vacation of one m onth for each eleven m onths’ work is proclaimed (Art. 67). N o difference may be m ade between m arried and un m arried women with regard to work (Art. 68 ). Employers, salaried employees and wage earners are granted the right to form trade unions for the sole purpose of social and economic activity (Art. 69). Obligatory official association is established for the exercise of professions requiring university degrees (Art. 70). The 1940 C onstitu tion recognizes the right of workers to strike and of employers to stop work under conditions stated in law (Art. 71). The system o f collective labour contracts, subject to regulation by law, is also introduced (Art. 72). C ubans by birth are entitled to preferential treatm ent in work, with regard both to the category of employment and to salaries and wages (Art. 73). The constitutional bases for the Ministry of Labour and for the Ministry of H ealth and Social Assist ance are established (Art. 74 and 80). The dismissal o f workers without previous notice is forbidden unless it occurs for specified causes (Art. 77). The State assumes responsibility for promoting the building of inexpensive housing for workers (Art. 79). F or the case o f disputes in relations between management and workers, conciliation committees with equal membership from both parties are set up (Art. 84). In Section II, the C onstitution recognizes the existence and legit imacy o f private property “ in its broadest concept as a social func tion ” (Art. 87). The subsoil belongs to the N ation (Art. 88 ). A r ticle 90 prohibits large land ownership (Latifundio). It is stated that legislation will lay down the maximum land holding permissible for any person or entity, having regard to the particular use and charac teristics o f such property. The principle is stated that acquisition and possession of land by foreign persons and companies shall be restrictively limited by law which shall provide measures tending to restore the land to Cubans. 80 420

The contents and the extent of the above principles in themselves constitute the best definition of the spirit o f the 1940 C onstitution. They express the desire of the great majority o f the C uban people and thereby constitute their national political objective. B.

Organic Part o f the Constitution

As explained above, C uba was organized as a united and dem ocratic republic (Art. 1). The organs of the State as provided for under the 1940 C onstitution were the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Their functions were set up in Titles IX-XIV. The legislative power was exercised by two bodies, the House o f Representatives and Senate respectively. Jointly they were called Congress (Art. 119). The executive power was a com bination o f a presidential and parliamentary system. The President o f the Republic was the chief of the N ation and represented it. A r ticle 138 stated: “ The executive power is exercised by the President o f the Republic with the cabinet in accordance with what is estab lished in this C onstitution. ” The President of the Republic shall be elected, according to the 1940 Constitution, “ by universal, equal, direct, and secret suf frage, on a single day, for a period of four years, in accordance with the procedure to be established by law ” (Art. 140). The 1940 C on stitution also organized a C abinet. Article 151 established: “ F or the exercise of the executive power, the President of the Republic shall be assisted by a cabinet, composed of the num ber of members determined by law. One of these ministers shall have the category of Prime Minister, by designation of the President o f the Republic, and can act as such with or without portfolio. ” Article 164 deter mined the relations between Congress and the Governm ent: “ The Prime M inister and the cabinet are responsible for their acts of government, before the House and the Senate. These bodies can grant confidence to or withhold it from the Prime Minister, a minister, or the cabinet as a whole, in the m anner specified in this C onstitu tion. ” Administratively, the Republic of C uba was divided into m uni cipalities and provinces. Since this is a classic principle of m odem constitutional law, details regarding the separation o f powers and the respective functions o f the Legislature, the Executive or the Judi ciary shall be omitted. Specific reference will be made to the sections of the C onstitution amended by the Fundam ental Law of, and other subsequent amending legislation issued by, the C astro regime. The municipality is autonomous, the municipal council being vested with all powers needed to perform freely the local functions of society. The C onstitution lays down a detailed system of protection of municipal autonom y (Title XV). The provincial system is organized at length by Title XVI of the 1940 Constitution. The governor is elected by direct and secret 81 421

vote and is the official representative of the province. A C ouncil assists the governor. Title XVII refers to the national treasury, defining the resources and property o f the State, providing for procedures regarding the budget, and establishing the Tribunal o f Accounts responsible for controlling the income and expenditure o f the State, o f the provinces and municipalities. It is stated that “ the N ation shall orient the national economy for the benefit o f the people, in order to insure to each individual a decorous existence ” (Art. 271). The State is responsible for promoting national agriculture ahd industry by bringing about “ the diversification thereof as sources o f public wealth and collective benefit ” (Art. 271). Title XVIII o f the 1940 C onstitution deals with the state of emergency. U pon request by the Cabinet, the Congress may, by means o f extraordinary legislation, declare a state of national emer gency. This consists of authorizing the C abinet to exercise exceptional powers when the external security or domestic order of the Nation is in danger (Art. 281). During the emergency period, a permanent Commission o f Congress shall m eet to watch over the use of excep tional facilities granted to the C abinet. At the end of the emergency period the C abinet shall give an account of the use o f the exceptional facilities before the Congress (Art. 283 and 284). Finally, Title XIX stipulates the procedure applicable for amend ing the Constitution. Two methods are laid down. The first, emana ting from the initiative of the people, requires that not less than 100,000 electors able to read and write should propose a constitutional amendment to the Congress. Then the Congress m ust meet in joint session and vote without debate on a bill to call elections o f delegates or a popular referendum. The second m ethod is through the initiative o f the Congress, the m otion requiring the support o f not less than one fourth o f the members o f the Senate or of the Chamber of Representatives. A reform to the C onstitution may be specific, partial or com prehensive. m.

CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

On M arch 10, 1952 a coup d ’etat took place in Cuba, overthrow ing the constituted government, whose term of office was due to end seven months later, on October 10, 1952. On the same day a proclamation was addressed to the people o f C uba, in which Fulgencio Batista attem pted to justify his recourse to violence in overthrowing the Government by “ the absence of guarantees for the life and property of the inhabitants of this country and general political and administrative corruption He referred also to “ the imminence o f a coup d ’etat plotted by the retiring 82 422

President ” with the purpose of preventing presidential elections scheduled for June 1, 1952.1 A.

The Constitutional Act of 1952

The new regime issued on April 4, 1952, a constitutional Act which was to govern the country .1 An accurate rem ark about this constitutional Act was made by Fidel C astro in his speech in his own defence before Batista’s court following the assault on the M oncada barracks on October 16, 1953: “ The C onstitution is understood to be the basic and supreme law o f the land—to define the country’s political structure, regulate the functioning of government agencies and determine the boundaries o f their activities. It must be sui generis, stable, enduring—and to a c ertain extent inflexible. The Statutes (of April 4th) fulfi none of these qualifications. To begin with, they harbour a monstruous, shame-less and brazen contradiction in regard to the m ost vital subject— the integration relation o f the republican structure and the principle of national sovereignty. “ Article I says: ‘ C uba is a sovereign and independent state constituted as a democratic Republic . . . Article II says: ’ Sovereignty resides in the will o f the people, and all powers derive from this source ’. “ But then comes Batista’s Article 118 which says: ‘ The President will be nominated by the Cabinet ’. So it is not the people who choose the president, but rather the C abinet chooses him. And who chooses the C abinet? “ Batista’s Article 120, section 13: ‘ The President will be author ized to nom inate and reappoint the members o f the C abinet and to replace them when the occasion arises. ’ So, after all, who nominates whom ? Is this not the old classic of the chicken and the egg that no one has ever been able to solve ? ” 2 An analysis of C astro’s own Fundam ental Law, which will follow below, reveals that while setting up an identical system, C astro too was unable to solve the problem of the chicken and the egg. A n other correct criticism by Fidel C astro of the C onstitutional Act o f 1952 focussed on the usurpation o f popular sovereignty. He said: “ Batista’s statutes contain an article th at has not received m uch attention but which furnishes the key to this situation and is the one from which we shall derive decisive conclusions. I refer 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, March 10, 1952. 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, April 4, 1952. 2 Fidel Castro, History Will Absolve Me, New York: Liberal Press, Inc., 1959, p. 69. 83 423

specifically to the modifying clause included in Article 257, which read s: “ This constitutional law is open to reform by the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) by a two-thirds quorum vote ”, H ere mockery reached its maximum. N ot only did they exercise sovereignty in order to impose upon the people a C onstitution without the people’s consent and to install a regime which concentrates all power in its own hands; but also, through Article 257, they assume the most essential attribute of sovereignty—the power to change the basic and supreme Law o f the Land. A nd they have already changed it several times since the 10th of M arch. Yet, with the greatest gall, they assert in Article II “ that sovereignty resides in the will of the people and th at the people are the source of all power . . . ” Castro concluded this paragraph by saying: “ Such a power recognizes no limits. U nder its aegis, any article, any chapter, any clause— even the whole law—can be modified . . . ”. The C onstitutional Act of Batista was reformed twice before the return to the 1940 Constitution. In connection with the consti tutional legislation o f C astro’s regime, it will be seen that the Funda m ental Law o f 1959 authorised its own reform by the Council of Ministers. The constituent power, “ the m ost essential attribute of sovereignty ”, to use C astro’s own words, was used by his govern m ent five times to alter the 1940 C onstitution, once in order to issue the Fundam ental Law and 16 times later to modify it, all in the course of two and a half years. B.

The Short-Lived Restoration o f the 1940 Constitution

Article 256 o f the C onstitutional Act of 1952 states, in accord ance with the am endment under Legislative Decree No. .1133 o f October 30, 19531 that the 1940 C onstitution would be restored as soon as the president elect took office. The presidential elections were held on November 1, 1954, and Fulgencio Batista was elected. Batista was the only candidate in this election, which was preceded by confused political maneuvres described on p. 37 above. On February 24, 1955, Batista took the oath and resumed office as President of the Republic. Automatically, in accordance with the above-quoted clause on the reinstatement o f the Constitution, the 1940 C onstitution came once m ore into force. After almost two years of growing and violent opposition to the Batista regime, on December 2, 1956, a contingent o f m en under the leadership o f Fidel C astro landed on the shore of the province of Oriente, an event which m arked the beginning o f the armed uprising against Batista. On the same day the Executive issued Presidential Decree No. 3230, suspending the constitutional guarantees in the provinces of Oriente, Camaguey, Las Villas and Pinar del Rio. T his 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, No. 90, November 6, 1953. 84 424

suspension was ordered for a period of 45 days. The Congress of the Republic ratified the Decree. From that time onward, every 45 days until December 1958, the Government renewed the suspension of the constitutional guarantees. There were only two brief periods during which the suspension was lifted: one from April 17 to August 1, 1957, the other from April 2 to M ay 17, 1958, when Special Act No. 2 declared a state of national emergency. This practice of ignoring the C onstitution ended on January 1, 1959, when Batista escaped to the Dominican Republic. IV. CONSTITUTIONAL VARIATIONS UNDER THE CASTRO REGIME On January 1, 1959, following the abdication of power by Batista and his collaborators, Fidel C astro took over peacefully The oftproclaimed standard of the 1940 C onstitution once again began to rule the destinies of Cuba. Once more it was to last a very short while before it underwent substantial modifications. On January 13, 1959, the process of constitutional reforms began. From then until 1959 the 1940 C onstitution was amended five times. On February 7, 1959 it was directly replaced by the so-called Fundam ental Law. The analysis of C astro’s constitutional work has therefore to begin with a survey of the five amendments, then consider the Fundam ental Law and finally examine the 16 amendments to the Fundam ental Law itself. A.

Amendments to the 1940 Constitution

On January 5, 1959, in a proclam ation to the people of Cuba, President M anuel U rrutia Lleo declared that it was necessary to “ provide for the exercise of the legislative power properly belonging to the Congress of the Republic, in accordance with the 1940 C onstitu tion ”. This implicit recognition of the C onstitution was confirmed by its subsequent modifications. (a) The first amendment to the 1940 C onstitution 1 suspended the application of the constitutional provisions establishing require ments as to minimum age and minimum experience in professional activity for the discharge o f public functions. Article 2 suspended the irremovability o f members of the Tribunal of Accounts until such times as it was reorganized. This apparently harmless reform introduced the use o f constituent power by the Council of Ministers. The introductory clauses state: “ The Revolutionary Government, fulfilling its obligations to the people of Cuba, interpreting the people’s will and feelings and faced by the urgent necessity to use the constituent power in order to provide force for legislation enabling the acts required of the Revolu 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, No. 4, January 13, 1959. 85 425

tion to be performed, using the full powers placed in the Revolution, agrees to approve, sanction and proclaim the following constitutional reform This determination to use unrestricted constituent power “ in order to give force to legislation enabling the acts required by the Revolution to be perform ed ” m arks the beginning o f the end of what might be considered as the restoration of the 1940 C onstitution or, in the final analysis, o f any w ritten and stable constitutional system. From then on everything was to be “ constitutional ”. (b ) The second am endment to the C onstitution was equally o f January 13, 1959.1 F or a period o f 30 days, the C ouncil of Minis ters suspended the irremovability o f the judiciary established in Article 200 o f the C onstitution, as well as the irremovability of the Public Prosecutor and the Electoral C ourt. Article 3 suspends for a period o f three months the transitional provisions of the 1940 C onstitution referring to irremovability of administrative officials. (c) The constituent power was used by the Council of Ministers on the third occasion to establish retroactivity o f criminal law, to introduce the penalty of confiscation o f property and to extend the death penalty. This amendment took place on January 14, 1959.2 This am endment modified Article 21 of the 1940 C onstitution which stated: “ Penal laws shall have retroactive effect when they are favourable to the delinquent. There are excluded from this benefit, in cases where fraud was involved, public officers or employees who commit a crime in the exercise of their office, and those responsible for electoral crimes and crimes against the individual rights guaranteed by this Constitution. Those who commit these crimes shall have applied to them the penalties and qualifications according to the law in force at the time the crime was committed ”. The amendment was to add to the text of the above-quoted section the following paragraph: “ In cases o f offences committed in the service of the dictatorship overthrown on December 31, 1958, those responsible m ay be tried in accordance with criminal legislation to be issued for that purpose. ” The establishment of retroactivity of criminal law in C uba con stitutes in its tragic consequences one of the worst violations of Article 10 of the Universal Declaration o f Hum an Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. U nder the above-cited provisions, death sentences and penalties of confiscation of property were meted out by the revolutionary courts. 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 4, January 13, 1959. 2 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 5, January 14, 1959. 86 426

Article 2 o f the Amendment modifies Article 24 of the 1940 C onstitution which provided as follows: “ Confiscation of property is prohibited. N o one can be deprived of his property except by competent judicial authority and for a justified cause of public utility or social interest, and always after paym ent of the corresponding indemnity in cash, as fixed by court. Non-compliance with these requisites shall determine the right of the person whose property has been expropriated, to be protected by the courts, and, if the case calls for it, to have his property restored to him. “ The existence of a cause of public utility or social interest, and the need for the expropriation, shall be decided by the courts in case of im pugnation.” “ The amendment inserted after the sentence stating “ confiscation of property is prohibited ” the following w ords: “ However, confiscation is authorized in the case of property of natural persons or corporate bodies liable for offences against the national economy or the public treasury committed during the tyranny which ended on December 31, 1958, as well as in the case of property of the tyrant and his collaborators. ” The rest of the article retains the original wording. It will be shown further how the confiscation of property was gradually extended to other fields by means of subsequent amend ments, making it increasingly easy for C astro’s regime to exercise direct repressive action. Article 3 of the amending legislation modified Article 25 of the 1940 C onstitution, which stated: “ The death penalty cannot be imposed. Exception is made as to members o f the armed forces, for crimes of a military character, and as to persons guilty of treason, or of espionage in favour of the enemy at a time of war with a foreign nation. ” After the amendment, Article 25 had the following wording: “ The death penalty may not be imposed. An exception shall apply in the case of members of the armed forces, of the repressive bodies under the dictatorship, of the auxiliary groups organised by the dictatorship, of spies guilty of offences of a military nature or committed for the purpose o f the installation or defence o f the regime overthrown on December 31, 1958, and the persons guilty of treason or subversion against the established order or of espionage on behalf o f the enemy in time o f war with a foreign power. ” From the constitutional point o f view, this amendment then m eant a substantial alteration of the three principles contained in the fundamental rights safeguarded under the 1940 C onstitution: (a) retroactivity of criminal law was sanctioned; (b) confiscation of property was authorised in the case o f specific persons and (c) the death penalty for political causes was introduced. This modification 87 427

in the dogmatic part o f the C onstitution enabled the C astro regime to pursue the course of violence and repression. (d ) On January 20, 1959, the C ouncil of Ministers once again referred to its constituent power in order to do away with the system established by the 1940 C onstitution for provincial and municipal government .1 The municipal system was organised by the 1940 C onstitution on a basis o f autonomy. Title XV contained 23 articles setting up detailed provisions on the scope of municipal administration and the safeguards applying thereto. c As to the provincial system, Title XVI of the C onstitution regulated the operation of the provinces in 19 articles. The governor was elected by direct and secret vote and represented the province. The am endment consisted o f providing that: “ The provinces and municipalities shall be governed by organs established by the C ouncil of Ministers and the constitutional and legal provisions regulating the provincial and municipal systems shall remain in force notwithstanding. The new authorities govern ing the provinces and municipalities shall exercise the same functions as those held respectively by governors, councils o f mayors, mayors and town councils.” The Gaceta Oficial published in its No. 16 of February 2, 1959, the texts of Acts Nos. 36 and 37, referring to the provincial and municipal systems respectively. Act No. 36 provided that the government of each province should be controlled by an officer appointed by the Ministry o f the Interior. Article 2 stated th at this officer should have the powers granted to the governor and to provincial councillors under the existing legisla tion establishing provincial administration. Article 3 stated that “ decisions by the officer may be quashed or suspended by the M inister o f the Interior, if he finds them pre judicial to the public interest ”. This provision brought about the administrative centralisation o f the provincial system. It was strengthened by Act. No. 37 estab lishing the system of adm inistration for each municipality. It was provided th at each municipality shall be controlled by three officers appointed by the M inister o f the Interior. These officers came under the M inister o f the Interior who could quash or suspend their deci sions “ whenever he finds this necessary on grounds of their conflict with public interests ”. (e) The fifth amendment o f the 1940 C onstitution took place on January 30, 1959.2 1 Gaceta Oficial, January 20, 1959. 2 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 16, February 2, 1959.

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Article 1 suspends for a period of 90 days, beginning with publica tion o f this am endment in the Gaceta Oficial, the application of Articles 27, 29, 196 and 197 o f the 1940 C onstitution, containing im portant procedural guarantees of hum an rights. This suspension affected the following persons: (a) persons sub ject to the jurisdiction o f the revolutionary courts governed by the penal system of the Rebel Army; (b) members o f the armed forces; (c) members of the repressive groups organized by the tyranny overthrown on December 31, 1958; (d) members o f groups armed privately and organized to defend the tyranny; (e) spies; (f) persons held by military authorities for purposes of questioning and charged with offences of a military character; (g) persons in the same situation as under (f) above charged with offences aimed at establishing or defending the tyranny; (h) persons in the same situation charged with offences against the national economy or the public treasury. The articles suspended with regard to persons listed above re a d : “ Article 27: Every arrested person shall be placed at liberty, or delivered to the competent judicial authority, within twenty-four hours following his arrest. “ Every arrest shall be set aside or shall be converted into imprison ment, by a judicial decision stating the reasons for it, within seventytwo hours after the arrested person is placed at the disposition of the competent judge. The interested person shall within the same period be notified o f the decision rendered. “ Persons imprisoned but not yet convicted shall be kept in places distinct and completely separate from those utilized for serving sentences, and those so imprisoned cannot be compelled to do any work whatever or be subjected to the prison regulations for those serving sentences ”. The text of the above article makes any comment superfluous. W ith regard to persons listed, the suspension of the above constitu tional guarantee means that they may remain under arrest for an unlimited period of time without being brought before the competent magistrate within 72 hours, as established under the 1940 C onstitu tion. This is exactly what has been happening in C uba ever since C astro came to power. “ Article 29: Everyone who is arrested or imprisoned outside o f the cases or without the formalities and guarantees specified by the Consti tution and the law shall be placed at liberty, on his own request or th at o f any other person, without the necessity o f a power of attorney or the services o f a lawyer, by means of summary habeas corpus proceedings before the regular courts. “ The court cannot decline its jurisdiction, or consider questions of competency in any case or for any reason, or defer its decision, which shall have preference over any other matter. 89 429

“ Presentation, before the court which issued the writ o f habeas corpus, of every arrested or imprisoned person, regardless of the authority or officer, person, or entity holding Mm, is absolutely obligatory, and no allegation of due obedience can be made. “ All provisions that impede or retard the presentation o f the person deprived o f liberty, as well as those causing any delay in the habeas corpus proceedings, shall be null, and the judicial authority shall so declare on its own initiative. “ When the arrested or imprisoned person is not presented before the court hearing the habeas corpus proceedings, that court shall order the arrest of the violator, who shall be judged as provided by law. “ Judges or justices who refuse to admit an application for a writ o f habeas corpus, or who do not comply with the other provisions of this Article, shall be removed from their respective offices by the government section of the Supreme C ourt. ” Suspension of habeas corpus started off as a transitional step of exceptional character. But as opposition to C astro’s regime increased it very soon became perm anent and general. This development is discussed in detail in Part three relating to criminal legislation under the C astro regime. This deprivation of legal protection for persons listed in Article 1 o f the constitutional amending legislation of January 30 was sup plemented by the suspension o f Articles 196 and 197 o f the 1940 C onstitution. Article 196 stated: “ The regular courts shall take cognizance of all suits, causes, or matters, whatever be the jurisdiction to which they pertain, with the sole exception o f those resulting from military crimes or acts which occur in the armed service, which are subject to the military jurisdiction. “ W hen these crimes are committed jointly by members o f the armed forces and persons who are not members thereof, they shall pertain to the jurisdiction o f the regular courts. ” The effect of suspending this article was to provide a legitimate basis for the operation of the revolutionary courts, which are excep tional military courts, with regard to the persons listed in the above quoted Article 1 o f this constitutional amendment. Article 197 followed the line o f the preceding article and stated that: “ There cannot be created in any case courts, commissions, or bodies of any kind to which special jurisdiction is granted to take cognizance o f acts, suits, causes, proceedings, questions, or matters within the jurisdictions attributed to the regular courts. ” These last two sections were incompatible with the operation of the revolutionary courts; consequently, the m oderate provisions of 90 430

the 1940 C onstitution fell over again under the pressure of extremist tendencies. Article 2 of this constitutional amendment closes the way to any legal escape for persons listed in Article 1, since it suspends, also for 90 days, the application of Article 174 (d) and Article 182 (a) of the 1940 C onstitution. Their provisions applied in cases where the constitutionality o f government enactments were raised by persons listed in Article 1. Section 174 (d) stated: “ In addition to the other attributes which this C onstitution and the law specify for it, the Supreme C ourt shall have the following: . . . (d) To decide on the constitutionality of laws, decree-laws, decrees, regulations, resolutions, orders, provisions, and other acts o f any body, authority, or officer. ” Section 182 (a) stated: “ The court of constitutional and social guarantees is competent to take cognizance of the following matters: (a) unconstitutionality appeals against laws, decree-laws, decrees, resolutions, or acts that deny, diminish, restrict, or impair the rights and guarantees specified in this C onstitution or th at impede th e unrestricted functioning of government bodies.” This last action completed the gradual abolition o f constitutional guarantees of personal freedom. The right to be brought before a judge within 72 hours of arrest was suspended. The right o f habeas corpus was suspended. The constitutional provision whereby special courts may not be set up was likewise suspended. The operation of the so-called revolutionary courts was thereby legalized. Finally, the right to raise the constitutionality o f such measures before the Supreme C ourt of Justice and the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees was suspended. B.

The Fundamental Law of the Republic of Cuba of February 7, 1959

One m onth and seven days after taking power, C astro’s regime, which professed to have fought for the restoration of the 1940 C on stitution, proceeded to repeal it. Although the Fundam ental Law, like the C onstitutional Act o f 1952, repeats m ost o f the articles of the 1940 C onstitution almost word for word, the emphasis is not on what was retained from the earlier text but on what was altered. A n analysis of the Fundam ental Law reveals the two contradictory elements which characterized the C uban Revolution in its first months. On the one hand, there are the articles and provisions which merely transcribe the 1940 C onstitution. On the other hand, there are “ transitional and exceptional ” provisions and reforms of the organs of the State th at pave the way for the trend that was to prevail only a few months later. 91 431

(a) The dogmatic part o f the Fundam ental Law is practically identical with the 1940 C onstitution, with the sole exception of the articles amended by the Provisional Revolutionary Government since January 1959 (see above pp. 85-91). The innovations introduced by the Fundam ental Law which have so serious an effect on the constitutional guarantees of individual liberty and on the very basis of C uban criminal law do naturally affect the spirit o f the law. The provisions which remained in force thus inevitably become o f lesser importance. The emphasis through out is on exceptions. F o r example, the Fundam ental Law emphat ically repeats that criminal laws shall have retroactive effect when this is favourable to the offender. However, retroactive criminal legisla tion is authorizSd under Article 21 when it is clearly to the disadvan tage o f the offender. The confiscation of property is prohibited but it is authorized in the case of persons listed in Article 24. Article 25 states that the death penalty shall not be imposed; however the death penalty is authorized for the military or civilian personnel listed in the same Article. The Fundam ental Law established a summary procedure o f habeas corpus in respect of all persons detained without the formalities and guarantees provided for under the Fundam ental Law; however, this provision was first suspended for 90 days and its application was later denied by the Cuban criminal legislation to an ever increasing num ber of persons. Though there is little purpose in repeating the sections which are merely taken over from the 1940 C onstitution, it should be pointed out once more th at Article 1 o f the Fundam ental Law restates that: “ C uba is an independent and sovereign State, organized as an unitary and democratic republic, for the enjoyment of political liberty, social justice, individual and collective welfare, and human solidarity. ” Article 2 proclaims th at “ sovereignty rests in the people, and from the people all public powers emanate. ” Like the 1940 C onstitution, Title I of the Fundam ental Law refers to “ The Nation, its Territory and F orm o f Government ” ; Title II deals with Nationality, Title III with Alienage, Title IV relates to Fundam ental Rights, Title V to the Family and C ulture, Title VI to Labour and Property, Title VII to Suffrage and Public offices. Article 97 of th at title states the principle of universal, equal and secret suffrage “ as a right, duty and function ” of all C uban citizens. Article 102 declares th at political parties and associations may be freely organized. This is the counterpart to Article 38 of the Funda m ental Law stating: “ Every act which prohibits or limits the participation of citizens in the political life o f the nation is declared punishable. ” However, the fifth transitory provision to Title IV adds: 92 432

“ Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 38 of this Fundam ental Law, laws may be prom ulgated th at limit or prohibit the participation in the political life o f the N ation to those citizens who as a result o f their public action and their participation in the electoral process under the Tyranny, have aided the maintenance thereof. ” The provisions on rights and guarantees laid down in the 1940 C onstitution and reproduced above should be re-read in order to contrast the legal and political principles th at inspired the 1940 C onstitution with the provisions of the Fundam ental Law. (b) The organic part of the Fundam ental Law retains the semblance of division of State functions between the legislative, executive and judicial branches (Title VIII). Nevertheless, an analysis o f the organization of the power o f the C astro regime shows that there is no such actual division o f power and that a supreme and omnipotent power has been set up concentrating the executive, legislative and even constituent functions. This supreme organ is the Council of Ministers. The Council o f Ministers. In accordance with the Fundam ental Law, the Council of Ministers discharges the following functions: first, legislative power (Article 119); second, assistance to the Pre sident of the Republic in the exercise of his executive functions (Article 135); third, direction through the Prime M inister of the general government policy and, in conjunction with the President o f the Republic, dispatch of administrative matters (Article 146); fourth, in case o f absence, incapacity or death of the President o f the Republic, designation by the C ouncil of Ministers of the person who shall succeed him either temporarily or permanently (Article 134); fifth, authority to amend the Fundam ental Law either partially or completely (Articles 232 and 233). (i) As a legislative organ the Council of Ministers took unto itself the functions assigned to the Legislature under the 1940 C onstitu tion. Title IX of the Fundam ental Law refers to the legislative powers of the Council o f Ministers, and enumerates in Article 120 the following powers properly vested in the Council of Ministers: “ a) To approve the appointments made by the President of the Republic of the perm anent chiefs of diplomatic missions and o f other officials whose appointm ent requires approval according to law. “ b) To authorise Cubans to enter the military service of a foreign country or to accept from another Government an employ m ent or honour th at carries with it authority or jurisdiction of its own. “ c) To approve the treaties negotiated by the President o f the Republic with other countries. “ d) Any other powers emanating from this Fundam ental Law. ” 93 433

The Fundam ental Law stipulates in Article 121 that the Council of Ministers as legislative organ has the following powers which may n o t be delegated: “ a ) To draw up the codes and laws of a general character; to determine the system o f conducting elections; to enact provisions relative to the national, provincial, and municipal administrations; and to enact all other laws and resolutions that it deems suitable concerning any other m atters o f public interest or that are necessary to m ake effective this Fundam ental Law. “ b ) To levy the taxes and imposts of a national character that are necessary for the needs o f the State. “ c) To discuss and approve the budget of expenditures and revenues of the State. “ d) To resolve upon the annual reports submitted by the Tribunal of Accounts with respect to the liquidation o f the budget, the condition of the public debt, and the national currency. “ e) To borrow money, and also to authorize the granting of a guarantee by the State for credit operations. “f ) To enact pertinent provisions concerning the coinage of money, determining its standard, fineness, value, and denomination and to enact what it deems necessary concerning the issuance of fiduciary devices and concerning the banking and financial system. “ g ) To regulate the system of weights and measures. “ h) To enact provisions for the regimen and development of foreign trade; o f agriculture and industry, insurance for labour and old age, maternity, and unemployment. “ i) To regulate communications services, taking care of the system o f railroads, highways, canals, and ports, and land, air, and sea traffic, creating those which public convenience requires. “ j ) To fix the rules and procedures for obtaining naturalization and regulating the status of aliens. “ k ) To grant amnesties in accordance with this Fundam ental Law. “ I) To fix the strength o f the armed forces and determine their organization. “ m ) To declare war and approve peace treaties negotiated by the President o f the Republic. “ n ) To enact all laws directed by this Fundam ental Law and those which carry out the principles contained in its precepts.” (ii) In accordance with Title XI, the C ouncil of Ministers assists the President o f the Republic in the exercise of executive power. Article 135 states that the C ouncil o f Ministers shall consist o f “ the num ber o f members determined by law ”. It further states that one o f these Ministers shall have the function o f Prime Minister. The power of appointing him belongs to the President. 94 434

Article 140 provides th at Ministers “ shall deliberate and decide upon all questions o f general interest that are not attributed to other agencies or authorities The Prime M inister and the other Ministers take the oath before the President of the Republic and undertake to fulfil the obligations o f their posts and to observe and enforce the Fundam ental Law and the other legislation of the Republic. Article 147 states that the functions of Ministers are: “ a) To comply with and enforce the Fundam ental Law, the laws, decree-laws, decrees, regulations, and all other resolutions and provisions. “ b ) To draft proposed laws, regulations, decrees, and any other resolutions and present them for consideration by the Government. “ c) To countersign, jointly with the Prime Minister, the laws and other documents authorized by the signature of the President of the Republic, except decrees appointing or removing Ministers. ” (iii) Article 146 states: “ It shall be the function of the Prime M inister to direct the general policy of the Government, to dispatch administrative m atters with the President of the Republic accompanied by the Ministers, upon the matters of the respective departments.” (iv) As was already pointed out, the Council of Ministers is em powered to decide who shall succeed the President of the Republic in case of death, incapacity or absence. This appointm ent may be either tem porary or permanent. This power is of major importance if it is borne in mind that the Fundam ental Law contains no provi sions with regard to procedure for election of the President of the Republic or to his term of office. Article 140 of the 1940 C onstitution said in this connection: “ The President of the Republic shall be elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage, on a single day, for a period of four years, in accordance with the procedure to be established by law. ” This Article was not retained in the Fundam ental Law. The power to appoint the President was already exercised by the Council o f Ministers upon the resignation of. the first provisional President o f Cuba, M anuel U rrutia Lleo. He presented his resignation to the Council of Ministers, which accepted it on July 17, 1959, and at the same session appointed Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado to succeed him .1 From the constitutional point of view, the provisions described above imply th at the first provisional President of C uba in 1959 1 Declaration of the Secretary to the President and of the Council of Ministers, Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 9, July 18, 1959, appendix. 95 435

came to power by spontaneous generation. H e then appointed his ministers, and selected one of them as Prime Minister. They made up the Council of Ministers. The provisional President presented his resignation to the Council, which thereupon appointed the new President. U nder Article 129 (m ), “ the President of the Republic freely appoints and removes the Ministers o f Government and replaces them when proper in accordance with this Fundam ental Law. ” This clearly reveals the process of reciprocal appointm ent practiced by Fidel C astro and his immediate collaborators, at least until Decem ber 1, 1961, the date of this Marxist-Leninist proclam ation of collec tive leadership. 1 In his “ History Will Absolve Me ”, C astro stated: “ One day eighteen rogues got together. Their plan was to assault the Republic and loot its 350 million dollar annual budget. Treacherously and surreptitiously they succeeded in their purpose. ‘ And what do we do next ? ’ they wondered. “ One of them said to the rest: ‘ You name me Prime Minister and I will m ake you general ’. As soon as this was done, he rounded up a clique o f twenty men and told th em : ‘ I will m ake you my Cabinet and you will m ake me President ’. “ In this fashion they nom inated each other generals, ministers and president and then took over the treasury and government, lock, stock, and barrel. ” 2 These were C astro’s comments concerning the tyrant Batista, but the similarity with his own procedure could not be m ore striking. (v) The Council o f Ministers has the power to amend the Funda m ental Law either partially or in its entirety. This means that at any time the Fundam ental Law can be modified in accordance with circumstances that require it. There is no limit whatsover to this procedure and the Council o f Ministers as the constituent organ is thereby empowered to dispose o f the lives, freedom and property of citizens or inhabitants of C uba without any limitations by positive law. Once again, the words should be quoted with which C astro condemned the C onstitutional Act for the Republic o f C uba pro claimed by Batista and his C ouncil of Ministers in April 1952.3 Article 232 of the Fundam ental Law states: “ The Fundam ental Law may be amended by the Council of Ministers, by a roll-call vote o f two thirds o f its members, ratified by a similar vote at three successive meetings, and with the approval of the President of the Republic. ” 1 See above, p. 69-72. 2 Fidel C astro, op cit., p. 69. 3 See above, p. 83-84. 96 436

The only difference from the text of Article 257 in Batista’s Act which Fidel C astro calls a “ maximum of mockery ” is th at the Funda mental Law requires ratification by a similar vote at three successive meetings o f the C ouncil o f Ministers. This formal requirement is so obviously superfluous th at the Gaceta Oficial contains no record of its having ever been applied. Castro concluded the lengthy section he devoted to this subject by saying: “ Since these changes can be brought about by a vote o f twothirds o f the Cabinet and the Cabinet is nam ed by the President, then the right to make and break C uba is in the hands of one m an . . . Such a power recognizes no limits. U nder its aegis, any article, any chapter, any clause—even the whole law—can be modified . . . Batista and his cabinet under the provisions o f Article 257 can modify all these other articles. They can say that Cuba is no longer to be a Republic but a hereditary monarchy and he, Batista, can anoint himself King. H e can dismember the national territory and sell a province to a foreign country, as Napoleon did with Louisiana. He can suspend the right to life itself, and, like Herod, order the decapitation of newborn children. All o f these measures would be legal and you, my friends, would have to incarcerate all those who opposed them, just as you now intend to do with me. ” This extensive quotation from C astro’s defence speech before Batista’s court in 1953 illustrates correctly the sad and humiliating situation prevailing in the constitutional practice o f C uba today. Since other organs established by the Fundam ental Law, such as the municipal system, the provincial system, the budget, m aintain the letter o f the 1940 C onstitution, consideration will next be given to the Additional Transitory Provisions. The Additional Transitory Provisions set the tone of C astro’s regime and, far from being transitional, have remained in force until now. A brief analysis is sufficient to give an approximate idea of the legal insecurity existing in Cuba. The first such provision states th a t: “ All legal and regulatory criminal, civil and administrative pro visions prom ulgated by the High Command o f the Rebel Army du ring the progress o f the armed struggle against the tyranny over thrown on December 31, 1958, shall continue in effect throughout the territory of the N ation until the Government installs popular elections, unless subsequently modified or repealed. ” It will be noted that this additional provision incorporates “ all legal provisions ” proclaimed by the High C ommand o f the Rebel Army, without specifying any particular item whatsoever or stating any order. W hat are these legal provisions? Have they been published in the Gaceta Oficial? In order to answer these questions the second additional transitory provision was adopted, stating th a t: 97 437

“ in order that they (the legal provisions o f the Rebel Army) shall become widely known, provision is made for publication in the Official Gazette... ” No such publication has yet taken place. Many of these laws and regulations passed by the Rebel Army have been incorporated into new laws by the Castro regime. It is pointed out in the chapter on criminal legislation in C uba th at on one occasion there was modified by law a provision of the Rebel Army that had not even been published in the Gaceta Oficial. In other words, an Act which did not exist as such was amended. This was the case of Act No. 33 amending Regulation No. 1 o f the Rebel Arm y . 1 The second observation regarding the first Additional Transitory Provision is th at these laws and regulations cited in general terms are to apply in C uba “ until the Governm ent installs popular elections ” . As Prime Minister Fidel C astro proclaimed that there was no need to call elections, the condition stated by the first Additional Transitory Provision may never be fulfilled. Consequently, the provisions quoted will rem ain in force as long as C astro’s regime so desires. The third, fourth and fifth Additional Transitory Provisions incor porated in the text of the Fundam ental Law the amendment of the 1940 C onstitution made on January 13 and 14,1959 (See above pp. 86 -88 ). V. AMENDM ENTS TO TH E FUNDAMENTAL LAW Between February 7, 1959 and August 23, 1961, the Fundam ental Law was am ended 16 times. 1. Three months after its proclamation, the first such measure took place, extending the third and fourth Additional Transitory Provisions for a further 90 days. These related to suspension for 90 days o f application of Articles 27, 29, 174 and 175 o f the Funda m ental Law, whose text is identical to that of Articles 27, 29, 196 and 197 o f the 1940 Constitution. (See above pages 89-91).2 2. The second amendment o f the Fundam ental Law came through the adoption o f the Agrarian Reform, Act 3, June 3,1959). This Act substantially affects the sections of the Fundam ental Law referring to property, in particular Articles 24 and 87. The first constitutional modification was in fact contained in the Fundam ental Law itself (third Transitory Provision relating to Section I of Title IV of the Fundam ental Law), authorizing compensation for expropriation by “ other means o f payment, provided they meet the necessary guar antees ”. However, Article 31 of the Agrarian Reform Act re ferred directly to “ agrarian reform bonds ” . 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, No. 10, January 30, 1959. 2 Gaceta Oficial, May 6, 1959. 3 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 7, June 3, 1959.

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Any contradiction there might be between the Agrarian Reform Act and the Fundam ental Law was always to be decided in favour of the former, since the final additional provision o f this Act states: “ In pursuance of the constituent power vested in the Council of Ministers, this Act is declared an integral part of the Fundam ental Law o f the Republic, which is thereby amended. ” “ In consequence, this Act has constitutional force and validity. ” In a case concerning the constitutional compatibility of the Agra rian Reform Act, the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees found th at the argument that Articles 24 and 87 of the Fundam ental Law were violated should be rejected, since “ it is also the doctrine o f this C ourt that such standards regulating the right o f property cannot be invoked with regard to property falling under the special system of the agrarian reform, which is subject to special provisions laid down by th at Act which is on an equal footing with the Consti tution ” . W ith regard to Article 52 of this Act, the delegates of agrarian development areas may n o t be denied the power to occupy property affected by the A ct; they are not required to apply to the organs of ordinary jurisdiction, nor are there provisions for prior compensa tion to the owners. The C ourt further found that “ the Agrarian Reform Act, by virtue of the vital importance of its aims, the validity of its provisions and the extent of its coverage, constitutes a dynamic and flexible system which is brought into action through those appointed to implement it, whose function it is to administer its provisions within the broad limits in which it was conceived. ”x 3. On June 29, 1959, the Council o f Ministers met once more to am end the Fundam ental Law. Article 25 was modified to include in what was already a large list of persons liable to the death penalty “ those guilty of counter-revolutionary offences and those harming the national economy or the public treasury. ”2 This amendm ent was followed by Act. No. 425 of July 9, 1959, defining “ counter revolutionary ” offences. The Act in question is analyzed in more detail in P art III below. 4. The fourth amendm ent of the Fundam ental Law took place on November 2,1959, and restored the operation of the revolutionary courts on a constitutional basis.3 Its object was to make permanent the suspension o f contitutional guarantees decreed for a period of 90 days under the amendment of January 30, 1959. 1 Judgment No. 45 of the Court of Constitutional and Social Guarantees. Gaceta Oficial, No. 109, June 7, 1961. These arguments exclude a priori any attack on the constitutionality of the Agrarian Reform Act. 2 Gaceta Oficial, No. 122, July 6, 1959. 3 Gaceta Oficial, No. 207, November 2, 1959. 99 439

Article 1 modified Article 174 o f the Fundam ental Law, stating with regard to the item under consideration: “ Notwithstanding, the revolutionary courts whose operation is restored shall be competent to hear cases arising through offenses defined by the law as counter-revolutionary, whether committed by civilians or by members o f the armed forces. ” This constitutional amendment was followed by Act No. 634 restoring summary trials according to the procedure fixed in the Procedural Act o f the Republic o f C uba under Arms o f July 28, 1896 and discussed is detail in P art III below. 5. Twenty days later, on November 22, 1959, the C ouncil o f Minis ters again used its constituent power to am end Article 24 o f the Fundam ental Law.2 This time it was to extend the number o f persons liable to confiscation of property. In addition to the persons listed in Article 24 o f the Fundam ental L aw ,1 this penalty was extended to: 1) persons found guilty o f offences defined by law as counter revolutionary; 2) persons evading the action o f the revolutionary courts by leaving the national territory in any m anner whatsoever; and 3) persons who, having left the national territory, perform conspir atorial acts abroad against the Revolutionary Government. On the next day Act No. 664 was issued, Article 1 of which stated that in all cases o f counter-revolutionary offences the court should order total confiscation o f property. 6. The Fundam ental Law was again amended on M arch 14, I960.2 This reform modified Articles 61, 84 and 160 (e ), bringing about substantial changes in the constitutional foundations of labour law. Article 61 reads: “ A law shall establish the m anner of periodical paym ent of mini mum wages by means of C onciliation C ommissions for each branch o f employment. ” The amendment consisted of eliminating the word “ periodical ” and the reference to “ C onciliation Commissions Article 84 o f the Fundam ental Law provided that disputes arising between labour and management should be brought before “ Conci liation Commissions with equal numbers o f representatives of employers and workers ” . The reform deletes the reference to the C onciliations Commissions and mentions merely “ administrative and judicial authorities ”. These were to be set up under special legislation. Finally, Article 160 (e) was amended. This stated that the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees had the jurisdiction to hear: “ . . . (e ) Juridico-political questions and questions o f social legislation which the Fundam ental law and the Law submit to its 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 58, December 22, 1959. 2 Gaceta Oficial, No. 50, March 14, 1960.

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consideration” . The amendment now reads: “ . . . (e) Juridicopolitical questions and questions of social legislation which the law expressely submits to its consideration subject to the provisions on procedure and appeal laid down in the same law ”. The intention o f this amendment is clear: by deleting the reference to the Fundam ental Law, it created the legal instrum ent to limit the competence of the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees by means of a simple law. T his am endment was followed by the adoption of Act No. 795 establishing the procedure to be followed with regard to labour disputes.1 7. On June 29, 1960 there were deleted Articles 210, 212, 216 and 221 ( b ) and amended Articles 116, 203, 206, 209 and 211 of the Fundam ental Law.2 Article 116 had set up an autonom ous authority known as the Public Offices Tribunal. The function of this Tribunal was to deal with questions relating to public offices. The amendment eliminated the constitutional basis by stipulating that “ questions concerning public offices and public officials, employees and workmen shall be dealt with according to the law ”. Article 203 o f the Fundam ental Law stated the conditions subject to which property owned by the State might be sold. These condi tions w ere: (a) consent o f the Council of Ministers through special legislation for a reason o f social necessity of convenience and subject to agreement by two-thirds of its members; ( b ) that the sale should be by public auction except in two exceptions stated by the law and (c) th at the proceeds of such sale should be devoted to creating employ m ent opportunities or providing public welfare. The amendment deleted the whole article and substituted another as follows: “ The law shall determine the conditions for sale or lease of property owned by the State ”. Once again the clear and precise constitutional provisions o f the Fundam ental Law were replaced by ambiguous reference to future legislation without any constitutional safeguards. Article 3 of the amending Act dealt with Article 206 o f the Funda m ental Law, which referred to the annual budget. Article 206 stated: “ All revenues and expenditures of the State, with the exception of those mentioned below, shall be provided for and fixed in annual budgets and shall be in force only during the year for which they are approved. “ The moneys, special funds, or private assets of entities authorized by the Fundam ental Law or by law, and destined for social security, 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 7, March 15, 1960. 2 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 10, June 29, 1960.

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public w orks1 development of agriculture, and the regulation of industrial livestock, commercial or professional activities, and in general to the development o f the national wealth, are excepted from the provisions of the preceding paragraph. These funds or their taxes are to be turned over to the autonomous entity and admin istered by it, in accordance with the law that created them, subject to audit by the C ourt of Accounts. ” This exemption was now abolished, which meant that such assets shall henceforth all be brought within the national budget. Article 209 o f the Fundam ental Law stated that the Executive should prepare and submit the annual budget of the State, but that the Council of Ministers should approve or modify it in its legislative capacity. The article laid down a detailed procedure for the Executive to follow in drafting the budget. The am endment eliminated all such constitutional guarantees, stating simply th at “ the legislation establishing budgets shall cover the drafting, approval, execution, liquidation and auditing o f budgets, within the limits stated in this Fundam ental Law ”. Article 211 o f the Fundam ental Law provided that “ allotments specified in the statement of expenses in the budget shall fix the maximum amounts allotted to each service, which may not be in creased or transferred by the Executive Power without prior author ization from the Council of Ministers ”. The am endment deleted the whole paragraph. This left within the hands o f the Executive, without any control whatsoever, the possibility o f appropriating funds or granting additional credits in the following cases: (a) war or imminent danger o f w ar; (b ) serious disturbance of public law and order; ( c ) public disasters. The Fundam ental Law provided that the Executive should grant extraordinary credits in the cases m entioned above “ when the C ouncil of Ministers is not in session ’’-1 By eliminating the requirement th at in order to authorize the Executive to appropriate extraordinary credits the Council of Min isters should not be in session, the amendment of Article 211 makes a rule out of what used to be an exception. And the contingency which 1 This provision gave rise to the following comment by the Folletos de Divul gation Legislativa (Havana, Cuba, 1959, Vol. II, p. 109), which published the legislation issued under the Castro regime: «The text of the 1940 Constitution was transcribed in so literal and mechanical a manner into the Fundamental Law of the Revolution that it was not noticed how absurd it was to enable the Executive to grant extraordinary credits when the Council of Ministers is not in session. We do not believe this contingency could ever arise, since it would imply the exercise of personal power completely incompatible with a democratic regime born out of the revolution. By rare coincidence, Article 211 of the Fun damental Law reproduces almost word for word Article 233 of the 1952 Statutes ». The author of this interesting comment refers here to the Batista Constitutional Act, 1952. 102 442

the comm entator believed could never arise becomes reality. The Executive of C uba can grant whatever extraordinary credits it con siders appropriate. In this respect the legal situation is worse than th at set up under B atista’s Statutes in 1952. The sixth Article of this Amending Act deleted Article 221 (b), which granted the Tribunal of Accounts the power “ to take cogni zance o f orders of the State for advancement of money in order to approve the placement of funds in accordance with the budget, in such a way that the provisions of the Fundam ental Law are complied with and th at the orders are handled without preference or preterition ” . Since this provision meant a limitation of executive power, the regime found no better solution than to eliminate it altogether. Finally, Article 7 deleted Articles 210, 212 and 216 of the Funda m ental Law. Article 210 reproduced the exact wording o f Article 259 o f the 1940 C onstitution and provided, apart from certain formal budgetary requirements, that “ the Law of Bases shall establish, with respect to the foregoing articles, the rules relative to the m anner in which the am ount or amounts fixed for payments during the budget period shall be prorated among creditors with liquidated claims Article 212 of the Fundam ental Law stated the obligation to submit annual State accounts, laying down detailed provisions to be followed by the Ministry o f Finance in submitting its annual report to the Tribunal o f Accounts. It also required the Executive to submit m onthly statements o f State income and expenditure to the C ouncil o f Ministers. It seems incredible that this article o f the Fundamental Law should have been deleted since such measure enables the Exec utive to administer public funds without any legal control. Yet this is now a constitutional principle in Cuba, by reason o f the consti tuent power wielded by the Council o f Ministers. Article 216 provided for publication in the Gaceta Oficial o f the liquidation of any appropriations of government funds for the execu tion of any public work or service. This liquidation had to be published in full, following approval by the Ministry concerned. Similarly, the instrum ent of approval for any public work either totally or partially undertaken with State funds was required to be published in the Gaceta Oficial. This elementary requirement of publicity for administration o f public funds was also eliminated. This meant that the administration o f the finances of the State remained in the hands o f the Executive, without any control and without any legal duty for publication of the use made o f such funds. 8. On July 5, 1960, the Council o f Ministers referred once m ore to its constituent power in order to alter again the disputed Article 24 of the Fundam ental Law.1 At the same time Articles 30 and 147 (c) 1 See above pp. 98-99, 100

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were amended. This time, the am endment to Article 24 was not to extend the num ber o f persons against whom general confiscation o f property could be ordered but rather to alter the last paragraph which had not been affected by the preceding reforms. It stated: “ N o other natural or juridical person can be deprived of his property except by competent judicial authority and for a justifiable reason of public benefit or social interest and always after payment of appropriate compensation in cash, fixed by court action. Noncompliance with these requirements shall give the person whose property has been expropriated the right to protection by the courts and, if the case so warrants, to restitution o f his property. “ The reality o f the grounds for public benefit or social interest and the need for expropriation shall be decided by the courts in the event o f challenge. ” The amendment consisted of substituting the following paragraph for the above: “ No other natural or juridical person can be deprived of his property except by competent authority and for a justifiable cause o f public utility or social or national interest. The law shall regulate the procedure for expropriation and shall establish legislation and forms o f payment and shall determine the competent authority to declare the case to be of public utility or social or national interest and th at expropriation is necessary. ” The effect o f this am endment is perfectly clear. W here the Funda mental Law says “ competent judicial authority ”, the amending Act has “ com petent authority ”, in other words, any authority, not necessarily judicial. W here the Fundam ental Law says “ for a jus tifiable cause ” the amendment says “ for a cause ”. This means that the cause o f expropriation does no t call for any justification to a judicial authority. The amendment adds to the causes which may lead to expropriation instances “ of national interest The amendinglegislation deleted further the provisions under which the expropriated party may appeal to the courts and, if appropriate, have his or its property returned. Similarly, the courts o f law no longer have power todecidein case o f dispute whether the cause for and necessity o f expropriation exist. The constitutional amendment merely states that “ the law shall regulate the procedure for expropriation and shall establish legislation and forms o f payment and shall determine the authority com petent to declare the case to be o f public utility or social or national interest and that expropriation is necessary This is one more p ro o f o f the way in which the right o f property was stripped o f all constitutional protection. 9. On September 28,1960, a new constitutional change took place.1 The C ouncil of Ministers amended Article 107 (a) of the Fundam ental 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 21, September 28, 1960. 104 444

Law, substituting for the words “ ambassadors, extraordinary envoys and ministers plenipotentiary ” the words “ members of the foreign service of the Republic in all branches in which it is constituted All such persons are thus brought under the provisions relating to “ offices of a political and confidential nature This extension might be considered as a privilege anywhere else than in Cuba. Article 106 of the Fundam ental Law states the irre movability o f public officials, employees and workmen attached to any authority under the State, and provides that “ their irremova bility is guaranteed by this Fundam ental Law, with the exception of those holding office of a political or confidential nature The amendment means th at any member of the foreign service of the Republic may be dismissed without the Fundam ental Law protecting him. 10. On October 14, 1960, the U rban Reform Act was issued.1 This Act which in itself constitutes an independent organic structure, directly and adversely affects the right o f property and the freedom of contract. F or instance, Article 2 of the U rban Reform Act states: “ Leasing of urban property is prohibited, any contract which implies the transfer of the use of an urban property is also prohibited ”. The Act only permits leases of hotels, motels, pensions and houses or apartm ents in summer places. In these cases the rent is fixed by the National Institute of Tourist Industries. Article 5 declares null and without legal effect all leases o f urban property which existed at the time of publication o f the U rban Reform Act. Article 1 and Article 9 order the compulsory selling of urban houses and apartments. The sales price o f such property is fixed by its rent value over a period of from five to twenty years. The U rban Reform Act sets up the administrative agencies authorised by the U rban Reform Act to fix prices and resolve all conflicts which may arise from the enactment o f this Act. (Art. 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 19, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43). U nder the provisions of the U rban Reform Act, houses or apart ments cannot be sold, transferred or changed to other persons without the consent of the C ouncil o f U rban Reform (Article 29). The Council of Ministers, instead of coordinating this Act with the Funda m ental Law, which it affects in some o f its principles, preferred to raise it to an equal footing with the Constitution. In the same way as for the Agrarian Reform Act, the U rban Reform Act contains an additional provision stating: “ In pursuance o f the constituent power vested in the Council o f Ministers, this Act is declared an integral part of the Fundam ental Law o f the Republic, to which it is thereby added. Consequently, this Act shall have constitutional force and validity from the date of its publication in the Gaceta Oficial. ” 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 23, October 14, 1960. 105 445

Thus the U rban Reform Act came to be included in this study of constitutional legislation in Cuba. 11. On December 20, 1960, nine Articles of the Fundam ental Law were amended and the irremovability of officials o f the judiciary once more suspended.1 The amendments affect Articles 22, 23, 65, 150, 159, 160 and 186, and alter the heading o f the third section o f Title X II of the Fundam ental Law. Article 22 o f the Fundam ental Law read: “ No other laws shall have retroactive effect, unless the law itself so specifies for reasons of public order, of social utility, or national necessity, expressly stated in the law, approved by a vote of two thirds of the total num ber o f members of the Council of Ministers. ” This first part of Article 22 was retained, but the passage quoted below, which completed that section in the Fundam ental Law, was deleted. Its text suffices to explain the reasons for its suppression: “ If the grounds for retroactivity are impugned as unconstitu tional, the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees shall decide thereon, and it cannot for technical reasons or any other motive, refrain from doing so. “ In every case, the law itself m ust establish the degree, manner, and form in which indemnity shall be paid for damages, if any, which the retroactivity causes to rights legitimately acquired in accord ance with previous legislation. “ A law approved in accordance with this Article shall not be valid if it produces effects contrary to the provisions of Article 24 of this Fundam ental Law. ” It should be recalled here that Article 24 dealing with the confisca tion of property was modified in various ways referred to elsewhere in this chapter. Article 23 o f the Fundam ental Law stated that: “ Obligations of a civil character arising from contracts or other acts or omissions producing them cannot be annulled or altered by either the Legislative power or the Executive power, and consequently laws cannot have retroactive effect with respect to such obligations. ” The amendment consisted of inserting the following words after the words “ Executive power ” : “ . . . unless the law provides otherwise for reasons o f public order, social utility or national necessity expressly stated in the law by a two-thirds majority of the C ouncil of Ministers. ” This means that the firm declaration in Article 23 that civil obliga tions arising from contracts or other acts o f commission or omission 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 26, December 2, 1960. 106 446

may not be cancelled or altered by the Legislature or by the Executive is deprived of its meaning, since it is made subject to the condition that any Act may “ provide otherwise Article 65 o f the Fundam ental Law established social security as an inalienable right. The administration of the institutions set up by law such as retirement pensions and survivors’ grants was placed under the authority of “ joint bodies elected by management and workers including a representative of the State . . . The amendment substituted the simple statem ent: “ The administration and regulation of the social security system shall be under the autho rity of the State, as determined by law The final paragraph of Article 65 stated that funds or reserves under the social insurance scheme should not be transferred or disposed of for purposes other than those which led to their estab lishment. This last part was deleted. The amendments to Articles 150, 156, 158, 159, 160 (c) and 186 directly affect the organization of judicial power in C uba. Article 150 of the Fundam ental Law established that “ The Supreme C ourt of Justice is composed of such divisions as the law may provide. One of these divisions shall constitute the C ourt of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees. W hen it tries constitutional matters it shall be presided over by the President of the Supreme C ourt and shall not consist of less than fifteen Magistrates ”. The new amendment reads: “ The Supreme C ourt of Justice is composed of such divisions as the law may provide. One o f these divisions will be called Divi sion of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees and shall be presided over by the President of the Supreme C ourt. ” The amendment substituted for the C ourt of Constitutional and Social Guarantees a division o f the Supreme C ourt. Consequently, the amendment deleted the last sentence of Article 150 of the Funda m ental Law stating th at the num ber of Justices should be “ no less than fifteen ”. Article 156 of the Fundam ental Law determined the competence of the Government Division of the Supreme C ourt and read as follows: “ The Government Division of the Supreme C ourt shall determine, classify, and publish any merits that have been awarded to judicial officials in each category, for purposes of prom otion ”. The amend ment consists in adding the following enumeration of the members of the Government D ivision: “ The Government Division of the Supreme C ourt shall be composed of the President of the Supreme C ourt, the President of the Division, the Attorney and one magistrate appoint ed by each of the Divisions among their members ”. Then follows the original text of article 156. Article 158 was also amended. This article refers to the procedure of appointing judges o f the Supreme C ourt. It establishes the system 107 447

of appointm ent by the President o f the Republic from a list of three names proposed by an electoral college of nine members. Members of this electoral college were chosen as follows: four by the full bench o f the Supreme C ourt among its members; three by the Pres ident o f the Republic; two by the Law Faculty of the University of Havana. All of them were required to have the qualifications set out in the Fundam ental Law for Magistrates o f the Supreme C ourt. According to Article 158, “ the President of the Supreme C ourt and the presidents of its divisions shall be appointed by the Pre sident of the Republic on proposal o f the full bench of the C ourt. These appointments and those of the Magistrates of the Supreme C ourt m ust receive the approval o f the C ouncil o f Ministers. ” Article 6 o f the Amendment Act alters Article 158 of the Funda m ental Law as follows: “ The President, (of the Supreme C ourt) the presidents of the divisions, the Magistrates of the Supreme C ourt and the Presidents of the Audiences shall be appointed by the President o f the Republic with the assistance o f the C ouncil of Ministers. ” Through this reform, the procedure established in the Fundam ental Law for the nom ination of judges of the Supreme C ourt was over simplified and put directly into the hands of the President o f the Republic and the C ouncil o f Ministers. Article 7 o f the Amendment Act concerns Article 159. This article established that “ appointments, promotions, transfers, exchanges, suspensions, disciplinary action, retirements leaves, and eliminations o f positions shall be effected by a special Govern m ent Division composed o f the President o f the Supreme C ourt and six members thereof, elected annually from among the presidents o f divisions and Magistrates of the C ourt ”. The composition of the Government Division was already mod ified by Article 5 o f the Amendment Act as was shown above when the amendment of Article 156 was explained. Article 7 refers only to the first part o f Article 159 and reads as follows: “ Transfers and exchanges o f presidents o f divisions, Magistrates of the Supreme C ourt shall be effected by the President o f the Republic assisted by the Council o f Ministers at the proposal o f the Government Division.” Article 7 o f the Amendment Act modifies further the already amended Article 160 (e) (See above pp. 100-101.) Article 160 (e) determ ined: “ The C ourt o f C onstitutional and Social Guarantees is competent to take cognizance of the following m atters: . . . (e) Juridico-political questions and questions of social legislation which the law expressly submits to its consideration subject to the provisions on procedure and appeal laid down in the same law. ” The amended text now reads: “ The Division of C onstitutional and Social Guarantees is com petent to take cognizance o f the following m atters: . . . (e) Juridicopolitical questions and questions of social and agrarian legislation...” 108 448

Article 9 o f the Amendment Act modified Article 186 o f the Fundam ental Law which provides the procedure to be enforced in cases of criminal liability and causes for removal that may be incurred by the President, presidents o f divisions, and Magistrates o f the Supreme C ourt of Justice. The Fundam ental Law establishes that “ the C ouncil o f Ministers shall be the competent body to take cognizance o f denunciations against the said officials ”, and estab lishes the following procedure: “ W hen a denunciation is received, the Council shall appoint a committeee to study it, and the committee shall submit its report to the Council. I f by a vote of two thirds o f its members, by secret ballot, the C ouncil finds that there is a basis for the denunciation, appropriate proceedings shall be opened before a tribunal to be known as the G rand Jury, composed of thirteen members designated in the following m anner: “ The President of the Supreme C ourt shall forward to the Council of Ministers a complete list of the members of th at body who are not affected by the accusation. “ The Rector of the University of H avana shall send to the C ouncil of Ministers a complete list of the full professors o f its Law Faculty. “ The President o f the Republic shall send to the Council of M in isters a list of fifty lawyers who have qualifications to be a M agistrate o f the Supreme C ourt, freely designated by him. “ When these lists have been received by the C ouncil of Ministers, it shall proceed to select the members of the Grand Jury by lot: “ Five from the Supreme C ourt. If there are none, or the num ber is insufficient, it shall be completed by the same procedure from a list composed of the President and magistrates o f the Havana C ourt o f Appeals, submitted to the Council o f Ministers by the President of that Court. “ Five members of the Law Faculty of the University of Havana. “ Three members from the list of fifty lawyers. This tribunal shall be presided over by the judicial official of highest rank and in lieu thereof by the one having greatest seniority among those composing it. W hen the G rand Jury has been named, the Council of Ministers shall submit the denunciation to it for appropriate action. W hen a decision has been rendered, the G rand Jury shall dissolve. ” This long article was replaced by the following: “ The full bench o f the Supreme C ourt o f Justice shall take cognizance of the criminal liability and causes for removal th at may be incurred by the President, the Attorney, the presidents of divisions, and the M agistrates of the Supreme C ourt of Justice. ” It may be m entioned here that this clause was made under the pressure of the final and greatest crisis o f the judiciary in Cuba, in 109 449

November 1960 (see p. 64 above). This is the apparent reason for replacing the G rand Jury by the Supreme C ourt o f Justice whose remaining members were ideologically identified with the regime of Fidel C astro. Article 10 of the Amendment Act refers to the heading of Title XII, _ Section III, of the Fundam ental Law and changing the name of the Court o f C onstitutional and Social Guarantees to Division. Finally, to recognize the Judiciary after the crisis of November 1960, the Amendment Act suspended for 45 days the irremovability o f the functionaries of the Judiciary. The President o f the Republic with the assistance of the C ouncil of Ministers may now dismiss any of the members of the Judiciary. 12. Fifteen days after the above amendment, on January 4, 1961, the Council of Ministers used its powers as a constitutent organ for the twelfth time, in order to am end Article 15 of the Fundam ental Law and, once again, Article 24.1 The first Article of this amending legislation modified Article 15 which listed the cases in which C uban citizenship might be forfeited namely if the person concerned entered the military service of another nation or performed functions subject to foreign jurisdiction; how ever, such deprivation o f C uban citizenship “ would not be effective other than through a binding decision by court o f law as provided for under the law ” . This provision also applied to naturalized Cuban subjects who resided for three consecutive years in their country of birth. The amendment consisted in eliminating this passage and in completing the article as follows: “ The law may determine offences and grounds of unworthiness producing loss of citizenship through binding decision by the com petent courts. ” Article 2 of the Amending Act once again rewrote Article 24 of the Fundam ental Law. This time it was to extend further the cat egories o f persons against whom confiscation of property may be ordered. In addition to the wide terms o f reference already existing (see p. 100, above), the following passage was included: “ . . . as well as those (cases) deemed necessary by the Government in order to prevent acts of sabotage, terrorism or any other counter revolutionary activities ”. In the chapter on criminal legislation in C uba consideration will be given to Act No. 923, prom ulgated on the day of the above amendment, and “ authorizing through the Ministry of Finance, 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, No. 1, January 4,1961. 110 450

action to confiscate property where this is deemed necessary by the Government in order to prevent acts of sabotage, terrorism or any other counter-revolutionary activities 13. On January 19,1961,2C astro’s regime amended Article 13 of the Fundam ental Law, by adding to the paragraphs listing Cubans by naturalization the following paragraph ( d ) : “ A foreigner citizen of an American nation in which exceptional conditions exist as recognized by express agreement of the Council of Ministers There must be no confusion between this constitutional amendment and the text o f Article 12 (e) defining “ Cubans by b irth ”. The latter states th at “ foreigners ” who fought against Batista’s regime in the Rebel Army for not less than two years and who have held the rank o f M ajor for not less than one year “ shall be deemed Cubans by birth ” . This article 12 (e) was so conceived as to recognize Ernesto Guevara, of Argentine origin, as a native C uban citizen. Hence the text o f the paragraph, which is practically a thumb-nail biography o f the chief beneficiary. 14. In pursuance of its constitutional powers, the Council o f M in isters incorporated in the Fundam ental Law the provisions of the so-called Nationalization of Education Act.3 It follows the same pattern as the Agrarian and Urban Reform Acts, in that the text affects vitally the constitutional rights and guarantees under the Funda mental Law. Article 1 declares that the function of education is a public one and th at it is the responsibility of the State to deal with this m atter through the governmental agencies. Article 2 determines the nationalisation of all centres of education existing in C uba at the time of publication of this act. All buildings, properties, instruments of teaching are transferred to the State. Article 4 authorizes the Minister of Education to decide what indemnity will owners of educational institutions receive and who among them will be eligible for it. To decide this point the M inister of Education will have to consider the attitude of the owners o f these educational institutions, or their profes sors, towards the interests of the Cuban revolution and of the father land. Contradictions between these provisions and the rights guaran teed in title IV, V and VI o f the Fundamental Law are covered over by the final provision to the effect that: “ In pursuance of the constituent power of the Council of Min isters this Act is declared to be an integral part of the Fundam ental Law o f the Republic, whereby it has constitutional force and validity. ” 1 Gaceta Oficial, No. 1, January 4, 1961. 2 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 3, January 19, 1961. 3 Gaceta Oficial, No. 109, June 7, 1961. I l l

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15. On August 1,1961, legislation was adopted amending Articles 69, 70 and 185 of the Fundam ental Law1. Articles 69 and 70 regulate the setting up of associations, while Article 185 deals with the incompa tibility o f public functions. 16. On August 23, 1961, the C ouncil o f Ministers amended Article 134 of the Fundam ental Law.2 Article 134 gave the C ouncil o f Ministers the power to appoint the person to succeed the Presi dent of the Republic in case o f absence, incapacity or death. The amendment provides that in cases o f incapacity or death of the President the Council of Ministers should retain the power to ap point the successor but in the case of temporary absence of the President from the national territory the Prime M inister should take his place during th e interim period. This constitutional amendment concludes the survey of the sixteen amendments to the Fundam ental Law o f C uba enacted as o f the end o f August 1961.

VI. CONCLUSIONS 1. Between January 1, 1959 and August 23, 1961 (the date of the last document referred to in this part) the Council of Ministers used its constituent power on 22 occasions. This means that this power has been exercized approximately once every 46 days. 2. The amendments were caused by the desire to overcome obstacles arising for the C astro regime from the Fundam ental Law which it had itself promulgated. 3. In m ost cases the amendments o f the Fundam ental Law were in answer to circumstantial problems. Reference has been made to a body of legislation adopted immediately after each constitutional reform. In other words, in the face of a concrete situation it was necessary to take specific action. Since such action was prohibited by the Fundam ental Law, the first step was to reform that Funda mental Law. Immediately afterwards legislation adapted to the government’s needs was issued and based on the precedent amend ment of the Fundam ental Law. 4. All the amendments to the Fundam ental Law reveal a single purpose, namely to concentrate arbitrary power in the hands o f the ruling group. On the one hand, every legal guarantee for the freedom, property and life of C uban citizens is being eliminated. On the other hand, the num ber o f persons covered by “ counter-revolutionary offences ” is being gradually increased. With regard to administra tion of State funds a similar pattern is followed. Legal means of 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition, August 3, 1961. 2 Gaceta Oficial, August 24, 1961. 112 452

controlling the adm inistration o f public funds are gradually eliminated, while ever greater powers are being granted to the Government. The same course was observed in the case o f labour legislation, where joint worker-management councils to decide labour disputes were eliminated and this function vested directly in the State. Education is nationalized, and brought under the exclusive responsibility o f the State. 5. The mechanism of the legislative process in C uba is as follows: the C ouncil of Ministers, acting as the constituent organ, amends the Fundam ental Law, whereupon the same C ouncil o f Ministers, in its legislative capacity, issues a law which one of its members will subsequently have the executive authority to implement. 6. The five reforms to the 1940 C onstitution, the proclam ation of the Fundam ental Law and the 16 subsequent amendments bear witness to the chaotic legal situation in Cuba. 7. Examination of the amendments to the Fundam ental Law reveals the transform ation in C astro’s government and the final trium ph o f the extremist and totalitarian tendencies observed from the earliest days o f the Revolutionary Government. 8. Examination of constitutional changes in C uba shows that many of the changes incorporated in the C onstitution or the Fundam ental Law since January 1959 violated the Universal Declaration of Hum an Rights. 9. C areful examination of constitutional legislation in C uba as well as of actual events shows that the constitutional chaos described above set the stage for the arbitrary despotism now controlling Cuba.

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P a r t Three

THE CRIMINAL LEGISLATION OF CUBA The preceding part of this R eport dealt in detail with the changes made in the C uban constitutional pattern by the series of amend ments to the C onstitution o f 1940, by the Fundam ental Law o f 1959 and its own sixteen amendments. Five of them referred to criminal law and have been analyzed above in connection with the chronolo gical review of the C astro constitutional legislation. While specific reference to these gradual changes will be omitted in the following survey o f substantive and procedural legislation in force in present Cuba, it seems that the following main trends in constitutional amendmends with respect to criminal law should once more be pointed out here : (1) Retroactivity of criminal legislation may be applied to the detrimend o f the accused. (2) The death sentence may be imposed for a variety of political offences. (3) Total confiscation o f property may be ordered against political offenders by a court sentence as well as in extra-judicial administrative proceedings. (4) Those indicted for political offences are deprived of the right o f habeas corpus. (5) Those indicted for political offences are prevented from attacking the violation of guarantees contained in constitutional legislation before the Supreme C ourt of the land. 1.

SUBSTANTIVE

CRIM INAL

LEGISLATION

The present substantive criminal legislation in C uba consists of the following laws and regulations. 1. Regulation No. 1 issued by the High Command of the Rebel Army in the Sierra M aestra on February 21, 1958. This Regulation was never published in the Gaceta Oficial, following the victory of the revolution against Batista. Nevertheless, on January 29, 1959, the Castro regime issued Act No. 3 3 ,1 which amended Regulation No. 1 o f the Rebel Army. This means th at an Act was thereby amended 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition. No. 10, January 30, 1959 114 454

by law which does not exist as such and the legal existence of which is subsequent to the date o f its amendment. Act No. 39 of January 30,1959, declared that “ all laws and regula tions o f a penal, civil and administrative nature proclaimed by the High Command of the Rebel Army during the armed conflict against the dictatorship overthrown on December 31, 1958, shall remain in force. . . ” 2 This Act provided in Article 2 that these laws and regulations should be published in the Gaceta Oficial. The content of Act No. 39 was incorporated on February 7, 1959, into the Fundam ental Law, Additional Transitory Provisions 1 and 2. 2. Substantive and procedural criminal law in force during the W ar of Independence in the Republic of C uba in Arms. This covers the Criminal Law o f Cuba in Arms and Procedural Law of Cuba in Arms, both dated 28 July 1896. These Acts, which have become known in the history of Cuban law as Leyes Mambisas, are a secondary source of law. W ith the same supplementary power, without prejudice to Regula tion No. 1, force of law was declared for the Social Defence Code, promulgated in 1938, and the Criminal Procedure Act ofD ecem ber 17, 1882. 3. Act No. 425 of July 7, 1959 (G.O., July 9, 1959), defines so-called counter-revolutionary offenses. 4. Act No. 664 (G.O ., December 23,1959) provides for confiscation of property as an additional penalty for offences defined as counter revolutionary. 5. Act No. 719 of January 22,1960 (G.O., January28,1960) amends so me sections of the Social Defence Code, providing for heavier penalties in respect of offences against the national economy and trade, and extending the definition o f counter-revolutionary offences to other cases covered in the Social Defence Code. 6. Act No. 732 of February 16, 1960 (G.O., February 22, 1960), amends the Social Defence Code in its provisions concerning m isap propriation o f funds, fraud, illegal exactions, etc. 7. Act No. 858 o f July 20, 1960 (G.O., July 20, 1960) amends sec tion 390 of the Social Defence C ode. 8. Act No. 923 (G.O., January 4, 1961) amends sections 465, 468 and 469 of the Social Defence Code. 9. Act No. 988 (G.O., November 30, 1961) deals with extended application of the death penalty and extrajudicial confiscation meas ures. 10. Act No. 1018 o f 1962 establishes the jurisdiction of Revolutionary C ourts in m atters of unauthorized slaughter and traffic in beef. 2 Gaceta Oficial, No. 16, February 2, 1959 115 455

All above listed laws and regulations come within the terms of reference of this chapter and will be analysed below. A.

Regulation No. 1 and Act No. 33

Regulation No. 1 was issued by the High Command of the Rebel Army in the Sierra M aestra on February 21, 1958. It was signed by Fidel C astro Ruz, Commander-in-Chief, and Dr. Hum berto Sori M artin, then Attorney-General, who was condemned to death and shot in April, 1961. This Regulation has never been published in the Gaceta Oficial. It is therefore particularly noteworthy that, without the fulfilment of so elementary a requirement as promulgation, this Regulation was implicitly declared valid by Act No. 33 issued on January 2 9 ,19591' and amending articles 1, 2, 7, 8 and 16 of Regulation No. 1. Furtherm ore, on the day on which Act No. 33 was published in the Gaceta Oficial, the C ouncil of Ministers m et to promulgate Act No. 39,2 stating th at “ all laws and regulations of a penal, civil or administrative nature proclaimed by the High C ommand o f the Revolutionary Army during the armed conflict against the dictatorship overthrown on December 31, 1958 shall remain in force throughout the national territory until such time as a popularly elected government is installed, subject to modification or cancellation ”. The second article of Act No. 39 stipulated th at “ with a view to its widest circulation, it is hereby provided that all laws and regulations proclaimed by the High Command of the Revolutionary Army during the armed conflict shall be published in the Gaceta Oficial ”. This obviously means th at Regulation No. 1 was amended by Act No. 33 before it ever had official force of law in C uba. It is no less patent that, once Act No. 33 had been published in the Gaceta Oficial, there was little point in publishing Regulation No. 1, as the former merely adapted the provisions o f the latter to the changed circum stances. This is clearly shown in the introductory clauses o f Act No. 33. Subsequently, when the Fundam ental Law was proclaimed, there was a second ratification of the criminal, civil and administrative provisions issued by the High C ommand o f the Revolutionary Army during the armed conflict. The first and second Additional Transitory Provisions incorporated the above-cited provisions o f Act No. 39 in the Fundam ental Law. Regulation No. 1 was the only piece of the legislation passed by the Rebel Army which has so far been published, in a modified form. It acquires consequently a special importance and will be discussed here in the version resulting from the amendment brought about by Act No. 33. 1 Gaceta Oficial, January 30, 1959 2 Gaceta Oficial, February 2, 1959 116 456

Act No. 33 contains provisions relating both to substance and to form. O f the 18 articles, 6 refer to offences and to the penalties attaching thereto. The remaining 12 refer to problems of jurisdiction and competence and o f procedure. Article 12 states: “ The death penalty shall be applied in the case o f the offences of murder, treason, espionage and rape.” Article 13 provides as follows: “ The death penalty may be applied, in accordance with the circumstances o f criminal responsibility involved, in the case o f the murder, armed robbery, robbery, burglary, brigandage, deser tion, spying, serious insubordination, desertion of duty in combat without prior command or by unauthorized discretion or firing arms for wrongful purposes with inexcusable negligence in such a m anner as to alert the enemy or to wound a com panion.” Article 14 defines the offence o f adverse rumours concerning decisions by authorities. It also qualifies as indictable offences negli gence in handling arms and material, stealing such arms and material, trading in them, unauthorized divulging o f inform ation or providing false information. These offences which were originally included in Regulation No. 1 in order to deal with circumstances occurring in armed conflict are now extended without any modification to conditions of everyday life in C uba under the C astro regime. Article 15 of Act No. 33 authorizes the Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel Army to reduce, suspend, commute or quash any sentence. Article 16 provides for “ the fundamental principles of justice and equality ” to be applied in defining offences and in determining the degree and extent of penalties, and in respect of all m atters not covered by Regulation No. 1. The same Article states th at the sub stantive and procedural criminal legislation in force during the W ar of Independence in the Republic of C uba in Arms shall apply with the character of supplementary positive law. Similarly and with the same force, the Social Defence Code and the C riminal Procedure Act o f September 17; 1882 also apply. This law is to apply in all cases where it is not in conflict with the provisions of Regulation No. 1 (Act No. 33). The narrow frame provided by Act No. 33 m ust necessarily increase the importance of supplementory legislation and facilitate resort to “ the fundamental principles of justice and equality ” . Such practice constitutes a flagrant violation of the principle “ nullum crimen sine lege B.

Criminal Law of 1896

In accordance with Article 16 of A ct No. 33, as described above, the Criminal Law of the Republic o f C uba in Arms o f July 28,1896 was declared to be in force as additional positive law. The contra diction between the principles underlying this law and the principles 117 457

o f criminal legislation adopted by the Fundam ental Law of the C astro regime are evident. It was already m entioned that the latter docu m ent provides for retroactivity of criminal legislation. However, Article 2 o f the Criminal Law o f Cuba in Arms o f 1896 (hereinafter C riminal Law) states: “ The penalties stipulated under this law shall be imposed only in cases stated herein, on the basis of a sentence pronounced by a court competent to deal with such questions, in respect o f acts performed subsequent to its proclam ation.” Article 13 of the C riminal Law 1896 states: “ Penal legislation shall not have retroactive effect and consequently no person shall be condemned except on the strength of laws or provisions adopted prior to the offence. Nevertheless, retroactive effect shall be given to in all circum stances favourable to the guilty party, even if that party has already been sentenced.” This Criminal Law authorizes the death sentence (Article 15). This sentence applies to persons sentenced for reason as defined in Article 48 o f the C riminal Law. Similarly, the death penalty applies in the case o f members of the armed forces deserting to the enemy in action in the time o f war (Article 51). C hapter 2 of the C riminal Law deals with offences against the Constitution, and in Article 53 o f that chapter it is stated that the death penalty shallbe applied “to authorities or public officials and heads or officers of the Army o f Liberation using violence or intimidation to prevent a meeting of the Assembly o f Representatives convened by the Council o f Government or in some similar m anner impeding its right to discuss and decide freely ”. This was how the heads of the Army o f Liberation and the leaders of the Republic in Arms in 1896 expressed their endeavour to safeguard the freedom that constituted the object of their struggle. Article 67 and 73 provide for the death penalty in the case of offences o f sedition, insubordination or indiscipline committed by members o f the armed forces. The death sentence is also authorized for the following cases: (a) When a public official, irrespective of grade, abuses his authority to exact or appropriate any sum of money or embezzles funds (Article 89). (b) In cases of assault on or disobedience of authorities (Article 99). (c) Against persons m urdering mother, father or son, child, whether legitimate or illegitimate, any other direct blood relation, or spouse (Article 112). (d ) M urder under aggravating circumstances (Article 113). (e) Abduction or rape (Articles 120 and 121). (f) Robbery with violence or intim idation resulting in death, m utilation or injury or when the person robbed is held prisoner for over one day. (Article 130.) Also in the case o f attem pted robbery or 118 458

a similar offence resulting in the same damage or injury as stated in the preceding article. (Atricle 131). (g) R obbery by a num ber of complices (Article 136). Also, robbery on two or more occasions (Article 136). Article 15 of the C riminal Law refers to penalties other than the death sentence. These a re : public degradation, perpetual or temporary exclusion from holding office, either absolute or specific, loss of employment or grade, confinement, dismissal, arrest for over three months, suspension from public office and public reprimand. The C riminal Law further contains provisions relating to ex tenuating and aggravating circumstances, exemption from liability, requirements for application and execution of penalties, and causes for expiry of criminal liability. C.

Act No. 425

Act No. 425 was promulgated on July 7, 1959. This Act followed the amendment of Article 25 o f the Fundam ental Law on June 29, 1959. The amendment extended the death penalty to persons guilty o f counter-revolutionary offences, as defined by the Act. Act No. 425 defines those offences. It marks the beginning of the extension of violent repression to C uban citizens who do not agree with the course taken by the C astro regime. C onsideration of the introductory clauses reveals the beginning of this new stage in the activities of the Revolutionary Government. The first of these introductory clauses invokes the need to issue legislation to prevent and put down counter-revolutionary activity. It ascribes such activities to “ fugitives from revolutionary justice ” and “ advocates of illegitimate interests ” . The second introductory clause establishes th at a generic definition of counter-revolutionary activity would cover “ the possibility of affecting adversely the inestimable value of individual freedom, which the Revolution undertook to guarantee ”. It goes on to say th at it is therefore proper to define the specific offences which may be considered as counter-revolutionary acts. The fourth introductory clause spells out, in indirect terms, the motives of this Act: to make penalties stiffer and to cut short the formalities required for condemnation o f persons charged with such offences. A farther introductory clause refers to Article 25 of the Fundam ental Law, which had been amended a few days earlier, and which authorizes the death penalty for persons guilty of counter revolutionary offences. Counter-Revolutionary Offences Act No. 425 states in the first Article that counter-revolutionary offences are those listed in Chapters I, III and IV of P art 1 of the Second Book of the Social Defence Code, amending its provisions in 119 459

accordance with the wording given in Articles 2, 3, and 4 of that Act. Similarly, offences defined in Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 o f the same Act are also held to be counter-revolutionary. This Act shall remain in force throughout the Provisional Revolutionary Government. The Act recognizes the following categories of counter-revolution ary offences: 1. Offences against the integrity and stability o f the nation. 2. Offences against State powers. Both offences are defined in extensive terms. Article 2 defines as offences against the integrity and stability of the nation the following acts: 1. Persons performing an action on behalf o f a foreign power with the express and acknowledged objective of harming the independence of the Republic or the integrity o f the national territory. 2. Persons performing actions directed expressly and knowingly at prom oting war against the Republic. 3. Persons taking up arms against their country under an enemy flag. 4.Persons helping the enemy to enter national territory, to take a military post, vessel or aircraft belonging to the State or any food supplies or war materials. 5. Persons suborning members of the armed forces or persons in the service o f the Republic to go over to the enemy or to desert their flag during a campaign. 6. Persons recruiting others on the territory o f the Republic to fight against their country under the flag of a foreign power. 7. Persons recruiting others on the territory of the Republic for a ser vice on behalf o f an enemy power which does not involve direct participation in a war against the Republic. 8. Persons supplying funds, arms, vessels, aircraft, equipment, munitions, or other similar materials for use in hostilities against the Republic to the troops o f an enemy power. This includes those helping enemy armies to advance in any m anner not covered under the previous section. 9. Persons supplying the enemy with plans of fortresses, camps, military areas, defence works or any other documents or with in form ation for use in hostilities against the Republic or to favour the advance of enemy forces. 10. Persons who in wartime prevent national troops from receiving the assistance listed under 8 or the inform ation under 9. 11. Persons divulging political or military secrets affecting the security of the State by communicating or publishing such informa tion. 12. Persons who, without due authorization, take plans of fortifica tions, of military naval vessels or aircraft, maritime or military 120 460

establishments, railways, roads or other installations o f m ilita ry importance. 13. Persons misusing the functions entrusted to them to deal with a foreign government with regard to m atters of State interest. 14. Persons publicly abusing or offending the flag, the coat of arms or any other emblem of the Republic, as an act of disrespect to the nation. The offences listed under 1 to 10 are punishable by penalties varying from 20 years’ im prisonment to death. The offence stated under 11 is punishable by the same range of penalties if the guilty party obtained such secrets by virtue o f his function or if he obtained this inform ation through deception, collusion or violence. Article 3 defines offences against the State powers, amending C hap ter III of P art 1 o f the Second Book o f the Social Defence Code. These offences are: 1. Any act aimed directly at changing in whole or in part, by means o f violence, the C onstitution of the State or the established form of government. 2. Any act aimed at prom oting an armed rising against the State powers. 3. Any act performed with a view to preventing the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic, the Prime M inister or the Supreme C ourt o f Justice from exercising their constitutional functions in whole or in part, even if only temporarily. 4. Interference with general elections or plebiscites. 5. The introduction, publication or intention to have performed in C uba orders or decrees prejudicial to the independence of the nation. 6. Failure by authorities of the Revolutionary Government to resist insurrection by all means open to them. 7. C ontinuation in office or in employment on the part of public employees under the orders o f any such insurrection. 8. Abandoning employment when there is danger o f insurrection or after such insurrection has actually occured. 9. Taking command o f troops, fortresses, military posts, etc. 10. U surpation of a function assigned by the Fundam ental Law to a State power. 11. Recruitment o f citizens on the territory o f the Republic without Government authorization. F or the offence under 2 there is a penalty o f 20 years’ imprison ment. In the case o f the offences under 1, 3, 4, and 5, there are penalties from 20 years’ im prisonment to death if such action was supported by armed rising. The offence under 9 is punishable with penalties from 20 years’ imprisonment to death. T hat under 11 is 121 461

punishable with the same penalties if those recruited include any members of the armed forces of the Republic. Article 4 amends Articles 156, 157, 158 and 159, of C hapter IV of Part 1 o f the Second Book o f the Social Defence C ode. This chapter refers to provisions laid down by the C hapters I and III discussed above. The am endment provides that: 1. Public agitation to cause action harmful to the independence o f the Republic shall be punishable with im prisonment from 10 to 20 years. 2. If such agitation results either directly or indirectly in acts of violence against the Revolutionary Government, with loss of life, the penalty shall be from 20 years’ im prisonment to death. 3. Persons organizing or joining an armed group in order to commit any o f the offences against the State powers shall be punishable with penalties ranging from 20 years’ im prisonment to death. 4. Persons sheltering, helping or supplying the armed insurgents shall be liable to im prisonment from 10 to 20 years. 5. Persons belonging to armed bands and disembarking on national territory, in order to commit any o f the above listed offences shall be liable to penalties ranging from 20 years’ imprisonment to death. 6. The same penalty shall apply to persons who, although not members of armed contingents, clandestinely enter C uban territory to commit any of the above-mentioned offences. 7. Persons working or travelling on board aircraft flying over C uban territory in order to commit any of the offences listed above shall be liable to penalties ranging from 20 years’ imprisonment to death. 8. Persons operating or carried in aircraft “ to observe the national territory for counter-revolutionary purposes, to alarm or confuse the population, to distribute counter-revolutionary propaganda or to perform any act detrim ental to the national economy incurring peril to hum an life ” shall be liable to penalties ranging from 20 years’ imprisonment to death. Article 7 o f Act No. 425 triples the minimum and maximum penalties applying for the offence of sedition. Article 8 provides for penalties ranging from 20 years’ imprison ment to death in respect of persons guilty of either attem pted or actual assassination for counter-revolutionary purposes. The same article restores the death penalty for offenses defined as “ against collective security ”. Article 9 contains a provision of considerable value for the inter pretation of the legislation analyzed in this chapter. The wording is laconic. It simply says: “ The general provision contained in Article 161 of the Social Defence Code is hereby repealed ”.

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Article 161 of the Social Defence C ode stated: “ F or the purposes of the provisions o f Article 21 of this C ode political offences shall be considered those covered by the preceding four chapters. ” The preceding four chapters are: I, Offences against the integrity and stability of the nation; II, Offences prejudicial to the peace of the S tate; III, Offences against the State pow ers; IV, Provisions common to the preceding chapters. This am endment means that there shall henceforth be no special category of political offences and that these activities shall be consi dered by the C astro regime as common crimes. Political prisoners enjoyed the following benefits and advantages under the Fundam ental Law o f 1959. In the first place, “ persons arrested or imprisoned for political or social reasons shall be confined in quarters separate from common criminals and shall not be required to perform any labour whatever nor be subjected to the prison regulations for common criminals (Article 26 of the Fundam ental Law). This article is reiterated in Article 42 of the Fundam ental Law where, in referring to cases of serious disturbance of public order, as a result o f which the fundamental guarantees are suspended, it is stated that “ persons arrested for the reasons resulting in such suspension shall be held in special places set aside for persons under trial or imprisoned in respect o f political or social offences ”. In the second place the Fundam ental Law forbids extradition o f persons guilty of political offences and specifies th at the State “ will not attem pt to obtain extradition o f C ubans guilty o f (political) crimes who take refuge in foreign territory (Article 31). The above provisions of the Fundam ental Law were similar to those contained in the 1940 C onstitution and in the Social Defence C ode (Articles 11 and 70 (a) and (b) ). W ith the repeal of Article 161, actions traditionally falling under the category of political offences and susceptible o f the application o f the relevant principles o f criminal law, have become common crimes. Article 10 of Act No. 425 amends Article 82 of the Social Defence Code, providing for the death sentence to be carried out by shooting instead of by garrotting. This amendment, however, maintains the provision that “ no executions shall be carried out on public holidays ” . Articles 11 and 12 refer to persons guilty o f concealing or compli city, merely stating the penalties provided for under the Social Defence C ode. Article 13 to 18 refer to matters of criminal procedure which will be analyzed in a separate chapter. D.

Act No. 664

This Act was issued immediately following the amendment of Article 24 of the Fundam ental Law on December 22, 1959 \ author 1 Gaceta Oficial, Special edition No. 58, December 22, 1959 123 463

izing “ the imposition o f total confiscation of property in respect o f persons guilty o f counter-revolutionary offences so defined by the law It will be recalled that this penalty was made applicable to persons who, in order to escape the action o f the revolutionary courts, abandon “ in any m anner ” (i.e. including by legal means) the national territory, and persons who, having abandoned the territory, perform conspiratorial activities abroad against the Revolutionary Govern ment. The following day, on December 23, there was proclaimed Act No. 664, Article 1 o f which states: “ In all cases o f counter-revolu tionary offences, the court shall impose, as additional penalty, total confiscation of property. Similarly, total confiscation may be ordered o f the property of persons who, in order to escape the action of revolutionary courts, abandon the national territory in any manner whatsoever. The revolutionary courts may also order this measure with regard to persons who have left the national territory and perform conspiratorial activities abroad against the Revolutionary Govern ment ”. This means that total confiscation of property is applied in three separate instances: first, as an additional penalty in all cases where persons are condemned for counter-revolutionary offences. The Act does not specify the type of sentence, so that it m ay happen that a m erchant sentenced to 15 days’ arrest for a m inor economic offence may be subjected to the “ additional penalty ” of total confiscation of property. The second possibility is th at in which total confiscation of property shall be ordered in the case o f persons abandoning the terri tory o f C uba “ in whatsoever m anner ”, in order to escape the action o f the revolutionary courts. This means that a simple denunciation, and a false one at that, against anyone who has left C uba for legitimate reasons is sufficient to bring the revolutionary court into action. It could consequently be held that the person denounced left the country “ in order to escape the action o f the revolutionary courts The result might be total confiscation o f property. The third instance is that of C ubans resident abroad but considered by the Revolutionary Government as “ counter-revolutionaries ”. The Act refers to “ conspiratorial activities ”, without specifying what these might be. If a visiting C uban professor of constitutional law gave a lecture abroad criticising Cuban constitutional legislation, this might be regarded by the suspicious authorities as incitement to rebellion and collaboration with anti-government elements. In that case the professor would lose all his property. It must be stressed that these examples are by no means fictitious. The evidence gathered in P art IV. o f this Report proves that Cuban reality often exceeds imagination. Article 2 of Act No. 664 provides that “ the confiscated property shall pass to the State from the date of the signature of the sentence 124 464

Article 4 authorizes the Ministry to recover misappropriated goods by “ seizure o f all property ordered by the court to be confis cated The Act also states that the Ministry shall take all steps concerning administration, maintenance, protection and supervision with regard to confiscated property. E.

Act No. 719

Act No. 719 was passed by the C astro regime in order to give greater effect to the repressive action of the Social Defence Code as regards certain offences covered by C hapter VI of. P art 13, “ Offences against public economy ”, and other offences defined in C hapter VI of Part 7, “ Dishonesty in commerce, industry and auction sales ”. Article 1 of the Act amends Article 390 of the Social Defence Code. The effect o f this amendment was to include under the same provisions laid down with regard to commerce actions peculiar to industrial, professional or agricultural activities. In other words, the field o f application of Article 390 was broadened. Article 2 amended Article 557 of the Social Defence Code, referring to dishonest practices in commerce or industry. Article 557 applies to the following cases: (a) W hen fraudulent means are used in order to increase the prices of articles o f prime necessity, including foodstuffs or everyday goods, or of items subject to official regulation. (b) W hen any form of goods are concealed or transported illicitly or sold at prices other than those officially fixed, or when such goods are removed from industrial, commercial or agricultural operations. (c) W hen a false declaration of needs or requirements is made in order to obtain allowances or quotas for the im portation of articles, products, raw materials, substances, “ or any other things ”, (d) W hen articles, products, raw materials or any other things the exportation of which is subject to restriction by the competent authorities are unlawfully exported. (e) W hen directions issued by the Government or by official authorities responsible for the control of prices and supplies are violated in whatever manner. The penalties for the above offences are imprisonment and fine graduated according to the seriousness o f the offence. Article 557 (g) stated the aggravating circumstances as follows: state of hostilities against another country, or during the year following the cessation of such hostilities; disturbance of the public peace; invasion o f the national territory; disaster; epidemic; serious econ omic hardship; or similar causes. In such instances, “ penalties shall 125 465

be doubled and shall always consist of imprisonment of natural persons Act No. 719 declared the offences defined under Article 557 (a ), (b ), (c ), (d) and (e) to be “ counter-revolutionary offences” (Article 4) and subjected them to the special jurisdiction o f the rev olutionary courts. F.

Act No. 732

This Act amends the Social Defence Code with the familiar effect of increasing the penalties previously laid down. The motives of the law state th at “ it m ust be recognized th at the provisions of the Social Defence Code have always proved insufficient owing to the leniency of the penalties provided therein ” . This time the Revolu tionary Government decreed an energetic repression of offences by public officials, especially “ misappropriation of public funds ”. Article 1 defines the offences o f m isappropriation o f public funds, fraud, unlawful exaction or negotiations forbidden to public officials as counter-revolutionary offences. Article 2 amends C hapter V of P art 8 of the Second Book of the Social Defence Code, by increasing penalties against public officials in charge of public funds or property who appropriate such funds or property for their own purposes or consent to such action on the part o f others. The penalty m ay range from imprisonment from 10 to 30 years to death. The Act defines other possible cases of m isappro priation of public funds in broad terms. Article 3 amends the provisions of the Social Defence Code relating to fraud and unlawful exaction. Article 27 (a) concerns public officials required by reason of their functions to intervene in sales, supplies, contracts or liquidation of public effects, works or property, who use any form o f deceit in order to defraud the public treasury. In such cases penalties ranging from 10 to 30 years imprison ment to death may apply. Article 4 amends Article 465 (d) of the Social Defence Code, referring to arson. It provides for penalties ranging from 10 to 30 years’ imprisonment to death against persons guilty o f “ setting fire to equipment or installations for sugar cane growing, woods, pasture land or crops either during or after harvest, of whatever nature the same penalties apply to “ persons causing damage by any action whatsoever in cane fields, in processing plants or in equipment for the transport o f cane ” . Article 5 states that “ the revolutionary courts shall be the only authority competent to judge offences defined under sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Act ”. Once again the dual purpose o f the amending legislation becomes apparent: to raise penalties so as to include the death sentence, and to extend the jurisdiction o f revolutionary courts. 126 466

Article 7 increases penalties against public officials engaging negotiations prohibited to them. G.

Act No. 858

Act No. 858 modifies further Articles 390 and 557 of the Social Defence Code. It will be recalled th at these articles were already amended on January 22, 1960 by Act No. 719, which was analyzed earlier. This Act increased penalties and extended the jurisdiction of revolutionary courts to economic offences. Six months later, the C astro regime adm itted that “ notwithstanding the energetic vigilance on the part of the public officials responsible for implementation of this Act (Act No. 719), and the application of the appropriate penal ties by the courts of justice, it has not been possible in certain cases to prevent dealing and speculation in articles subject to official regula tion ”. Faced with this situation, C astro’s regime found it necessary “ to increase certain penalties laid down in the articles referred to, in order to prevent such offences ”. F or example, imprisonment is applied in an increased number of cases. The Act repeats quite unnecessarily many parts of Act No. 719 that were not amended, thus supplying another proof o f the lack of m ethod underlying the legislative action of the regime. H.

Act No. 923

On January 4, 1961, these was issued Act No. 923. The motives of this Act are stated in the introductory paragraphs. The Council of Ministers refers to “ clandestine counter-revolutionary activity ”, describing it as “ financed and prom oted by foreign imperialist agents” . It adds that sabotage and terrorism are used with intensity increasing every day. It then refers to the need to provide for “ the indispensable measures whereby the legitimate and severe repression of counter revolutionary crime may be implemented ”. As a result Act No. 923, Article 1 amends Articles 465, 468 and 469 of the Social Defence Code, which referred to arson and other related outrages and offences. Article 465 o f the C ode is kept with practically the same wording, but an im portant change is introduced in paragraph (ft), in the provisions for penalties. The previous rate o f 10 to 25 years was maintened for crimes committed “ without counter revolutionary p u rp o se” while a stiffer rate of from 20 years to death shall punish acts committed with such purpose. The distinc tion between these two motives, essentially a political one, is left to the discretion of the revolutionary court. Article 468 deals with “ attem pts on the life of persons ” or damage caused to objects through explosive substances or instruments or other means capable of producing considerable damage. F or 127 467

such cases the amendment establishes penalties ranging from 20 years’ imprisonment to death. The amendment to Article 469 (a) provided penalties ranging from im prisonment to death in the case of persons who, without proper legal authorization, have in their possession in whatsoever form or place inflammable or explosive material, bombs, live phos phorus or any other similar substance or instrum ent capable of causing sabotage or acts o f terrorism. The original text laid down the penalty o f im prisonment for six m onths and a day to six years for such offences. The amendment to Article 469 (b) applies the same penalties in the case of persons who, without due authorization, “ manufacture, supply, sell or transport substances or instruments of the types mentioned in the previous paragraph ” . N o t content with providing the death penalty for the three above mentioned offences, the regime provides in Section 2 for the same penalty in the case of “ the persons either directly or indirectly res ponsible for the offences listed under sections 465 (a) and (e), 468 and 469 of the Social Defence Code, as well as accomplices or accessories ” . To complete the round of penalties laid down under this Act, Article 3 authorises “ any confiscation of property deemed to be necessary by the Government in order to prevent acts of sabotage, terrorism or any other counter-revolutionary activities ”. Such action is carried out through the M inistry of Finance. The wording of this provision reveals the extent o f powers arrogated by the present C uban government over the property of its citizens. The Government need only “ deem it necessary ” to prevent the action o f any person not in sympathy with the regime to make him liable for what the regime regards as “ any other counter-revolutionary activity”. I.

Act No. 988

This Act may be described as the “ Act o f the death sentence ”. Its single introductory paragraph refers at large to “ counter-revolu tionary activities consisting o f assassination, sabotage or destruction of the national wealth ”. It further declares that such acts are pro moted, financed and directed by N orth American imperialism. It “ demands th at the revolutionary power impose the most severe penalties Article 1 provides th at “ so long as the menace of aggression from outside or the prom otion o f counter-revolutionary activities within the country is m aintained by N orth American imperialism ”, the sentence of death shall be applied to persons listed in the following five paragraphs: (a) Persons organizing or belonging to an armed group in order to commit any offence against the State pow ers; 128

468

(b) Persons responsible for the offences of arson or other outrage covered by Articles 465 (a) and (ej,468 and 469 of the Social Defence C ode, as modified by Act No. 923 of January 4, 1961; (c) Persons responsible for attem pted or actual assassination for counter-rev olutionary purposes; (d) Persons entering the national territory from abroad in order to commit acts of sabotage or any other counter revolutionary activity; (e) Persons invading the national territory in any m anner whatsoever in armed groups to combat the Revolution” . As will be seen, this Act eliminates any graduation of penalties “ from 20 years’ imprisonment to death ”, and simply imposes the death sentence. The regime could not resist the opportunity to extend the penalty of general confiscation of property to “ landowners sup plying, sheltering or in any m anner collaborating with or abetting saboteurs, terrorists, assassins, armed groups or counter-revolutionary elements of any nature whatsoever ”. (Article 2) This was ordered irrespective o f the criminal liability they might incur. This article means in fact that C uban citizens who do not agree with the regime’s policies become “ untouchables ” who must be denied all forms o f assistance, from medical care to a glass of water. It must be remembered, in studying this Act, that to qualify persons as “ counter-revolutionary elements o f any nature whatsoever ” is left to the discretion o f the revolutionary government and that, in its established practice, any form and degree of disagreement with the regime of Fidel C astro constitutes counter-revolutionary activity. Article 3 places all authority for taking action required for con fiscation o f property on the N ational Land Reform Institute (INRA). In implementing this authority, the IN R A is not bound by decisions of ordinary courts, indeed not even o f revolutionary courts. The present Act “ simplifies ” the proceedings. All th at is needed to order confiscation of property is a report by the revolution ary armed forces or the State security authorities. Article 3 actually read s: “ F or the purposes of the provisions of the preceding article, the National Land Reform Institute (INRA) shall implement the necessary measures acting on inform ation received from the revolu tionary armed forces ”. This Act authorizes the IN R A to confiscate rural and other proper ty of persons deemed guilty of helping in any way those regarded by the regime as counter-revolutionary elements. This authority applies to the exclusion of regular judicial procedure. It should be remembered here that other executive organs have been given power to confiscate property. F or instance, Act No. 923 states th at the Ministry of Finance shall carry out any confiscation of property considered necessary by C astro’s regime. Act No. 664 empowers the Ministry for the Recovery of M isappropriated Property to effect seizure of property the confiscation of which is decreed by a revolu tionary court. 129 469

Act No. 1018

The new law declared unauthorized slaughter and traffic in beef a “ counter-revolutionary crime ” punishable by jail sentences of up to five years. Those who buy beef in any unauthorized place are liable to a one-year jail sentence. The Revolutionary Courts have special jurisdiction to decide these cases 1. Conclusions 1. The first criminal legislation adopted immediately after the regime came to power was aimed at crimes committed by “ the tyrant Batista and his immediate collaborators ” . 2. U nder the pretext o f effective condemnation of the responsible persons under the previous regime, retroactive criminal legislation was introduced as an exceptional measure. 3. Similarly, again as an exceptional measure, the death penalty was extended to persons described as political offenders. 4. It was further stipulated th at as an exceptional measure such persons should be tried by special courts following special procedures to the exclusion of regular judicial action. 5. Moreover, appeals on grounds of violation of the C onstitution were forbidden in cases of political offenders. 6. These exceptional measures were gradually extended: first, to “ Latifundistas ” (big landowners), a term used by the regime to describe any conservative tendencies; second, to “ agents of imperialism ”, a term used by C astro to describe those who in one way or another opposed his policies; third, to “ counter-revolution aries ”, namely those former followers who, although still collaborat ing with the regime, had expressed their opposition to the growing communist influence; and( fourth, the “ gusanos ”, (caterpillars), the word used by the regime to designate those who are not Castro supporters. 7. Any new criminal legislation has had two aim s: first, to increase penalties; second, to simplify proceedings. This dual aim reached its climax with Act No. 988, establishing the death sentence as the only penalty for a broad variety of crimes and authorizing confis cation o f property without trial. 8. The legislative texts endeavoured first to provide a more or less accurate definition of offences covered by them. But gradually, as penalties increased and the possibilities of their imposition became easier, the ambiguity of texts also increased. It is common to find expressions such as “ those o f any nature whatsoever ”, “ those 1 See: Hispanic American Report, Vol. XV, No. 3, May 1962, p. 225 130 470

performing any activity whatsoever considered as counter-revolution ary ”, “ those abandoning national territory in any m anner what soever ”, “ those having counter-revolutionary aims 9. The Social Defence Code of 1938 is termed a secondary source of law, as pointed out in connection with Act No. 33. In the light of the Acts considered, it is apparent that Acts Nos. 425, 719, 732, 858, 923 and 988 amend the Social Defence C ode, thus showing that th at C ode is not merely o f supplementary character. 10. A study of the criminal legislation issued by the C astro regime shows the deliberate process of concentration of power on one hand and the gradual encroachment on individual freedoms on the other. 11. The painstaking concern with form, reflected in the established pattern of constitutional amendments preceding every new piece o f criminal legislation, is not followed in practice, as will be shown in P art IV o f this Report. 12. The criminal legislation of the C astro regime has aimed primarily at the extermination of any political opposition. The repressive machinery of the regime has been progressively increased and per fected. The broad extension o f the application of the death penalty gave its legislation a terroristic character. The elimination of the distinction between political and common law offences added further to this trend. Political sentences are served in ordinary prisons together with common criminals, political offenders have not the right of asylum; they are submitted to extradition and subject to forced labour and compelled to wear a convict’s uniform (see P art IV). 2. A.

LEGISLATION ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Regulation No. 1 and Act No. 33

As stated in the preceding chapter, Act No. 33 modified Regulation No. 1 of the Revolutionary Army. It contains provisions with regard to both substantive and procedural criminal law. The Act established m artial jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Army to hear offences committed by “ members of the armed forces or civilians in the service of the tyranny ”. C riminal justice with regard to offences committed by such persons is to be administered in accordance with Act No. 33. This jurisdiction covers the whole territory of C uba (Article 1). Article 2 distinguishes between two forms of offences: a) offences and misdemeanours committed by members of the armed forces in active service. These acts fall specifically under military juris diction; b) assassination, murder, injury to persons under arrest or prisoners, rape, arson or damage, robbery or looting committed by “ members of the armed forces or civilians in the service of the tyranny ”. 131 471

The Revolutionary Army has been also granted power to hear cases against the integrity and stability of the nation (Articles 128 to 161 of the Social Defence Code), against individual rights (Articles 170 to 213 S.D.C .), misappropriations of public funds (Articles 420 to 426 S.D.C.) and frauds and illegal exaction (Articles 427 to 430 S.D.C.). Article 2 concludes: “ Offences not covered by this Regulation shall come within the competence of the ordinary courts The criminal jurisdiction of revolutionary courts within the scope defined above is exercised by Majors, Judges, M ilitary Advisers and Heads of M ilitary Missions (Article 3). The preliminary action concerned with investigation o f an offence is ordered by a M ajor. H e appoints a Judge, C aptain or Head of Mission or any officer to carry out investigation and inform the competent authority. The Judge has to deal with any denunciations received. He m ay also act as secretary if so appointed, keeping all documents (Article 4). Every C ommanding Officer is required to set up his Ordinary M ilitary Tribunal, subject to approval of his nom ination by his superior officer and after having heard the opinion of the legal ad viser o f the unit. The Military Tribunal is composed of a Chairman, who may be the C ommander or any other person named in his place, and two members selected from among advisers and officers. These persons m ust be of at least equal rank with the accused. The accused is entitled to name his defence counsel. If he does n o t so choose, defence counsel is appointed on his behalf. The C om m ander appoints the prosecutor (Article 5). This Act also organizes the Supreme Military Tribunal. The Commander-in-Chief is the Chairman, having the right to appoint an officer to discharge this function. Members are four advisers or officers. The C ourt is competent to hear appeals against death sentences imposed by an Ordinary M ilitary C ourt (Article 6). C ompetence is determined according to the place where the offence was committed, but the office of the Advocate General of the Army may “ refer the case to whatever revolutionary court or Military Tribunal it deems fit for the most effective administration o f revolutionary justice ” (Article 7). Questions of jurisdiction and competence arising between re volutionary military judicial authorities and ordinary judicial author ities must be settled by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court o f Justice, which has seven days from the date of receiving the do cuments to settle the controversy (Article 8). Summary verbal proceedings are applied and the secretary is required to note in writing w hat the Act describes as “ essential details ”. 132 472

The C hairm an of the Tribunal announces the date o f trial, and all evidence is received and dealt with at the trial. Such trial may only be suspended at the request of the C hairman or the adviser, in order that evidence essential for clarification of the facts be obtained (Article 9). Article 11 provides that when an Act presumed to constitute an offence is committed in an area distant from the camp the arrest of the accused person may be ordered and preliminary investigation carried out against any member of the armed forces or “ any person in the service of the revolution ”. However, the arrested person has to be brought immediately before the nearest military authority. Act No. 33 declares that the C riminal Procedure Act of Septem ber 17,1882 applies with supplementary force to criminal proceedings (Article 16). This Act m arked the beginning of application of revolutionary justice to persons accused of political offences “ in the service of the tyranny ” . B.

Criminal Procedure Act o f 1882 and Procedura Law of 1896.

As described above, Article 16 of Act No. 33 established sup plementary criminal legislation, both substantive and procedural. It also laid down the order of priority of such supplementary legis lation : “ Both in defining offences and circumstances, and in fixing the degree and extent of penalties, and with regard to all other matters not provided for in this Regulation and not contradicted thereby ”, the following sources are to be taken into account: a) the fundamental principles of justice and equity; b) as supplementary positive law, the substantive and procedural criminal legislation in force during the W ar of Independence in the Republic of C uba im Arms is declared valid; c) also with supplementary character, provided th at this is not contrary to the provisions of this Regulation, the criminal legislation of the Republic of C uba in Arms shall also apply. d) the Social Defence Code also applies with the same supplementary force; and e) the same applies to the C riminal Procedure Act of September 17, 1882. The purpose of No. 33 Act is to regulate pro cedure with regard to offences within the scope of revolutionary military jurisdiction. a) The provisions of Act No. 33 regarding supplementary legislation introduce vast confusion in the field of criminal law, both substantive and procedural. This is true not only of the ambi guous m anner of referring to legislation in force before the W ar of Independence but also through specific reference to certain Acts, such as the C riminal Procedure Act of 1882. This Act was prom ulgated “ for the islands of C uba and Puerto Rico ” under Royal Decree of September 17, 1882 and came into 133 473

force in C uba on January 1, 1889. The Decree was signed by M aria C hristina, as Queen Regent on behalf and “ in the name of her August Son the King D on Alfonso X III In the history of law in C uba it is paradoxical to find the revolutionary regime o f Fidel Castro restoring a Royal Decree. The Criminal Procedure Act, true to the tendencies of its day, is a casuistic document. It comprises seven books, divided into parts, with a total of 998 articles and a final provision. It deals with the competence o f judges and courts in criminal questions, exclusion and exculpation of magistrates, notification and sum monses, and lays down extensive requirements with regard to pre liminary hearings, regulates ordinary as well as special trial procedure, provides for appeals, outlines the procedure regarding misdemeanours, and deals with the execution of sentences. b) On July 28, 1896, the Procedural Law of the Republic of Cuba in Arms was adopted. This law also remains in effect as supplementary legislation under the present regime. It was amended by Act No. 634 of November 20, 1959, in Articles 100, 101 and 107. The general provisions concerning wartime jurisdiction, ad m inistration o f justice, procedure, etc. as contained in Act No. 33 derive from this procedural legislation of 1896. It lays down de tailed provisions with regard to the summary oral procedure. Since this is the procedure adopted under Article 9 of Act No. 33 for the revolutionary courts, we shall refer briefly to the m anner in which the law of 1896 deals with this subject. Criminal proceedings in revolutionary courts. A Military Tribunal may require the investigating judge to submit verbal reports and, if there is sufficient ground for a case to be brought, a prosecutor is appointed. The judge informs the accused th at he may appoint defence council. If he does not choose to do so, counsel is ap pointed on his behalf. Proceedings are governed by Articles 80 and 88. Article 80 provides: “ When the court has been constituted and the judge, the prosecutor, the accused and the defence counsel are present, the case shall be heard, and the secretary shall read the conclusions submitted by the parties and the findings of the invest igating judge ”. W hen these requirements have been fulfilled, evidence may be submitted as previously authorized. The accused, witnesses, ex perts, the judge and others may intervene, and any questions may be asked, subject to approval by the court, the accused and the prosecutor (Article 81). Persons required to give evidence in court must first answer questions asked by the judge regarding their name, situation, age, occupation, domicile, etc. (Article 82). 134 474

After all evidence has been heard, the parties may alter theis provisional conclusions in writing. A t this stage of the proceedings, both parties, the prosecutor and the accused, may submit their final conclusions. If they do not do so the conclusions stated within the terms o f Article 80 are taken as final (Article 85). Consequently the chairman may give the floor to the prosecutor to read his final conclusions. He m ust then allow the defence counsel to speak, and to uphold the conclusions they have submitted. (Article 86). W hen these submissions are completed, the chairman m ust ask the accused whether he has anything else to say in his defence and will allow anything he finds suitable with regard to the facts to be stated (Article 87). Once the accused has made his statement, the chairman closes the arguments and the verdict will be pronounced. The secretary takes note of all proceedings, mentioning only the results of each presentation of evidence, without going into discussion by the parties (Article 89). All proceedings relating to the previous points are conducted in public, except in the instance stated in Article 31 and granting courts the right to clear the court room when reasons of politics or public morality so require or when it is regarded as necessary for the maintenance of order. Appeals. Article 111 o f the Procedural Law o f 1896 states that “ there shall be no appeal against a verbal sentence by a Military Tribunal, and such sentence shall be carried out forthwith The same section deals with the possibility of disagreement between the judge and the members o f the Tribunal. In such instances, the sentence m ust be submitted for approval to the military authority, “ which may declare the proceedings to be invalid and require the case to be re-examined through preliminary investigation or call for immediate implementation Nevertheless, the Law provides for two forms of appeal, in first and second instance. These possibilities were modified by Act No. 634 of November 20, 1959 which will be further analysed below.1 The new text o f Article 100 referring to first appeal now stands as follows: “ W hen the penalty is for death, an automatic appeal may be lodged.” The other sentences in which different penalties are applied can only be reviewed. M otions for review have to be made at the time o f notification o f the sentence or within 24 hours thereafter (Article 100 (2)). This remedy is the only means available under the new criminal legislation with regard to sentences other than for the death penalty, and m ust be brought before the same court which passed the sentence. This court then hears the prosecution and decides either for or against the motion. However, Act No. 634 establishes the principle 1 Gaceta Oficial. No. 222, November 23, 1959

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th at this decision, regardless whether upholding or rejecting the appeal, shall be final (Article 101 as amended). Should the m otion for review be rejected, the sentence must be carried out. If the m otion is upheld, the procedure in the second instance is the same as in the first instance, except that no new evidence is directly admitted. The facts proved in the previous hearing are accepted and the parties must argue merely to questions of law or of equity arising in regard to the penalties imposed. A further point of interest is in connection with the procedure against persons indicted in their absence. The Law then provides that the case shall be heard without a further summons, until a sentence be pronounced (Article 121). The Law provides that this sentence shall take effect “ until such time as it is revoked by a further sentence pronounced by a new Military Tribunal ” (Article 123). Accused persons are granted the right to appear voluntarily, placing themselves at the disposal of the court. In such cases it may be requested th at the case be tried again, with a new verdict. Act No. 634 of November 1959 stipulates that cases in respect of the counter-revolutionary offences covered by Act No. 425 “ shall be heard in summary proceedings by revolutionary courts and by the procedure established in the Procedural Law of the Republic of Cuba in Arms o f July 28,1896 ”, subject to the modifications introduced by Act No. 425. Was the Procedural Law of the Republic of C uba in Arms of July 28, 1896 in force or not? If so, as stated by Act No. 33, article 16 (January 1959), why this new reference? If not, what is the value of Article 16? Before proceeding to study Act No. 634, with a view to maintain the chronological order followed so far, it is necessary to analyze procedural provisions contained in Act No. 425. C.

Act No. 425.

The revolutionary courts operated in Cuba throughout the national territory, from the coming to power o f the C astro regime until July 9, 1959. It was on that date that Act No. 425 suspended the operation of the revolutionary courts. They were restored by Act No. 634 of November 23, 1959. These special courts have since operated con tinuously. The provisions of this Act with regard to criminal procedure are contained in Articles 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 19. Article 14 declares the revolutionary courts no longer competent to deal with offences committed by members o f the armed forces or civilians covered by the terms of Regulation No. 1 of the Rebel Army, as modified by Act No. 33 of January 29, 1959. The article 136 476

states: “ The operation o f the revolutionary courts is therefore sus pended.” The next paragraph states: “ However, the revolutionary courts shall not be dissolved so long as the Revolutionary Provisional Government remains in office, and provided that the defence o f the Revolution so requires the Council o f Ministers may transfer to its jurisdiction and competence any cases initiated in connection with offences covered by this Act, if there have been no sentences.” This provision should be emphasized. A mere reading reveals the conflict between the suspension of the operation of the revolutionary courts and the reservation made in the following paragraph. This reflects two conflicting tendencies referred to earlier in P art I: those within the Provisional Government established in C uba on January 1, 1959 which may be considered as moderate and based on law, and the extremist elements pursuing the transform ation of the social and economic order in C uba by violence. The motives o f Act No. 425 strike an apologetic tone with regard to the contents of the body of the Act. F or example, they are concerned over general definitions of counter-revolutionary activity “ which need to be clearly defined ”, since they might lead to “ the possibility of affecting adversely the inestimable value of individual freedom which the Revolution under took to guarantee ”. W ith regard to the revolutionary courts it is stated in the eighth introductory paragraph: “ It was the aspiration of the whole population that upon the trium ph of the Revolution levelling all social inequality and restoring the democratic principles of the Rule o f Law there should be no failure to ensure the proper punish ment of those who, in order to retain substantially unlawful power, neglected all human rights.” The following introductory clause explains why the revolutionary courts should be suspended by the provisions o f this Act. It is stated th a t: “ Trials of the worst criminals under the tyranny in accord ance with the penal provisions laid down by the Rebel High Command became imperative when the Revolution triumphed, in order to fulfil the high purposes of justice and to prevent the relatives of the in numerable victims of the official terror under the overthrown regime from exacting justice by themselves.” This, it is stated, would lead to a “ just but disorderly private retribution ” and result in “ vengeance leading the country into anarchy ”. This apologetic tone continues in the following introductory clause, which claims that “ judicial power was in a clear state of disorganization, which caused the Government to set up revolutionary courts ” . This introductory paragraph con cludes, in the m anner of a post-mortem, by stating that the revolution ary courts “ have performed their difficult task with serenity ” . The intention o f these introductory clauses is clear. They profess the desire to eliminate the revolutionary courts. Yet the extremist tendencies reappear in the final introductory clause: “ In addition, with a view to the future, although the operation o f the revolutionary courts is suspended for the present, the possibility o f their restoration 137 477

m ust be admitted when the imminent defence of the Revolution so demands, in whatever circumstances, during the term o f office o f the Revolutionary Provisional Government.” The intention to restore these special courts is reflected in this provision, and this was in fact what happened four months and 14 days later by Act No. 634 o f November 23, 1959. Article 15 provides that cases pending before the revolutionary courts should be transferred within 30 workdays in the actual stage of proceedings to the ordinary courts. And it is also stated that persons held under arrest in connection with these pending cases should be placed at the disposal of the competent ordinary courts. These courts were to try cases in accordance with the criminal procedure issued by C astro’s regime. Article 16 states the requirements for substantiation of cases to be referred to ordinary justice. Article 13 states the procedure to be followed by ordinary courts in cases of counter-revolutionary offences. These offences are subject to a procedure applying in cases of delictum flagrans as governed by P art III of book IV of the Criminal Procedure Act at present in force. This Criminal Procedure Act referred to here was the Act prom ul gated by Royal Decree in 1882. Cases of delictum flagrans are subject by the Act of 1882 to special procedure. The regulations which have to govern such procedure are laid down in Articles 788 to 803 and are notable for the flexibility of the proceedings and the brief wording o f the judicial terms. Article 17 of the Act No. 425 establishes the light to appeal. This may be lodged by the prosecuting Ministry, the private parties joined with it or the defendants. The Act of 1882 established in Article 101 the right of the public to present indictments. It adds that “ all Spanish citizens may bring such action according to legal pro visions Since this Act was adopted by Cuba, all C uban citizens have been entitled to bring penal proceedings. This article is supple mented by the provisions o f Article 270 o f the Act, stating that all Spanish (Cuban) citizens, whether or not injured by the offence, may bring proceedings in accordance with Article 101 of th at Act. Appeals may be brought before the court which pronounced the sentence. This must be done immediately after pronouncement o f the sentence or within three days thereafter. Admission of an appeal suspends the total or partial execution o f the sentence. The Act admits two exceptions: a) in cases where the sentence is for discharge and the accused has served a term of preventive detention in con nection with the case, such person m ust be released immediately; b) when the accused has been sentenced to imprisonment in excess of two years, provisional imprisonment must be ordered. Finally, Article 19 repeals laws and regulations in conflict with the provisions of Act No. 425. 138 478

Act No. 634

As already stated in the chapter on the constitutional structure of Cuba, any Act containing a major alteration of C uban law was preceded by an amendm ent to the Fundam ental Law. The Council o f Ministers (as constituent organ) reformed the Constitution, and the Council of M inisters (as legislative organ) issued legislation “ in agreement with the constitutional reform ”, authorizing any Minister (all of them members of the Council) to apply the Act. This also happened with Act No. 634. On October 29, 1959 a constitutional amendment act was issued amending Article 174 of the Fundam ental Law, which referred to the competence of ordinary courts. This article states that, notwithstand ing any provisions regarding ordinary or military jurisdiction, “ the revolutionary courts, whose operation is hereby restored, shall hear cases arising from offences described by the Act as counter-revolution ary This “ constitutional restoration ” of the operation o f revolu tionary courts, whose existence and suspension were the subject of purely legislative provisions, gives an idea of the confusion of powers in Cuba. Consequently, Act No. 634 was passed, with reference in the third introductory clause to the political m otives: “ It is evident th at counter-revolutionary activities both within and without the national territory impede the Governm ent’s economic and social development plans.” The same clause goes on to say that it is necessary to restore the revolutionary courts in order to deal with this situation. Article 1 of Act No. 634 transfers to the competence o f the revolu tionary courts all cases initiated in respect of counter-revolutionary offences, as defined in the amending legislation to the Social Defence Code contained in Act No. 425. These courts are to be governed by the procedure established in the Procedural Act of the Republic of Cuba in Arms o f July 28, 1896, as reformed by the present Act. Article 2 declares th at the competence o f the ordinary courts is term inated with regard to hearing and judging counter-revolutionary offences covered by Act No. 425. The article repeats that “ henceforth the revolutionary courts shall be the only authorities competent to judge such offences The Ministry o f the Revolutionary Armed Forces was instructed in Article 3 to appoint the members o f the revolutionary courts in each judicial district, within seven days. This had to be done in accord ance with the provisions o f P art IV o f Book I o f the Procedural Act of the Republic o f C uba in Arms o f 1896. This P art IV refers to organization and powers o f courts, under the headings o f: a) Ordinary Military Tribunals of first instance; b) Appellate M ilitary Tribunals; and c) the Supreme Military Tribunal. Ordinary M ilitary Tribunals are composed o f a chairman and four members. All members m ust be o f at least equal rank with the accused if that accused is a member o f the armed forces. Military 139 479

tribunals hear all cases at the level of first or second instance which are not within the exclusive competence o f the Supreme Military Tribunal (Article 20 of the 1896 Act). W hen an Ordinary M ilitary Tribunal hears a case in the second instance, it must replace the members who pronounced the sentence in the first instance. The new members m ust be officers of higher rank than th at of the previous members (Article 21). Appellate Procedure. Councils of Revision act as appellate courts to consider sentences pronounced by Ordinary M ilitary Tribunals. This is the case when the right of appeal is granted to one o f the parties or when the military authorities required to order execution of the sentence are not in agreement with that sentence. The C ouncil consists o f officers o f a higher rank than th at of the members o f the Ordinary Military Tribunal (Article 22). Members o f the C ouncil are appointed from among all officers of the ranks entitling to membership o f the court. They m ust be present in the military camp where the C ouncil is to meet (Article 23). Supreme Military Tribunal. The Supreme Military Tribunal is under the chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief. The members of the Supreme Military Tribunal shall be the Advocate-General o f the Army and general officers o f at least equal rank with the accused (Article 24). Act No. 634 provided further that persons charged with counter revolutionary offences are no t entitled to release on bail when there are reasonable indications of guilt (Article 4). Article 5 lays down requirements for transfer o f cases from ordinary courts to revolutionary courts. This is the procedure covered by Act No. 425, except in the opposite direction. Article 6 is a direct attack on the independence o f the judiciary. It establishes that “ members o f the judiciary and o f the Ministry of Justice may be seconded to serve on revolutionary courts ”. Each transfer many occur at the request of the Advocate-General of the Revolutionary Army. This article is based on the transitory provision to Section Eight of Title X II o f the Fundam ental Law, which, as already stated, provides that members of the Judiciary may be seconded to serve on military courts of criminal jurisdiction at the request of the Advocate-General o f the Revolutionary Army. Article 7, 8, and 9 of Act N o. 634 modify Articles 100,101 and 107 o f the Procedural Law o f the Republic of C uba in Arms o f 1896, which was discussed above. Article 11 repeals Article 13 of Act No. 425 which provided that counter-revolutionary offences should be heard within the framework of the Criminal Procedure Act o f 1882 for cases of delictum flagrans. 140 480

E. Act No. 9251 This Act modified section 528 of the C riminal Procedure of 1882. This section refers to provisional imprisonment and requires that it should last only so long as the reasons causing it subsist. However, the Act says, this benefit shall not apply to those accused o f nonbailable offences. Crimes defined as “ counter-revolutionary ” are considered by the C astro regime as “ non-bailable offences ”. 2 Conclusions 1. M ilitary jurisdiction has been set up by the C astro regime from its early days to judge those responsible for the Batista dictatorship. 2. This special jurisdiction was acting under very flexible procedures. 3. Special jurisdiction and flexible procedures were quickly extended to trials of political opponents. 4. The main objective of the procedural legislation was to facilitate the prom pt condemnation o f all accused of “ counter-revolutionary activities 5. Practice proved that m ost o f that even these inadequate rules of procedure have been continually violated by the regime. (See evidence submitted in the following part.)

1 Gaceta Oficial, Special Issue No. 2, January 5, 1961 2 Article 13, Act No. 425 141 481

P a r t Fourth

STATEMENTS BY WITNESSES I. INTRODUC TION The mass of factual material contained on the following pages was obtained by means of personal interviews conducted in November and December 1961 with 124 persons who suffered themselves or were eye witnesses of various violations of hum an rights. In all cases witnesses were asked to confine themselves to stating what had happened to them or what they had themselves seen, and to supply details of the place, time, circumstances, manner, persons involved, m ethods employed and the general conditions in which the events occurred. The investigation was carried out fairly and care was taken to ensure th at each witness should be able to talk freely. Each state m ent was taken down verbatim. W hen it had been typed out, the witness read his statement and pointed out any corrections he thought necessary. The final version was signed by the witness in the presence of the C ommission’s representative in charge of this investigation and of two lawyers who were assisting him in its conduct. The identity of all witnesses was ascertained and their names, addresses and written statements are now in the C ommission’s files. The investigation covered all sections of the C uban people ranging from the m ost influential classes to the poor and obscure. Interviews were held with employers and workers, manufacturers and peasants, businessmen and clerks, officers and soldiers, university graduates and illiterates, skilled workers and students, industrial workers and farm workers, farmers and fishermen, men and women, old and young. Each of the conclusions is corroborated by several pieces of evidence and in no case is a conclusion based on the statement of a single witness. The several sections are arranged by subjects and contain statements by witnesses who are identified by their profession or by the reference numbers assigned to them in the C ommission’s files. The m ost im portant parts of their evidence are quoted in full. II.

TH E P O S IT IO N OF TH E JUDICIARY

Once the Revolution had overthrown Batista, it became apparent that there were in C uba two completely dissimilar and barely com patible forces. On one side were the forces which looked back to 142 482

r the original aims of the Revolution and tried to steer the country’s political life into constitutional and legal channels. On the other side were the forces which had fought in the Sierra M aestra and their new communist allies, determined to carry out their own programme by all the means in their power. Eye witnesses who visited C uba on various occasions after C astro assumed power have described these two forces, which initially were in a state of uneasy equilibrium. It was not difficult for observers during the early months o f the Revolution to forecast the outcome o f the struggle between these two conflicting forces. A former judge of the Supreme C ourt stated: “ The crisis within the judiciary was acute from the start. ” According to officials of the judiciary, as early as October 1959 when an aircraft dropped pamphlets on H avana an attem pt was made to call a plenary session of the Supreme C ourt to obtain its support for a protest against such acts. This support would of course have been completely unrelated to the C ourt’s functions and therefore quite illegal; owing to the opposi tion of a num ber of the judges the idea was rejected, although it was agreed “ once and once only ” to issue a public statement repu diating such acts. In June 1960, when the President of the Tribunal of Accounts resigned, one of the judges asked the Supreme C ourt to communicate his letter o f resignation to the revolutionary courts because (according to this member of the Supreme Court) the views expressed by the resigning judge “ am ounted to a counter-revolu tionary act ”. Our witness added the following comment: “ Although this proposal was rejected, some judges made it plain that they were willing to acquiesce in this humiliation of the Supreme C ourt ”. On September 1, 1960, when the law courts were officially opened, the Public Prosecutor of the Supreme C ourt made a speech couched in such openly antidemocratic language that it was apparent that the final crisis was not far off. (see Part I, pp. 65-66). The judges’ resignations began to be known in November 1960. At this time a plenary session o f the C ourt was held and the judges were divided into two camps—those who were determined to col laborate w ith the ruling regime and those who wished to confine themselves to the administration of justice in accordance with the Fundam ental Law and their own oath. On December 16, 1960, Fidel Castro made one of his customary speeches on television. During this speech C astro said in effect that the Judiciary was parasitical, that it would be better for magis trates and judges to resign because if they did not they would in any case find themselves out of a job, th at their salaries were three times as high as those o f a major who had fought for two years in the Sierra M aestra, and that civilian magistrates were “ botelleros ” (a C uban word for civil servants who draw their pay without doing any work). Following this speech eight members of the Supreme C ourt drafted 1 4 3

483

a joint letter of resignation, which they submitted to a plenary ses sion o f the Court. One of the authors of this letter stated: “ Our letter can be summarized as follows: the Revolution had proclaimed that the independence of the Judiciary in accordance with the 1940 C onstitution would be one of its main pillars; th at the words of Prime M inister C astro had caused a crisis within the Judi ciary; th at in discharging our duties in accordance with the C on stitution and our oath, our only aim had been to enforce the law fairly without either favouring or opposing the Government and w ithout either favouring or opposing any public authorities and that we would continue to do so; that the dem and that we should identify ourselves with the Revolution and its ideas (as of course embodied in the Governm ent’s policies—although we did not put it in this way) would discredit our office and that if it was considered that our past conduct—which we would not alter on any account—did not w arrant our continuation in office, the Government must dispense with our services, since under a law in force we were forbidden to resign our offices as a body. “ The plenary session of the C ourt at which the statement by the 8 judges was due to come up for consideration was to be held on December 21 at 1 p.m. But on the morning of that day the Govern ment, which had been inform ed o f the text of the statement, dismissed from office the 8 judges who had signed it. It subsequently dismissed 2 more judges. All told, 14 members of the Supreme C ourt felt bound to resign or to accept their own dismissal. “ Thus ended the story o f the highest court o f justice, which the Revolution itself had promised to restore but which did not in fact endure for more than 2 years.” Secretarial assistant at the Supreme Court W hen the invasion of C uba took place in April 1961, the repressive machinery of the C astro regime carried out large-scale arrests. These arrests were completely indiscriminate and affected all sections of the population. F or example, a woman employed in the offices of the C uban Supreme C ourt stated that: “ A t about 1 o ’clock in the afternoon of April 17 of this year, I was ordered by a uniformed policeman to accompany him to the police post in the Supreme C ourt building. Once downstairs I was taken to the cell normally used by those awaiting trial by the Havana C ourt. I was guarded by militiawomen armed with sub-machine guns. “ The cell contained about 40 women, all of whom were employed in the C ourt offices. I witnessed about 50 m en being placed in the cell next door, including D r. Justiniani Duval, Secretary for Admin 144 484

istrative Disputes and Special Legislation, Dr. Rafael Galeano, and various other officials o f the Supreme C ourt. “ Our cell was too small for the num ber of people in it, and after 3 o ’clock in the afternoon we were taken away in an arm oured truck belonging to the army, in which we were guarded by soldiers armed with sub-machine guns. This time we were taken to the Sports Palace. “ It was there that our captivity really began, for the building contained over 5,000 people, both men and women, including doctors still in their operating gowns who had been taken away from their clinics and a num ber of working-class people, such as bus workers. ” Lawyer with several years’ professional experience Ordinary Criminal Justice “ The crisis in the judiciary as regards the working of ordinary criminal justice takes the following form s: “ In the first place the police organization ignore their obligation to bring arrested persons before a court within 24 hours o f their arrest, nor do they allow arrested persons to communicate with their lawyers. Cases occur daily in which people under arrest are kept incommunicado for up to 2 months without being allowed to see a lawyer or being brought before a court. “ The judicial authorities tolerate, and even connive in, at these irregularities for there has not been a single case in which they have taken action against those responsible for these breaches o f the law. “ I had an average of 2 or 3 new cases a day and if one in 50 was spontaneously brought before a court within 24 hours it was an exceptional case. Usually no-one was brought before a court within less than 4 days, and all communication was prevented. ” Justice and the People's Militia “ Each court, which nowadays has been reduced to only 3 judges, or rather 3 magistrates, usually contains 1 or 2 members of the militia. In C uba there used to be 5 judges in each court, and although only 3 used to be present at the hearings the court itself was actually com posed of 5 judges. “ Since the C astro Revolution there have been large numbers of vacancies in the law courts and magistrates’ courts, and at the present time each court only contains 1 or at the most 2 proper judges. “ As these vacancies cannot be filled, magistrates from the lower courts are prom oted to run the senior courts although in fact the great majority o f them are unfamiliar with the operation o f such courts. “ This has the drawback th at hearings are suspended almost every day. It is quite common for a case to begin and to be suspended 145 485

15 or 20 times. Each suspension is for at least 10 days and at the end o f nearly a year the whole case has to be cancelled and retried—while the accused is meanwhile deprived of his freedom. “ C riminal justice in C uba at the present time has also suffered a very serious setback because of the lack o f m oral authority on the p art of the judges, who are respected neither by the police nor by the general public, and their orders, as a result, are not obeyed. “ M any witnesses or accused belong to the militia and almost every day some of them do not trouble to appear; the courts have to resign themselves to ordering another suspension and meanwhile the accused is deprived o f his freedom. ” This experienced lawyer quoted a typical example of the collusion which takes place in C uba between the courts and the People’s Militia. He stated : “ I remember one occasion when I was the counsel appointed by the court for a poor defendant accused of trafficking in heroin. The President o f the court (who was also a militiaman) attended, in accordance with his usual practice, with his m ilitiam an’s uniform underneath his gown and carrying arms. “ The prosecutor (who was also a militiaman) was dressed in exactly the same way—armed, with his gown over his militiam an’s uniform. “ The accused was also a militiaman and was in uniform. “ Militiamen address each other as ‘ C omrade ’. W hen the hearing opens, the President is required under our legislation to inform the accused of the charge against him and the penalty being sought and then to ask him whether he wishes to answer the questions which the prosecuting and defending counsel intend to put to him, beginning with the examination by the prosecutor. “ On this occasion the President of the court ceremoniously said to the accused: ‘ Comrade, do you wish to answer the comrade pro secutor? ’ “ This breakdown in judicial authority is most m arked in the court a t Pinar del Rio, the President o f which is Dr. Eloy M erino Brito, a militiaman who is known as ‘ El Cabo M erino ’ (Corporal Merino) while the militia commander in the court is actually the court cleaner who gives orders to the judge. H e places the President on guard outside the court building and has power to give him orders and even to punish him. “ I was present once when a witness, who was also a militiaman, was making charges against the accused. A t one mom ent during the hearing the accused jum ped up and protested against what the witness was saying, alleging th at it was not true. The President of the court, who was also a militiaman, told him to sit down at once and threatened him with expulsion from the court if he continued his protests because it was a militiaman who was giving evidence 146 486

and militiamen did not tell lies. The actual words by the President were: ‘ Accused, the witness is a militiaman and militiamen do not tell lies. W hat the witness is saying is the truth. Unless you are silent you will be expelled from the court and the case will go on in your absence.’ Favouritism towards members o f the militia is the rule. One crime o f which they are often guilty is causing homicide or bodily injury through their negligence. It is a daily event for people to be killed or injured by shots fired by m ilitia m e n who are handling their arms carelessly. There is an order in existence which is not known because it has not been published, but is nevertheless common knowledge among members o f the bar, to the effect that prosecutors are obliged to withdraw charges on this ground and to seek the acquittal o f the accused. This witness stated th at a militiaman is only sentenced when it is considered advisable to remove him from the militia. Obstruction o f defence counsel acting fo r persons accused o f common law crimes “ In no police station or departm ent where the accused are first taken on being arrested for an action which is considered to be a crime are lawyers allowed to perform their duties properly. “ As an example of the hostility against lawyers let me quote the following case which happened to me. A client of mine was involved in a m otor car accident. When he and his family asked me to act in his defence I went along to the police station. When I arrived he was chatting with a num ber of friends who had gone along to enquire about his case. It appears, and I have since been able to confirm, that he was a personal friend o f one of the police officers at this station. “ W hen I explained that as his lawyer I wished to speak with him, permission was refused. I pointed out that other people were talking with my client, but the policeman answered: ‘ They are not lawyers. I f you want to talk to him you can, but as a friend and not as a lawyer. Here we will not have anything to do with lawyers at any price.’ Faced with this dilemma I decided to talk to him as a friend. Henceforth, the friend and the lawyer were the same person. “ To give an idea of the influence of the military organization known as the Militia in criminal justice matters, I need merely say th at at the start o f any case, lawyers in C uba try to find out whether the victim or the witness or any other party to the case is a militiaman because, in the words of one witness ‘ nowadays, in any case before the C uban criminal courts, the side represented by a militiaman stands the best chance of success Militiamen as judges Q. “ Do you know the judges o f the criminal courts and the criminal division o f the Supreme C ourt? ” 147 487

A. “ Yes, I know them all and the prosecutors as well. ” Q. “ Do you know whether any of these judges belong to the People’s M ilitia? ” A. “ Yes. ” Q. “ C an you give us their names ? ” A. “ Yes. A t the Havana law courts there are 5 criminal courts. By law each criminal court consists of 5 judges and the criminal division of the Supreme C ourt consists o f 7 judges. “ As the C astro Government has made a num ber of changes in the Judiciary, while a num ber of other judges have resigned, the 25 judges plus the President, making a total o f 26, have now been reduced in num ber to 6 or 7 qualified judges, the remainder having been prom oted from the lower courts. “ O f the 6 or 7 remaining judges, Dr. Fabio Raimundo and Dr. Vilches in the Second C ourt are militiamen. In the Third C ourt, the President, Dr. Hernandez Llopis, is a militiaman. In the Fourth C ourt, Dr. Jesus Valdes is a militiaman, and in the Fifth C ourt, Dr. Jerez Pachero is also a militiaman. “ These judges are militiamen before they are judges to such an extent that when they are called out on parade with the militia, the cases they are hearing are suspended because they are serving as militiamen. “ As regards the criminal division o f the Supreme C ourt, it is now reduced to 3 judges, 2 of them, Dr. Jose Gum an and Dr. Jose Alvarez, are militiamen who also command the entire militia force in the H avana law courts. “ The public prosecutor’s office in Havana is headed by a militia m an and the prosecutors, who used to num ber 12 or 14 but now only num ber 4 or 5, are almost all militiamen as well, such as Dr. Armando Torres, Dr. M arim on and Dr. Feliciano M ademe. “ The functions which are assigned by the Organic Law for the Judiciary to the government division o f the Supreme C ourt and the high courts (which were collegial bodies) are now discharged by a militia commander in the Supreme C ourt and a militia commander in the Havana Court, neither of whom is a mem ber of the judiciary.” Former examining magistrate One example wiH suffice to illustrate cases in which judges have been arrested for carrying out their duties. r It involves an examining magistrate in one o f the provinces of C uba. The witness declares: “ In this district, proceedings were being taken in a criminal case, the serial num ber of which I do not remember because owing to the haste with which I went into exile I kept no notes on the case. The investigations (which took place in 1959) concerned the death of a 148 488

young m an called Llabre Romani in 1958, in a camp of what was then the Rebel Army against the Government of General Batista. There can be no doubt whatsoever that an individual from the village of C olarillo nam ed Jose Ram on Perez was involved. “ During December 19601 received a message from the commander of the barracks at Sagua La Grande informing me that the com m ander of the provincial military district, M ajor Orlando Rodriguez Puerta, had presented himself at the barracks and had set the accused free stating that he knew him to be innocent. “ U pon this the necessary orders were issued for the recapture o f the accused while, at the same time, proceedings were instituted to deal with the offence of negligence in guarding the prisoner. “ On January 3, 1961, I was arrested by the local military com m ander at Sagua La Grande, a lieutenant named Ferrer who, despite the fact that he knew that I held the office of examining magistrate, sent me with a military escort to the town of Santa C lara, capital of Las Villas Province, some 50 kilometers from Sagua La Grande. “ There I was shut up in a cell in the barracks throughout the whole afternoon and part o f the night. At about 10 o ’clock in the evening I was taken before M ajor Orlando Rodriguez Puerta who, in an offensive and insolent way, told me that he had decided to solve the problem of the accused Perez, that we judges must realize that under the revolutionary government we were merely instruments of the regime, and made it clear th at in this as well as in other cases I dealt with in my capacity as a magistrate, I had no option but to act on his orders. “ The M ajor then said that he would set me free, apparently hoping th at I would cancel the proceedings against Jose Ramon Perez and that, in some way, I would conceal or destroy the indict ment for negligence in guarding the prisoner. “ On January 13, 1961, presumably because I had not carried out this officer’s wishes and because he was annoyed at having received a summons to appear before the court in connection with this case, I was once more arrested while I was at a club called ‘ Liceo de Sagua La Grande ’ and was taken to the local barracks where I once more m et M ajor Rodriguez Puerta. On seeing me he went over the same questions and called me insolent—apart from other coarser expressions—and threatened to have me shot; all this, as on the previous occasion, was done in the presence of a num ber o f army officers and soldiers. “ W hen I answered that I was unable to comply with his wish th at I should term inate the case and withdraw the indictment for negligence, his anger increased and he ordered me to be placed in the barrack cells where I remained for 12 days, i.e. until January 24. “ A fter 7 or 8 days’ imprisonment (I forget the exact date) I was taken before Lieutenant Galvan del Rio, a -judge o f the Santa Clara 149 489

revolutionary courts, Lieutenant Ferrer, whom I have mentioned earlier, and other officers, who offered to set me free at once on condition that I took over the district court (which was headed in those days by various substitute judges) and immediately term inated the proceedings against Perez and rescind the indictment for negli gence in guarding the prisoner (under our criminal procedure authority for this had to be given by the district court and not by the examining magistrate). “ W hen I refused to do what they asked, I was sent back to the cells until January 24 . . . when I was set free. As I have said, at no time were any proceedings of any kind taken against me, nor did the authorities take a statement from me or bring any charges against me. “ As soon as I was set free, and in view of the lack o f safeguards, not only in the discharge of my duties but also as regards my personal freedom, I went to Havana where I obtained asylum in the Mexican Embassy on January 30, 1961. ” Judge in a Court of the First Instance Q. “ W hat post did you hold in C uba? ” A. “ I was judge in a court of the First Instance at San Antonio de los Banos. ” Q. “ How long were you a judge ? ” A. “ I was a member of the Judiciary for 26 years. ” Q. “ On what date did you leave C uba? ” A. “ On September 11, 1961, after I had been taken out o f the plane on two occasions. ” Q. “ Why did you leave C uba? ” A. “ Simply because life there had become impossible; I was constantly persecuted, my house was searched a num ber of times and in the discharge o f my duties I was subject to various forms of coercion which I strongly resisted and which led to the persecution I have referred to. ” Q. “ Y ou say you were coerced? W hat did this coercion consist of? ” A. “ There was a very serious incident with a major who was the local military commander—I think he was called San Jose—over an affair involving an Sindividual called Elpidio who was said to be a drug peddler. He was arrested in the village, searched but abso lutely nothing was found on him. Nevertheless a report was drawn up ordering the court in threatening language to have him deported from the village. The secretary o f the court read this report out to me, but I told him not to pay any attention to it. The next day, however, the M ajor came to see me and said: ‘Did you take note of the request I made to the court’? I answered: ‘Major, have you ever seen me giving orders in your barracks? You have not, have 150 490

you? Just rem em ber the saying that the shoemaker should stick to his last. ’ He then asked whether I wished him to leave and I replied: ‘No, but if you want to go you can.’ I have since heard th at this M ajor was later dismissed from the army because he was not a communist.” Q. “ W hat other interference or obstruction did you encounter in the discharge of your duties ? ” A. “ During January I arrived at the court building and found it full of militiamen. Worse still, they were in the judge’s office using cameras. I thereupon got in touch with the militia commander and said to h im : ‘ The fact that you have been mobilized does not entitle you to enter my office. They can stand outside but they must respect my office, they must respect the majesty of the law. Please take all your m en away.’ He was very understanding and immediately ordered his m en to leave. A nother incident involved the use of the telephone. . . ” Q. “ In other words the militia were using the court building simply as another barracks, ignoring the fact that justice was admin istered there ? ” A. “ Exactly. They tried to use the telephone and I refused to allow it. I snatched the telephone away and said: ‘G et in touch with your leaders and tell them that the examining magistrate of San Antonio de los Banos has no telephone ’.” Q. “ W hat reason did they give for ordering your expulsion from the Judiciary? ” A. “ My anti-Government attitudes. This took place in February 1960. ” Court reporter “ M y arrest was due to the fact that I was employed in the fifth criminal court at the Havana law courts. This was the court which dealt with the first habeas corpus case since January 1,1959. It was on behalf o f Llaca Orbiz and the court ordered him to be set free. At first this was not done but he was finally released on the second day. As court reporter in this court, I took an active part in dealing with this habeas corpus. Subsequently another habeas corpus case was sub mitted on behalf o f Dr. Elio Alvarez Lopez, a former judge in the H avana law courts. His release was also ordered, and lest he might be arrested or accused once more on some trumped-up charge, I took him out o f the C ourt building by the back entrance and drove him away in my car. Because o f this habeas corpus, the secretary o f the court, Dr. Pedro Pablo Villanueva, was arrested and brought before the same court. As a result, the President of the fifth court m ade a report to the head of the armed forces complaining that there were no safeguards for the Judiciary. I myself delivered this report at the Ministry of Armed Forces.” 151 491

THE REVOLUTIONARY COURTS IN ACTION

The revolutionary courts are emergency tribunals. They were set up by the Castro regime to mete out summary justice to the persons responsible for the political crimes committed by the collaborators o f Batista. The work of the courts can be divided into two stages. During the first the courts dealt with offences committed by members o f the armed forces or civilians in the service o f the Batista dictator ship, i.e. from January until May 1959. The second stage began with the re-establishment of the revolutionary courts under the amendm ent to the Fundam ental Law of November 1959, and has continued until the present time. (See Part III, above.) The accused were usually defended by counsel in private practice. But when the accused had not appointed a counsel, the abogado de oficio acted on his behalf. This lawyer was a government em ployee drawing an official salary and, under the C astro regime, he wore the uniform of the Rebel Army. Investigation established that the defence in the revolutionary courts was subject to the follow ing restrictions: 1. Charges were general and ambiguous in character, and did not specify any action considered to be o f a criminal nature. 2. The defence lawyer was only informed o f the charges against the accused a few minutes before hearing was due to begin, with the result that, in most cases, he was unable to prepare his defence and demolish the charges against his clients. 3. Due notice o f the dates on which cases were to be tried was not given to either the accused or his defence counsel. 4. The times at which hearings were held were completely arbi trary. It was common practice for them to begin after 9 o ’clock in the evening when they were supposed to start at 4 or 5 in the aftemon. 5. Changes were made in the charges—when the original indict m ent could not be proved, a new version was put forward. 6. C onstant hostility in the form o f th reats and insults was shown to defence counsel and witnesses. These threats were in certain established cases actually carried out. In some cases, lawyers who energetically defended their clients were even imprisoned and shot as counter-revolutionary criminals. 7. There was no consistency in the verdicts o f the revolutionary courts. The review procedure was arbitrary and no rights whatsoever were allowed to the defence. 8. Whenever a case was reviewed or the court was changed, the proceedings from the re-opening o f the case to sentence and its execu tion were so rapid that there was no time to find out what was taking place. 9. The defence was obstructed from the time when the defence counsel tried to interview his client. 152 492

10. Before entering the prison, lawyers were searched and forced to leave their effects behind; they could only interview the prisoners when permission was granted. 11. Interviews with prisoners, when possible at all, always took place in the presence of guards, who were members of the army. 12. As counsel were never notified in advance of the dates on which hearings would be held, they were forced to go to the law courts every day to try to find out which cases were being tried th at day. 13. C ounsel were not allowed to see the indictment and conse quently did not know the charges against their clients. As the latter did not know either because they had not been officially charged, it was impossible to find out until the act of accusation was actually read out, or at least until a few minutes beforehand. Since in all these cases there were many accused and also many defence counsel, the short am ount o f time available to consult the indictment was completely useless. 14. The witnesses for the prosecution were publicly encouraged to testify against the accused even on matters which were not within their knowledge. 15. New types of offence were invented during the hearings, e.g., an accused who could not be proved to have committed any of the criminal acts with which he was charged would be described as, for example, a “ special conspirator ”. The above inform ation about the revolutionary courts has been obtained from the following sources: 1. Lawyers who acted as abogados de oficio in these courts, i.e., as officials o f the C astro regime during early months of the Govern m ent and who were responsible for the defence of the accused. 2. Defence counsel in private practice who took part in hundreds o f cases. 3. Members o f the revolutionary courts now in exile because they did not bring in a verdict of guilty. 4. Eye witnesses of the proceedings, members of the families of the accused who witnessed the gestures and behaviour o f the public prosecutors and the judges when insulting the accused, defence counsel and defence witnesses. 5. Accused who were unable to communicate with their lawyers, who were not allowed to defend themselves even though they were themselves qualified lawyers, who were unable to bring forward witnesses, etc. 6. C ourt reporters in the revolutionary courts who took down a verbatim account o f the entire proceedings. 7. Priests who were present at the trials and gave spiritual comfort to individuals sentenced to death. 153 493

A lawyer’s experience A C uban lawyer, who appeared before the revolutionary tribunals from January 1959 until August 1960, acted as abogado de oficio during the early months of the C astro regime and subsequently was a defence counsel in private practice, has described his expe rience in some 900 cases in which he acted for the defence. Be cause of his experience and ability this lawyer was interviewed by the Commission and was asked to describe some actual cases within his personal knowledge. “ 1. One example was the case of Jose C astano Quevedo, who was the second head of the BRAC (Buro de Represion de Actividades Comunistas). F or two months I had daily talks with C astano, during which he gave me full details on every point because he himself considered th at he would be brought to trial. On the evening when the case was due to be heard and only a few minutes before it began, to the great surprise of both o f us—his wife had appointed my colleague, Dr. Anibal Pacheco, for the defence and I gave him full details of the case—Dr. Pacheco was not allowed to see the file or any form of indictment. A t this same hearing, Dr. Perez Sigla, who worked in the same organization and whom I likewise defended, was also on trial. Dr. Perez Sigla was a lawyer in the BRAC. During this case I noted the following anomalies. Firstly, throughout the time that Castano was imprisoned, no statement was taken from him nor was he informed of the charges against him. His case was heard in the fortress of La C abana as being the most im portant, but no explanation o f the reasons for this importance was ever given to us. Secondly, C astano, like all the accused who were in prison, was not given any inkling of the day or time at which the hearing would be held or of the facts on which the charge was based, it being common knowledge th at although sittings of the court were called for 4 or 5 o ’clock in the afternoon, hearings did not begin until 9 in the evening. Thirdly, counsel did not haves access to the indictment.. Accordingly they were unaware o f the charges against the accused and the defence had to be prepared on the basis o f the facts which emerged during the hearings. ” A t this point .the witness was asked at what date this had occured and he replied: “ In M arch 1959. In this particular case the accused, C astano was charged with the following offence: murder, rape, robbery, lar ceny, ill-treatment of prisoners and other offences. The charge of m urder was withdrawn for lack o f evidence as was the most im portant o f the other charges—rape—since the woman stated to be involved, a radio and television perform er called Agramonte, if I remember rightly, flatly denied that it had ever taken place. The other charges were all demolished with the exception o f one made by the single prose cution witness—a tailor—who informed the court that C astano, together with a group of subordinates, had entered his shop and carried out a search and allowed a num ber of lenghts of cloth to be taken 154 494

w away. This could not be corroborated because there was only one piece o f evidence and only one witness. As there was no evidence on which to condemn the accused the prosecutor, in summing up, charged him with theft under Section 12 of Regulation No. 1 issued in the Sierra M aestra on February 22, 1958, by virtue of which he asked for the death penalty against the accused. “ In this case Dr. Perez Sigla was sentenced to 10 years’ im pri sonm ent on the ground of a single piece of evidence put forward by one o f the communist witnesses who accused him of having allowed him (the witness) to be ill-treated during an interrogation at the BRAC headquarters. ” “ 2. A nother example o f the way in which judicial standards were violated is provided by the trial of ex-Major Jose Hernandez Leiva, in the town of Placetas. “ During April 1959, the trial opened o f Colonels M anuel Larubia Paneque, Azcuy and others on charges of murder, ill-treatment of prisoners, unlawful entry, etc. C olonel Larubia had been chief of operations in Santa Clara. After the case had been heard, Colonels Larubia and Azcuy were both sentenced to death. During the trial, the name o f M ajor Hernandez Leiva, who had been on the staff of Colonel Larubia, happened to crop up. It was M ajor Hernandez Leiva who had signed the surrender o f Santa Clara. He was an army officer of long service and high reputation, and after the army surrendered to revolutionary forces, he had been retired and was allowed to draw his pension unmolested for the first three months following the trium ph o f the revolution. “ W hen his nam e came up in the trial of Colonels Larubia and Azcuy, his arrest was ordered in Havana. He was then brought to Placetas and the case I have just referred to was re-opened. Colonel Azcuy was shot, but not C olonel Larubia, so as to enable him to take part in the trial o f M ajor Hernandez Leiva. “ All the witnesses who had appeared in the earlier trial were produced once more, but none o f them made accusations against M ajor Hernandez Leiva. A good many details were brought to light in the confrontation between Colonel Larubia and M ajor Hernandez Leiva, and the prosecutor, who had originally demanded the death sentence for M ajor Hernandez Leiva, altered this to a request for 10 years’ imprisonment on the ground of concealment. The court sentenced M ajor Hernandez Leiva to 30 years’ imprisonment and the following day, without any justification and without any request to this effect from the prosecutor—who, under the C uban Military Law Procedure Act o f July 28, 1896, which was operative in this case, was the only person with power to ask for a review o f a case—he was taken before another court without the knowledge of any member of his family or myself, despite the fact that I had been his defence counsel during the earlier trial at which he had been sentenced to 155 495

30 years’ imprisonment, and there he was sentenced to death and shot together with Colonel Larubia Paneque. “ 3. Another flagrant breach o f judicial standards is the case o f M .M .1 He was a hot-headed, somewhat unruly young m an who one day happened to be leaning over the balcony of his home when some boys started to explode fireworks in the street opposite him. When the police arrived they arrested the young m an and in the report drawn up at the police station stated that they heard some explosion and on reaching the spot saw M .M . laughing and therefore arrested him. When M .M. asked why he had been arrested the police answered: “ F or laughing” and as they saw that he was drunk they had taken him into custody. On the way M .M . asked if he could drink a glass of beer and permission was granted. It was then that he added that the fireworks had been set off by some boys. “ The policeman repeated this statem ent at the hearing, at which I was defence counsel for M .M . I argued that his behaviour was not a m atter which fell within the competence of the court, but this was disallowed. “ The hearing continued and the policeman confirmed that M .M . had not exploded the firework but added that he was laughing. I thought that the prosecutor would withdraw the charge or, since the case was not within the competence o f a military court, that he would ask for a fine to be imposed but instead he asked for 15 years’ impri sonment. I made my case for the defence and argued that the court was not competent to judge this case and th at even if it were, in view of the statement by the policeman himself that M .M . was not guilty o f the action in question, the only penalty which could be imposed under the Social Defence C ode was 30 days’ imprisonment or a corresponding fine. Nevertheless the court sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment. This occurred on February 17, 1961. “ 4. Another actual case was the trial o f R.R. for whom I acted as defence counsel. He was arrested on April 17, 1961 and released 20 days later but re-arrested and tried on a charge of armed insurrec tion and sabotage. The prosecution witness was an agent of the G-2 2 named Xiques. The original charge accused R.R. o f having committed sabotage in the Guanabacoa power station, o f having organized an armed group, of having been in touch with the C entral Intelligence Agency, together with Justo Cavillo, Toni Varona, M iro Cardona and others. Subsequently the agent I have referred to made an investiga tion in the case, gave his report and confirmed the initial charge. During the hearing the accused, R .R ., denied the charges and they were withdrawn, but the court claimed that he was a “ special conspir 1 For reasons of security of persons involved, true names have in some instances been altered or deleted. 2 This abbreviation is commonly used to designate the C uban Secret Police. 156 496

ator On being asked what this meant, the court replied that the accused harboured a num ber of counter-revolutionary thoughts which were Utopian and could never be achieved. He was sentenced to 2 years despite the fact th at no proof had been produced. “ 5. A nother case concerns M .F.B., a Spaniard by birth but a naturalized Cuban, who was a hotel proprietor. He was charged with having contributed financially towards the counter-revolution. I was responsible for his defence. At the trial a woman called Georgina was coerced by the G-2 into appearing as prosecution witness. She said that she had never seen any money actually being handed over by M .F.B. but th at a woman friend of hers had shown her some money and had said that he had given it to her for the counter-revolution. This woman Georgina later went to the house of M .F.B. and told his wife that she had been coerced and forced by the G-2 to testify against her husband, but that everything she had said in court was untrue. “ I placed all this on the record at the hearing but despite the fact that there was no proof against M.F.B. he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and all his property was confiscated. I lodged an appeal which was not rejected within the time limit prescribed by law; in fact even one year after the sentence no ruling had been given on the appeal. ” Another witness was examined as follows Q. “ D id you serve as counsel in the revolutionary courts ? ” A. “ Yes, I did. ” Q. “ C an you describe what your work consisted o f in these courts? ” A. “ They withheld the files of the cases we wished to defend. They did n o t allow us to see indictments. They also made it very diffi cult indeed for us to visit our clients. We only knew of the charges against the accused when the hearings were about to begin. ” Q. “ Were you allowed to produce defence witnesses and evi dence ? ” A. “ We were not allowed to produce evidence. Evidence by witnesses was allowed on rare occasions but even then only during the hearings. M any documents were not accepted and those that were, tended to be ignored. My impression of the trials was that they were all a foregone conclusion. ” Q. “ Regarding evidence by witnesses, were the witnesses you proposed summoned to court ? ” A. “ I had to bring them because they were never summoned. ” Q. “ Did witnesses of this type have free access to the court ro o m ? ” A. “ Hardly ever. I remember the case of Monsignor Villaverde, a very old clergyman, whom I brought in as a defence witness in a 157 497

case, and who was kept standing from 4.30 in the afternoon until 3.30 in the morning. He was the Bishop o f the Matanzas Province in Cuba. ” Q. “ Did the revolutionary courts exercise any coercion on the defence witnesses ? ” A. “ Yes and on counsel as well. ” Q. “ Do you know of any case in which a witness was arrested for having testified ? ” A. “ I remember very many cases in which defence witnesses were arrested and charged. One actual case was that of an ex-Mayor o f a m ajor town, who was sentenced to 56 years’ imprisonment. At the trial his private secretary testified on his behalf and was him self charged and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. In this case, too, I must ask you not to disclose their names since both men are still in prison." Q. “ W hat was the composition o f the revolutionary courts ? ” A. “ They were composed of illiterates, most of them criminals and some of them even under age. M any o f them had gone off to the Sierra M aestra to avoid punishment for crimes they had committed. “ In fact on one occasion I m et some members of revolutionary courts who greeted me and reminded me that some time before I had defended them in court on charges o f m inor thefts, larcenies and offences of that kind. ” Q. “ Were these courts independent? ” A. “ No, they were subject to the military judge advocate’s office. In the early days the M ajor known as C he Guevara handled everything connected with the revolutionary courts. He decided what penalties should be inflicted, as I was able to confirm myself on one occasion when I m anaged to secure an interview with him because I was interested in the case of a woman friend of mine who was awaiting trial and was unjustly imprisoned in the fortress o f La C abana (in the interests o f her personal safety I will not give her name). This M ajor Guevara, after behaving towards me with gross discourtesy, said—and these were his actual w ords: ‘ I do not know how you dare to take an interest in this person . . . I will have her shot . . . if any person has a good word to say for the previous government, that is enough for me to have him shot ’ ... ” Composition o f the revolutionary courts “ Initially the military courts in the Province o f Havana were made up o f 2 or 3 lawyers who acted either as president or as member of the courts, while the military prosecutor himself was almost always a lawyer. “ Subsequently all military courts were converted into people’s courts, m ade up of 5 members and a prosecutor. None o f the 5 mem 158 498

bers was a lawyer, and as many of them were illiterate m ilitia m en and peasants, they often passed death sentences. Some of the militiamen sitting on these courts signed with their fingerprints, as happened in Case No. 333 of 1960, when the accused, Balbino Diaz Balboa, was sentenced to death after a tria l lasting 7 hours on January 15, 1961. An appeal was logded but was rejected. The execution took place on the morning o f January 16, 1961. ” The practice o f the defence As was already stated above, the defence is obstructed by the revolutionary courts. W hen a lawyer who had taken part in more than 50 cases as defence counsel for persons accused by the revolu tionary courts was asked what form these obstructions took he replied: “ In the first place, after the military courts were established in 1959, defence counsel were never allowed to see the indictment:. “ The obstacles were so great that it was impossible to produce evidence or to supply lists of witnesses; nor was it possible for lawyers to discover to which investigating body they should apply in order to find out the truth about the charges against the accused. “ When, as defence counsel, we visited the gloomy cells of the G-2 in a H avana suburb, we were prevented from seeing our clients, our briefcases were searched, the clothing we were wearing was searched and at best we were only allowed to talk with our clients for 5 minutes and even then in the presence of heavily armed guards. “ As time went by the hostility we encountered from guards and members o f the courts in the exercise of our profession became increasingly marked. “ The armed guards on duty at the entrance to the fortress of La C abana in Havana used every device in their power to keep us waiting for hours outside for permission to go in to defend our clients.” Q. “ C an you quote an actual case to illustrate your statements ? ” A. “ C ase No. 549 (1960) o f the Havana district military court. The military prosecutor, Armando Torres, in his written provisional conclusions dated November 25, 1960, accused my client, Roger Garcia Gonzalez, of blowing up bridges, demolishing telephone and electricity installations and setting fire to poultry sheds and farm buildings. He asked for a sentence of 9 years’ imprisonment. A photostat copy o f these conclusions was sent to the defence counsel —there were many of us because there were 29 accused—together with a summons to appear at 2 p.m. on the same day, November 25, for the trial. “ Owing to a special combination of circumstances I succeeded in interviewing one of the accused on the evening of November 24, during which the prisoner him self said that the hearing would be the 159 499

following day, i.e. the 25th, at 2 p.m. But it so happened th at I had to go to La C abana (the prison) at 10 o ’clock on the morning of the 25th to hand in a written statem ent connected with another case. To my great surprise I saw a squad of handcuffed m en being marched under guard towards the officers’ club. I asked one of the escort what was going on and he replied that tl^e hearings for Case No. 549 were due to begin in 10 m inutes.” Q. “ Did you have an opportunity to examine the indictment in order to prepare your defence ? ” A. “ I then asked the president of the court, Dr. Pelayo Fernan dez Rubio, who was himself a lawyer—we had been students together and I had known him for more than 10 years—to postpone the hear ings by 4 hours, in other words to the time stated on the summons. Failing this I asked permission to bring the other defence counsel since there were 29 accused. He replied th at the court h ad been properly convened and would continue to sit. W hen I refused to take part in the proceedings, they sent to the regimental headquarters for an abogado de oficio who defended the 29 accused with disastrous results. “ The hearings began without any private lawyers being present— there was only the official defence counsel and myself. At the request of my client I took part in the proceedings which lasted from 10.30 a.m. until 8.30 p.m. In time the remainder o f the defence counsel arrived one after the other. “ A nother handicap th at should be m entioned is the prohibition in many cases o f any direct contact between the accused and their lawyer. There were times when I was detained for 2 days at the Havana police departm ent because I took an interest in the cases of various prisoners.” Q. “ Did the prosecutor charge the accused with a crime which was specified as such by law? ” A. “ The essential conditions were hardly ever fulfilled because 95% of the indictments of the military prosecutor’s departm ent fell under the broad heading of crimes against the State. In fact the prosecutor’s conclusions were invariably headed with the words ‘ Crimes against the State ’. They even distorted the qualification of the crime, because in certain cases in which fire-arms had sim ply been discharged in the direction of certain individuals without any aggravating circumstances, charges of attem pted m urder were brought and the death penalty was sought. An example of this was the case of Balbino Diaz Balboa, which I have referred to earlier. In this case (No. 333 of 1960), the Havana military court passed a sentence of death within 7 hours on the accused who was charged with an attem pt to kill the commentator Pardo Llada.“ In some cases there were so many accused that it was virtually impossible for the lawyers to defend them : 160 500

“ In the case of the Trujillo conspiracy, which involved a num ber o f leading political figures in C uba as well as business men, doctors, lawyers and others, there were 178 accused, 43 defence counsel, 309 witnesses, 12 experts, 4 secretaries and about 10 stenographers taking notes. In addition, there were a large num ber of spectators from the armed forces who applauded the statement of the witnesses for the prosecution. Many of them were communists in the govern m ent and they included the brother of Fidel Castro (Raul Castro) who testified during the case. These spectators made it almost impossible for the lawyers to make themselves heard, although this did not apply to the prosecutor, who had a microphone and a loud speaker. The revolutionary courts held their sessions at the most un usual times I ,can think of. F or example hearings usually began at 2 o ’clock in the afternoon and went on without interruption until 11 o ’clock at night, when there was a short 15-minute interval to allow us all to relieve ourselves, after which the hearings went on until 2 and 3 o ’clock in the morning. ” As regards the arguments put forward by defence counsel, the witness said : “ We always tried to prove th at our clients were not in fact in volved in the episodes with which they were charged and at the same time we tried to demolish the evidence of the witnesses, many of whom had been coached by the military prosecutor.” This C uban lawyer stated that he left C uba “ in the normal way by plane on January 23, 1961, after a blood bath in the fortress of La C abana on January 18, 1961, during which 12 prisoners, 3 of them clients of mines, were executed in one night. “ I therefore left C uba because it was impossible for me to exercise my profession and because of the complete denial of all hum an rights.” A wife testified as follows on the imprisonment o f her husband

Q. “ W hen did he enter La C abana? ” A. “ On January 5, 1959.” Q. “ D id judicial proceedings take place immediately? ” A. “ He was imprisoned for several months without any proceed ings being taken.” Q. “ Were you able to see him during this tim e? ” A. “ Yes, I was.” Q. “ C ould he appoint a lawyer for his defence ? ” A. “ I was not able to appoint a lawyer during his detention. Lawyers were not allowed to enter La C abana.” Q. “ How were you able to assist your husband? ” 161 501

A. “ I received a call at 9 o ’clock in the morning on the day o f the trial telling me to find a lawyer, because the trial would begin at 10 o ’clock sharp. This was on M arch 10. Dr. D. A. undertook to defend him although he knew nothing about the case beforehand. He was only given 10 minutes to read the charges.” (19)

M any of the items of evidence received by the Commission were supplied by lawyers who were sentenced for one reason or another had either served their sentence in prison or escaped and are now in exile. One o f them stated: “ I was arrested on February 27, 1959. W hen I was arrested the reason was not given. Two days later I was brought before the court without any prior investigation and there I was informed th at the charge against me had been brought by a captain, a member o f the communist party, who accused me o f having given him a blow or a slap on some previous occasion for which I was sentenced by the court to 10 years’ imprisonment. “ In July 1959 when the relevant legislation suspended the revo lutionary courts, I appealed to the Cuban Supreme C ourt against this sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, which was thereupon reduced to 2 years.” Q. “ Who was your defence counsel? ” A. “ Before the hearing began I asked to be allowed to defend myself, since I happen to be a lawyer. This was flatly refused despite the fact that it was not prohibited by law. I thereupon pointed out to the president of the court that when Fidel C astro was being tried a t M oncada, nobody had stopped him from defending himself. W hen my request was once m ore refused, Dr. Morales Castellon, a captain in the Rebel Army, was appointed as my ‘ abogado de oficio ’. “ I took advantage o f the law which they themselves had issued in the Sierra M aestra to request a confrontation with the witness who was accusing me. The president of the court, Lieutenant Arm an do Rivero, a former member o f the army of Batista, who was expelled from the armed forces as a communist, replied that during these hearings any confrontation with the witnesses was absolutely prohi bited. After this the president asked me whether I was a Catholic. W hen I said I was, he answered in the following w ords: ‘ M ay your G od forgive you “ The prosecutor in this case was known within La C abana by the nickname ‘ Pool of blood ’ because he was the prosecutor who was present at all the executions and who had himself sent the largest num ber of persons to their death—out of 65 shootings which took place at La C abana during this time, over 30 accused at his instigation. 162 502

“ This prosecutor completely forgot that he was a lawyer himself. He showed no respect towards the accused, nor towards a fellow lawyer like myself.” Q. “ W here did you serve your sentence ? ” A. “ I served 5 months in the prisons o f La Cabana and Castillo del Principe and 19 months on the Isla de Pinos.”

(22) A witness who used to be a lawyer and left C uba in September 1961 stated th at he was arrested “ for the crime o f assisting the flight from Cuba of 2 lawyers in the Rebel Army. In August 1960 I was taken to the prison of Pinar del Rio. My house was searched without a w arrant by the political police o f the G-2 on the orders of C aptain Llibre and C aptain Valdivia together with 12 or 14 soldiers. I was arrested together with the 2 officers who were in my house.” The following exchange then took place with the w itness: Q. “ As a lawyer, did you defend yourself? ” A. “ No, I was advised not to do it because the revolutionary courts greatly disliked this practice. I was defended by Dr. X .” Q. “ Could you speak with your lawyer? ” A. “ Only in the presence o f our guards, who were members of the G-2 and other secret services.” Q. “ How was the trial held ? ” A. “ I was informed o f the prosecutor’s charges at the hearing itself. The accused, who numbered 16, were not allowed to present any evidence. The only testimony allowed was given at the request of the military judge advocate. The verdict was not given by the court at Pinar del Rio which judged us, but by an officer called Ayal of the judge advocate general’s departm ent in Havana.” Q. “ How did you learn about it? ” A. “ We were told about it by a lawyer who had been able to see a copy o f the relevant proceedings in Havana. We gathered th at verdicts for courts which were not competent to pass them were decided in Havana. The judge advocate’s department decided on them without taking cognizance o f the court proceedings.”

(21) One of the witnesses, who was asked what were his actual duties as a stenographer in the revolutionary courts, replied: “ To take down a verbatim account of the whole proceedings, including the confession of the accused, the statements of the wit nesses, the speeches of the prosecutor and defence counsel and the court’s verdict.” The revolutionary courts “ The courts were made up o f members of the Rebel Army. The lower courts consisted o f captains and lieutenants, while the appeal 163 503

courts were presided over in each case by a major. Later when the militia was organized, the courts consisted o f working-class militia men, almost invariably representing a branch of industry, agriculture, etc.” The accused “ The accused was always given an opportunity to speak during his own examination, but he was constantly harrassed by interrup tions by the members of the court and the ironical and contemptuous comments of the prosecutor. H e made his statem ent in a completely hostile atmosphere and it should be borne in mind th at the hearings were held in a fortress known as La C abana, which served as a military prison. “ There were eases in which leading personalities under the previous regime were brought into the court together with notorious criminals. One example of this was the case of Dr. Joaquin M artinez Saenz who had been president of the Cuban National Bank. I should also mention the case of Castano, who was the second chief of the BRAC (Office o f anti-communist repression) in C uba, in which all the witnesses for the prosecution were members of the People’s Socialist (communist) Party and in which the court acted with incre dible speed.” Witnesses “ Except in cases where witnesses held im portant posts in the revolutionary movement, they were openly coerced by the prosecutor and some members of the court. The result was that the work of the defenders was extremely difficult because many witnesses went from the witness box to the dock. “ We witnessed disputes between the prosecutor, the members of the court and some witnesses o f undeniably revolutionary background because the latter insisted on telling the truth, while the former felt th at they were not helping the revolution thereby.” The defence counsel “ At first they were treated fairly respectfully. Later there were times when they had to endure veiled threats by the prosecutor and taunting or scathing comments from the court.” At this point the witness was asked whether lawyers were given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with a case before the hear ings began. He replied: “ Yes, 10 or 15 minutes beforehand. They were shown the indictment in the law court offices, but since in almost every case there were several accused and defence counsel, many of them were forced to take notes when they read the prosecutor’s provisional conclusions, whereas the prosecutor himself had full access to all the records.” 1 6 4

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The witness was asked whether, in his opinion, this time was sufficient when there were several accused to enable counsel to familiarize themselves with the charge. He replied: “ I do not think so and furtherm ore there were times when counsel were unaware of the charges until the hearings began, because they were not allowed to study the indictment.” The witness was asked how many trials he had attended in the discharge o f his duties and he replied: “ I do not remember the exact num ber but it was very large. There were a num ber of courts sitting simultaneously in the fortress of La C abana and I acted as court reporter in all of them. W hat I can say is that we court reporters virtually lived there. We worked day and night, including public holidays.” The witness was further asked: “ How did the judges conduct their deliberations ? ” “ They really took very little time to decide what penalty to inflict, especially since in many cases the prosecutor had asked for the death penalty by shooting. “ I should add that on some occasions I saw members of the legal departm ent of the Rebel Army with typed lists of the penalties that were going to be imposed on the accused while the trial was still taking place.” (24) A nother o f the stenographers who served in the revolutionary courts stated : “ During the period when I acted as court reporter from February to June 1959 I was able to see for myself th at the members of the courts were, with the exception o f the prosecutors and an occasional president, in the main completely ignorant of legal proce dures, quite uneducated and had come down from the Sierra M aestra filled with hatred and thirsting for vengeance.” Witnesses fo r the prosecution “ M oreover, during many trials when I had to go in and out of the building or in and out of a neighbouring office, I saw myself members o f the Rebel Army telling witnesses what to say because the witnesses themselves did not know the person against whom they were going to testify, nor had they any idea of the charges they were supposed to make against them.” Defence counsel “ Defence counsel were not shown the indictment. They only knew about the trial a few hours before it began, and only learned of the charges against the accused from the court report which was made when the hearings opened. “ In very many cases both the court and the counsel were influenced by members of the public in the court room. Loud protests were

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made whenever a lawyer ventured to defend one o f the accused, while the verdicts were applauded and cheered. “ There was complete chaos during the hearings and I witnessed a very large num ber o f cases in which the hearings were completed and a verdict was handed down only to be followed by the re-opening of the case and the infliction o f a heavier sentence. “ I also observed that m ost o f the accused were brought to trial either bound or handcuffed. “ I can state categorically th at in m ost trials the defence was not allowed to operate properly and th at in fact it was very seriously obstructed. A part from the difficulties I have m entioned earlier, such as the coercion exercised by the public, the lawyers’ ignorance o f the charges and so on, there was also the fact that very often while a lawyer was defending one o f the accused a mem ber of the court or o f the public would get up and hurl an accusation against the lawyer—the accusation might be o f any kind but was usually political. This seriously handicapped the lawyer from every point o f view, because considerable publicity would be given to the incident and o f course the lawyer knew th at any defence he conducted in the future would harm rather than help the accused.” The verdict “ The verdict depended on the whim of the members of the court. In m ost of the trials at which I was present it was entirely up to the president o f the court to impose whatever sentence he thought fit. “ I know o f another case in which the president of the court, when about to give the verdict, and feeling he could rely upon a comrade stenographer, asked him what sentence he should pass on the accused.11 (35) A C uban lawyer with 25 years’ experience in his profession, who had defended 65 cases in the revolutionary courts set up by the C astro regime, was asked: “ Were you in any way obstructed in discharging your duties as defence counsel ? ” The reply was: “ Yes. I was coerced by the so-called people’s courts, especially when neither the prosecutor nor the members o f the courts were lawyers. I was subject to the following forms of coercion: “ 1. We were only allowed to glance at the files about 5 minutes before the opening o f the trial—and you never saw such trials. “ 2. We were venomously interrupted by the prosecutor whenever we tried to find out the truth and if not by him then by a mem ber of the court, who would even threaten to have us thrown out. “ 3. We were never allowed to bring defence witnesses and when we tried to put a question to a prosecution witness, we were threatened 166 506

or else the witness was told not to answer the question of the defence counsel. “ 4. As we ourselves had no real safeguards, we were accused during the trials o f defeatism and counter-revolutionary actions because we defended people who were not in agreement with the government. “ 5. There were cases in which the hearings began at 10.30 in the morning. A break was announced for lunch—so they said—and when we returned, the verdict had been passed and the appeal rejected. “ 6. A lawyer never knew when his client’s case was going to be heard. We had to m ount guard at the courts and make arrangements with other lawyers to notify each other. We called these trials * sur prise trials ’ because a lawyer never knew when his client was going to be judged. “ I can quote two cases o f surprise trials which occured despite the fact that I went to the courts every day. One day I left the courts at 4.30 in the afternoon and the following day discovered that my client had been tried and sentenced to 30 years. “ A nother case occured when, partly because I knew his family and partly out of humanity, I defended an accused called Julio Valdes M ontana. I kept my eyes open every day for his case and you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the court and discovered that he had been shot 3 hours earlier at the Pinar del Rio barracks and in the judgm ent th at was being drawn up he was accused o f having set fire to the La Epoca store in H avana when in fact he had merely been employed in the store in previous years.” The revolutionary courts “ Initially the revolutionary courts did contain some lawyers, but as the government moved steadily towards a dictatorship they were replaced by members of the Rebel Army. But even by the middle of 1960, their place had already been taken by members of the militia. M ost o f the members o f the courts were illiterate. “ I remember a case in which one member of the court was a doctor, who was also a communist party member and acted as presi dent, while the other 4 members were illiterate and had to sign with their fingerprints. There was an occasion when a member of this court refused to “ sign ” in this way because he did not know what he was putting his fingerprint on. “ The prosecutor himself was so uneducated that he did not even know how to draw up the final conclusions. He merely said: ‘ I ask for the death penalty for all the accused ’. The president of the court, who was a doctor, pointed out to him that the provisional conclusions had only asked for the death penalty in the case of 3 out of the 22 accused. There was loud laughter among the defence when the prose cutor, instead of facing the court, faced the accused and said : ‘ I con 167 507

firm all the death penalties and this is my final conclusion.’ The president once more called him to order, telling him to face the court and not the accused.” The case o f Major Sosa Blanco “ Sosa Blanco was defended by Dr. Aristides Acosta. As he was a m an of academic distinction and a former fellow student of ours all the members o f my chambers decided to be present at this notorious trial, which was witnessed by a large num ber o f members of the public. “ There we were able to see how Dr. Acosta was coerced and threatened, not only by the prosecutor but also by the president of the court himself. “ We saw how the false witnesses, when asked by the court where they lived, answered: ‘ Sosa B lan co ’. In other words instead of replying by giving their address they could think of nothing else but the name of the accused. I can still recall how theaccusedwasharrassed and insulted; moreover the defence counsel was treated in the same way. All of a sudden we heard the voice of the accused coming over the loudspeaker system: ‘ This reminds me of the Colosseum in Rome ’ and ‘ This is not a court of justice, it is a court of murder. Y ou will one day be judged just as you are judging me now. ’ “ Members of the N orth American and Latin American press were there, and the trial was also broadcast and shown on television. There was such a scandal that all the newspapermen and lawyers were order ed out and the public hearings were suspended. The trial was con cluded in camera at La C abana. The result was a death sentence for Sosa Blanco and imprisonment for Dr. Acosta. ” Q. “ Did you suffer imprisonment for having defended persons accused o f political crimes ? ” A. “ Yes, I was in prison three times. In 2 cases—the first two--I was taken away from the court room itself and taken to the G-2 building in Havana on Fifth Avenue and Fourteenth Street. The other time I was taken to Empedrado and M ontserrat. W hen they arrested me they also broke into the chambers where my brother and the other lawyers were working and you can imagine my surprise when shortly all the other members of my chambers were locked up in my own cell. ” The case o f Dr. Armando Escoto “ Dr. Armando Escoto was one o f the m ost vigorous defenders o f C uban citizens who were sentenced for anti-communism. Dr. Escoto challenged Fidel C astro himself on two successive occasions and stood up to him with the utm ost public spirit because he believed firmly in democratic principles. C astro tried to strike him and when D r. Armando Escoto defended himself he was wounded by C astro’s guards. A short time afterwards I myself was set free while Dr. Escoto, after his encounter with C astro, was put in jail at Pinar del Rio. 168 508

There I acted as his defence counsel assisted by a further lawyer, Dr. Portillo, in a trial in which he was charged as if he were a criminal, “ Our defence was ignored. The prosecutor and the members of the court bullied us and jeered that we were defeatists and counter revolutionaries just like the accused, whom they sentenced to death. Finally, my client, who was a lawyer in Havana and lived in Havana, was tried and shot in another province in which he had never prac tised. ” (37) A former official of the judiciary (not himself a lawyer) was appointed to advise the military authorities of the Rebel Army and served in the judge advocate’s office of the 5th Regiment at Marti, Vivora. He said: “ We were given the task of examining all military records and files o f past trials involving members of the army during the years 1957 and 1958. They happened to include the case of a soldier named Migdonio who had been accused o f the m urder of a young man. W hen I saw that the case had been tried by the competent court and dismissed I gave the opinion that the case should go back to the file on the ground th at it had already been judged. But my advice was ignored and the soldier in question was once more brought to trial before a revolutionary court, which sentenced him to the 17 years’ imprisonment he is now serving.” The case o f the marijuana peddler “ A drug peddler named Angel Vertermatu was arrested on a farm at San Jose de las Lajas and 2 bags of marijuana were found on him. He was taken to the headquarters of the 5th military district, where he was locked up and kept incommunicado. W hen I pointed out that a case o f this kind did not fall under military jurisdiction because there was no law in force empowering military courts to judge such a case, Lieutenant Eustaquio R. del Castillo, who investigated and handled this case, replied that the Revolution was so wide that it had sufficient power to intervene in any m atter that it thought necessary. “ On hearing this reply I refrained from expressing any other opinion at the time, but on the morning when the military court was due to try the case, I was asked by Dr. M ario Dolz, a C aptain in the Rebel Army who was going to act as president o f the court, whether I would serve as secretary. I flatly refused because, apart from the fact th at I was aware that the court had no power to try a case of this kind, I also knew from conversations with members of the court that Vertermatu had already been sentenced to death even before he had been tried or his defence heard. “ I told D r. Dolz th at in my opinion, since his court had no juris diction and there was no law prescribing the death penalty for traffick 169 509

ing in drugs, to sentence an indivual to death without any legal defence and without any lawyer to represent him amounted, legally speaking, to murder. “ The captain smilingly dismissed this as pettifogging nonsense and said th at the next day Vertermatu would be sentenced to death. “ The next day when I went to the office I was told that the death sentence had been passed by the military court.” The witness added: “ When the revolutionary government realized what a gross legal error had been committed, it instructed the C entral Military C ourt to quash the verdict and to hand the case over to the appropriate judicial authority—the examining magistrate at San Jose de la Lajas.” The witness went on: “ The num ber of arrested people who passed through this military office over a period o f between 8 and 10 months exceeded 500 and in view of this enormous num ber and the fact that I realized that no attention would be paid to my legal arguments that individuals should not be arrested if they had not committed the crimes with which they were charged, I applied several times to be transferred back to the 6th district court in H avana.” A lawyer gave the following testimony on the Sotolongo case “ 1. The defence counsel attem pted to talk with the accused on April 19, 20 and 21, 1959, but was unable to secure a single interview. “ 2. During the morning o f April 21 it was announced that the hearing would begin at midnight in a court room at Matanzas. “ 3. From midnight until 4 in the morning the 53 accused who were being tried went through the ordeal of confession. At 4 in the morning the hearing was suspended and was resumed the following day at 4 in the afternoon. “ 4. A member o f the court which began the proceedings appeared the following day as president o f the court, while the other 4 members o f the army and the militia were not the same as those who constituted the court the previous night. “ 5. In this way the second hearing began. The only evidence consisted o f a report by a mem ber o f the G-2 accusing the 53 prisoners o f conspiracy and the commission o f counter-revolutionary acts, particularly Sotolongo, Abilio Abreu and another nam ed Fernandez who, it was alleged, were the leaders o f the group. “ 6. The prosecutor, who was a lawyer, demanded the death penalty for these 3 leaders and between 5 and 30 years’ imprisonment for the remainder o f the accused. “ 7. The defence was in the hands of 3 abogados de oficio of the M atanzas law courts. They were responsible for the defence of 53 accused. 170 510

“ 8. W ithin less than half an hour they put forward a plea which am ounted to asking for the mercy of the court because they had not been allowed to interview a single witness. “ 9. A t about 5 o ’clock on the same day the court went into recess and by about 7 in the evening the judgement was already being drawn up—death penalty for Julio Ram on Sotolongo and Abilio Abreu, with the added statem ent that the verdict was automatically subject to review and that appeal could be made to another court. “ 10. But the appeal was never made either by the accused or by the lawyers. The accused were taken straight from the court room to the Castillo de San Seberino. “ 11. The two men who had been sentenced to death were shot at 8 o ’clock in the evening. “ 12. Their bodies were taken to the cemetery. Their families were not even given permission to bury them.” Another witness, also a lawyer, testified “ We were informed that hearings were due to be held one hour and often less before they actually opened. It was virtually impossible to read the indictments because there were cases in which there were more than 20 or 30 accused. “ I never saw the verdicts in writing nor were they ever notified to the defence counsel or to the accused themselves. W hen the families o f our clients asked us to appeal against the verdict—which was verbal and communicated to counsel by court employees—we never knew by what date the appeal had to be submitted because we were never told. W hen the families o f the accused insisted that an appeal should be lodged there were cases in which announcements were inserted in the newspapers stating that so-and-so had been sentenced to suchand-such a penalty and that as a result an appeal was being lodged. “ W hen death sentences were passed, appeals were lodged auto matically and in each case the lawyer who had been appointed appeared before the court. But the procedure was so rapid and so contrary to legal principles—bearing in mind the nature o f the penalty—th at in fact it was only allowed so that it could be said th at an appeal had been m ade.” A housewife commented as follows: Q. “ Were you ever present at hearings o f the revolutionary courts? A. “ Yes.” Q. “ C an you describe what you witnessed? ” 171 511

A. “ I was once present at a trial o f a young m an accused of subversive activities. I remember th at he entered the court handcuffed and wearing a blue uniform with a large letter ‘ P ’ on his back and another ‘ P ’ on each o f his legs. H e was accompanied by heavily armed guards. “ I noticed that one of the members of the court was constantly laughing while another member was often asleep and had a bottle by his side. All of them wore the uniform of the Rebel Army. “ This case had to be suspended for many months because the main prosecution witness, an individual known as the ‘ C he Rojo ’ had fled the country. “ M ore than once the hearing would be opened and the witnesses would be called and when they did not appear the case would be suspended; the date for the next hearing might be fixed, or perhaps it might not, and the case might simply be adjourned. This was a violation of the procedure, which required that once a trial began it must continue. ” A woman lawyer gave the following evidence: Q. “ Were you brought to justice ? ” A. “ On May 10 or 111 was charged by a trial judge who behaved properly but knew nothing at all about his job. The same day I asked the prison superintendent, C aptain C orujo, for permission to get in touch with a lawyer, but this was refused. Until th at date I had been ignorant o f the charges against me but there is no reason to be surprised at this because it is the usual practice. To give you some idea of the extent to which persons are denied their rights, I need only quote the case of Gladys Montesinos who was imprisoned in the cell next to mine for one year and nine days without being brought to trial and then one day she was set free because there had been a mistake. It is also common practice for the prisoner to be charged the night before the trial and this charge could be quite different from the indictment which is read out in court.” Q. “ Were you able to select your defence counsel? ” A. “ On M ay 13 I was able to get a message out appointing Dr. Jorge Biago as my defence counsel. On M ay 15 I was brought to trial and 2 days later I gathered that I had been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment instead o f the 29 years which the prosecutor had asked for. My lawyer submitted an appeal within the prescribed time limit but as with all appeals nothing was ever heard of it. In C uba all appeals are ignored except those against the death penalty and even they are merely used to confirm the sentence. Q. “ Did you have an opportunity of seeing the record of the proceedings and how did you manage to do so ? ” A. “ The trial judge was not a lawyer and thus unfamiliar with the procedure. I treated him as if he were a colleague and since I was 172 512

aware from my professional experience up to the time of my arrest that I knew more about the case than he did I succeeded in convincing him o f my innocence and of the injustice of what was about to be done. As a result he handed over the charges against me and I read them in his presence. I was accused of sabotage, collaboration with undefined groups to overthrow the government, subversive propaganda, com m anding insurgent groups, illegally trafficking in arms, in short, everything except contact with the CIA. In my case (No. 173/61) the other accused were Lieutenant Juventino Almeida and M r. Ar mando Testa. As regards Mr. Testa there appeared to be no charge whatever in the indictment; as regards myself there were two small pieces of paper which had been handed out in the C hurch of Santa Rita containing an invitation to Mass on July 17 last year—this was re corded as subversive propaganda—together with two packets of cotton which were regarded as supplies. Since the police had found neither arms, nor lists of conspirators, nor inflammable material for sabotage purposes, nor anything which might compromise me in the light of the charges against me, there was a complete lack of evidence. Against Lieutenant Almeida there was, it is true, a plan of the fortress of La C abana which had been found on his person when he was arrested, but there was nothing to link him with any counter-revo lutionary group.” Q. “ W hat have you to say about your trial? ” A. “ No two trials are the same. W hen there are a large number of accused in the same case—and in m ost instances they do not know each other—they take their oath before the so-called revolutionary court 2 or 3 at a time or perhaps they do not take it at all in order to save time. In my case we took the oath 3 at a time. Both the defence counsel and the accused were informed of the prosecutor’s conclusion in the waiting room before we went in to the court. It was only during the trial and from the statements of the accused M r. Testa and the only witness—C aptain Juvenal of the 15th police station and a member of the G-2— that I gathered what M r. Testa was doing in my case. He had been called on the telephone by a friend who had arrived from Pinar del Rio a few days after my arrest but he could not talk to him at th at particular moment as he was just taking his wife to the hospital to give birth to a child. H e made a mistake in taking down his friend’s telephone num ber and as a result he ’phoned my house and the call was answered by a militiawoman. She pretended that the friend (whose name I do not recall) would like to see him because he did not know Havana well—and indicated an address at which he was subsequently arrested. ” Another lawyer

Q. “ In how many cases before the revolutionary courts did you take p art? ” A. “ In more th at 20 cases. ” 173 513

Q. “ Did the prosecutor in his conclusion and in the oral pro ceedings make any specific charges ? ” A. “ In cases involving the possession o f arms and explosives in which I took part, yes, but in the other cases, no. Usually the prose cutor in his statement described the illegal behaviour o f the accused. This m eant that he usually copied word for word the report o f the G-2 which followed the same pattern—a num ber o f references were made to the individual’s class background; he was alleged to have links with the United States C entral Intelligence Agency and with the Falangist upper clergy and after these general allegations had been made, as they were in every case, they specified the behaviour o f which one was accused. These accusations of illegal behaviour were often couched in calculatedly vague language. ” Q. “ W hat opportunity did you have to conduct your defence and were you allowed to communicate with your counsel? ” A. “ I was allowed no defence facilities at all. The date of the trial was announced on the day on which it was due to be held; the documents were made available only a few minutes before the hearings began; the conclusion had to be formulated verbally during the hearings, the charges put forward during the hearings often did not coincide with the charges in the indictm ents; to sum up, the atmosphere was such and the coercion so m arked that one did not dare to ask the question one would have put in a norm al court of justice. ” Q. “ W hat forms o f evidence, are used by prosecutors in the revolutionary courts ? ” A. “ Prosecutors normally put forward 3 forms o f evidence. A judicial confession by the accused which, under the C onstitution o f the Republic, is not an appropriate means of obtaining a confession contrary to his interest; the indictment which summarizes the investi gations of the police which, in turn, are never acknowledged in the courts by the agents who have signed them ; and witnesses who confess that they were not eye witnesses o f the events in question and have obtained their information from persons whose identity is concealed and by means of procedures which they cannot reveal “ because this would involve disclosing the whole investigating machinery of the body to which they belonged. ” The Revolutionary courts Q. “ How were the revolutionary courts composed ? ” A. “ The courts consisted of 5 members—3 officers of the Rebel Army and 2 members o f the national revolutionary militia. O f those who served in the H avana district in 1961, one was a lawyer, one was a law student, one was a medical student, and one was a public prosecutor, while the militiamen were workers without any legal background. ” Q. “ How were the courts appointed? ” 174 514

A. “ They were appointed by the Ministry o f A rm ed Forces. ” Q. “ Who were the prosecutors ? ” A. “ The prosecutors consisted of two prosecutors of the Supreme C ourt and one from the Havana court who belonged to the militia and wore the uniform of the militia at hearings. ” Q. “ D id the witnesses belong to the militia or otherbodies ? ” A. “ All the witnesses whom I saw testifying belonged to the D epartm ent of Investigation of the Rebel Army (G-2) with the excep tion of one case in which persons unconnected with the repressive bodies gave evidence, but even so one of them was a well-known m ilitant communist. ” Q. “ Were hearings held on the appeals lodged by defence counsel? ” A. “ The appeals lodged by defence counsel were never heard; in fact throughout the whole of 1961 the court o f appeal did not meet once. M oreover it was impossible in practice to employ the appeal procedure because the judgments are not written down unless the death penalty is imposed. The accused is told verbally of the result of the trial the following day when the sentences given to each o f the accused at the previous day’s trial are read out. This makes it impos sible to employ the appeal procedure because, under the Cuban Military Law Procedure Act, the appeal, which must be motivated, must accept the facts on which the judgm ent is based and can only put forward legal arguments or equity considerations as a ground for changing the verdict. ” Q.

“ Despite this difficulty, were any appeals submitted ? ”

A. “ Yes, m ost lawyers did in fact submit them. The court did not turn them down but did not hear them either in order to avoid acting unconstitutionally. N or did it uphold them. ” The following affidavit was signed by a lawyer “ I personally took part in over forty trials or cases in the revolu tionary courts as a defence counsel between 1959 and 1961. I did so not in order to make money but rather for hum anitarian reasons, because m ost lawyers were unwilling to appear before these courts knowing th at they were conducted without respect for the law, for the accused, or for the lawyers. “ The times of the trials were announced unexpectedly so as to surprise the families of the accused and the accused themselves and give them no time to appoint a lawyer. The defence then had to be conducted by an official counsel who was not usually a lawyer at all but was a militiaman or soldier. There were cases in which I appeared as defence counsel when I only arrived after the trial had opened because the accused had been notified that it would start at a particular 175 515

time in the evening and despite this it actually began in the morning. It is common practice for trials to begin several hours before the time officially announced and notified to the accused. “ A bout ninety five per cent, of the persons accused o f counter revolutionary crimes in the province of Havana were, as I was able to see for myself in court, poor or medium peasants or working-class people from the capital or the small towns in the province. I remember one case in which all the accused, 26 in number, were peasants from the areas of San Antonio de los Banos and Alquizar. “ Witnesses favourable to the accused in the few cases in which the counsel was able to bring them before the court or who did not give evidence as hostile as the prosecutor or the court would have wished are bullied and sometimes punished. I saw many witnesses leaving the court rooms as prisoners. M ost o f those called on behalf of the defence can hardly ever manage to enter the military fortress and installations where the trials are held. “ If a lawyer appears as defence counsel a num ber of times in the revolutionary courts he becomes suspect to the military authorities, who usually notify the repressive organization known as G-2. As a result his chambers and private house are searched and he himself is taken to the G-2 headquarters for frequent interrogation. The purpose of the authorities is to let the lawyer know that he is being watched. “ The following features are typical of the procedure in the revo lutionary co u rts: (a) the charges and the part of each of the accused in the actions concerned are not defined; (b) usually the accusation is couched in general terms, e.g. “ conspiring against the government ” or “ collaborating ” with the previous regime, in the case of trials held in 1959; (c) the principle that the punishment must be related to the actions with which the accused is charged is not followed; (d) in many cases I saw the accused sentenced for actions with which he was not charged or to a longer term o f im prisonment than the prosecutor had asked for or again, the actions with which the accused was charged were described differently in the judgm ent so as to make them more serious crimes. ” Another lawyer testified

“ I was abogado de oficio in the court of Havana and Registrar of Deeds appointed by competitive examination. I had held the first post for 15 years when the new regime came to power in C uba in 1959. I remember that in one of the cases in which I acted as defence counsel I was only given 5 minutes to study the indictment. The accused was charged with having caused bodily injury to a private individual and the prosecutor had asked for a few years’ imprisonment; but during the hearing a witness accused the prisoner of m urder and despite the fact that this was not in the charge at all and there was no appropriate investigation at the trial, the accused was sentenced to death on this ground. An appeal was lodged but was dismissed and in due course 176 516

the accused was executed. Despite my efforts he was virtually without defence since he was not allowed to bring favourable witnesses and the proof consisted solely of the evidence put forward by the prosecutor which, I can say with complete confidence from my long experience as defense counsel, would never have convinced a court of law. “ At one trial I heard conversations between members of the court and the prosecutors to the effect that it was necessary to pronounce a num ber o f death sentences that night in order to answer the criti cisms of M ajor Che Guevara, the Commander of the fortress of La C abana, who at th at time was responsible for the shootings and the whole so-called judicial apparatus. One of the main reasons for my fundam ental repugnance for these courts was their practice at th at time (1959) o f applying the penal legislation (of the Sierra M aestra) retrospectively. They even applied the death penalty retro spectively to cases and crimes which are not punishable by death. A part from this the following features were typical of their summary proceedings: “ (a) the charges and the part taken by each of the accused in the actions with which they were charged were not defined. “ (b ) usually the accused were charged with general action and crimes which are not defined in any written criminal law such as the crime of “ collaborating ” with the previous regime. This crime, which was subject at that time to heavy penalties including death, as was the crimes of “ disclosure of secrets ” for which the death penalty was usually imposed, was not defined in any written law. “ (c) The principle th at the sentence must be related to the actions with which the accused was charged was never observed. I witnessed the sentencing o f many accused—and I heard o f other cases from fellow lawyers in which the accused was punished for actions which were not m entioned in the indictment submitted by the prose cutor. “ (d) Although the procedure was subject to criminal regulation No. 1 issued in the Sierra M aestra in 1958 (and never published in full in the Official Gazette) and to an old law dating from the last century which was used by the Cuban liberation army in its fight against Spain, the charges and the courts only observed these enactments in so far as they found it convenient. Because of my long experience of criminal trials I am fully aware of the seriousness and the implications of the charge I am making—that in the revolutionary courts at that time, i.e., 1959, the most elementary principles of procedure were not observed and the lawyers, the witnesses favourable to the accused and the accused themselves lacked safeguards, were harrassed and illtreated and did not receive justice. This is still the position in these courts (1960-61) and my evidence for this is based on reliable infor m ation from lawyers who arrive from C uba almost every day. ” 177 517

A lawyer and notary answered the following questions Q. “ Did you appear before the revolutionary courts ? ” A. “ N ot as a defence counsel, but since I am a member of the Bar Association of Santiago de C uba I felt bound to attend a number of these trials to see how justice was conducted, especially since the members, of these courts were not lawyers. ” Q. “ From what you saw, would you say that counsel were allowed to conduct their defence properly? ” A. “ They were harrassed. F or example in one case the pro secutor walked over to the defence counsel and said: ‘ That is what you say now, but we shall see what you say later On another occasion during the trial of the airmen C astro personally attacked the counsel through the press and television. One of them was Dr. Jorge Pagliery who, as a result, was dismissed from the office he held in the municipality and in the University of Santiago de C uba.” Another lawyer testified “ Let us take the case of Diaz Balboa in chronological order so as to see the procedure that was followed before and after the trial. I shall never forget M onday January 16, 1961. Never did I think that I would witness such lunacy as I was to see in the ill-famed fortress of La C abana in the hours that lay ahead. A t about 9 o ’clock in the morning when I was already dressed to go to the Havana law courts, my telephone rang and a voice curtly ordered me to ‘ Come to La C abana because the trial o f Diaz Balbao is beginning and they are asking for the death penalty . . . ’ There was no time to lose, since a m an’s life was at stake. I grabbed my briefcase and a few documents which I had on the accused and drove at top speed along the Malecon to save time. A t that period, in order to enter La C a bana, one had to leave one’s car right outside, prove one’s identity, allow oneself to be searched and explain with an abundance of detail the purpose o f one’s visit, etc. W hen I requested permission to enter, I was told that an order had been received not to allow any lawyer to go in because “ no trials had been announced for that morning ”. But I refused to take no for an answer. In the end they let me in . . . but only after a num ber of telephone calls had been made from the gate-post to somewhere within the fortress, and all this took up more than 30 minutes. Finally I was allowed in at about 10:30 in the morning. I literally ran the 400 metres or so between the entrance near the Havana tunnel—which is where the lawyers go in—and the court room. I was allowed to go in and the accused greeted me with an um perturbed look. He had been defended hitherto by a military abogado de oficio named Humberto Fernandez M artines. 178 518

“ In the reply to the interrogation, nothing im portant had hap pened and during the oral evidence the presumed injured party, Jose Pardo Llada, proved to be unable to identify him nor was he able to pick him out as the occupant of the car num bered 290635 from which the shots had been fired. The accusation was only maintained by the G-2 agents and state prosecution witnesses, Jose Luis Dominguez H eruta and Felix Suarez Alvarez who claimed to have made a full investigation into the case. Whenever, as defence counsel, I tried to obtain details on where the investigator had obtained his version of the events (which had been public knowledge for over six months), I was ordered by the president of the court not to put my question in this form . . . and so I had to remain silent. “ Meanwhile a few yards away another trial was being held in which 4 death penalties had been asked for . . . The evidence against the accused was distinctly flimsy and the trial was being held without any members of the public or of the families of the accused being present because nobody had been notified. To all intents and pur poses it was a secret trial. The only difference was that large numbers o f militiamen were dozing on the wide window sills and in the seats normally occupied by the public . . . The last State or prosecution witness had finished testifying without being able to produce any real evidence against my client. There was a short pause to enable the provisional conclusions o f the prosecution and the defence to be given their final form. I went up to the prosecutor, Fernando Florez, whom I knew because we had been fellow students at Havana University years ago. I said that I assumed that he would now amend his conclusions because there had been no evidence to prove any clear case of guilt on the part of my client. He answered quickly that ‘ he had to be shot anyway as a measure of social health and that otherwise there would be a whole wave of violent crime ’. And this is just what happened. In his summing up the military prose cutor repeated his demand for death by shooting. This was opposed on the ground that neither of the two crimes with which the accused was charged had been proved. He had not committed a crime against the powers of the State because, as far as we knew, Pardo Llada was not a power of the State. N or had the charge of attem pted m urder been proved . . . because the Cuban Criminal Code describes the discharge o f a fire-arm against a passive individual and failing to hit him as ‘ the discharge of a fire-arm against a person known ’. In any event (assuming that my client could have been proved to have taken part) the crime would have been one of homicidal attem pt because only a slight wound was inflicted on the person accompanying Pardo Llada, against whom the attem pt was made. “ W hen the hearing ended I left, first of all shaking the hand of the accused who seemed unperturbed and explaining th at as the hearings had gone very well for him there should be no diffi culties. 179 519

“ A t about 4 that afternoon I decided to return to La C abana. I felt worried and was disturbed by vague fears . . . I had to hand in another document in connection with another case in which I was acting. W hen I arrived I asked the secretary o f the court whether he had any news about ‘ this m orning’s case ’. He looked surprised and said: ‘ But d o n ’t you know, Diaz Balboa is in death row . . . ’. I was staggered by the news. Death row is of course the block in which they place all prisoners who are due to be shot. I immediately went to the prison together with another lawyer whom I met there, D r. Mestas, to try to find my client, while he was also looking for a client o f his who had been sentenced to death. I knew that I would have to make desperate efforts to save him or even to see him because once a prisoner was in death row nobody was allowed to enter except, in some cases, his wife or mother. After much pleading on my part, a num ber of telephone calls were made within the prison where my unfortunate client was held. N othing what soever could be done without consulting Heaven knows what high authority which, as a special favour or concession allowed me to go in to see him. A t last, flanked by 2 guards with sub-machine guns, I was escorted along the dam p corridors—the fortress of L a C abana is over 300 years old. Finally we arrived at death row. This consist ed of a long, narrow corridor with 5 or 6 cells on each side, in each of which was a m an under sentence of death. The only ventilation in each cell was through the bars o f the door opening on to the central corridor, while they were separated from each other by thick walls of brick-work to prevent one prisoner from communicating with another. The floor was o f rough cement. I noticed th at the barred doorways were covered from the top to about a foot from the floor by a zinc sheet o f the kind widely used in Cuba to roof farm buildings. The only difference was th at these sheets, instead o f being corrugated, were flat. The men condemned to death could only see what was going on outside by lying flat on the dam p floor of their cells and straining to look out through the opening at the bottom o f the door. When I went in there was scuffling within the cells. Then a few seconds later faces began to peep out to see what was going on. Some were looking for their lawyer, some hoped to receive last messages from their parents while others again wondered whether it was their wife or child—in all more than 10 young faces looking up from the floor to the corridor. But I did not recognize Diaz Balboa until I heard a weak voice saying ‘ D octor ’ and I went along to one of the cells at the end. The guards opened the door and I saw how small the cell was—three feet wide and, at the most 6 or 7 feet long. My client was there lying on the floor. The cell contained no furniture or sanitary facilities. There was only a filthy towel on the floor . . . and an equally filthy tin containing water. The red revolution does not give its enemies during their last hours even the meanest o f beds. When he came to and managed to stagger out o f the door he said to m e : ‘ W hat is the meaning of this . . . ?

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I have not been sentenced and I have not been told anything and yet here I am in death row . . . I answered that it was an injustice and a breach of all hum an rights. I wanted to tell him that the whole thing was infamous but the armed officer was eyeing me, plainly anxious to end the interview. I promised him that I would lodge an appeal as soon as the verdict was notified to me—they had to notify me in cases involving the death penalty. His last request to me was th at I should give his wife Hilda a few lines which he had written on a cigar packet. The message could hardly have been shorter. But the surly guard flatly refused. He said: ‘ W e’ve been decent enough in giving you 5 minutes when we are not supposed to give you one and th at is quite enough ’. My interview with the condemned man had ended. As I went out a youth in one of the cells called out to m e : ‘ Please in Heaven’s name put in an appeal for me because they are going to kill m e.’ I stopped for a minute and listened to what he had to say. I promised that I would do as he asked and noted down his name which was Jose M. M esa Lopez. I walked out feeling sure that that night there would once m ore be bursts of firing by squads of militiamen destroying young and innocent lives . . . and so it happened.” IV. TH E CASE O F THE AIRM EN Evidence from four witnesses was selected to illustrate this im por tant case. Wife o f air force pilot Q. “ Can you tell us how and why your husband was arrested and sentenced? ” A. “ Let me start at the beginning. My husband was a pilot in the C uban army air force, having qualified in the U.S.A. After our wedding we went to Spain and on our return, my father told us early in the morning of January 1 that Batista had fallen. My husband then said: ‘ I ’ll go along to the airfield to see what is happening. ’ He had no desire to leave C uba because there was no reason to. So he remained in the air force and the Government employed him on flights to various parts of Cuba. W hen Fidel Castro reached Havana on January 8 it so happened that they were on one of these trips, which had taken them to the town o f Camaguey. Fidel Castro m et them and asked them what types of planes they were flying. They replied that they had B-26s and Seafuries. On this occasion Fidel said the air force had been no trouble because it had not really been able to harm him, but that he had had to carry out his campaign in order to impress the public. He added that he intended to use them to bomb the Sierra, but with toys for the country children. M y husband, together with another pilot, Samoano, even flew here to Miami with the films of the revolution. He returned from this flight on 181 521

January 9, and went to the airfield the following day and it was then th at the pilots in this case were suddenly arrested without warning. They were not taken off to prison but were kept at the airfield while the investigation was going on. The m en’s families began to make enquiries because we heard the news over the radio. At the airfield statements were taken from all the pilots, who were told that a purge was going to be carried out. This lasted until February 5. On the morning o f th at day they were going to be taken to Santiago for trial by a revolutionary court. We immediately went to the airfield to find out what had happened. The wives and m others who were there asked to be able to see their husbands or sons, but when we got there the men were already getting out of a truck and about to board a plane. I demanded to be allowed to speak to my husband and at this point one o f the militia, Antonio Sanchez Cejas, shook me by the arm and I fell down. W hen my m other ran to help me up because I was expecting a baby, this individual stopped her saying that I could get up by myself. I still persisted and he then ordered me to be taken away as otherwise he would throw me out himself. I was then taken for treatm ent bacause in my fall I had h urt a foot and my mouth. It was then th at a brother of Diaz Lanz, who was a Lieutenant in the Rebel Army, told me not to worry, as the case of the airmen would be settled and there were no charges against my husband. The airmen were taken off to Santiago while we looked around for a lawyer to defend my husband because the intention was to hold a quick trial.” Q. “ W hat steps did you take in Santiago ? ” A. “ We tried to enlist the help of the clergy—we went and saw M onsignor Perez Serantes, because he had once helped Fidel Castro himself. We asked him to try to have the trial postponed and we also received invaluable help from Father Chabebe, who is now here in exile. But I have forgotten a detail I wish to mention. While we were in H avana the airm en’s families tried to find out why they had been arrested. The prosecutor—Antonio Sanchez Cejas— who was the m an who knocked me over—called all the members of the airm en’s families together and told us that he was going to be the prosecutor, th at he knew that all o f us were the wives or mothers o f the arrested airmen, mechanics and gunners and that as members of service families we m ust know th at the death penalty was quite common, that they were all going to be shot and that it was no use crying because there was nothing that could be done about it. At this the wife o f one o f the airmen, who was 9 months pregnant, fainted and had to be taken to hospital. Shortly afterwards the trial began in Santiago. It was all taped but all the evidence is still in C uba . . . ” Q. “ Were you present at the tr ia l? ” A. “ Throughout. The charge against my husband was that he had bombed Sagua de Tanamo. The evidence consisted o f a docu 182 522

ment showing th at he had taken off from Columbia at such and such a time and landed at such and such a time. A t the trial it was con clusively proved th at Sagua de Tanamo was not bombed, that the only victim in the town was a girl who happened to be in a house which was struck by a case of ammunition dropped from a transport plane. Sagua de Tanamo was burned by Batista’s army and Fidel C astro’s army. During two years of warfare only 2 people were killed in accidents, 8 in the fighting and 16 were injured. The conclusion drawn from this evidence was that the air force was in no way respon sible. One m an who came forward at the trial made the remarkable claim th at he had 5.50 bullets in his chest. But he was only one witness. A nother m an claimed th at he had been hit by an air force pilot but in fact had been hit by buckshot while trying to rustle livestock.” Q. “ You have described the accusation; can you tell us any thing about the treatment of the witnesses and defence counsel.” A. “ The defence counsel were seriously hampered in the dis charge of their duties. My own husband was defended by Dr. Aristides de Acosta. But counsel were not allowed to talk to the accused before the hearing began. I gather they were only shown the indictment the evening before.” Q. “ But were the counsel and witnesses harrassed ? ” A. “ Well, few of the accused made any statement—I think two o f them did so, while the rest o f the airmen refused to make any. Among the witnesses brought by the prosecution there was one— I do not remember his name but I think it was Mas M achado—who made a statem ent favourable to the airmen. As a result the prosecutor had him arrested and I was subsequently told that he had been tried and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.” Q. “ W hat other witnesses made statements ? ” A. “ I do not remember how many, but there was a priest who made a statem ent in favour of our fellows and as a result was bullied by the prosecutor who asked him whether he thought that the airmen were war criminals since they had bombed the Sierra. The priest replied th at he did not think so because they bombed military objec tives and there was a war going on. The prosecutor insulted him and told him that he was not fit to wear a cassock. I should add that according to the best o f my recollection the experts, pilots, mechanics, gunners and witnesses totalled about 100; the witnesses alone numbered about 80. The mechanics for example had been taken to Santiago as witnesses and not as accused and it was only when they were in Santiago that charges were made against them. The fact was th at the mechanics did fly in the planes to see whether anything needed repairing or adjusting, but they were not in the same position as the pilots or gunners. Nevertheless the prosecutor claimed that they too were guilty. On this theory they should also have 183 523

charged the men who refuelled the planes. The defence counsel argued that they had not committed any crimes, but the prosecutor m aintained th at they had. The witnesses for the prosecution told a good many lies. I also saw the prosecutor’s secretary talking to the witnesses during the hearings. The prosecutor spoke on the radio for an hour every day to stir the people up against the airmen, and the newspapers Surco, Sierra Maestra and others, including Revolucion, said they were not airmen but murderers because they had dropped bombs. The court deliberated and since it could find no evidence— for the good reason th at there was not any—an attem pt was made to manufacture some, but when this failed there was no alternative but to acquit them. They were thereupon taken to the Boniato prison to await the order for their release. Fidel C astro was informed of the court’s verdict and issued a statem ent to the effect th at he was unable to accept it and the case would have to be retried. A t the new trial the prosecutor was Dr. Augusto M artinez Sanchez, while the president was called Pineyro (“ Red Beard ”) I believe. W hen the new trial opened, one of the lawyers, Pena Justiz, announced th at a very serious fact had come to his notice, namely that the court had already decided on its verdict and that 8 of the accused had been sentenced to be shot. In other words the case had been judged even before the retrial began. They were unable to bring this verdict in, thanks to the efforts of Father Chabebe, but there can be no doubt that they had the spot ready where the shootings would have taken place. It was on a Saturday afternoon that we discovered that they had been sentenced to 30 years. The retrial was a farce. The prosecutor insulted Dr. Aristides de Acosta and he had to put up with violent abuse from the communist audience. In fact it seemed as if the lawyer were being tried, because the accused themselves were not present at this retrial. They remained in Boniato prison. We asked to be allowed to see them but permission was refused. Finally one Wednesday we were allowed to see them for exactly 5 minutes after queueing up for more than 9 hours. We had to buy things for them and bring them food. Finally they were taken, closely bound, to Havana by train.” Q.

“ Did you see them and how were they bound ? ”

A. “ Some were bound with ropes while others were handcuffed. They were taken to El Principe and when they got out o f the train at the station there, they were insulted and molested by a crowd which was waiting for them. We were not able to talk to them. We tried to follow by car because we did not know where they were being taken. My husband was tied to another airm an and when they got out of the truck their arms were bound. All their belongings and the things we had bought for them were taken away. They were virtually naked. Even their underwear was taken. M y husband had on a pair o f trousers which were held up by a piece o f string he had managed to find, but they had no buttons on them. We tried to get 184 524

camp beds for them. The commander of the prison, who I think was called Joaquin Garcia, said to us: ‘ D on’t cry so much. W othin 4 months or so you will have forgotten your husbands, bacause you women need a m an to keep you happy ’. In the prison it was almost impossible to see our husbands except through a tiny window. The people in charge did not like us being there because there were also m any common criminals. Another thing, when we visited our hus bands we were searched and insulted by being called ‘ Esbirras ’ (police hirelings). They were there for 4 or 5 days. After that they were taken away. W hen they boarded the plane there was some jostling because there were a large number of them and I remember th at an officer called del Rio told us not to worry because it was not worth going to all the expense of keeping them in prison, to that if they tried to escape theywould be riddled with; bullets. On the Isla de Pinos we had to buy them new clothing and everything else because all their belongings had been taken away from them at El Principe. ” Ex-soldier and airman, member o f the revolutionary court Q. “ C an you tell us in detail about your part in the trial and its consequences ? ” A. “ Let me give a brief recapitulation o f the circumstances which led to my appointm ent as a member o f this court. I was studying engineering at Havana University but gave this up to join the air force cadet school, from which I graduated in October 1949, Because o f my democratic convictions I conspired from 1952 onwards against the recently established dictatorship of General Batista, and as a result I was sentenced by a court m artial after a very summary trial in 1953 to a term of imprisonment of 2 years, 4 months and 1 day. I was arbitrarily transferred from the military prison at La C abana to the prison for common criminals on the Isla de Pinos, where I m et Fidel C astro who was serving his sentence after the attack on the M oncada barracks in 1953. “ Owing to the efforts o f Dr. Pelayo Cuervo Navarro, who was subsequently murdered by the police of the Batista tyranny, I was included in the Amnesty Act for political prisoners in 1955 and set free. I continued conspiring in Cuba until November 1956, when I went to Miami in search of help for the revolution. While in Miami I turned down a num ber of invitations which I received from Fidel C astro from Mexico. In pursuit of this aim I landed on the Via M onum ental in Cuba with a plane loaded with arms on August 6, 1957 and took part in the unsuccessful uprising of September 5, 1957. I returned to Miami in January 1958. In that year I took part in the Pact o f Caracas as representative o f the air force opposed to Batista. It was at this meeting that Dr. M anuel U rrutia Lleo was appointed President of the Republic of C uba in Arms. Having received further invitations from Dr. Fidel C astro, who had been fighting in the Sierra M aestra since December 1956, I decided as a 185 525

military airm an and as the representative of my fellow military airmen to take 2 P-51 planes to the “ F rank Pais ” second eastern front. While I was there I did not find any evidence o f m arked communist activity. “ W hen Batista fell on December 31, 1958 I went to Havana, arriving on January 8, 1959. There was complete anarchy and a small group o f communists were already beginning to take over the key posts in the government. “ As a military airm an I was selected for service in the newly established Revolutionary Air Force. “ The pilots in the former C uban air force who had compromised themselves m ost under Batista went into exile, leaving on active service a group o f pilots whom Fidel C astro himself had absolved of any criminal responsibility during a hearing held at Camagiiey during the early p art o f January. However, after a violent propaganda campaign about the criminal deeds of Batista’s air force against the defenceless civilian population, especially the peasants, m ost of this group of pilots were arrested and brought before a revolutionary court. The court was composed as follows: the president, M ajor Felix Lugerio Pena, commander of the “ F rank Pais ” operational battalion, commanding all the revolutionary forces in Oriente Prov ince; members of the court, Lieutenant Adalberto Paruas o f the Judge Advocate’s Departm ent, legal expert, and myself as the expert on air force m atters. In view o f the democratic convictions of the members of the court and the violent propaganda which had preceded the trial, these appointments seemed to me to be nothing less than a clever snare. Either we condemned a group of pilots whom C astro himself had exonerated at Camagiiey and against whom there was no evidence, or else we followed the dictates of our conscience and acquitted them. In the former case we would m ake ourselves the accomplices of the regime in a pseudo-legal murder, while in the latter we would have to face an inflamed and irrational public opinion which would m ake it easy for the government to charge us with being “ traitors to the revolution ” and at once eliminate us from the revolutionary scene. ” Q.

“ Can you describe the course of the trial? ”

A. “ The proceedings followed a fairly normal course. As pros ecutor, the government appointed Lieutenant Antonio Cejas, Judge Advocate o f the Revolutionary Air Force, who had remained in exile in Mexico throughout the struggle against Batista and who owed his post as Judge Advocate to his friendship with the commander o f the Revolutionary Air Force. This man, who had acquired no lustre during the revolution, was determined to m ake his m ark now at any cost. The defence was in the hands o f C aptain Aristides de Acosta, professor at the cadet school, Drs. Pena Justiz and Pagliery, both professors at the law school of Oriente University, 186 526

and Drs. Portuondo, Recaredo Garcia and Solis de Leon, who were practising lawyers. The accused were members of the former air force. “ The hearings lasted for more than 20 days while the prosecutor brought forward an interminable am ount of evidence. M ost o f it was false, for example the claim that the church in the village of Gucybano had been bom bed and that the village itself had been destroyed, when in fact there had never been a church there and the village was partly burned down by the infantry o f Batista’s army on the orders of M ajor M artinez M orejon. Several times the court had to ask the prosecutor not to call the accused by such hostile names as war criminals, murderers etc., as he did addressing the public and not the court. “ The prosecutor’s charge am ounted to the crime of ‘ genocide ’ which was not covered by Law No. 1 prom ulgated in the Sierra M aestra by M ajor H um berto Sori M arin, Judge Advocate-general of the Rebel Army, who was later shot by Fidel Castro in 1961. In passing judgm ent the court was bound by the wording of this law. The prosecutor succeeded in proving that all in all, Batista’s air force had killed 8 civilians and peasants and injured 16 more, but was unable to establish any relationship between these deaths and in juries and the flights carried out by the accused as established in the captured records o f Batista’s air force. In fact the court found that many of the bombs were defused before being dropped, using the device which is provided when pilots have to jettison their bom b load in an emergency. From these unexploded bombs the Rebel Army extracted the TN T it needed to manufacture anti-tank mines and other explosives for use against Batista’s army. The defence argued its case brilliantly and virtually made the prosecutor look ridiculous. One o f the defence counsel asked which would be the greater act o f genocide—the actions which led to the death o f 8 peasants, in which there was a remote and unproved possibility that the accused had taken part, or the indiscriminate shooting o f 22 pilots and mechanics because o f this remote and unproved possibility. The court then withdrew to deliberate. “ Being aware of our responsibilities and faithful to the principles which had led us to take up the struggle against tyranny, the members of the court independently and unanimously decided to acquit the accused o f all responsibility. Some hours before passing sentence we were visited by the prosecutor who, fearing that his career might be ruined, brought the news that M ajor Ernesto Guevara, known as ‘ el Che ’ had sentenced a Spaniard accused o f the same crime of genocide to 20 years’ imprisonment. In this way the prosecutor tried to influence the court and secure an arbitrary and unjust verdict which would go down on page 1 of his book o f ‘ revolutionary achievements ’. But the court acquitted the accused.” Q. “ How did the prosecutor react to this acquittal? ” 187 527

A. “ H e went to the radio station to stir up the people against the court and the accused while a small group of communist agitators went through the streets trying to get together a crowd to protest against the acquittal bu t they failed to do so. “ Meanwhile the military commander in Santiago de Cuba, M ajor M anuel Pineyro, alias Red Beard, ordered C aptain Pepin Lopez, who was responsible for guarding the accused not to set them free. C aptain Pepin Lopez, who is now in exile, still has a copy of this order. “ That night Fidel C astro in a television speech declared his disapproval of the court’s verdict. He did so in his capacity as Prime Minister, a post which he had held since the resignation of Dr. Jose M iro C ardona. The following morning the members of the court were ordered by higher authority to appear before the Joint General Staff in Havana. Fidel Castro then appointed another court made up o f m en on whom he could rely absolutely to convict the accused. This court consisted of M ajors M anuel Pineyro (Red Beard), Belarmino C astilla (Anibal), Carlos Iglesias (Nicaragua), Demetrio Monseny (Villa) and Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz. This court sentenced the accused to 30 years’ im prisonment.” D. “ D id this court get in touch with the members o f the previous c o u r t? ” A. “ No, they started afresh. M ajor Pena remained in Santiago de C uba for a few days in order to calm down his troops, who wanted to fight against the communists, while I went back to the Air Force in Havana. There I had an interview with President U rrutia and told him what had happened. H e gave me an undertaking th at he would do something about it. I went back to Santiago where the farce of the retrial had already begun and together with Pena decided to stick it out in Cuba. We flew to Havana, but were not given an opportu nity to appear before the general staff. I took over the command of the Combined Tactical G roup to which I had been appointed. A few days later, about half a block from my offices in the Air Force building, M ajor Pena was found dead in his car with a .45 bullet in his heart. Only a few minutes before he had been chatting with me in my office. ” Q. “ W hen you left M ajor Pena was there anybody else with h im ? ” A. “ Yes, his nephew. According to him Pena went out on an errand and left him waiting in the Air Force building. ” Q. “ W hat is your opinion about the death o f M ajor Pena? ” A. “ I have not come to any conclusion about it. His problems were political in character—he was not a m an with any personal problems. H e left a note saying that his decision was his own and th a t he ought not to have mixed up in the revolution . . . but this m ight have been forged. ” 188 528

Q. “ D id you see Raul C astro after these events ? W hat was his attitude? ” A. “ I would say that Raul Castro was extremely pleased. It was one obstacle less on their path towards totalitarian communism. ” Q. “ W hat comment did Fidel Castro make ? ” A. “ He reacted in much the same way as Raul Castro. That night he went to watch a pelota game. Neither he nor Raul went to the funeral and neither of them sent a telegram o f sympathy to M ajor P ena’s mother. Despite this, a huge crowd turned out for Pena’s funeral in Santiago. He was greatly loved by the people there. However, the press made virtually no mention of it. ” Q. “ After these events what happened to y o u ? ” A. “ F o r som e time I remained in the Air Force. The commander of the Air Force, Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz, had been dismissed and had gone into exile. His place was taken by M ajor Juan Almeida and I went on conspiring in Cuba. After a short time I requested permis sion to fly for Aerovias ‘ Q ’ in order to earn some more money. One day when I flew to Key West I discovered th at Diaz Lanz had come there to m eet me. A member of the D IF A R who had been on board th e plane reported on this when we returned and my position became impossible. Already M ajor Hubert M atos had been arrested and on Decem ber 15, 1959, on a flight to Key West for Aerovias ‘ Q ’, I decided to remain in exile in order to avoid being arrested on my return. ” Q. “ Between the trial and your departure from Cuba, were you persecuted or checked up o n ? ” A. “ Both before and after the trial. There was a time when I was not even allowed to fly. ” Q. “ W hat happened to the other member of the c o u rt? ” A. “ I do not know anything about him. ” Q. “ Were there any reprisals against your family after you left C u b a ? ” A. “ W hen the plane came back without me my house was searched and ransacked. Afterwards my wife, who had recently had an eye operation, was persecuted and frequently searched. They broke her down psychologically and I do not think she will ever recover completely. ” Priest Q. “ C an you describe the proceedings at this trial? ” A. “ The trial lasted a long time, about 20 days. The airm en’s families called on the Archibishop asking for mercy for the accused. As they knew th at I had a good deal of influence with the rebels they also asked me to be present at the trial. The first part was impeccable but the same cannot be said of the second part. ” 189 529

Q. “ W hat do you call the first part ? ” A. “ The part leading up to the acquittal. The second part took place when the government called for a review of the sentence. ” Q. “ D o you recall the charges against the pilots ? ” A. “ The prosecutor, who did not know what he was talking about, accused them of genocide in order to attract international attention. But he himself claimed during the trial that in two years of war the pilots had killed 8 people and injured 13. ” Q. “ W hat verdict did the court bring in? ” A. “ A n acquittal and the court declared th at the alleged events had not taken place. In other words, the first stage o f the trial was held properly. However, there were occasions when the prosecutor in order to earn praise ordered 2 or 3 witnesses to be arrested and the president had to intervene in order to set them free. ” Q. “ W hat happened during the second stage ? ” A. “ The verdict was given at 6.30 p.m. It was an acquittal. Cejas had a quick talk with Raul Castro because Raul knew all about the case and the pilots were retained in custody. Their families thought they had been set free. After his talk with R aul Castro, the prosecutor, Cejas, went to the radio station, CM KC, to protest and stir the people up against the court’s verdict. “ Later, members o f the communist party organized popular dem onstrations and critized the verdict and the court over the radio. W ithin a m atter of hours it was learned that Fidel Castro thought it necessary to hold a retrial. A few days later, another court presided over by M ajor M anuel Pineyro began a second hearing. The prosecutor was the then M inister o f the Arm ed Forces, Augusto Martinez Sanchez, who had been sent specially from Havana. During this second stage the pressure on the defending counsel from the specially drilled crowd in the court-room was much greater. The prosecutor, M artinez Sanchez, concentrated almost entirely on insulting the counsel. In fact Dr. de Acosta, one of the defence counsel, had to withdraw because o f the insults he received from the prosecutor and which the court did nothing to check. During the trial the lawyers learned th at it was intended to shoot 8 of a total o f about 30 officers and mechanics. This fact was m ade public by Dr. Pena Justiz and this perhaps saved the lives of these 8 men, because his revelation disconcerted the court so much th at it was unable to pronounce such a sentence. W hen the hearing ended the court did n o t announce its verdict despite the fact that these courts usually did so within a m atter o f minutes. Some days went by before the sentence was announced, but it was never communicated to the defence counsel. According to what I could gather in Santiago de Cuba, this procedure was followed on the government’s instructions. ” Q. “ Can you tell us anything about the mechanics who were accused together with the pilots ? ” 190 530

A. “ Yes. Apparently they were brought to the trial merely as witnesses but later they were accused too and then sentenced. ” Lawyer and notary

Q. “ Were you present at the trial of the airmen in Santiago de Cuba in 1959?” A. “ Yes. ” Q. “ How was the defence allowed to exercise its rights ? ” A. “ C ounsel were coerced by criticisms directed publicly at them by C astro and other officials of the government through the powerful communist propaganda machine. I recall that the airmen were acquitted by the court. But they were not released on direct orders from Castro, who said they could not be set free because they were criminals. “ Dr. Aristides de Acosta, who brilliantly defended the airmen, was dismissed from his post and persecuted as a result, in order to serve as a warning to any lawyers who might in the future defend anyone accused of not supporting the government. ” Q. “ W hat other collective persecution of the lawyers in Santiago de C uba do you recall? ” A. “ In this actual case of the airmen, I remember that when the Bar Association of Santiago de C uba learned that the acquitted airmen had not been released it protested and this produced direct criticism from C astro himself. Some time later the Bar Office was visited by a group of lawyers who supported the government (there were about 8 or 10 of them) who demanded the resignation of all the members. They were told that there was no reason why we should because we had merely done our duty. Later they came back to the Bar Office and threatened to denounce us to public opinion as counter revolutionaries and bad Cubans. Accordingly all the members of the board handed in their resignations, except myself. Henceforth I was m arked down as a counter-revolutionary and my house was searched 3 or 4 times without any warrant. The searches were carried out by force and I had to put up with all kind of persecution. ” V.

VIOLATIONS OF PERSONAL FREEDOM

A. MASS ARRESTS

After the events o f April 17, 1961, thousands of persons were arrested. M ore than 5,000 were confined in the Sports Palace alone. The violence with which these large-scale arrests were carried out by the C astro regime has been amply proved. Sub-machine guns used to be fired off in the direction of the prisoners in order to keep them cowed. According to several wit191 531

nesses, these burst of fire killed a num ber o f people and wounded many more. One woman witness stated “ We were then lined up in groups of 15 women and 15 men and taken by bus to various prisons such as La C abana, El M orro and El Principe. I myself was interned in the latter. There we were put in a makeshift cell while they took out the common criminals. We then went in in batches of 85 or 100 until there were 485 women in four halls. F o r the first 4 nights we slept on the floor and we were then issued with some blankets, but there were not enough for even half the women. “ Each of these large cells contained a toilet and at the end of a week we were allowed to wash ourselves for the first time. The food was inadequate and not only bad but rotten. It consisted of meat hash and was full of hair, which disgusted me so much th at for 5 days out o f the 9 I was in prison I had nothing but bread and water. The water was distributed by a common criminal and handed out in a condensed milk tin—one tin for every 10 women. “ In cell No. 3 on April 21, two o f the prisoners who were house wives and had been denounced by their district committees and who were both pregnant, one of them 6 months and the other 3 months, had miscarriages without any medical care. “ The atmosphere there was terrible. We were kept in a constant state of mental torture and at all hours of the day and night militiawomen would come and tell us what was going to be done with us. M ajor Escalona used to visit us at night and tell us that we would be tried and sentenced by the People’s courts. This, among other things, caused three of the women in my cell to get out of their mind. ” The witness concluded: “ This went on until half past one on the morning of April 26, when I was set free without any explanation being given for my arrest. ” All the persons who were involved in these large-scale arrests carried out without any discrimination were card-indexed by the G-2. A nother witness employed at the Sugar Institute described how she, together with a group o f her fellow workers, was arrested on April 17, 1961. The arrests were carried out by militiamen and no explanation was given. The witness said: “ A t about 11 o ’clock at night the militiawomen searched us a t the Sugar Institute itself, forcing us to strip and went through all our belongings. They made the whole process extremely humiliating. The militiamen then took me from the office to my home and in the space of a few hours carried out 3 searches and all they found was a pastoral letter, a few newspapers, my passport and some loose change which I kept in the wardrobe. 192 532

“ After the last search they left me at home apparently at liberty but during the evening of Tuesday, April 18, militiamen once more came to my home and ordered me to accompany them to the Sports Palace. “ All these militiamen were armed with Czech sub-machine guns and their m anner was threatening despite my being a woman and absolutely alone. ” This witness was later transferred to the Blanquita theatre in the M iram ar quarter. She went on: “ I was put in the theatre lobby and so I could see the arrival of thousands of people of all ages and social classes. On entering the theatre I was astonished to find thousands of arrested men inside. “ The male prisoners were not given any food, but the women who had some money on them were allowed to buy various things that were hawked about by militiamen who took advantage of the situation to overcharge us grossly. The spectacle of thousands o f hungry men under the sub-machine guns of the militiamen was like something out of D an te’s Inferno. “ All the prisoners were card-indexed and their fingerprints and photos were taken. “ On Sunday, April 23, a start was made on transferring the pris oners to the fortress of La C abana. On getting out of the bus we were divided up into groups of four and told th at we were going to face the firing squad in the fortress. This announcement, which was made in the gloom of the early hours of the morning, was a tremendous shock and we were in fact actually taken up to see the wall against which the executions took place. “ We saw hundreds of men and women in prison there, but as there was no room for our party it was decided to take us away in another bus to the Castillo del M orro, another military fortress nearby. “ On arriving we saw th at the m oat of the fortress was full of arrested men of all ages, races and social classes. After card-indexing us for the third time, we were taken to the prison set aside for women, which already contained hundreds of women prisoners. To give some idea of how closely we were packed in I need only say that my section of the wom en’s jail contained about 500 women who had to sleep on the floor without any hygiene whatsoever. In order to move about one had to step over the sleeping bodies. “ Our food consisted of a tin o f watered milk and a slice of hard bread. “ There I developed a high tem perature through a throat infection and since there were no medical facilities or medicines I asked for some bicarbonate and salt for my throat but was unable to obtain them. 193 533

“ After about a week in this castle we were taken to the Castillo del Principe at 2 o ’clock in the morning o f April 29 or 30 and I remained there until M ay 7 when I was released. An administrative secretary in judicial service testified “ At the Castillo del Principe the loudspeakers kept broadcasting a record which said: ‘ If the invasion continues we shall go on shooting. ’ “ In the castle there were whole families, including children who had been taken from their homes in the middle o f the night. For example in my cell there was a girl of 12 whose aunt had been arrested and because this girl and her m other happened to be staying there, they too were taken away. The girl had to endure this atmosphere of terror for 4 or 5 days and she was released only because her father, who was divorced from her mother, was a militiaman and was able to get her out. ” A teacher o f a secondary school gave the following evidence Castillo del M o n o “ We were placed in the m oat o f this castle, which is about 15 feet deep and surrounds the entire fortress. In colonial times it was used as a means o f defence, and the m oat was filled with water whenever the castle was attacked. The walls had been hewn out o f the rock and part o f the bottom of the m oat is also o f rock, but elsewhere it is covered by sand left behind by the sea and usually this sand is damp. “ During the following 3 days we were given nothing to eat or drink, after which they threw down a water hose but as the water was left running it covered the bottom of the m oat and so made things worse than ever. All the prisoners in the m oat were men aged anything from 14 to 90. “ From the fourth day onwards we were given a tin o f water and condensed m ilk at midday and in the evening a meal consisting of Russian tinned m eat together with rice and black beans. But in order to obtain this meal we had to queue up for 6 hours and many men fainted because they were so weak after 3 days without any food whatever. “ Naturally there were no sanitary facilities in the m oat and we had to bury our own excrement in order to avoid disease. I saw several men suffering from bouts o f fever w ithout being given any medical attention. I also saw two men who went out of their minds because of the things they saw. ” A workman stated th at he was one of a group of 25 transport workers who were arrested and taken to the Sports Palace on April 17. He said: 194 534

“ We were taken down with our hands behind our heads and we entered the building under the sub-machine guns of the militiamen who shouted insults at us. An officer appeared who said that we would not stay there but would be taken to La C abana. On reaching the military fortress at La C abana the same thing happened—we were told th at we would not stay there because there were too many pris oners there already. We were then taken to another military fortress, the Castillo del M orro. They put us in the m oat of the castle because the cells and huts were used for women. ” B. INDIVIDUAL ARRESTS

A salesman testified as follows “ . . . W hen they came back to arrest me in the early hours of June 19, my house was surrounded by militiamen carrying sub machine guns who tried to knock down the front door and shouted threateningly: “ Open up at once; don’t try to get out because the house is surrounded I tried to make them identify themselves but this only made them angrier and my wife opened the door. They im m ediately entered the house and carried out a minute search. They opened all the cupboards and closets and read all my letters and business papers—I am a publicity agent. They then asked us for our passports and car keys but they were unable to take either the keys or the car because I had sold the car beforehand. This search went on for 2 or 3 hours and then they took me away in one of the police cars. These cars contained a num ber of other arrested people and in all 14 o f us were taken along to the G-2 building on 5th and 14th Streets. There all my personal belongings and money were taken away. We were then put in a small room which already con tained about 20 people who had been there for 3 or 4 hours. We were then called out for our particulars to be noted down and after that we were placed in several different rooms. These rooms were about 12 by 12 feet and contained nothing except 8 metal bunks which were in very bad shape and many o f them had caved in alto gether. Accordingly most of us had to sleep on the floor. We were completely cu t off from our families. Our food consisted of a little rice and m eat twice a day—at 11 in the morning and 4 in the after noon. We wore nothing but our underwear because of the great heat in th at room and took our shoes off in order to keep the beds clean. An order was issued that we should be given the food that our families had been bringing all week and we finally received it at the end of the week when it had already gone bad. I remained there for 35 days and I was not told why I had been arrested until the last day. (9)

The num ber o f cases of persons arrested without any w arrant from the appropriate authority, without any proper notification of the reason for the arrest and without allowing the defence to exercise its 195 535

rights has reached alarming proportions in Cuba. In fact it can be said without fear of exaggeration th at arbitrary arrests are now com monplace in that country. These arrests are usually due to spiteful denunciations by supporters of the C astro regime who hope to gain some advantage thereby. One example is provided by the case of a journalist and lawyer who had exercised his profession in Havana for more than 30 years. This man, who was on the editorial staff of one o f the biggest H avana daily newspapers, was denounced by a former friend o f his. The witness stated: “ The denunciation was based on a letter which had been found in a file and was signed by the former C uban Am bassador to the United States. In this letter he m entioned a private conversation I had had with him in New York. The person who denounced me used these statements by a third person to claim th at I had been an active supporter o f the Batista tyranny. I was taken to a police station. M any people, m ost of them in the revolutionary government, tried to have me released. The person who denounced me was overcome by lastm inute remorse and informed the officer on duty that he withdrew the accusation. But it was no use. The C aptain in charge of the police station was a former car-park attendant. He was illiterate and a m an of few words. W ithout drawing up any charge he had me sent in a barred van, as if I were a dangerous criminal, to the prison at the Castillo del Principe. I remained there for 53 days in circum stances o f the utm ost hardship, rubbing shoulders with common criminals. ” The witness went o n : “ I demanded in vain to be told what the charges against me were. In fact I never did find out. At the end of 53 days Fidel C astro himself set me free in a television pro gramme, claiming as usual that it had all been a mistake. I came out of prison as I went in, without any record being made and without any document being given to me. Some days later the Judge Advo cate in the prison told me confidentially that there had been no charge and no judicial proceedings and in fact no proceedings o f any kind because there had been no evidence whatever. “ There were and still are many cases like mine in C uba. I would say that in 60 per cent of the arrests no ordinary or even special judicial procedure is followed. ” An elderly housewife stated “ A t about 5 p.m. on M arch 18, 1961, 5 cars belonging to the G-2 pulled up outside my house and the police broke into my home without any w arrant of any kind either to search my home or to arrest me. I was kept in the house for several hours while my hus band, on returning home, was kept outside in the street. “ W hen he was arrested he was immediately taken to the G-2 building while I stayed at hom e until 11 o ’ clock in the evening, when I too was taken away to the G-2 building. Members o f the G-2 had occupied my house in the meantime. 196 536

“ I was tried together with a number of other prisoners, but my husband could not be present because he fell seriously ill in the prison at La C abana. ” Q. “ Why were you arrested ? ” A. “ We were arrested because my husband and I have the same names as our sons, whom they really wanted to arrest. W hen they could not find our sons they arrested us instead. ” Q. “ Were you allowed to bring witnesses? ” A. “ No. I remember that when M ajor Hum berto Sori M arin of the Rebel Army (who was tried at the same hearing) made his speech to the court, he called Fidel Castro and Raul Castro as witnesses. Their names were called out but they did not come. “ The trial lasted for about 12 hours and at the end of it I was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. ” Q. “ Then how are you here now? ” A. “ I was set free without any explanation on April 25, 1961. I was not even given a document to confirm that I had been released. “ This surprised me because I knew th at I had been sentenced to 30 years and this had been confirmed by the Brazilian Ambassador, who went to the Ministry of State to enquire whether I could leave as a guest of the Embassy. He was told th at I had been sentenced to 30 years and could not be released. “ The only possible explanation for setting me free, especially in view o f the fact that they did not give me any document confirming that I had been released, is that they were trying to find my sons and thought they were bound to try to get in touch with me, whereupon they could be arrested. “ I finally sought asylum in the Venezuelan Embassy because one of my sons was already in the Venezuelan Embassy. I entered the Embassy on June 19, 1961 and left C uba on September 12. ” Q. “ W hat happened to your husband ? ” A. “ W hen I was set free I went to see him in the guard room of the Columbia military hospital, where he had been placed after having suffered three heart attacks in La C abana prison. He died on June 12. ” Q. “ How old are you, and how old was your husband ? ” A. “ I am 65. My husband was of the same age. ” (45) One o f the methods employed by the C astro regime to terrorize the C uban people is the simulated execution. All the preparations for the execution are made, the victims are stood up against a wall and the order is even given to fire. But the shots are fired wide. A shop worker stated that when he was arrested he was taken to “ the local cemetery and put up against a wall in the cemetery as if 197 537

to be shot, although the accusations against me were completely false. But the execution was not carried out and I was taken to the nearby barracks This witness was kept a prisoner for 22 days without any charges being made or any proceedings being initiated. (61) One of the witnesses was arrested because he had employed men who had been soldiers in B atista’s army as cane cutters on his sugar plantation. This was regarded as a counter-revolutionary activity because, said the witness: “ According to them nobody should employ anyone who had belonged to the old army ”. The witness was arrested, together with a num ber of other persons and taken to the headquarters o f the Fifth M ilitary District. The witness ad d ed : “ They claimed that the insecticide which was used to spray cucumbers—and which as it had a sulphur base was yellow in colour—was in fact TN T or G-3 plastic explosive and th at I deserved to be shot ”. (63) A doctor from H avana described what happened to him as a result of the events o f April 17, 1961. “ On April 18 of this year I was arrested while I was working in my consulting ro o m ... where they carried out a thorough search and where I had to endure the offensive behaviour o f a Lieutenant called T rujillo. . . who threatened me th at unless I talked I would be shot instead o f merely being sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment. “ From the G-2 building I was taken with a large number of other prisoners to the La Salle College which had been turned into a prison. ” The witness stated that when an air-raid alarm was sounded the lights o f the college were p u t out and the detainees were stood against the wall in one o f the lecture room s. “ Lieutenant Trujillo then said that when the first bom b fell we would all be shot as a reprisal. His threats went so far that some of us were taken out on the roof-top terrace of the building at midnight and told that we were going to be shot. To add to the gravity of the scene they brought along a Mexican priest who was also a prisoner so that those of us who were C atholics could receive the last consolations of our faith. The priest, who was a very old man, showed signs of being under terrible strain. “ Subsequently this scene was repeated, but with militiamen wear ing the clothes of the La Salle Brothers and jokingly im itating the words and gestures of the real priest. We were kept busy moving about from one room to another. ” 198 538

A housewife replied to a question Q. “ Did you suffer any political persecution in C uba? ” A. “ I was arrested and charged because I complained about an unjust fine which had been imposed on somebody else and because I told the authorities th at we were worse off than under Batista. They threatened to arrest me and shortly afterwards a group o f armed men drew up outside my home in two police cars and took me to the police station in the M ilitary City, formerly the Columbia camp, and drew up a report which I refused to sign because it contained so many lies. I was released on bail and then left the country without waiting for the trial to be held because I was reliably informed that I would receive a heavy sentence. ” A girl student testified Q. “ W hen did they arrest your father ? ” A. “ On December 20, 1960. ” Q. “ Why was he arrested ? ” A. “ He was accused of being a counter-revolutionary leader. He was in fact arrested and his passport taken away because he owned a sugar mill. He could not go on living in C uba because he had lost everything. So he decided to escape and a friend of ours—well, I think he was a friend—helped him to escape in a launch and it was then that he was captured at V aradero. . . ” Q. “ How often did you visit your father in La C abana ? ” A. “ I started looking for him in December as soon as he was captured. A t first 10 or 12 days went by before we could find out anything about him. We began to make enquiries and we were always told that they knew nothing about him, th at he was not there— anything to p u t us off. “ We went to the G-2 headquarters and there too we were told that he was not there, b u t as we were walking along the sidewalk my grandmother and I looked up at the building occuped by the G-2, saw somebody waving a handkerchief and on looking more closely saw th at it was father. My grandmother and I went in and enquired about him. We were told to wait. They said it would not take more than 10 minutes and at the end of half an hour we were told th at we could see him. We talked with him for 15 minutes and they took down everything we said. He was kept incommunicado for 6 days. W hen he was captured he was beaten about the kidneys. . . ” A woman lawyer gave following evidence Q. “ Were you yourself imprisoned for political reasons ? ” A. “ I was arrested on April 17, 1961 at 9.30 p.m. together with a rebel Lieutenant nam ed Juventino Almeida Aviles, who is still in 199 539

prison on the Isla de Pinos. My house was broken into by enough men armed with sub-machine guns to suggest th at a fight was imminent. It was searched down to the last piece of paper. We were taken along to the G-2 building on 5 th Avenue, 14 thStreet, inM iram ar, M arianao.” Q.

“ Were you interrogated im mediately? ”

A. “ No, they never do that because this is one o f their ways of mentally torturing their prisoners. I spent 17 days there. First of all I was in the headquarters building itself in a part known as the “ dog house ”. A bout 90 women were packed into a small room containing some double bunks which were all broken down but were useful to the police because it m eant they could put more people in the room. The majority o f us had to stand up and from time to time we were able to sit down—there was so little room that we could not all sit down at the same time. There was no ventilation because all the windows had been walled in. N or was there any artificial or natural light. We had to share the only bathroom with the men at specified times. We were constantly awakened at night by shouts in quite coarse language because, as one o f the m en told me himself, they were determined th at we should not sleep while they had to work. The food they gave us was always cold and there was no supply o f drinking w ater.” A male typist testified “ On the morning o f April 171 worked at the H avana law courts and on leaving was arrested by a militiawoman nam ed M argarita, a fellow employee of mine in the third criminal court. I was then taken to the guard room at the Supreme C ourt together with about 100 other people who worked at the C ourt building. A t about 2 in the after noon the men and the women were divided into 2 groups and taken to the cells in the H avana law courts. At 5 in the afternoon I, and about 15 other people, was taken in a closed van to the Sports Palace but we were not allowed in because the place was completely full and so we were taken to the prison in the fortress o f La C abana, where we arrived at about 7 at night. We were left in the open until 5 in the morning when we were placed in various cells which normally held about 80 people whereas there were 142 of us with the result that half o f us had to sleep on the floor. I remained there for 11 days. F or 9 days the food was very bad and during the first 2 days they only gave us water. I was in cell no. 8. On April 19 they shot Mingo T rueba and on April 20 they shot a m an nam ed Nongo at quarter to two in the morning. I heard 7 executions take place, because they shifted the place of execution to the wall behind cell no. 8. The condemned men were brought in jeeps and ordered to get out and stand opposite the firing squad. Meanwhile the worst insults than can be imagined were heaped on them. After the volley each m an was given the coup de grace. I spent 11 days in prison and was given the order for my 200 540

release on April 27 and was actually set free the following day at midday.” A secretary in the law courts related her experience as follows “ We were taken to the Sports Palace where there were about 10,000 people or m ore from all walks o f life. There were doctors, lawyers, priests, nurses, shop-assistants from the big stores such as “ El Encanto ”, “ Fin de Siglo ”, the “ Ten Sent ” among others, bus-drivers and conductors as well as many friends from various government departments. There were about 120 fellow employees of various grades from the law courts together with journalists. I did not have any food until 6 in the morning of the day following my arrest. There was an Argentine couple there who got into an argument with some militiamen and as a result the couple were taken to an office in the Sports Palace. Fifteen minutes later the wife dashed out screaming that they were killing her husband. When the other prisoners heard this they gathered around the woman and the militiamen ordered the prisoners to fall back. Shortly afterwards we were all ordered to lie down on the floor, which we did. Sub-machine guns were then fired off in the direction of the prisoners and a num ber of them were wounded and later died. Several women fainted and others had to be taken away because they were on the point of giving birth. We stayed there until about 4 in the morning when we were taken away in buses without being told where we were going. We arrived at the Castillo del Principe at about 5 in the morning and were m et by a crowd calling us “ vermin The women were placed in section no. 5—in all there were about 500 women. The first issue of food was at 6 in the morning and consisted of some unidentifiable liquid. I don’t know whether it was chocolate or coffee with milk and it was given to us in dirty, rusty milk tin s which it was impossible to drink out of. The cell I was in, which was called “ C ompany No. 1 ” was apparently normally for 50 men but now there were 107 women in it. There was only one openair W.C. and one wash bowl and to use either we had to queue up day and night. I slept on the floor just underneath the wash bowl. We were kept incommunicado in that cell without any opportunity 50 men but now there were 107 women in it. There was only 1 open-air W.C. and 1 wash bowl and to use either we had to queue up day and night. I slept on the floor just underneath the wash bowl. There were women of all classes so th at one had to put up with all their habits. We were kept incommunicado in that cell w ithout any opportunity of having a bath for 9 days. During the first night a woman who held a senior post with the electricity company went mad. There were 3 with severe attacks of asthm a and one with a pulmonary oedema. I was told that they had been set free but in fact they had been taken to hospital owing to their serious condition. This was done in the early hours o f the morning. There was also a woman lawyer who, for 4 or 5 days, suffered from a nephritic colic. There were no medi cines in the sick bay for people who fell ill.” 201 541

A decorator testified “ A t 6 o ’clock on the evening of Sunday, A pril 16, as I was driving along in my car I was stopped and without being given any reason I was taken to the M ilitia Post in the Calle Zanja in Havana. There I was questioned and my car and all my belonging were searched. The questions were all about religious m atters because they found religious books such as a missal, a book o f meditations and so forth on me. They went on questioning me until about 9.30 in the evening without allowing me to notify my family and then took me, still incommuni cado, to th e district military headquarters at C uba y C hacon, where the questioning began again. Once m ore the questions were about religion and politics. I was then told that I could sit down but had to squat on the floor because there were no seats. I remained there in this way until 3.30 in the morning w ithout being given any food, at which time they appeared with my father. They took all my household money as well as my jewelry, some anti-communist reviews, etc. and never returned them. From 3.30 in the morning until 5.45 I was questioned once more. By this time I was completely exhausted through having gone so long without any food and being subjected to close inter rogation. They kept on asking me whether I was a counter-revolution ary and an anti-communist and to put a stop to this I told th e m : “ I am Catholic, Apostolic and Rom an and I am not a communist ” and as for all this talk about being a counter-revolutionary I could not be a counter-revolutionary because I regarded myself as the true revolutionary. They then said they would keep me in custody because I had 50 dollars on me, but they released my father. I was then taken to the first police station in the former Ministry o f State and there I was put in a small room where there were about 30 women, m ost of them sleeping on the floor, b u t after only 5 minutes in there I was put in another room and we thought we were going to have breakfast but before it came we were taken to the Sports Palace and spent the Day of April 17 there. I managed to obtain a seat and spent the whole day sitting down but the majority had to squat on the floor. W e saw hundreds and hundreds of people brought in, m ost of them quite poor such as transport workers, truck drivers and even dust-men. I remained there all day until 4 in the afternoon and still had no food, making a total of 24 hours without any thing to eat. I was then taken to the military fortress of La C abana with a large party of men and women. We were treated as if we were livestock and quite often were threatened with shooting. W hen it was already dark they took us into the courtyard where the political prisoners receive visits and told us th at we would have to spend the night in the open air. But at II o ’clock that same night they woke us up and took us to the offices where they took down our particulars. This went on till after 1 o ’clock in the morning, in other words on April 18, by which time I had still not been able to sleep or eat. We were then taken into a cell with thick stone walls and a vaulted ceiling, the only ventilation being from various small grills at one end. M ost o f us had to He down on the 202 542

floor and cover ourselves with paper bags which the militiamen were kind enough to give us. The only sanitation was a hole in the floor and we had to sleep close by it despite the smell. There was no privacy and it was in full view o f all the prisoners and anyone passing outside. A t 8 in the morning we were given something to drink for the first time —coffee with milk which was so repulsive that I was unable to finish it. The containers were very dirty tins.” A woman psychologist gave this testimony “ At 10 a.m. we were taken to the G-2 building on the corner of 5th Avenue and 14th Street in M iramar. There they took our parti culars together with our fingerprints and photos. They took me, together with the two maids, to a large room with all the windows bricked up containing about 100 women. The heat was unbearable because although there was an air conditioner it was inadequate for the num ber of people in the room. We had to sit on some bunks or squat packed together on the floor. The air was unbreathable. One sick wom an began to choke and they had to make a hole in one of the bricked -up windows to enable her to breathe some fresh air. “ W hen at about 9 p.m. they could see that it was impossible for us all to sleep there, they took about 30 of us to another building on 5th Avenue. The ground floor was full of m en who wer so packed together that they could not lie down. On seeing this one of the girls who was with us fainted. “ We were taken upstairs where there was abolutely no furniture. We had to lie down on the dirty floor on some paper which we found lying about. We spent 5 nights in this way. A fter th at they brought us mattresses which we rolled up by day to sit on.” A workman’s evidence “ I was travelling in a bus from my hom e in San Jose de las Lajas in the Province o f Havana to the capital when militiamen boarded the bus in the tow n of C otorro and arrested me. They forced me to get out and I was driven away in a car without any official markings to the town o f Guines. In a quiet back street o f this town—this was at about h alf past 9 in the morning—the car stopped and the militiaman who was in charge said that in my town of San Jose de las Lajas there were many counter-revolutionaries and enemies of the government and that it was necessary to give them a warning. And so I was given 12 hours to get out o f the tow n and not return. So th at I should no t forget to obey they gave me 12 blows with a kind o f truncheon and 2 jabs in the back with bayonets. These jabs have left 2 scars on the left side of my back which I can show you. (The Commission representative ascertained th at he was speaking the truth). As a result of all this I moved to the town of Rodas and stayed there with a relative. On April 17 of this year when the invasion took place a group o f militiamen arrived at N o. 39 Calle C espedes in Rodas where I was living, arrested

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me and took me to the secondary school which had been turned into a reception center for prisoners. There were about 250 people inside, all o f them sleeping on the floor and without any sanitation or medical attention. I stayed there for 2 days and was then transferred to the Luisa Theatre in Cienfuegos, where I remained for 7 days, after which I was released and told to report to the G-2 in Santa C lara. I did so and was card-indexed. A t no time during my detention was any charge made against me nor was any police report made no r was I brought before any court o f justice.” VI.

CONDITIONS IN CUBAN PRISONS

Conditions in Cuban prisons under the Castro regime are utterly incompatible with hum an self-respect: ■ — complete lack o f such necessities as beds, bedding, eating utensils etc.; — lack of cleanliness and hygiene; — lack o f proper medical care; — physical ill-treatment and m ental torture such as simulated shootings, etc.; — very bad food; — over-crowding of prisoners; — arbitrary behaviour designed to humiliate visiting relatives. One witness stated: “ Following a riot in the prison they said that the political prisoners were to blame and to punish us they compelled us to sleep on the floor. As a result, I had a heart infarct, during which I received no medical care or medicine o f any kind. M y relatives and friends were not allowed to visit me n o r were the lawyers sent by my family to enquire into my position and handle my defence. “ C onditions in the prisons and the fortress on the Isla de Pinos are inhuman. The prisoners are packed in without food, without water, without medical care and without visits from their relatives. Nearly every night mock executions are held to frighten them .” It is a universally accepted fact that a political prisoner, because o f his personal circumstances and his motives for committing the action with which he is charged, is entitled to special consideration as com pared with a convict serving a sentence for a common law crime. In Cuba exactly the contrary takes place. The political prisoners receive humiliating, inhum an treatm ent. The C ommission’s investi gation established th at political prisoners are — forced to do hard labour; — moved from one place to another bound with ropes and hand cuffed; 204 544

— exposed to insults and abuse from specially drilled crowds; — deprived o f all their belongings including food bought for them by their relatives; — deprived o f their clothing and obliged to wear a uniform. One woman witness stated: “ They took away all their belongings as well as things that had been bought for them. They were practically naked. They even took away their underwear. My husband had on a pair of trousers held up by a string.” Political prisoners serve their sentence side by side with common criminals. One o f the woman witnesses gave a factual account of her arrival at El M orro prison. “ On arriving at El M orro I was surprised to see thousands o f faces down in the moat. There were more than 7,000 men down there exposed to all weathers and in fact 4 of the old m en died. “ We had to go up some stairs and finally reached a place consisting of 2 large halls separated by 2 rows of bars. There were only women up there. As I went in one o f the rooms someone tugged me by the arm and said : ‘ C ome in here. The people are better in here. ’ There was nowhere to sleep so we slept on the floor. There was nowhere to sit down either. Someone told me that the 2 halls between them contained about one thousand women . . . We slept jammed together on the floor. We had to relieve ourselves in the same room in specially provided places. We were guarded by militiamen and militiawomen who kept on telling us that if a new landing took place we would all be shot. “ Among the prisoners I saw 6 who were in an advanced state of pregnancy. One of them actually gave birth and lost her baby. “ One o f the commonest forms of torture was to announce that certain prisoners were going to be set free and then to cancel it.” A nother witness said: “ Every day they told us that we were going to die and read out the names o f people who were not there. Other times they made us gather together our clothing and when we were all ready said: ‘ Nobody else leaves today “ On the day they released me they called out my name and added the word ‘ freedom ’. I went down to the office where they kept me sitting for about an hour and then finally gave me my release order.” After they leave prison those who have been arrested are con stantly watched. One witness, a lawyer, served part of his sentence in La Cabana, part o f it in the Castillo del Principe and the remainder—almost 2 years—on the Isla de Pinos. 205 545

W hen asked about the treatm ent he had received in these prisons he said: “ The treatm ent given to all prisoners in La C abana was inhuman. It was even worse in the Castillo del Principe and worst of all on the Isla de Pinos.” W hen asked to describe the inhum an treatm ent he received in La C abana he said: “ F o r example we were awakened in the early hours of the morning on any pretext and taken to the office and there closely interrogated. “ It was also the practice in this prison to carry out searches in the early hours of the morning, which m eant that the prisoners were stripped and taken out into the courtyard in the bitter cold while the cells were searched. “ A nother form of inhum an treatm ent was that the cells were supposed to hold 50 people whereas in mine there were 125. We had to sleep wedged up against each other and could not move about.” Q. “ W hen did you arrive on the Isla de Pinos ? ” A. “ I arrived on June, 10, 1959.” Q. “ How many prisoners were there on the island ? ” A. “ When I arrived there were about 4,000 political prisoners but when I left there were m ore than 5,000. Now there are over 10,000.” This witness made some interesting statements about the treatm ent given to political prisoners while he was on the Isla de Pinos. “ All the political prisoners were forced to do hard labour from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. with half an hour for the midday m eal.” Q. “ W hat did this work consist of? ” A. “ There were several labour squads. One used to work in the m arble quarry where the work consisted of hewing out the marble with a sledge hammer. Others worked on the farm from which came the food consumed in the fortress. Another task was to clean out the pigsties. “ Still another chore was to clean out the ditches which carried the sewage and refuse of the whole fortress to the sea. On this type o f work the prisoners were forced to stand waist deep in the slime, to shovel out all the sewage and refuse. W hen we went back to the “ round house ” (a circular block o f cells) at the end of the working day all covered by slime there was no water to wash ourselves with and we had to clean ourselves down with our drinking water as other wise we would have had to spend the night covered with filth. “ Other jobs were sweeping out the entire fortress, remaking the road leading to the fortress and working in the m ortar shed which m eant standing up to our waists in lime. These were the kind of jobs on which we were employed. ” Q. “ Did you yourself perform any of these jobs? ” A. “ I did all of them because the squads were rotated. ” 206 546

Q. “ How many men were there in these squads and who com m anded th e m ? ” A. “ Each squad consisted o f 200 men. In charge of them were common criminals and whenever they saw that a prisoner was resting because he was tired they would come up and beat him on the back. A t other times our escort forced us to work at the point of the bayonet. ” Q. “ Were you ever struck or jabbed with a bayonet? ” A. “ Yes, many times, because, being asthmatic, I had to stop from time to time to get some air and they refused to allow it and used to strike me. Once I even fainted. ” Uniform worn by political prisoners “ The common criminals on the Isla de Pinos wore ordinary clothes. The political prisoners wore the old army uniform, which was khaki, with a black ‘ P ’ painted on the back and a ‘ P ’ painted on each trouser leg. ” Food “ There were two types of food—rice and soup and once a week as a special treat 2 pieces of malanga per prisoner—the same malanga which we ourselves used to plant. M any times we were unable to eat because when the food was served we found the remains o f rats and mice in the containers. During June 1960 there were more than 500 cases o f food poisoning. ” Q. “ How often did you find pieces o f rats in the food? ” A. “ M ore than 10 times. ” Punishment block F or the infliction of special punishments political prisoners were taken to a wing known as the punishment block. A political prisoner now in exile described the punishment cell as follows: “ The punish ment cell is 6 feet wide, 9 feet long and 7 feet high and is inside the block without any daylight. U p to 10 completely stripped prisoners were placed in this cell and were forced not only to sleep but also to relieve themselves inside the cell because the door was of solid metal. The minimum punishment was 6 months. M ost of the prisoners who went in this cell came out suffering from tuberculosis. ” Q. “ How were these prisoners fed? ” A. “ The food was put in a tin and passed under the door through a special opening. ” Searches Searches are carried out every fortnight by two guards accompa nied by common criminals. The searches begin at m idnight and end at 207 547

11 a.m. the next day. The prisoners, who are entirely und ressed, have to stand all this time outside the cell block in the open air. (14) One of the most striking facts to come to light is that the C astro government threatened its political prisoners by telling them that the cells in which they were housed were mined and, whenever the government felt itself endangered, would be blown up and all their occupants with them. A num ber o f witnesses confirmed this. One of them, a woman lawyer, said: “ During my last visit I myself saw that they were digging trenches about 3 feet deep around the cell block and th at machine guns had been installed in them. “ The political prisoners thought that these trenches were to hold dynamite because they were constantly being threatened not only verbally but also by actions. In the early hours o f the morning the prisoners would be stripped and taken out into the courtyard where they would be kept in the open air for 4 or 5 hours and threat ened and insulted in the coarsest language. They were constantly subjected to searches during which they were robbed o f all their belongings and left only with the clothes they stood up in. “ These threats went so far th at one day a warship came in sight and aimed its guns at the cell block. The prisoners were told that it was going to shell the fortress. I myself saw this vessel with its guns aimed at the cell block and it remained in this position for more than a week. A t other times shots would be heard outside the cell block and all the prisoners would be driven out into the courtyard at bayonet point and threatened with execution. ” One o f the prisoners told the witness: “ During the invasion o f C uba in April 1961 they put charges o f dynamite in the trenches and now (November 1961) all the trenches around the cell block are mined and can be blown up at any time. ” W hen this witness was asked whether at any time she had seen acts of violence committed against political prisoners, she said: “ Once when I was visiting political prisoners in the Castillo del Principe, I was approached by a political prisoner, M r. N . N., who is still in prison and whose name should therefore not be published, who showed me the weals on his back caused by blows from sub machine gun butts. There were also weals on his wrists. He did this quite suddenly taking off his shirt when the guards were not looking. However, they immediately came up and pushed him inside. “ On another visit to the C astillo del Principe to have a talk with Mr. H. H., whom I was defending and whom I managed to have acquitted, he told me that he was unable to sit down because he had 208 548

been jabbed with a bayonet in the buttocks because he had tried to prevent one o f the assaults, beatings and molestations th at D r. Joaquin M artinez Saenz, form er president of the C uban National Bank, had to endure every day. “ One o f the many cases described in a complaint to the O.A.S.1 signed by all the prisoners in block no. 2 on the Isla de Pinos and smuggled out was one o f which I have personal knowledge. It involved a young m an o f 21 called Solis who, during one o f the violent searches they carry out every day, shouted at them and received 2 bayonet jabs, one in the buttock and the other on the thigh and 2 bullets in his feet. He was then put in a cell without any medical treatm ent for his wounds. I heard o f this during one o f my visits and when I next visited the prison I enquired after him and was told th at he had gone mad. ” The witness concluded this part of her account by stating th at she had written to the International Red Cross in Geneva denouncing all these cases and giving details. Another witness, a lawyer, declared “ Some months before being arrested I had a heart attack and when they passed sentence I suffered another and was taken to Havana. I was put in the Castillo del Principe. In view o f my condition the prison authorities did not want to take me. I was then taken to the G-2 building on 5th Avenue and 14th Street, M iramar, M arianao, where I was kept a whole afternoon in the sun despite my condition and then at night taken to the Castillo del Principe where I was placed in the sick bay. ” Q. “ W hat was the prison sick bay like ? ” A. “ It was about 20 ft. long and 2 or 3 ft. wide and contained about 18 or 20 sick men, all o f them political prisoners because the criminals had a better sick bay. Whenever it was desired to punish a criminal he was sent to the sick bay for the political prisoners. “ It was here that I witnessed the death of a prisoner called Waldo Isaac Leon due to the fact that while in the fortress on the Isla de Pinos he did not receive medical attention. He was a political prisoner. He died through lack of medical care. “ Also in the sick bay was Dr. Juan Francisco Garvey, a lawyer and notary from Victoria de las Tunas, who was aged 84 and had been sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment for political reasons. In order to make sure th at he did not die as Leon had, the prisoners made a collection and devised a plan which was carried out by D r. X. (a doctor who was a prisoner with the witness). 1 Organization of American States 209 549

Political prisoners detained without trial The witness stated: “ Throughout the time I was in prison (August 1960 until August 30, 1961) I m et many political prisoners who had been there since January 1959 without appearing before any court.” The witness then quoted the names of 8 political prisoners who were in La C abana from January 1959 until August 1960 without being tried. “ I think there were over 200 prisoners in La C abana who had not been tried since January 1959 ” . La Cabana “ In La C abana there are 10 cells for political prisoners, numbered 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16. 17 and 18 are for those who have been sentenced to death and 20, 21 and 22 are full o f officers, and soldiers of the Rebel Army and militiamen who have been arrested. How many political prisoners were there? A bout 1,400 political prisoners together with about 300 men in cells 20, 21 and 22. I do not have first-hand knowledge of the prison on the Isla de Pinos but according to prisoners who were transferred for trial or for other reasons, there were estimated to be about 10,000 political prisoners on the island. There are prisoners throughout the interior o f the island. In Havana they are to be found in El M orro, in La Punta, in Columbia camp, in the Fifth Military District; in the G-2 (political police) building, in Atares and in the other military and police districts. ” Medical care in prison This witness stated: “ There was no medical care and such care as was available was given by doctors among the prisoners using medicines sent by relatives. There was no hospital or clinic. I recall the case of D octor Enrique Vidal, a lawyer, who died without receiving the medicines sent by his family—once delivered at the prison they take 15 or 20 days to reach the prisoner. In this particular case the doctors in the prison signed a statement to the effect that he had died because of lack of medical care. “ A t the time there were over 20 or 30 doctors in the prison but they had no instruments or medicines. ” A witness who was in the wom en’s prison at G uanabacoa said: “ The food consisted entirely o f rice with beans, occasionally with boiled vegetables, but I never had m eat while I was in prison. As regards sanitary facilities there were more than 40 of us in a small room with only one bath and toilet. “ While I was under arrest by the G-2 many women had to sleep on the floor. I did not have to do so because another woman who was released gave me her bed. ”

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A former magistrate in the Havana law courts stated

“ A part from the daily ill-treatment to which we were subjected I should make special mention of what happened on two occasions— on M arch 16 and M arch 29, 1960. In the early hours o f the morning the 500 or 600 prisoners in La C abana were forced to go out into the prison courtyard completely naked and there we were physically and morally illtreated on each occasion for more than 3 hours. “ We were assaulted with bayonets and rifle butts with the result th at I made a complaint to the civil authorities, who inspected the prison accompanied by police doctors and found that over 60 political prisoners—everybody in th at prison was a political prisoner—were suffering from bayonet wounds. “ C onditions in La C abana were very bad from all points of view. There were 9 or 10 large cells each holding at times 110 pris oners and in each there was only one bath and one toilet. “ N ot only was the food very bad but sometimes it did not arrive and many prisoners had nothing to eat. “ Searches were carried out once a fortnight or even more often and always in the early hours of the morning. We were compelled to strip and to go out into the courtyard. W hen the searches were carried out we were deprived of all our belongings whatever their nature, including medicines and foodstuffs. ” Medical services “ In La C abana the only doctors available were fellow prisoners, but they had no medicines or instruments. ” (57) Threats o f mass shooting “ W hen an unknown plane flew over Havana we were stood against the wall of the m oat with machine guns pointing down at us and we were told: ‘ They are going to kill us but we willkill you first ’ and a num ber of shots were fired in the air. ” This statement was made by a doctor who was arrested as a result of the events of April 17. He was further asked: Q. “ D id you give medical care to the other prisoners ? ” A. “ Yes. ” Q. “ From what diseases were they suffering ? ” A.“ Infections of the eyes, the throat, the ears, the skin because of the lack o f cleanliness and I remember that three individuals had to be taken away because they went out of their minds. “ In my capacity as a doctor I also attended to about 600 women prisoners'in 2 other sections who were suffering from the same diseases 211 551

as the men. Among the women prisoners there were 6 or 7 who were pregnant. One o f them felt her birth pangs coming on and had to be taken to hospital. I heard later that her baby was stillborn. These expectant mothers had to sleep on small mattresses on the floor and remain standing during the day for many hours because there were no seats. ” Q. “ How long were you a prisoner? ” A. “ 14 days and no charge was made against me except that I was ‘ vermin ” Another physician testified Lack o f medical care “ In La C abana there was a complete lack o f medical care despite the fact th at among the prisoners there was another doctor arrested because he had been a prom inent medical figure in the previous regime. There was little that we could do because it was impossible to obtain drugs for any type of sickness. “ A striking example of the consequences of this state of affairs is provided by the case o f D octor Enrique Guiral Santiusti. Dr. Guiral was a diabetic and had to take medicine daily to keep his condition under control. This medicine was taken from him in the prison office and although he pleaded for it to be given back to him it was refused. “ Subsequently D r. Guiral fell ill with bronchitis which quickly degenerated into a double broncho-pneumonia, which was quite certainly due to the fact th at he had diabetes. “ His sickness was immediately reported to be serious by more than 50 doctors who happened to be in the prison. Since the other doctor and I were in cell No. 9 with Dr. Guiral, we were very con cerned from the start about his prospects o f survival. “ We asked either that he should be taken to hospital or that we doctors should be given the drugs needed to treat him. “ The prison commander said that he was only responsible for guarding the prisoners and that any other matters m ust be dealt with by the G-2. “ By the time the G-2 had decided to send him to hospital, Dr. Guiral had died in the prison. ” A girl student’s replies Q. “ W hen were you told th at the prisoners had been ill-treated ?” A. “ I was told one Friday afternoon. It so happened th at a group o f women who were due to visit the prisoners were refused permission to do so and thought that something m ust have happened. 212 552

In the village people were saying that they had been beaten. They then asked me if I could find out whether this was true. I managed to see my father and when he arrived he tried to hide what had happened, but later he told me. I saw a num ber of prisoners with lacerated arms and bayonet wounds and my father’s neck was black and blue. He told me that on the floor below the room where we were, there were loud explosions by night as if they were trying to dynamite the whole building and later, after the invasion, the story went round that in fact it was all blown up . . . ” Q. “ During subsequent visits were you able to see anything of the condition of the other prisoners ? ” A. “ During another visit to La C abana I noticed that my father’s nerves were in a very bad state because the night before they had been placed before a firing squad which had taken aim once, twice, and three times and had not fired. The firing squad wore police uniforms and the prisoners thought of course that they were going to be shot. It was a form of m ental torture. ” A medical doctor stated “ During my spell in the Sports Palace the most significant event —apart from the fact that we were forced to urinate and defecate in public in front o f a crowd of about 6,000 people including more than 1,000 women and were not allowed to fetch water not were we given any food—was an argument between a group of militiamen and someone whom I believe was a Latin-American diplomat. After a heated discussion the lights went out and there were burst o f firing. The thousands of people who were there flung themselves on the floor of the Sports Palace. We heard the bullets whistling over our heads, and the noise of shouting and women screaming for help was deafening. “ W hen the lights went on again I saw 3 men seriously injured and they were dragged out to the race track. I also saw a nurse, one o f whose ears had been partly split by a bullet, and an elderly woman who had been hit in the thigh, which clearly showed that one at least o f the militiamen guarding us had deliberately aimed at us in the dark. “ Throughout th at day we were constantly threatened with shooting, quite apart from scores of other insults. During April 18 we received no food at all and as this prison of ours contained no windows a group o f doctors and myself dealt with more than 70 cases of asphyxia caused by lack o f oxygen. “ On Friday night we doctors were allowed to take out into the inner courtyard the prisoners who were suffering most so that they could breathe more freely. Some of these prisoners were hysterical, others were asthmatic, while the old men included one aged 95 and there were 3 lads aged 13 and 14. ” 213 553

Another doctor replied to questions Q. “ As a doctor did you attend to any prisoner who had been assaulted ? A. “ We attended to several individuals who had fallen ill because o f the overcrowding and we demanded that the authorities should send them to the proper clinics. In some cases this was done but in others we had to watch them lying for 70 hours and more on beds in the barracks, as in the case of an elderly m an who was suf fering from an abscess and was feverish. I asked them to send him to a clinic where he could be dealt with and they replied that it was not im portant. H e was an elderly m an and his state was pitiful. ” Another physician added “ The day after my arrival I was confronted with a prisoner who had taken part in an uprising and had been tortured because I noticed that he had black eyes and around his neck was an ecchymotic furrow as if he had been hung up by the neck. Those who were going to be shot were placed in the room where I was and I saw one m an in despair hang himself. I myself certified his death. Two days later another m an beat his head against the wall and fractured his skull. ” A woman lawyer’s testimony Q. “ W here were you detained ? ” A. “ In the headquarters of the G-2. Later I was transferred to a next door house where D octor H urtado had lived. The upper storey consisting of 3 rooms contained 85 women sleeping on the floor. The ground floor contained 320 men who were also “ detained ” and did not have enough room to sit down and took turns to sit down when they were tired out through standing up. The next day in that house, which was big enough for a small family but not for more than 400 people, the septic tank, as might have been expected, overflowed and covered the whole floor with excrement. The men had to walk about in this filth for several days and what made it even worse was that they could not have a bath, wash or change their clothing. ” Q. “ How long did you have to put up with these conditions? ” A. “ 17 days, at the end of which I was interrogated. The interrogator had no definite charges against me and as they had found nothing compromising either on me or at home, he asked me whether I had belonged to or helped the July 26 M ovement and whether I was a m ilitant Catholic. I replied in the affirmative. The next day I was transferred to G uanabacoa camp. ” Q. “ W hat were the events that occurred on M ay 14 which you described as serious ? ” 214 554

A. “ It was on th at day that I discovered to what extremes the guards and repressive forces of the regime now governing C uba are prepared to go. Once I arrived at Guanabacoa prison I became familiar with the discomforts o f sleeping on broken-down bunks, of dressing with all the other women in the bathroom where we had m anaged to hang up a curtain because the inside o f the cell could clearly be seen from the guard posts and all the other discomforts I mentioned earlier. I also endured the mental torture of not knowing what had happened to relatives who were in Cuba and of being visited by them with bars in between us and of hearing Lieutenant Baranda, both while and after he was in command o f the camp, with the consent of the prison commander, making jeering remarks about shootings to the relatives o f the prisoners and telling us th at he would do every thing in his power to see th at the menfolk of the women prisoners were shot as well. All of us knew what it was to be awakened in the middle o f the night by a mob which assembled in a nearby street just to shout out “ Shoot them ” together with a series of insults and coarse remarks. But until the date I have just mentioned there was no physical assault on the political prisoners. “ I m ust first of all explain what led up to it. From fellow pris oners who had been sent to Guanabacoa from the national wom en’s prison at Guanajay in the Province of Pinar del Rio after they had protested against the sub-human conditions of political prisoners there, we gathered th at the women criminals at Guanajay were now militia-women and therefore privileged with the right to insult the political prisoners. They stole the clothing sent by the families of the political prisoners, who were forced to wear the left-off uniforms of the criminals. There was no water for days on end and it had to be taken from the water closet. They were not allowed out into the courtyard and were kept locked up in their narrow, sunless cells. If anyone fell sick no doctor was called despite the fact that one had offered to serve voluntarily and without charge. Immorality was rife there. The fellow prisoners who told us about this included D octor I. R. and D octor O. R. de M ., who had been sent to the national women’s penitentiary at Guanajay despite the fact that they had never been tried. In fact, up to the time when I left the prison they had still not been tried, but even so they were sent to this penitentiary. I should add th at the commander of the prison at Guanajay who was called Leila Vazquez had, on May 14, 1961, 18 written complaints against her in the files o f the Ministry o f the Interior and was only dismissed after the scandal caused by the death of a political prisoner as a result o f lack o f medical care during pregnancy. This death occurred towards the end of June of 1961 and unfortunately I do not recall the name o f the woman concerned. Some days before M ay 14, we had made a joint verbal protest to the commander of the G uanabacoa prison—because it was a prison rather than a camp— about the transfer o f some of our fellow prisoners to Guanajay about 215 555

which we had heard these reports, which were also well known to the officer in charge of the section where we were, Lieutenant Manuel Grana, who undertook to take up the case with the Ministry. On M others’ Day, May 14, relatives were allowed to visit the camp and as it was M others’ Day they did not prevent the political prisoners who were due to be transferred to Guanajay from leaving their cells and going to the reception point to see their children and mothers. I say this because in order to be quite accurate I should add that I did not see these prisoners being brutally beaten when they resisted but I did hear desperate shrieks and the noise of blows and several days later when Dr. M arta Mendez, who has now been released because she was considered innocent o f the charges against her, and Luisa Perez returned to the camp from Guanajay, I saw the marks left by the blows on their faces and bodies. I also witnessed the display o f force when we rioted in protest against the transfer like criminals o f girls like the two I have m entioned without being tried. We were threatened with drawn bayonets and surrounded by a force o f about 3,000 militiamen and women. There were no deaths because a sol dier called C arro realized the despair of the prisoners and held up the order to attack us with bayonets. The police chief, M ajor Ramiro Valdes, and the representative o f the Ministry of the Interior known as “ El M oro ” took part in these events. They turned the fire hose on us and savagely aimed at two women expecting babies. These two women were later taken to hospital together with another political prisoner who had a weak heart and suffered a seizure as a result of these events. The women who were injured had to be treated by their fellow prisoners. Fortunately there were some women doctors among the political prisoners together with some qualified nurses. ” The “ cold light room ” “ I was p u t in the cold light room and kept there for about 36 h o u rs. . . This room by all accounts originally had bare lights in the ceiling and the walls. W hen I was put in there on January 18 the lights were shielded and ringed with guards which seemed to dance before one’s eyes because the light was so powerful. The lamps were shielded by a very strong metallic fabric, apparently because those who were in the cell earlier had smashed them. The room was flooded with fierce light and there was no ventilation at all. There was a cold-water fountain, but I did not drink any of the water because I felt sure there was something the m atter with it. The light was so powerful th at one lost any idea of the time and it was impossible to tell whether it was night or day. I lay down on the floor and tried to sleep but did not manage to do so because although I tried to shut my eyes and held my eyelids down with my fingers they rose again like a curtain. I do not know whether I slept or not while I was there. The only thing I had was coffee from a thermos flask which they left there. The light caused extreme discomfort. They 216 556

passed our food to us and we did not know whether it was morning or evening because there was always a blaze o f light in there. I can tell you th at the Zabala brothers came out of there mad, completely mad, saying it was a gas chamber. The dark room “ The dark room there is called ‘ the prisoners coffin We had heard all about it. This room is little more than a cupboard and hardly big enough to hold a b ir d ... In this room, unlike the ‘ cold light room ’, there is complete darkness. I was able to stand the darkness better than the light. The room contained a small radio which apparently was smashed on several occasions by former occu pants but now was protected by a wire mesh. This radio was con stantly broadcasting the speeches of Fidel and the commentaries of Pardo Llada. The first time, if I recollect rightly, someone told me that it had been broken, but the second time I was put in there it was protected by thick wire meshing. We were unable to eat in this room. Others could not stand it but I found it so o th in g ... On January 7 they interrogated me in the cold room for 2 hours and on another occasion for 6 days. I was always interrogated by a m an called M artinez and 3 or 4 times I was interrogated by a tall, grey haired Czech. “ I was interrogated from January 7 until January 24. On January 21, 22 and 23 the interrogation took place in the ‘ cold light room ’. On January 24 the engineer, Santos Rios, told me that the revolution was generous and that Fidel had ordered my release. They put me in a room together with two other men, one of whom was abnor mal and started to strike my face. A publicity agent recalled “ In the C ountry C lub district, there is a house with a special room and those who are sent there are dressed in light clothing and left in this brilliantly lit room. There is no window because the whole room is sealed off and the only ventilation is through an open ing 4 inches wide in the ceiling. In each room there is a radio going full blast and talking nonsense and it is impossible to tell whether it is day or night because no daylight is allowed to enter. When prison ers are overcome by fatigue they are kicked to keep them awake. In order to make them confess they are shown photos o f their loved ones and then they are taken out apparently to be shot and salvos are fired at point-blank range. This happened to Mr. Pedro Figueredo. Those who spent some time in this room during my time there included Dr. Santiago Echemendia Osiris (he spent 18 days in these rooms), Guillermo Caula Ferrer, Juan Basigalupi Hornedo, Higinio Menendez Beltran (who was in such a bad state that he seem ed to have aged by several years) and we, seeing the state th at they 217 557

were in, gave them the few beds available. This went on until I left, after which I had to hide in the house o f friends until I was able to leave the country. ” (47) “ I did not actually witness the shootings which took place at 2 o ’clock in the morning, but I did see the van taking them to the execution wall going slowly up the side street which my cell over looked and I heard the volleys and the coup de grace which followed each volley. The tension and the anguish were terrible. The only thing we could do was to offer up prayers for the souls of those who were being murdered. At these tearful moments they used to look through the barred doors and threaten to shoot us if we continued and said (and these were their actual words): ‘ Y ou’d better get used to it because this sort of thing happens every night in La C abana ’— th at is the way they talked about hum an lives. At 9 o ’clock on the morning of the 18th I was taken in a bus to the prison at Castillo del Principe. There I was given my first meal since I was arrested but the food smelled so much th at I was virtually unable to eat it. There were about 90 of us in a cell which was not designed for that number so that many of the occupants had to sleep on the floor. Standards o f hygiene were very bad and I was only able to wash my hands and face without being able to take a bath in all the 11 days that I was under arrest because the shower bath was constantly being used by the women there as a toilet. One woman in that cell went m ad because o f the nervous tension and mental torture to which we were subjected. Two expectant m others were neglected and as a result had miscarriages. When they started releasing prisoners we were also subject to acute m ental torture because they read out many names of people who were not in the prison and often a whole day went by w ithout anybody being released and the releases would take place in the early hours o f the morning. I myself left the prison on the 26th and was given no explanation nor was I told why I had been arrested or released. Afterwards I went into hiding because they looked for me several times at my home and then I was granted asylum in the Brazilian Embassy where I remained for 4 months until I arrived in this country. ” (48) “ On M ay 3, I was taken to the wom en’s prison at Guanabacoa. There were about 60 of us in that batch of prisoners. We were put in a cell about the size and shape of a railway wagon with bunks on both walls. The only ventilation and light came from the doorway at one end and a window near the ceiling at the other. The toilet consisted of a hole in the floor and was separated from the remainder o f the cell by a screen which was not high enough to conceal one. 218 558

The bunks contained mattresses which were so filthy that we asked permission to throw them out because we preferred to sleep on the frames. There were so many mice that during the time that I was there 22 o f them were caught in a mousetrap. “ On M ay 14— M others’ Day—visitors were allowed into the prison, and a num ber of prisoners who were due to be taken to Guanajay were let out of their cell. They objected to being trans ferred to the other prison because according to all those who had been there it was a hell on earth. M ost o f the women guards were perverts who made life impossible for any decent woman. ” VII. CRUEL, INHUM AN AND DEGRADING TREATM ENT Visits by Relatives o f Political Prisoners Under the prison systems of civilised countries, a basic hum an right is the right to a visit, in other words the right of any m an serving a sentence to m aintain direct contact with his family. That right, which belongs to the family as well as to the prisoner, is one o f those which the C astro regime has systematically violated. Only the female relatives of political prisoners, i.e., wives, mothers and sisters, were allowed to visit them and even then only subject to certain conditions. These relatives, several hundreds in number, had to go through the following ordeal before they could talk to the prisoners: — They had to queue up before going in for anything from ten to twelve hours in order to be allowed in on the appointed day. — They had to remain standing in this queue in the open air, despite the heat or bad weather. — After entering the prison, they were harassed and insulted by militiamen who tried to alarm the visitors by giving them false news, e.g., by saying: “ D o n ’t worry so much. I think they shot your husband yesterday. ” — After entering, but before meeting the prisoners, visitors were searched. F or this they had to strip and were examined as an obstetrician would examine his patients. One woman witness declared: “ Before seeing him (the prisoner), we were stripped and searched. There was a woman there called Zenaida who was a rebel (in C astro’s army) and carried out a dreadful search. She stripped us and, believe it or not, even the women who were having their difficult days were inti mately examined, both externally and internally. ” — A part from the search they were insulted all the time. One woman witness stated: “ At first they called us ‘ police hire lings ’ and when they saw that this did not get us down, they called us ‘ prostitutes ’ ” . — Relatives were abused in foul language. 219 559

— W hen talking to the prisoners they were surrounded by guards with machine guns. — They were forbidden to hold hands or exchange kisses with their husbands, fathers or sons. One witness stated: “ Once when I went to see my husband, he kissed me and as a result he was hauled olf to the cells, and when I protested one of the escorts kicked me. ” Another witness stated: “ I remember one woman whispered something in her husband’s ear and he was sent back to the cells because they said they were kissing each other. But they (the guards) took every opportunity to insult us. ” — Families sent food and even money to enable prisoners to buy things they might need. Usually the food never reached the prisoners and the money was often mislaid. One woman witness said : “ They saw to it th at the food did no t arrive and this went on until M arch of this year (1961). We (the rela tives) could send the prisoners money to cover their expenses. Some o f them used to receive it, but others did not. M y hus band several times failed to receive it. Medicines went into a common chest. Once my husband was sent to the cells for 45 days, during which he contracted an ear infection, and to have him attended to by the prison doctor I had to pay for the consultation and his journey there and back by car. ” Conjugal visits This right, granted by C uban legislation to anyone in prison on the Isla de Pinos, was used by the C astro regime as a means o f torture rather than a recognized right. These visits by their nature required complete privacy, but the prison guards used to spread news o f them to the inhabitants of the area. One woman witness stated: “ When these conjugal visits took place the whole Isla de Pinos, knew about them. One had to go to the prison by car and then be taken to the huts which were situated nearby. Another search was then carried out. The wife stayed in the car while the guards went to fetch the prisoner in the cell block. The soldiers on guards (in the prison) remained in the vicinity o f the huts and as there were a num ber of them they would start making offensive comments. The huts were locked and built o f stonework, but the windows were in very bad condition. “ The fare from H avana to the Isla de Pinos on a plane which stayed for half an hour was 13.37 pesos. Often the planes were full because so many people were going to visit the prisoners and in such cases the only thing was to go to the island two or three days earlier. This meant paying for a taxi and putting up at the hotel. Sometimes the visit only lasted for ten minutes. “ As regards mail, all letters are censored and many of them never reach their hands. Usually the letters which do not reach the prisoners’ 220 560

hands are from their wives and it is widely believed by the relatives of the prisoners that this is done to annoy them. ” A woman lawyer stated: Visits by relatives “ As a lawyer, I once visited the fortress to see a criminal—political prisoners could not be visited by their lawyers. I was never allowed to see a political prisoner for whom I was acting as counsel. “ On this occasion when I had been given permission to visit one of the criminals, I was subjected to a violent search during which I was completely stripped of all my clothing. On dressing again I had to leave all my belongings at the entrance of the prison and I was only allowed to take a pencil and paper with me. I should add explicitly that whenever I visited friends of mine who were political prisoners— not as a lawyer but as a private individual—I was also subjected to every kind o f indignity ”. Q. “ F or example? ” A. “ D uring the searches, which have to be endured by anyone visiting the prisoners, one has to strip completely and is spoken to in the coarsest and m ost foul language. ” Description o f a Visit to the Isla de Pinos “ One arrived on the Isla de Pinos by plane at about four or five in the afternoon. A t eight in the evening one went to the fortress and waited outside in the open air. One lay down on the grass, put ting up with the rain, the bad weather and the mosquitoes until five or six in the morning when the escort came out o f the fortress. This escort consisted of one or two women in militia uniform who started compiling a list for the visits. W hen one’s turn came to enter, one went into a kind o f basement and stayed there until called to the visiting room , where after a wait of anything from 10 to 12 hours we were allowed, when we finally managed to meet the prisoner, to talk to him for 10 or 15 m inutes.” Q. “ Were there any guards while these visits were taking place ? ” A. “ Very many. They did not allow you to move and they always carried arms. W hen visits were suspended at C hristmas 1959 —they were not renewed until M arch 1960—they built fences around the circular cell blocks and allowed us to visit the pris oners in the intervening open space for longer periods, sometimes one or two hours. But, in order to get in, we invariably had to endure the same procedure and indignities. I remember th at once there were so many women waiting in one of these queues to see the prisoners that they became im patient because they got the idea th at they were not going to see them after having made so many sacrifices to come to the fortress. They began to protest, whereupon the guards fired some 221 561

machine gun bursts into the air and even lower down and we all felt the powder on our faces. “ In these fenced-in areas where the visits took place, there were absolutely no facilities—not a single bench, not a single toilet, and nowhere to slake one’s thirst. “ W hen the visits were ended, the guards ordered the visitors to leave, using the coarsest language and most obscene gestures with the deliberate aim of provoking the prisoners so as to be able to punish them .” (17) The biggest prisons in C uba are La C abana, El Castillo del Prin cipe and the Isla de Pinos. The procedure for visiting these prisons was described by many witnesses who gave evidence to the C ommission. The indignities inflicted on the relatives of political prisoners wishing to see them begin from the time they try to enter the prison. 1. They have to form a queue because of the great numbers of relatives wishing to visit the prisoners. They have to wait standing and in the open air for several hours. After three or four hours they go in and are searched. 2. During this search all the visiting women have to strip and submit to a wide variety of indignities. Several witnesses stated that in the prison at La Cabana the visiting women were searched by lesbians. To give an idea of what this involved—and this is fully endorsed by the evidence of the other witnesses consulted—we quote the statement of a woman teacher who visited all three of C uba’s biggest prisons in order to see her husband who was himself a pris oner. This lady was asked whether during her visits to La C abana she knew of any cases of humiliations inflicted on the relatives of prisoners. She answered: “ I was an eye-witnesses of some cases. It is very unpleasant to have to describe it, but for the sake of the cause which you and we are trying to defend I m ust do so. Usually we went into the room to be searched four, five or six at a time. There were only two women there to search us all. They were both women of very low moral standards. One of them used to boast that she liked women and was delighted with this job because it gave her a chance to touch all the women she searched. She said that she was doing the job for nothing, but although is was tiring work she enjoyed it because it gave her an opportunity she had wanted all her life o f fingering and touching large numbers o f women. “ I saw cases in which while they were examining one woman they told another ‘ Go on stripping ’ . . . One had to strip completely and then one would be touched and fingered by one o f the two 222 562

women. In some cases I saw women who did not strip completely and when ordered by these two women to do so replied that they were having a period. The immediate answer was ‘ T hat doesn’t m atter... ’. I saw one of these women take a sanitary towel away from a visitor, pull it apart to see whether it contained money or any other article, and then hand it back to the woman to put on again. “ I recall seeing another case when they forced a woman to lie down on the floor for an examination because they had been ordered to search her thoroughly. ” The same witness described her visit to the Isla de Pinos. She said: “ I paid visits to the island from June 1959 until M arch 1961. The preparations for each visit took up nearly a week. There was the journey by plane or by boat and the preparation of all the things one was taking to the prisoner, such as food and clothing. We had to arrive the day before and put up in the hotels th at were willing to take us because the prison commander had forbidden the hotel proprietors to rent accommodation to us. Those who did accept us were labelled counter-revolutionaries. This happened to the owner of the La Ameri cana hotel on the Isla de Pinos, whose hotel was confiscated and he himself was expelled from the island because he allowed us to stay in his establishment and sold us goods on credit and so on ”. This witness described the procedure for visiting prisoners on the Isla de Pinos. “ W hen the authorization arrived one took a car and put all the parcels in it and went to the road leading to the prison the day before the date appointed for the visit. Some used to arrive at seven o ’clock on the previous evening. I usually went along at eight o ’clock. In the winter the Isla de Pinos is very cold. Those of us who were taking along baskets o f food used them as pillows and tried to get some sleep lying down on the road while waiting for day to come and the order to be given to go in and be searched. “ The next day, when the visits began, we used to go into a hut where officials and common criminals took our parcels o f clothing, food, etc. for our relatives in the prison. We had to leave our parcels there and go back to the road outside. W hen the time came for visits to begin the guards would come along and tell us to stand in line. This was usually at seven in the morning, but the visits did not begin until nine or ten, and meanwhile we had to queue up without being allowed to move about. Young children who were thirsty or wanted to relieve themselves were not allowed to leave the queue. “ From this queue we went in to be searched. The humiliations and indignities were the same as at La C abana. “ After the search we went into another room where we waited until there was a large enough group to be taken to the basement where the prisoners were waiting for us. ” 223 563

Thereupon, the following dialogue took place: Q. “ Did you see the same indignities being inflicted as in La C abana? ” A. “ Exactly the same. ” Q. “ Were these indignities normally repeated at each visit? ” A. “ Usually there was some surprise—some new indignity— at each visit, although I do not know whether it was spontaneous or premeditated. “ There was one visit when we were left alone while we were queueing up and the indignities and humiliations began when we were searched, while during another visit the m artyrdom, the indig nities and the torture began while we were still in the queue. For example, while we were trying to rest lying down on the road, a jeep full of soldiers would come dashing along so th at we had to jum p out of the way. Once we had lain down again another jeep would come along and tell us th at we might as well go away because all visits had been suspended. A nother militiaman would then come and say th at there would be no visits because half the prisoners were in the punishment cells. I once saw a militiaman say to a w om an: ‘ Does your husband look like this . . . ? ’ (and he described her husband). And when she said that he did, the militiaman added: ‘ He is in the cells now and they are throwing buckets o f cold water over him every h alf hour. ’ “ W hen this woman in fact made her visit she found that what the militiaman had said was not true. The purpose was simply to shatter her nerves. Meetings with the Prisoners “ We went down to the basement in groups. Normally these visits took place in a fairly narrow basement and we sat at a long table with the prisoners on one side and the relatives on the other. The guard walked up and down on each side. N ot only did he interrupt our conversations but if, as was only hum an and natural, one tried to kiss one’s husband or hold his hand the guard would immediately come up and in foul language would threaten to end the visit and take one’s husband away to the cells. “ Subsequently, an area was fenced in outside the cell blocks and there in the open air there were fewer restrictions and one could walk about by the side o f an imprisoned relative. “ The political prisoners wore a uniform which was o f the same colour as the uniform o f the form er army with a ‘ P ’ on the back and a ‘ P ’ on each leg. “ The fenced-in areas were square in shape. There were two of these areas, one in front o f the cell block and another at the side. They are surrounded by a fence of the ‘ Peerless type ’, about nine 224 564

feet high. There is a small gase through which everybody must enter. First o f all, the relatives go in, followed by the prisoners, and when the visit is over the relatives come out first followed by the prisoners. The floor is stone and there are no sanitary facilities for anybody. Outside the fence are ditches containing machine gun posts and within the fenced-in areas the guards walk about in pairs armed with sub-machine guns. There are also watch-towers contain ing machine guns. Within the fenced-in areas there are no seats at all. ” Wife o f a political prisoner Infliction o f indignities on visitors “ I know o f one case because I was standing at the side o f the person to whom it happened and I heard the conversation. Some years ago, in the prison on the Isla de Pinos, some huts had been built for use during conjugal visits. It was the practice to allow couples to spend some time together in these huts and at the start they continued this practice. Subsequently, it has been completely forbidden. On this occasion an officer of the rebel army came up to a woman who had come to visit her husband and told her th at he had given instructions that she should spend the following morning with her husband but only on condition that she spent th at night with him. “ A nother case which happened to me personally occurred when C aptain William Galvez came up to me and said: ‘ Go away and buy a black dress because you are a widow . . . ’ “ There was also the case o f my m other who is 54 and suffers from a bladder complaint which forces her to wear a sanitary cloth. W hen she was searched she was stripped and despite her protests was forced to take off this cloth soaked in urine, and after it had been examined with dirty hands it was handed back to her to put on again. “ I also know of the case of the m other of a pilot who is a prisoner —a woman whi os nearly blind and deaf—who, despite the fact that she is over 70 years o f age, was forced to strip. VIII.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

In Cuba, religious persecution has taken a num ber of forms, varying from the expulsion o f priests and members o f religious orders (which has reduced the num ber o f priests from 700 to 125) to the persecution o f Cubans for no other reason than because they were leaders o f the C atholic community. One woman witness was asked whether the persecution she had endured was on political or religious grounds. She answered: “ It was not because o f my political activities for I have never engaged in any, but it was because of my religious activities. ” 225 565

She was asked what this persecution consisted of. She replied: “ I was arrested several times by the G-2. Once I was kept in custody for seven hours and on another occasion for 12 hours. When the landing took place on April 17, 1961, I went—I forget whether it was on the same day or the next—to sleep in the hom e o f a sister o f mine because they were already arresting people in my neigh bourhood and I had heard th at they had arrested M onsignor Boza Masvidal in the parish of La C aridad. My home was searched from top to bottom by 17 militiamen. A nephew of my late husband who happened to be there was arrested and kept as a hostage until I returned. When the militiamen arrived to search my house, they knocked on the door and when my maid opened it they put their machine guns through the door way and refused to allow it to be closed. They entered by force and without any warrant. When I heard th at my nephew was under arrest until I came back, I returned home and on arriving, found two militiamen sitting down in the hall. I asked them what they were doing there and they replied that they had an order to search the house and had found evidence against me and th at the G-2 would soon come to fetch me. “ I saw a record-player on the floor which they had set aside as evidence claiming th at there was a clandestine radio transm itter in my house. “ Another piece of evidence they claimed to have found consisted o f a photograph taken when the image of the Virgin of La Caridad was taken to Havana passing through all the villages on the way. The police of the previous government appeared in this photograph and it was claimed that this proved that I was not a supporter o f the present government. I replied that the police were simply there to guard the Virgin and that if the Virgin did the same journey today they themselves would guard it. They answered that they would not because they did not believe in anything. “ Later, the G-2 men came and fetched me. They questioned me about my church activities and accused me of ‘ financing ’ Monsignor Boza Masvidal because I had been treasurer of the associations attached to the church. I replied that I taught in the parish school and th at these classes were given free o f charge. ” This witness was arrested and taken straight to El M orro. H er account of conditions in the prison there is reproduced under the pertinent heading. A priest observed “ I was regarded as a priest who was opposed to the regime, despite the fact that I went about m y pastoral duties in my local community. From October 1959 onwards I was subjected to direct personal persecution and was prevented in various ways from carrying 226 566

out my duties as a priest. Things reached such a state th at armed militiamen were posted near our chapels, to coerce the faithful who wished to practise their religion and they even told me what to say in my sermons. In January 1960, seeing that they could n o t deter me from carrying out my Christian duties, they took away my jeep which was my sole means o f transport. I had managed to form a youth group along the usual boy scout lines in which, apart from the usual exercises and activities, religious and civic instruction was also given. This group was forced to establish itself in the rebel army barracks and to take with it the uniforms and other items which we had m ade very great sacrifices to buy. “ This sort of thing went on unceasingly for several years, but I should m ake special m ention of the culmination of it all which occurred during the night o f M arch 10, 1961. At one o ’clock in the morning a party o f armed militiamen surrounded my house which stood alone near the Senado sugarmill in Camagiiey. They began to shout out all kinds o f insults and abuse, slandering a num ber o f ladies living on the plantation and making vicious remarks about my m other. Because o f the scenes and fearing for my life, I fled through a window which I forced open at the back o f the house. After a few minutes I heard scattered shots and bursts o f machine gun fire. They emptied a can of petrol in the house and set fire to it. It was totally destroyed, together with everything in it. ” A monk testified as follows Q. “ W hen did you leave Havana ? ” A. “ On September 17, 1961. ” Q. “ How did you leave ? ” A. “ I was deported by the C uban authorities without any passport and without any explanation. I was simply put on board the steam er ‘ C ovadonga ’ and left there. ” Q. “ C an you describe the problems you m et with? ” A. “ A t about six in the morning my home was surrounded by a group o f people armed with rifles and sub-machine guns. They entered and arrested me and made me stand against the wall for three hours with my hands up while they carried out a thorough search. They then put me on a bus and took me to the steam er ‘ Covadonga Q. “ While you were teaching, did you have any difficulties with the authorities ? ” A. “ The worst difficulties occurred when they tried to make us use revolutionary textbooks glorifying the achievements of the rev olution and the revolutionaries. Anyone who was unwilling to dis tribute and use these textbooks was threatened. Subsequently, groups o f indoctrinated young rebels used to wait every day for their fellow students and prevent them from attending classes. These 227 567

youths also tried to make it compulsory to sing the “ Internationale ” and the “ July 26 ” anthem. Egged on and protected by the inspectors, they provoked an internal struggle which split the student body and began to persecute those who refused to go along with them. Once when Bishop Boza Masvidal had been invited to visit us, these young sters surrounded the block containing the college building, shouting out threats against everybody inside and coercing and insulting anybody who tried to enter. One group o f pupils were assaulted as they left. “ The violence got worse day by day. Everybody who went into the college, including the teachers, was searched. Above all, there was no freedom to speak. “ On two occasions, minute searches were carried out. All the teachers were taken out into the yard and after everything had been searched they went away but came back a few days later. ” After further threats and persecution this priest managed to obtain asylum in the embassy o f a Latin American country, where he remained for 70 days. Another priest testified : “ The fact is th at services could not be held because whenever the authorities believed th at a pastoral letter was going to be read out they used to send parties o f militiamen and other people armed with sticks and cudgels to the church. I remember one occasion on which a crowd appeared at the church of San Antonio de Paula, one of them being the widow of Machaco Ameijeras, the brother-inlaw o f the C hief o f Police. These groups used to invade the church and provoke the faithful. Sometimes the priests or the faithful would be taken away. ” Q.

” Were you yourself arrested? ”

A. “ Yes, I was placed under house arrest. Once when we were celebrating mass about 20 armed militiamen and militia-women came in through the main door of the church. They closed all the doors and refused to allow anybody to leave. They guarded all the exits from the parish hall, the church and the car park. The priests were locked up in the vestry. After th at the congregation were allowed to leave the church one by one through a small door. Both the men and women were searched by the militiamen and this went on for about an hour or an hour and a half. After that they began to search the church, the vestry, the parish hall and even the ciborium, but found nothing anywhere. “ This search lasted from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. “ W hen the landing took place in the Bay o f Pigs, we were locked up in the vestry for 11 days.

228 568

“ On the day o f the landing, priests were even arrested in the street and were taken by the G-2 to El Principe or La C abana.” The witness was asked how many Franciscan fathers there were normally in Cuba. H e replied: “ 105. Now only ten monks and 14 priests of our order remain in Cuba. ” The witness was asked whether mass could be said freely in the C uban churches. H e answ ered: “ Services are held, but it is forbidden to preach on Sundays. It is dangerous for a Catholic to go to church because the building is always watched.” Q. “ Why did you leave C uba? ” A. “ I was warned that I was going to be arrested and, moreover, I had received an expulsion order from the Ministry o f Foreign Affairs. ” The witness concluded by giving the names of five priests who were sent to La C abana and El Principe. A student commented Q. “ As an eye-witness of the events which occurred in the town o f Guines last Holy Week what inform ation can you give ? ” A. “ I was a member of the committee in charge of the proceed ings. Everything began in an orderly way. But soon a noise started coming from behind the place where the performance was being held. I went along to see what was happening and found that the shouting was coming from a group of people in the police headquarters nearby. They had been assembled there to prevent the performance. Soon, militiamen started coming out of the barracks and sitting on the rail ings. They began to make offensive comments and to let off bursts o f machine gun fire into the air. This broke up the performance and everybody tried to take cover. The audience scattered, some shouting ‘ C uba, Yes; Russia, No. . . . Long Live C hrist the King ’. . . The militiamen then ran out into the middle o f the car park and continued firing shots to scatter the crowd. Sometimes they fired at bodyheight as can be seen from the bullet marks in the adjoining buildings.” Another monk was asked Q. “ Did you witness any unlawful obstruction of freedom of worship in Santiago de C uba? ” A. “ One day when the authorities thought that a pastoral letter was going to be read out during mass protesting against the lack of freedom in Cuba, some groups of people entered the church while others stayed outside in the street and provoked the congrega tion attending mass with the result that there was a fight between the militiamen and the catholics. I was accused of having struck a lady in the eye and I was charged in the magistrate’s court at Santiago de C uba with having caused bodily injury. In the early part of 229 569

M arch the case was taken out o f the hands o f the m agistrate’s court and transferred to the revolutionary court on M arch 7. I had to leave for Havana on M arch 20. Before this, on M arch 9, I was expelled from a cultural centre known as the C uban-N orth American Centre, where English classes were held on ground th at I was a counter-revolutionary. ” Q. “ While you were in H avana did you see any acts o f repres sion by the m ilitia? ” A. “ On April 18,1961 after the invasion I was in the monastery of San Juan de Letran, which was searched by the militia. All the monks were taken into a small room to be searched. Father Jose Ram on Fidalgo, parish priest o f Trinidad, was taken away by the G-2. He was sent to L a C abana and from there to the Isla de Pinos without a trial. ” Q. “ How long was the m onastery occupied? ” A. “ 11 days. They searched all the private rooms o f the monks and stole clothing, a radio, electric razors and cash amounting to about 7.000 pesos, o f which 5.000 pesos were for the purchase of furniture for the Jesus Obrero school. They also took the m onks’ personal documents and the m onastery records. “ On leaving the m onastery o f San Juan de Letran, I sought refuge with the Papal Nuncio, who asked the Venezuelan Embassy on April 28, to grant me asylum. I entered the Embassy together with two other monks. O ther monks found asylum in the Brazilian, Venezuelan and C osta Rican embassies. C ardinal Arteaga is still in the Argentine Embassy.” IX.

INFRINGEMENTS OF LABOUR RIGHTS

Infringements o f freedom o f association Infrigements o f the workers’ freedom of association have occur red since the early days o f the C astro regime. After the trium ph o f the revolution against Batista, it was decided to hold elections o f officials in the trade union federations. In these elections the representatives o f the July 26 Movement, at that time anti-communists, were overwhelmingly successful. The Governm ent tried to impose what it called “ unity o f direc tion ” meaning th at in order to avoid contention, the leadership of the union movement should also comprise members of the C om m unist Party. Labour union leaders testified “ After we had been elected by an overwhelming majority of our fellow workers, we concentrated on trying to guide the policy of the revolution despite the fierce attacks that were launched against us.” 230 570

A t this point, however, Law No. 647 was passed which virtually empowered the M inister of Labour to dictate to the workers who their leaders should be. Meetings began to be called to replace the elected leaders. One witness, who was a working-class leader stated: “ One by one the leaders who had been freely elected by the workers after the trium ph of the revolution were overthrown by meetings which were packed and coerced by the rebel army.” The tactics used by the C astro regime to subdue the C uban trade union movement were, among others: 1. A t the last minute, to change the place at which the meeting was due to be held according to the convocation, in order to confuse the mass o f the workers and to be able to pack the meetings with communists even though they did not belong to the trade in question. 2. Personal accusations and attacks. One witness, who was a leader of an industrial trade union, stated: “ One day they overturned my car outside the C.T.C. (Confedera tion of C uban W orkers), as they did with all the leaders who did not toe the C ommunist Party line. Their practices were exactly the same as those o f the former regime—meetings were coerced, signatures were forged and there were denunciations o f counter revolutionary activity.” 3. Senior posts in the Government were offered to union leaders if they would give up their positions in the movement. The witness stated : “ They offered me a senior post in the Government on condition th at I gave up the leading position I occupied in the trade union movement. This I flatly refused to do. I was asked to convene the meeting, but not to appear there myself. I was told that if I did appear, Lazaro Pena himself, one o f the leading C uban communists, had threatened to have me arrested.” A leader o f the Havana Construction Workers Union A nother witness described the position in the H avana Building W orkers’ Union, which is one o f the largest. The Union had called a meeting to elect seven delegates to the Congress o f the Federation. The witness, who had attended the m eet ing, said: “ The communists with C uban flags in their lapels took over control o f the doorway to the C.T.C. building. W hen they opened it, about 130 or 140 communists went in and about 25 or 30 went up on the stage. The others occupied the front rows. While the union officials were getting ready for the meeting, the communists started to create trouble and when the General Secretary arrived they assault ed him and as a result a num ber o f delegates were injured. I took them 231 571

away to hospital and when I came back to the C.T.C. there was an employee on duty at the door who said: ‘ Where are you going? You had better go away because three policemen came and arrested your colleagues and took them away.’ “ So I went away and had the idea of telephoning the C.T.C. saying th at I was a journalist and asking for inform ation. The call was answered by a C .T.C . employee called Barral who was an office manager and I said to h im : ‘ This is such-and-such a newspaper. I have just had a call to say th at the U nion’s officers have been dis missed . . . C an I go ahead and publish this ? ’ He answered that it was true, that the M inister o f Labour was there but that we should not publish it yet and should call back later. I then phoned up again saying that I was the duty officer at the Seventh Police Station. The telephone was answered by a lieutenant for the Director-General of Labour, Captain Cauce. I said to him : ‘ Lieutenant, this is the duty officer at the Seventh Police Station speaking. I have a party of arrest ed m en here who want to go to the Construction U nion Congress. Have a word with the Minister and find out what has to be done with them .’ The lieutenant spoke with the Minister and answered: ‘ He says th at you should keep them until he himself can come along.’ “ In other words, the M inister of Labour legalized the overthrow of the U nion and brought in about 80 communists, together with an inspector of the Ministry of Labour and two members of the rebel army and entered it in the minutes and took over the organization. “ T hat was how they operated. “ As a result, I had to leave the country by boat two days after the meeting.” Thus ended the career o f a C uban trade union leader. The charges made by the communist leaders against the Cuban trade union leaders were: 1.

that they were splitting the working-class movement;

2. that they were Mujalistas, i.e. followers o f Mujal, a union leader who served the dictatorship of Batista; 3.

th at they were embezzling union funds.

The M etal W orkers’ Union suffered the same fate as the C on struction W orkers’ Union. A num ber of working-class witnesses were asked whether they knew o f cases in which workers had been arrested and shot for reasons connected with trade unionism and politics. A. “ M ost o f those who were shot are workers. In fact, now adays nobody who is a worker or a student can do anything. Three members o f the Executive Committee of the M etal W orkers’ Union are serving terms of 20 years’ im prisonment.” 232 572

A sugar grower testified Q. “ W hat can you tell us about your organization and the present legal position in C uba ? ” A. “ Our organization comprises 65,000 sugar growers, o f whom 47,000 own small farms of 1, 2, 3 or 4 caballerlas. A good deal o f international attention has been attracted by Fidel’s land reform, but we should like to emphasize that there is not and never has been any such land reform in Cuba. All that has happened is that the Castro regime has taken over our land and all our equipment. It is not true that they have shared out the land as they claim. W hat they have done is to dislodge the sugar growers from their land and rob them of everything without any compensation only because we as a class would not knuckle under to them. They also seized the buildings o f many of our local branches and also those of the provincial assemblies. In Cuba, we had 161 local branches—there are 161 sugar mills with a branch in each. All these branches had their own buildings and so did the provincial assemblies and the National Assembly, which was at No. 360 calle de Aguiar in Havana, where it owned three plants as well. Everything was taken over by the communists, together with the bank accounts of all our local branches, provincial assemblies and the Association itself amounting to more than $960,000. We also had railway shares valued at 3 y2 million pesos and these too were stolen from us. And all this because we refused to go to a joint meeting of the IN R A and the Sugar W orkers’ Federation. We have our own by-laws and we abide by them, and we cannot be called to a meeting by any organization other than our own. The proposal was th at the INRA, the Sugar W orkers’ Federation and ourselves should hold a meeting to discuss problems connected with the next sugar harvest. The only purpose of this meeting or assembly was to get us, by being present, to endorse w hat was about to happen—the sale of our sugar to Russia when we already had a m arket such as the United States where we sold 3^2 million tons at 5 y2 and 6 centavos. They wanted us to sell our sugar to Russia at less than the world m arket price which, under the International Sugar Agreement, could not be less than 3.25 a pound. And yet they were selling our sugar to Russia at 2.50 a pound. That was their plan and that was why they issued a decree dissolving our Association.” Q. “ W hen was the Association dissolved ? ” A. “ The Assembly was dissolved on December 18,1960, and our properties were confiscated in January.” The militia organization covered every aspect of C uban life. From the members of the C uban Supreme C ourt down to the humblest peasant everybody was invited to join the militia. It was said that the decision to join m ust be voluntary, but those who refused to enter this para-military organization were persecuted and treated as counter revolutionaries.

573

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The determination o f the C astro regime to subdue the population took a variety o f forms. Each section of the population and each individual were required to do things which were known to be consid ered highly repugnant. From the coercion brought to bear to compel people to join the militias to the pressure to contribute towards the collections which were held for a wide variety of purposes, every device was employed to make both salaried employees and wage earners conform or else resign. F or example, a switchboard operator in a big Havana firm stated: “ W hen the Government took the firm over, the official in charge ordered the telephonists to answer calls with the words ‘ Fatherland or Death, We Shall Win ’ and then to give the firm’s name followed by the word ‘ Nationalized ’. I refused to do this. He called me into bis office and told me that I m ust co-operate. Moreover, life in the office became impossible because they were always having collections and if you did not co-operate you were black-listed and so on until the time came when I had to leave. “ They took my flat although I was able to get all my things out (of the flat). But the only thing of value I was able to take out of C uba was my wedding ring, and the remainder is still there.”

(60) A n agricultural engineer with long experience of C uban agriculture spoke of the position o f the workers in the co-operatives organized by the Government. The witness said: “ The workers’ position is pitiful. Formerly (when working for private employers) they were paid punctually and in cash. Now, they are paid with vouchers which they have to spend in the people’s stores and the few articles available there are of the poorest quality. They are compelled to join the militia and are constantly watched by the authorities.” A truck driver testified Q. “ After being sacked, what did you do then ? ” A. “ I found a job in a rice growing co-operative and after I had been working there for about 60 days they told me th at to keep my job I m ust join the militia. I told the militia lieutenant in the co-operative th at I would think about it. A t the end of the m onth when I was paid I did not go back. Later, talking to a lieutenant in the militia who was an acquaintance of mine, he asked me what I intended to do next. I could not help answering: “ R ather than join the militia I will take up arms against the Government ”. From th at time on, now th at my attitude was known, I was persecuted and insulted. They called me ‘ vermin ’, which is the word normally used by communist agents and militiamen to insult anybody. Feeling 234 574

unsafe and helpless and fearing for my life because I had been labelled a counter-revolutionary, I had no option but to leave the country. Before I could do so I had to hide for 54 days in friends’ houses before being able to catch the boat.” Testimony o f a railway pointsman Q. “ W hat did you do in C uba ? ” A. “ I worked on the Western Railways, now the National Railways. After th at I served in the N ational Police in Havana for a year and a half.” Q. “ How long were you in the National Police ? ” A. “ From January 1959 until M arch 1961.” Q. “ Why did you leave the Police ? ” A. “ They made me resign.” Q. “ Why did they make you resign ? ” A. “ On February 2, M ario Garcia, who was head of the Pay ments Section in the Ministry of Finance, called me to his office together with some colleagues of mine and put a number of questions to us. He asked m e : ‘ Pacheco, whom do you sympathize with ? ’ I answered th at as a revolutionary I sympathized with everybody. Then he said: ‘ Y ou know that the revolution is led by one party ’. As I did not know what he was talking about, I asked him to explain to me about this party and he answered: ‘ The Socialist People’s Party is going to take control of this revolution ’. T hat was all he said to me and then I went back to my post. On M arch 9, 1961, I was called to the office of C aptain Antonio Prado to sign my res ignation, after which I was dishonourably dismissed.” Q. “ Did you sign the resignation? ” A. “ Yes.” Q. “ Did they give any reason for wanting you to resign and for dismissing you dishonourably? ” A. “ N o .” Q. “ W hat did you do after you left the Police? ” A. “ I went to Sagua la Grande and went back to my work on the railways.” Q. “ Did you have any difficulty over this ? ” A. “ A t first no, but later on M ay 19, 1961, I was sent for by the Delegate of Brotherhood No. 3, who was with C aptain Drake, and he asked me to give an arms drill to a squad o f railway mili tiamen. I refused because I was not for the Government.” Q. “ Did they take any steps against you for refusing ? ” A. “ From then on they would not let me work in my normal job as a pointsm an.” 235 575

“ Before that, when the landing took place on April 17, I was arrested because I had friends who did not support the C astro regime.” Q.

“ How long were you arrested and where ? ”

“ F or 46 days in the prison at Sagua la G rande.”

Statement o f a sugar worker “ I worked until July. My position there was awkward because I was always kicking up a fuss about the working conditions. Just imagine, before the Government took over the mill I used to earn 223 pesos a m onth and by the time they had finished cutting it down I was left with about 80 pesos. W hen I complained they increased it b u t only up to 151 pesos. In fact, they never did pay me the wage I used to earn. Besides, now they made us work overtime every night without paying us a cent. When this went on I went and saw the manager o f the mill . . . ” When asked who this manager was—whether it was the former manager or a new appointee of the IN R A and what he had said—the witness answered: “ The old manager did not stay. W hen they nationalized the mill, they put in a block-head who took his orders from the communist crowd at Quemado de Guines. Anyway, I had a word with him and told him plainly th at if they wanted me to work overtime they must pay me because nobody was going to take my rights away from me. W hen I said that the company which owned the mill before always paid for overtime and now th at we had a revolutionary government there was all the more reason to pay for it, he answered that what had happened was th at I had developed into a counter-revolutionary. The problem with the revolution was th at it had to be helped. In the mill there was no proper management and the work was not organized efficiently. F or example, we would be doing one job and after we had spent some hours on it and were finishing, one o f these fellows would come along and say: ‘ Never mind that. Drop it and start this.’ The result was th at time was wasted and production was disorganised. I attracted attention to myself there and was unpopular with the communists because I always complained that we had to spend so many hours working to no purpose and without pay.” He was asked whether because of his complaints he was victimized or ill-treated and he answered: “ Well, yes. They threatened me with the sack and with a transfer—many of my workmates were transferred to other mills on lower pay than they were earning there as a punishment for not co-operating. Several times they asked me to join the militia and I always answered no because I was only a worker and nothing else.” 2 3 6

576

A fisherman replied to questions asked Q.

“ Were you ill-treated in your work? ”

A. “ N ot physically, but I had three or four tussles with the militia commander in the co-operative.” Q.

“ W hat were these tussles about ? ”

A. “ Because he wanted me to join the militia and I said I would not. A nother time I refused to produce my fisherman’s licence; another tussle took place one day when he would not let me leave the co-operative, and there was another one when he would not let my brother leave. None o f these went any further than words, although once he pulled out his revolver.” Q. “ How many people worked with you in the co-operative ? ” A. “ 200 or so.” Q. A.

“ Why didn’t you leave the co-operative to work elsewhere ? ” “ Because I couldn’t.”

Q. A.

“ Were you watched by the Government forces ? ” “ Yes, by the militiamen.”

Q. “ How did you know they were watching you ? ” A. “ Because wherever I went I saw them following m e.” Q. “ W hat was the position of the fishermen belonging to the co-operative? Were conditions in accordance with the labour reg ulations ? ” A. “ The conditions were not very good. The wages were low and the workers were discontented.” Q. “ How do you know ? ” A. “ Because they said so to m e.” Q. “ W hat kind of watch was kept on the co-operative ? ” A. “ There was the armed m ilitia.” Q. “ How many armed militiamen were there ? ” A. “ Eight or ten, who were not from the district.” Q. “ W hat were the duties o f the militiamen in the co-operative ? ” A. “ To keep an eye on us and see that we did not escape.” Q. “ Why was this armed watch introduced ? ” A. “ Because before we left two other boats had escaped.” Q. “ D id these militiamen interfere in the work ? ” A. “ No, they just guarded the co-operative buildings and kept an eye on the workers.” Q. “ How long have you been a fisherman ? ” A. “ Since I was eight.” 237 577

Q. “ H ad you ever seen armed guards in the fishing villages b efo re?” A. “ Never.” A farmhand’s comment on the co-operatives “ So I went to see the official in charge of a farm belonging to an American in Cienega de Z apata which had been taken over to ask for work. But I did not accept w hat he offered because he said th at it would mean working all the year round and at the end of the year the co-operative shared out the profits among the workers because it belonged to them. I objected th at I could not accept work on those terms because I did not believe in sharing out. This started off an argument and he asked how it was possible that I could have fought Batista but now I was not willing to help the revolution. I answered that I had fought Batista because there was no freedom but th at now the revolution had been achieved they should not expect us to work for nothing. Then he said that he could not give me a job, but then offered me 15 pesos a m onth under a special arrangement so th at I could buy clothing, shoes, etc. in the people’s store. I answered that I could not accept work on those term s.”

(86) “ I left C uba on August 22, 1961. I used to live in Quemado de Guines, which is a small town in Las Villas province, close to which I had a sugar farm. It was a very small one because I only milled 30,000 arrobas a year, but I got by. But it turned out that in order to go on working as I had done all my life I had to be a militiaman or a communist, and as I am not a communist and cannot be a militiaman I had to find ways and means of getting out.” (87)

“ I used to work on the land—sugarcane and smaller crops. During the sugar harvest I used to drive one of the trucks hauling the sugar. I left C uba by boat in the middle of August and arrived here about the 25th. I decided to leave the country because I was constantly being victimized by the militia at Quemado de Guines because I was never willing to be a militiaman and even less willing to become a communist. I was accused o f helping the rebels against the Government and they threatened to arrest me. We were always having arguments and they kept a watch on my house and sometimes searched it. Besides, I used to be paid 1 peso for every 100 sticks of sugarcane, but they would only pay me 50 centavos. W hen you finally got paid, you found you had been working for nothing because everything had been deducted. Sometimes there were collections for planes, other times for arms, other times for tractors, and once even for Operation Cow . . . ” 238 578

(88) “ I used to work for the company which owned the Isidro mill which was nationalized and taken over the the Castro Government. U nder the private company we used to work eight hours and if we did any overtime we were paid time and a half. Now, you have to work eight hours and then as much voluntary overtime without pay as they tell you. I never used to work at night; but now you have to work at night to help production. Those of us who refused to join the militia found our life at work made more difficult for us.” W hen asked how many fellow workers he had, he answered: “ 18. M ost of them are there because it is impossible to leave— if you try they arrest you. The only way to get out is to do what I did. Otherwise the only thing to do is to put up with it.” (89)

“ I always worked for the San Isidor mill. Before the company was taken over by the revolutionary government we were well paid. Besides, we used to work eight hours and if we did any overtime we were always paid for it, b u t after the IN R A (National Agrarian Reform Institute) took over the mill we had to work for up to 16 hours without any extra pay. A nd the im portant point is that if you did not work it might cost you your life. I complained from time to time that I h ad not helped them with the revolution to do this to me, and the communists there told me that I was a counter-revolutionary, that the revolution had to be helped by working and that my attitude was a negative one. They kept on at m e.” Laboratory assistant Q. “ Why did you leave C u b a ? ” A. “ Because they told me that if I wanted to keep my job at the sugar mill I should join the militia, and when I refused I was cold-shouldered and treated as a counter revolutionary.” C. “ Were you actually ill-treated ? ” A. Q.

“ N o .” “ Were you able to change your job ? ”

A. “ N o .” Q. “ Why n o t ? ” A. “ Because if you resign and apply for a job in a state co operative, for example, and they make enquiries at your former place of work and find out th at you resigned rather than join the militia, you cannot get a jo b.” Q. “ Did they cut your wage at the sugar mill ? ” 239 579

A. “ Yes, from 5 pesos for an 8-hour day to 2.50 pesos for a day which was increased to 10 or 12 hours. In addition, we had to give a day’s pay to such causes as Arms and Aircraft, Operation Cow, Literacy, Militias.” (25) U nder Fidel C astro’s regime, the so-called co-operatives do not deserve the name because they can be regarded merely as off-shoots of the IN R A (National Agrarian Reform Institute). The members of the co-operatives are arbitrarily designated by the regime. They are administered by managers appointed by the Govern ment. Their management is not subject to any bye-laws or internal rules. They are not bodies corporate. They do not own their land or their means o f production. The members of the co-operatives have no power to decide what type of crop to grow, its quantity or quality, etc. They are compelled to sell their output to the IN R A at such prices and in such a m anner as the IN R A may prescribe. Several witnesses, all o f them peasants who had left Cuba, agreed in stating that the so-called co-operatives of the C astro regime are an instrum ent of the Government. One of the witnesses was asked whether the peasants were really the owners of their co-operatives and whether the land really belonged to the co-operatives. His answer w as: “ That is absolutely untrue. I can quote one actual case—a well-known farm belonging to the brothers Remedios. They were big landowners. Their farms were taken over and now belong to the State. Yet they did not appoint an employee of the farm as manager, but brought in an outsider who belonged to the C ommunist Party. They did this in all the farms and in all the co-operatives.” Q. “ Who formed the co-operatives ? ” A. “ Section 44 of the Land Reform Law laid down a period of three years for which a m anager would be appointed and stated that the peasants and workers living on the estate would be asked to join. Logically, they should have elected a management com mittee which would then have appointed a manager. But the m ana ger is actually appointed by the IN R A and he tells every worker or peasant what to do.” The witness was questioned about the form of payment made to the workers. 240 580

A. “ Payment is made through the people’s stores and the farm worker has to buy his food and everything else he needs in them ” Q. “ Is the co-operative lawfully organized?” A. “ The IN R A appoints a manager for a period of three years but he decides everything without any participation by a single member o f the co-operative.” Q. “ Do you think therefore that freedom of employment is violated in this type o f organization which is described as a co operative ? ” A. “ Absolutely. The workers’ rights are violated because, in the first place, they are not entitled to a job or to a m inim um wage and, in the second place, none of the rights laid down in the C onsti tution of C uba is observed.” X.

OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY

(90) “ Arrest entailed the confiscation o f all my few belongings, in cluding the house I lived in and the jewellery of my wife and motherin-law.”

(10) “ One day I sought permission to take a ballet to Mexico. They allowed me five days. I left and never went back. They confiscated my ap a rtm e n t... They did not allow me to take more than 150 dollars out of Cuba. They confiscated my furniture and all my personal belongings fo r the ‘ crime ’ o f not returning to the communist hell of present-day C uba.”

(102) “ While we were still in C uba they searched the house, emptied the drawers and turned everything inside out. The second search was carried out by the G-2. This time my daughter (aged one year) was asleep. I was dismayed and terrified because they (the guards) carried rifles. All the correspondence which had been stamped by the censor was read again, including my husband’s letters. They broke the pictures o f our wedding. They broke an album of family photographs, the television set and even took apart the mattress of the cot where my daughter was sleeping to see whether we were hiding any arms.” (13) “ All our property was first of all taken over and then confiscated by C astro. This property consisted of a sugar mill, a num ber of sugarcane plantations, some stock-raising farms and a milk pasteuriz ing plant. They claimed th at this formed part of the new policy o f the 241 581

revolutionary government, but I believe th at they were simply deter mined to confiscate everything belonging to anyone who did not think as they did. We opposed C astro from the start because we thought he was a communist.” O. “ Were you compensated for the property taken over by the Governm ent?” A. “ No, not at all, and they did not even give us any explanation. Some people’s militiamen turned up and said that by government order they were taking over the mill. That was all our manager was ever told and after he had left he was replaced by some individual who knew nothing about the business and had to be replaced in turn and so on.” On being asked how the milk pasteurizing plant came to be taken over, the witness stated: “ This was done at the request of two or three workers in the plant with communist sympathies, and the government militia. They moved in and stayed. There was no record; they handed over no document; they gave no explanation. Here we are and here we stay. The farms were taken over by the IN R A .” One of the m ost common offences against property is the forcible entering and searching of people’s homes. One woman witness was asked why she had to seek asylum in the embassy of a Latin American country and answered th at on January 1, 1961, at 11 p.m., her home was entered by six members o f the G-2 police on the pretext that they were searching all the houses near the Plaza Civica—which she dis covered to be untrue because her house was the only one to be searched. She was asked whether they produced any w arrant and said that they did not. (74) “ They were armed with rifles or sub-machine guns. They even went into the room o f my grandmother, who is 90 and was asleep. These armed G-2 men made a minute search of the whole place and told me to go with them to the G-2 offices. However, when we went downstairs one of them telephoned the office and seems to have been given orders to leave me at home. But they took away all the docu ments they had found, such as personal letters, photographs, as well as personal effects and so on. They told me that I was still under investigation and might be summoned for interrogation at any time to the G-2 offices. And so in the early hours of the following morning I sought asylum in the Mexican Embassy.” (16) A young lawyer, who was unable to practise his profession after having defended a num ber of accused in the revolutionary courts, described how his property was treated : 242 582

“ My house was ransacked, my files were tossed into the street and all my books were burned. My office was stripped, the tables' typewriters and air conditioning apparatus taken away; a small farm of two caballerias in Pinar del Rio and a bank account in Havana were both taken over. Both my wife and six m onths’ old daughter had left C uba in the early part of January before I did,” The witness explained that he had sent away his wife and baby daughter “ because they arrest and molest all lawyers who defend counter-revolutionaries and also their wives, mothers and other relatives ”. (73)

“ After being constantly followed by G-2 agents for three months, I arrived home on A pril 17,1961 (the day of the landing) and was met by two G-2 agents who, after a minute search which lasted for more than an hour and was conducted without any w arrant or explanation, asked me for the key to my car and gave it to another agent waiting outside. The car was confiscated.” A doctor testified O. “ How often was your house searched? ” A. “ Three times. The first time was a m onth before my first arrest; the second took place about a fortnight before the landing in the Bay o f Pigs; and the third occurred on the Sunday before the landing. All these searches were carried out in the same way. There was never any warrant. A group o f men armed with rifles would simply arrive, knock on the door, and without any explanation carry out a m inute search of the whole apartm ent. Some of them used to carry sub-machine guns. F or the last search about ten or 12 members of the G-2 and the militia came in two cars. They surrounded the block and tried to force their way in through a window, but when some o f the neighbours saw this and protested they decided to come upstairs and knock on the door. W hen the door was opened they said ‘ G-2. We have come to search the p la c e ... D on’t move any body.’ They put guards at the doorway and carried out a thorough search, still carrying rifles and sub-machine guns. They also conducted a stormy interrogation of myself and every member of my family. A m aid who thoughtlessly went home, was followed and a thorough search was made of her home as well. During this search we were treated discourteously.” Another medical doctor added Q. “ Where were you taken after you were arrested? ” A. “ First of all to our home. After that to the G-2 building. They occupied our home at the time that we were in the G-2 building, and during that time ate up all the food and stole clothing, personal 2 4 3

583

effects and so on. W hen they took us to the G-2 building they put us in a room about, 45 by 15 feet together with about 70 or 80 other people. There was only one toilet. M y wife was put in a room with other women. “ They interrogated me from eight o ’clock in the evening of that day until 12 o ’clock at night the following day. The interrogation took place in a very cold, sound-proofed room .” A businessman answered questions put to him as follows Q. “ F o r what reasons did you decide to leave C uba ? ” A. “ Because all my property and assets, worth about 1,000,000 pesos, were stolen from me by the Government. The Ministry for the Recovery of Embezzled Property opened proceedings against me, but was unable to prove anything and my property remained mine, but later it was stolen from me under legislation passed by the Govern m ent.” O.

“ W hat did this property consist of?”

A. “ M y house, 2 cinemas, an apartm ent block, seven small houses, various mortgages amounting to 60,000 pesos, an extens ive housing estate with 200 building lots for sale and loans to the tune of 400,000 pesos. The two hundred building lots were worth about 500,000 pesos.” Q. “ W hat reasons did they give you for depriving you of these assets ?” A. “ The cinemas because they had nationalized the circuits through which they were rented and so they took them away from me. The other properties, such as the apartm ent building, the land, mortgages, etc., under the U rban Reform Law. The house I was living in because the whole of my family was abroad and I was living there at that time alone with a son-in-law of mine. They told us th at we could not go on living there because it was too much space for two people and they needed it to house peasants whom they were going to bring to Havana. W ithin a m onth of our leaving the house, which was then occupied by an old friend of the family who was looking after it for us, a militia lieutenant whose name I do not remem ber off-hand and a woman known as “ la China ” turned up and ordered this lady to leave the house, which she had to do. W ithin a few days they took out all the furniture, air-conditioning equipment, clothing and other articles.” Q.

“ Did they give any explanation for seizing all these articles ? ”

A. “ They said they were going to use the house to accommodate peasant lads whom they were bringing to Havana and they had to make room for bunks.” 2 4 4

584

Q. “ D id they give you any document certifying which properties and belongings they had taken ? ” A. “ No, they asked me to give them the deeds of my properties but I played for time and gave them nothing. I still have the deeds as well as my bonds and shares in all the firms in which I had an interest ” Q. “ Did the Government compensate you for your property by giving you any form o f bonds or securities ? ” A. “ No, absolutely nothing.” Woman psychologist: “ A t 4 a.m. on the following day—April 21—they carried out a much more careful search than before and found some compromis ing documents. They then told me that I was arrested together with everybody else in the house, which meant two maids, M.L.B., who is quite lame in one leg, and E.G. They even took away the latter’s son who did not even work in my house but was staying there because transport was so difficult just then. H e had spent some time in the M azorra psychiatric hospital, but although I explained this to them and asked them to make some allowances for him they paid no attention to what I said. “ Before leaving the house they made me count all the money they had found—about 1,000 pesos— and without giving me any explan ation took possession of it. I wanted to telephone to my aunts to warn them that I had been arrested by they would not allow me. They set me free in the early morning of May 24. My husband had been let out on May 1. H e told me that when he went back home he found th at they had stolen everything of any value—jewellery, silverware, all the electrical appliances, his clothing, etc. The typewriter and all our papers were taken away on the day he was arrested and were never returned. Our passports were also taken away when they searched the house.” XI. INFRINGEM ENTS OF THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS C uba was one of the Latin American republics with the largest num ber o f newspapers, radio stations and television stations. In December 1959, 16 newspapers were published in Havana. Eight of these—Alerta, Pueblo, Atajo, Avance, The Havana Post, El Mundo, Diario La Marina and Prensa Libre—were directly taken over by the Government. A nother five were immediately closed down—E l Pais, Excelsior, Manana, Diario Nacional and Repiiblica. The three remain ing newspapers are Information, E l Crisol and Revolution, the latter being the official organ of the July 26 Movement. To this should be added one more newspaper—Hoy— which is the official organ of the Socialist People’s Party, i.e., the C uban C ommunist P arty .1 1 Hispanic American Report, Vol. XIII, No. 5, July 1960, p. 309. 245 585

The methods employed by the C astro regime to destroy the freedom of the press in C uba have been summed up as follows: 1. The occupation by force of newspaper offices and radio stations belonging to or connected with persons who collaborated with the Batista regime. 2. The use of these newspapers to discredit any organ with independent views. 3. Financial strangulation by bringing pressure to bear on private advertisers to cancel or reduce their advertising in independent news papers and by making no official announcements in them. 4. Acts o f coercion and violence such as the burning o f news papers, symbolical funerals, the overturning of distribution vans, threats to agents and distributors, etc. 5. C ontrol o f the journalists’ associations and the printing w orkers’ trade unions by replacing the former leaders with supporters of the regime. 6. The use of these organisations to disrupt the work of each publishing house. One m ethod employed was the “ footnote ”. These “ footnotes ” were comments attributed to the staff of the newspapers which were added at the end of cabled newsitems to contradict them. Later they were extended to articles and editorials with the aim of forcing newspaper publishers to abandon publication. These “ foot notes ” were never signed and had to be published; they helped to foster a state of uncertainty among the staff. 7. Confiscation o f the assets of newspaper owners. 8. Stirring up disputes between publishing firms and their staffs; agents provocateurs were used to take over and later confiscate news papers. 1 Below is quoted some testimony dealing with the abolition of freedom of the press.

(8) “ As far as the press was concerned, the revolutionary regime began by taking over the newspapers which had supported the former government, but it was only the beginning. A t the slightest criticism, however justified, Fidel C astro himself would go on television to denounce it and launch insults and threats o f all kinds at the editor o f the publication. This created a feeling o f hostility among the hot heads towards the independent press. One after the other, newspapers and radio and television stations were closed down and confiscated. All those that remained belong to the Government and are its m outh pieces.” 1 See Humberto Medrano: “ Como se suprimio le libertad de prensa ” , pub lished in “ C uba 1961 ” , a supplement to Cuadernos, No. 47, March-April 1961, p. 8-17. 246 586

(30)

“ Then came the attack on E l Crisol, a newspaper which because it would not submit to the C astro regime was publicly denounced on television by the maximum leader Fidel C astro. Once when there was a hunger strike among the prisoners in La C abana, E l Crisol gave an objective account of the facts. Fidel C astro egged on the people against the newspaper, told them not to buy it and called on the ad vertisers to withdraw their orders. This happened whenever any newsitem appeared which did not please the regime. They ended up by confiscating it after bringing financial pressure to bear by withdrawing official announcements, which were only given to pro-government newspapers, etc. Having brought about financial collapse in this devilish way, they immediately confiscated it without any compen sation, without giving a single document as receipt for the property they had taken over by force against the wishes of its owner.” (5)

“ As an official o f the Government of Fidel Castro Ruz in Cuba, I took the following action within my profession o f journalist and publicist. W hen I became disillusioned with Mr. Fidel Castro Ruz and felt sure th at he was steering the country towards a Red regime, I began to have fears about the disastrous consequences o f this dicta torial rule. My first step was to stand for election to the post of Dean of the Provincial College of Journalists in Havana in opposition to the communists because I felt that the Government was circumscribing freedom of expression by curtailing the liberty of C uban journalists. This large-scale attem pt to mobilize the free journalists o f C uba was regarded as a serious act of opposition to the Government. Repression became even more savage and it was then that they invented a new device to prevent the free journalists from expressing their views—the so-called “ footnote ”, which was added to every article and mocked at democratic opinions. But this device of Mr. Fidel C astro misfired because a group of fellow journalists led by myself, laughed at these “ footnotes ” and he could think of nothing better than to invent an excuse for taking over the newspapers on the illogical ground that they were not paying their way. As everybody knows it is up to the business itself to decide when it is not paying its way and not the State. We appealed against the “ footnotes ” on the ground that they were unconstitutional and subsequently my organization protested in the newspapers during M arch 1960. Finally, I left C uba in August 1960 after having taken part in the underground struggle, together with groups o f anti-communist journalists. I submitted a report on all this to the C ommittee on Freedom of the Press of the IAPA at its meeting in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1961. Since then we have carried on the fight through various Latin American and international organizations stating our caseasfreenewspapermen.” 247 587

XU.

VIOLATIONS O F TH E FREEDOM O F EDUCATION

The C astro regime has used a variety o f methods to put an end to freedom of education in Cuba. From the University of Havana down to the smallest secondary or primary school, the whole educational system has been brought under State control. The Nationalization of Education Law issued in June 1961, is the m ost conclusive evidence of this. But even before this piece o f legislation was passed, the C astro r6gime had made use o f several methods to extirpate freedom of education. These methods, according to statements by witnesses, included the following: 1. The arbitrary dismissal of teachers under the system of “ purges ”. 2. Physical coercion in the shape of insults, threats and the super vision o f university teachers by student supporters o f the Government. 3. Public accusations that certain teachers were “ counter-revo lutionaries ”. 4. A perm anent watch on teachers’ activities even outside the university. 5. The organisation of a university militia within each university. 6. Political interference by the Government through the U ni versity Student Federation, the President o f which is a major in C astro’s army. It is worth mentioning here one of the arguments put forward in H avana against university autonomy. “ University autonomy ”, said one witness, “ was justified under a reactionary regime which the Uni versity had a duty to fight. But once the people has taken over the go vernment through the revolution it is pointless to speak of university autonomy because a university cannot be independent of the people itself.” The history of the independence of Havana University came to an end with the appointm ent as Rector of Juan Marinello, one of the leading members of the C uban communist old guard and a minister without portfolio under Fulgencio Batista in 1943. The President of Cuba, Osvaldo Dorticos, said in a speech at Havana University in tribute to the communist leader Julio Antonio Mella, m urdered in Mexico 33 years ago, that the students of Havana University would graduate under “ the principles of Marxism-Leninism 1 Lawyer and university professor “ Havana University was granted autonom y in 1937 and this was reaffirmed in Article 53 of the 1940 C onstitution. W hen Batista carried out his coup d ’etat on M arch 10,1952, theU niversityprotestedthrough its faculty and student groups. During the seven years of Batista’s 1 New York Herald Tribune, January 13, 1962. 2 4 8

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dictatorship this autonomy was violated on a num ber o f occasions when the police entered the university precincts without the consent of -the authorities. Each time the regime suspended the constitutional safeguards, the University Council ordered the suspension of all academic activities in order to avert even greater evils. W hen the regime fell on January 1, 1959, the University had been inactive for more than a year. “ A t a meeting held in C aracas, Venezuela, by all the revolutionary organizations opposed to Batista’s dictatorship in July 1958, it was agreed that the 1940 C onstitution—which had first been suspended and later violated by Batista tyranny—should at once be restored when the regime was overthrown. The organizations which signed this agree ment included the July 26 Movement led by Fidel C astro. W hen the revolution triumphed, the Fundam ental Law was passed reintroducing —subject to the changes made necessary by the revolutionary transi tion—the principles o f the 1940 C onstitution. These principles included th at of university autonomy. C astro himself, in a speech during the early part of January 1959 in Havana University, pro mised to respect this autonomy. In order to draw up a scheme for university reform a joint committee of professors and students was set up on the initiative of the university bodies themselves. A t the end of 1959 the completed scheme, which had been approved by the teaching faculties and the student associations, was placed before the Council of Ministers of the Revolutionary Government as a first step towards the passing of legislation. But the C ouncil of Ministers never gave its approval to this scheme. The first time the Revolutionary Government intervened in university affairs was in connection with the elections to the post o f President of the University Student Federation (F.E.U.). There were two candidates for this post—Pedro Boitel and Rolando C ubela, the latter being a major in the rebel army who was trusted by Raul Castro. The day before the election Fidel Castro himself came to the University and urged that there should only be one candidate. The student body protested against this intervention—it was the first collective protest against a proposal by Castro. Despite this, Boitel, under pressure from the Government, withdrew his candidature a few hours before the election, so that C ubela remained the only can didate. He was thereupon declared “ elected ”. B oitelisnow inaC uban prison. H e has been there for some months but has not been brought to trial yet. Shortly after this ‘ election ’ a university militia was formed. “ During the early part of 1960—January and February—a cam paign to discredit and vilify the idea of university autonomy was carried on in the government-controlled press. It was alleged that this autonom y was used for counter revolutionary purposes, that the revolution had not yet touched the university and that autonom y was meaningless under a regime in which government was in the hands of the people. W hen this campaign began, the University C ouncil—the senior university body, made up of the Deans of the 13 university 2 4 9

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faculties and presided over by the Rector—immediately came forward to defend the University’s autonomy. Thereupon, the Rector and the Council were publicly attacked as ‘ counter-revolutionaries ’. Groups o f communist students began to cause disturbances and agitation in every faculty. Anti-communist student publications were destroyed and burned on the university campus by these minority groups. It was claimed that the majority of the professors had a reactionary mentality and th at a drastic purge o f the teaching staff was necessary. The anti-communist students who publicly opposed this campaign against university autonomy were beaten and persecuted, and demands were made for their expulsion from the University. “ U nder pressure from the Government a joint meeting was held in April 1960 o f the student associations of the Universities of Havana, Oriente and Las Villas, at which a proposal was made to establish a nation-wide university body made up of representatives o f the three Universities and officials o f the IN R A (National Agrarian Reform Institute) and the Ministry of Education to direct university activities. The University Council and the staffs of the faculties, together with most of the student associations within the universityfaculties,protested against this proposal. The Council drew up a statem ent which con tained a strong defence of university autonomy and showed that this proposal would be at variance with it. This statem ent was followed by a campaign of insults in the official press. “ In the School of Engineering at Havana University some student leaders criticized two professors on ‘ academic grounds ’ and demanded their expulsion from the faculty. But the faculty refused to do so. The student leaders thereupon ‘ ordered ’ their expulsion and replaced the two professors by two engineers who were not pro fessors at all; one of them was the brother-in-law of ‘ Che ’ Guevara, President of the National Bank. The engineering faculty refused to recognize these professors who had been imposed upon it and decided to suspend all academic activities. The University Council gave its backing to the engineering faculty. On July 15, 1960, a meeting was held in the lecture hall of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts in which a minority of the students and some of the professors agreed to dismiss the University Council and to appoint a board of governors consisting o f four students and four professors to direct the University. One of the professors on the board was Dr. Hector Garcini, a pro fessor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, who had been legal adviser to the M inister of Finance and to the M ayor of H avana during the Batista dictatorship. This board then dismissed the Council and the faculty staffs. An order was issued requiring the professors to state individually whether or not they accepted the board’s authority. O f the 400 university professors, two-thirds refused to acknowledge the board and were dismissed from their posts as counter-revolutio naries. The Law Faculty, to which I belonged, opposed this govern ment manoeuvre from the start. The Dean, Dr. Agustin Aguirre, 250 590

always stood up for university autonomy in the Council. Of the 31 professors in the Faculty, only four accepted the board imposed by the Government. On August 4, 1960, the C ouncil of Ministers endorsed the actions of the board and Law No. 859 of the same date recognised it as the policy-making body of H avana University. This Law, which violated the constitutional principle of university autonomy, confirmed the de facto position brought about at the Governm ent’s instigation. ” A woman educationalist Q. “ W hat posts did you hold in C uba? ” A. “ I was Director of the Training College for Kindergarten Teachers in Oriente Province. I also held a C hair of Psychology. I had been working since 1943. On January 3 or 4, 1959, Teresa Valla Tamayo arrived and in the name of the revolution told me that she had come to take over the establishment. Later, a notary and a num ber of other persons came along to take over the assets and the institution. On January 31, two members o f the rebel army called at my house and arrested me. They told me that I must make a statement and I was taken under arrest to the camp at Santiago de C uba. I was kept there for three days and on February 2 I was taken to hospital because I happen to be diabetic. The prison doctor was unwilling to allow me to stay in the prison because there were 52 women there with only one bath, one toilet and wash-basin without any plumbing. They then put me in the civilian hospital where I stayed until February 19. When I arrived they wanted to put me in the convicts’ ward, but the doctor said there was no room for me and I was put in a comfortable room for special patients, but the next day they put me in the convicts’ ward. But Dr. Eduardo Sinca, the doctor in charge of that ward, said when he arrived that he still had no room for me. Altogether I was kept a prisoner there for 19 days. On Febru ary 18 a friend of mine who is a lawyer came to the hospital and enquired why I had been arrested. I told Dr. Rene Franco that I had not been told anything and they had merely said that I was under investigation. Dr. Franco went to the revolutionary courts and spoke to M ajor Pena—I hear that he later committed suicide—and to the secretary, Eduardo G uerra De John, who sent for a list of those who were imprisoned without any charges against them. My name was on this and they gave orders for me to be released since there was no reason why I should be deprived o f my freedom. “ On February 2 I received a letter in which I was dismissed after 26 years’ service, despite my teachers’ diploma and the certificate I received from the Ministry of Education on completing 25 years’ service. Subsequently, legislation was passed under which I became entitled to a retirement pension and this was granted to me, which proved that I had no political record that might prevent me from discharging my duties. 251 591

“ I had to leave the city because whenever I went into town it was surrounded by militiamen with machine guns who made life in Santiago de C uba impossible. We decided to leave the country because we had no security of any kind. ” A woman professor Q. “ Were you directly obstructed in your teaching duties ? ” A. Yes. I was a professor at the Havana Business School. W hen my husband, at my request, asked the revolutionary authorities to leave us alone because we were constantly being searched, the students association prevented me from going back to my post because I had been purged. I taught until M arch 1959.” Q. “ W hat reasons did they give for not allowing you to teach? ” A. “ The teachers were purged for three reasons: first, because they had contacts with the former regime; second, because they had belonged or had directly co-operated with the former regime; and third simply because it was considered that their services would prove harmful to the revolution. The reason they gave me was the first one—in other words th at I had had contact with the former govern ment, the link being my husband who at that time was a prisoner. ” Q. “ After M arch 1959 did you teach in any private establishment in C uba ? ” A. “ I taught in a private college, the ‘ Loyola M ilitary Academy ’ and I also gave private lessons at home. ” Q. “ U ntil when did you teach at this private college? ” A. “ U ntil the Government took it over and sent us all home. This was about December 1960. ” Q. “ Is this college still functioning? ” A. “ It had gone out of existence and the premises have been taken over, I believe, for a gunnery school—in other words, a govern ment technical establishment. ” XIIL TH E MIGHT O F ASYLUM IN CUBA (19) A witness who served his sentence on the Isla de Pinos was ques tioned about what he did when he was released. He answered: “ After arriving at the port of Batabano, I went to Havana and remained in hiding for a week because on the very day th at I was set free members of the G-2 came to my home to arrest me, and I heard about this from my family. A t the end of the week I obtained asylum in the H onduran Embassy, where I stayed until September 9, 1961, under the protection o f the Venezuelan Embassy, which had taken over responsibility for H onduran affairs when Honduras broke off relations with Cuba.

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Q. “ W hat were conditions like among the people who were given asylum? ” A. “ In the house where we were, which was in the C ubanacan quarter, there were 185 people including 18 women and ten children under the age of five. We stayed there without being granted safe conducts for six m onths, until in August we began a hunger strike in protest against the C astro Governm ent’s contempt for the right of asylum. ” (29) The right of asylum is one of the characteristic principles o f what might be called Latin American international law. It is one of the principles for which the American governments hold the deepest respect. Under it any citizen whose life or liberty is endangered for political reasons is entitled to seek asylum in the embassy of any foreign country. The country in which a person seeks asylum with an embassy has a duty to respect this position and to grant a safe conduct so th at he can leave the country. The government m ust also provide him with protection so that he is not molested when accom panied by the ambassador. Q. “ W hat happens in C uba ? ” A. “ There are hundreds of cases in which the police have pre vented people from exercising their right o f asylum. Very many people have obtained asylum in various embassies without being granted safe conducts. M y friends Lineras and Massip, who managed to leave the country by exercising their right of asylum, only did so after an international campaign by the exiles showing how this right was n o t respected in Cuba. ” (31) Some witnesses described the ingenious devices they were forced to use in order to enter an embassy without being arrested by the m ilitiamen on duty outside. “ It is almost impossible to enter an embassy in Cuba. It takes a certain am ount of heroism, because entering is not as it used to be— a m atter of knowing the Ambassador. One has to shoot one’s way in as did my friend Massip, while I risked my life by jumping over a fence around the C osta Rican Embassy, evading 30 soldiers and mili tiam en to do so. ” This witness said he spent six months in the embassy before being granted a safe conduct. Another witness said: “ My entry into the C osta Rican Embassy took place in the follow ing way. At one o ’clock in the afternoon o f May 4, 1961,1 was told by the underground movement that the Costa Rican Embassy was only lightly guarded and since the embassy building also contained the 253 593

Consulate, there were large numbers o f Cubans there applying for a visa to leave the country. There was an enormous queue and when we received word that the time had come because the militiamen were marshalling the crowd, my friend D.R. and myself hurried to the embassy and when we arrived at the gate we acted as if we intended to join the queue. We were carrying hidden arms and intended to use them if we were challenged and fired on. W hen we got out of the car the militiamen dashed towards us, but we pulled out our arms and threatened them and at once ran towards the embassy. We m anaged to get in through the garden and were followed by the militiamen who fired at us and we fired back. There were 116 people in the embassy, many of whom had fought their way in as we had. ” (80) One witness who obtained asylum in the Brazilian Embassy stated: “ Some people, in order to obtain asylum, had to jum p over the railings around the embassy garden at the risk of their lives because they were fired on. Some who tried to jum p over the railings were wounded and captured. The embassy building appeared to be surrounded by a military camp because there was always a heavy guard. ” Medical doctor Q. “ F or how long were you given asylum? ” A. “ Five months. ” Q. “ How many people were given asylum at that time ? ” A. “ When I was there, there were 87 people. We were all packed in and many people slept in very small rooms. There was only one woman—my wife. ” Q. “ How did the guards outside the embassy behave ? ” A. “ Very badly. Anybody who entered or left was thoroughly searched. They made it very difficult for anyone who tried to bring us anything and were constantly threatening to make an armed assault on the embassy. During the night there used to be shooting and from time to time the guardpost outside the embassy would let off a burst of machine gun fire. Anyone why came by and looked into the embassy was arrested. W hen they came for me at the embassy to take me to the airport, they spoke to me very coarsely. A t the airport there was a group of militiamen shouting insults. And outside the Argentine Embassy they stationed a party o f children shouting out ‘ Vermin ” Workman Q. “ How did you leave C uba? ” A. “ I was given asylum in the Brazilian Embassy in C uba for five long months. I sought asylum after fighting with several others 254

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in La Colmena, Santo Domingo, and later in Matanzas province in the town of Jaguey Grande. Our guerilla force was commanded by C aptain Evelio Pena, who had been a captain in the rebel army. W hen we failed in our attem pts to overthrow the communist govern ment, I had to seek asylum.” Q. “ W hat did you do in Cuba before falling out with the present regime ? ” A. “ I used to work on fruit farm s; I was also a herdsman and I worked as well in the timber industry. Then in 1958, in Novem ber, I took up arms in El Escambray, in Las Villas province, and stayed there until February 1959. After the revolution had triumphed, I was detached to the town of Calimete in Matanzas province and ran into difficulties with the local communist party leaders, which led to my discharge from the rebel army. After that life became awkward. As I had been dishonourably discharged from the army because I would not accept communist ideas, no one would give me a job. This went on until a lieutnant who was from Oriente found me a job in the town of C alimete itself with the public works department and that lasted until they discovered th at I was working there. Lawyer Q. “ W hat were conditions like among those who sought asylum in the Argentine Embassy ? ” A. “ At a time when essential foods and medicines are short in Cuba, it was surprising to find on obtaining asylum in the Argentine Embassy th at we were given two good meals a day, including meat which is short everywhere in Cuba. Medical care was available at all times from the embassy doctors, who also had the necessary medi cines. The refugees were provided with money and were often given cigarettes and various other odds and ends. Above all, they encoun tered understanding and sympathy. O f course, there was some dis comfort because there were so many refugees that several people had to be put in a single room, but these discomforts do not count at such a critical time in C uba’s history and are more than offset by the satisfaction o f knowing th at each person who obtains asylum repre sents a life th at has been saved. Up to the time when I left the Argen tine Embassy, 622 persons had obtained asylum there and in every case it was done free of charge. Q. “ W hen did you leave Cuba ? ” A. “ On November 9, 1961. ” A monk Q. “ W hat did you do in C uba ? ” A. “ I was the provincial conciliator of the Catholic Youth in Oriente. ” Q. “ Were you arrested ? ” 255

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A. “ I was arrested under Batista for a few hours ten days before the Government fell for having a pastoral latter in my possession. ” Q. “ Were you arrested afterwards ? ” A. “ No. I sought asylum in the Venezuelan Embassy and remained there for four months. ” Q. “ Why did you seek asylum? ” A. Because my life was in danger and they were going to arrest me, and I had to leave Oriente for Havana. (99) Q. “ C an you describe the shooting accident at the Ecuadorian Embassy ? ” A. “ Yes, I can describe the events because I witnessed them with my own eyes. A t about six or half past six in the morning, those of us who were sleeping in the tent at the entrance to the garage heard the sound o f a collision against the fence at the entrance to the garden. We all realized th at a vehicle must have tried or was trying to get into the embassy. A few minutes after hearing this crash we heard the first shots from the rifles known as R2s and from the machine guns. Then there was a pause and another burst of firing. The truck had entered before the first burst of firing from the machine guns and R2 rifles. Five militiamen had entered the embassy and were about five yards inside the garden. Some minutes after the second burst of firing, four refugees went up to the truck at the risk of their lives and there saw two people at least on the truck who appeared to have been shot down. They were dead. A nother near the truck was badly injured and was dying, and he did die five or ten minutes later when one of the four refugees went to help him. W ith the help o f the refugees, five people finally m anaged to get inside the house. Four of them had been seriously injured in vital parts o f the body by the bursts of fire. We later gathered that they had been a group o f eight young people, six of them farm workers from the Fajardo sugarmill in Havana, who were seeking politicial asylum. It is possible to state categorically that the second series of shots were fired from within the embassy by the militiamen who had entered the grounds. XIV.

ON LEAVING CUBA

There are several ways of leaving Cuba. One o f the most difficult is to leave with a passport in the ordinary way. In such cases the ordeal begins as soon as a citizen applies for an exit visa. Another way is to leave with a safe conduct after obtaining asylum in an embassy. In such cases the problem is to enter an embassy so as to obtain asylum, because the embassy buildings are watched over by militiamen and members o f the C astro police. A third way is to escape by plane or by sea. 256

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(Ill) A woman who left in the “ ordinary ” way recalls: “ I left on January 14, 1961. I left as a resident of Cuba. They searched me completely. I had with me some medicines for my baby daughter and they took them away saying that it was better to give them to the children of peasant families who needed them and that here in Miami I would find plenty o f doctors to look after my daughter and need not worry. W hen we went back to the ‘ fishbowl ’—this is the name given in C uba to the room where they check passports, tickets, etc.—I was called into another office with about 4 or 5 people, including 3 women. A female guard told me to take off all my clothing and I stayed without any clothes on for quite some time. Then she searched me very carefully, internally as well as externally. All this was accompanied by insults and taunts. She then did the same to the 3 other women. All this lasted about an hour or more. We then had to declare to a m an whether we had any money or jewels on us and I had to give a detailed list o f the furniture left in my house and to say whether I had a bank account. ” (15) A leading woman Catholic, after losing her house and having been arrested a num ber of times without reason, decided to leave the coun try. On being asked whether she had any difficult in getting out of Cuba, she said: “ They searched me twice, stripping me completely, making me take off my shoes, stockings and everything. Then when I had been there an hour they called me in once more and repeated the same search of my luggage and my person until finally, the Lord be praised, I was able to board the plane and leave that hell for good.” (45) A shop worker, by no means well paid, said th at after he had been arrested on two different occasions without any reason “ My position became impossible because both my life and my freedom were constantly threatened and I decided to leave the country. And so with five fellow countrymen I escaped from C uba in an 18 ft. boat. We were picked up by a US coastguard vessel close to the coast o f the USA near Key West.” Sugar worker Q. “ Why and when did you leave C uba ? ” A. “ I left C uba on August 19, 1961, in a small boat hardly 17 ft. long. It had a small engine and sails. We managed to get out w ithout difficulty through the intricate channels of the north coast o f C uba. W hen we were 20 miles from Key West we were picked by a French vessel which took us to Key West itself.” 257

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Fisherman Q. “ How did you leave C uba ? ” A. “ In a boat which I stole with another fisherman who came with me. The boat belonged to the IN R A and was called the ‘ Patria o M uerte Q. “ W here did you w o rk ? ” A. “ As a fisherman in the ‘ Ambrosio Francia Leon ’ fishing co-operative.” Q. “ How much did you earn per day ? ” A. “ 1.50 pesos a day with this government.” Q. “ How much did you earn before ? ” A. “ 3 to 4 pesos a day before this government.” Truck driver : Q. “ W hen did you leave C uba ? ” A. “ I escaped from C uba by boat together with 39 other people. The boat was called ‘ El Tiburon ’ and we reached Key West on October 15, 1961.” Q. “ W hat did you do in C uba ? ” A. “ Before January 10, 1959, I drove trucks on the SaguaH avana express route. After C astro came to power, I stayed on for the first year and then was fired in April 1960 after they had tricked me into signing my resignation so as to give my job to a known communist who had worked for the company before. The union was communist controlled and wanted to do him a good turn.” Railway worker : Q. “ When did you leave C uba? ” A. “ On November 2, 1961.” Q. “ How did you leave C uba ? ” A. “ In a sailing barge together with 20 other people. We did the whole journey under sail.” Q. “ Were there any accidents during the jo u rn e y ? ” A. “ Yes. After we had been at sea for about 20 hours we were hit by a storm and the m ast was carried away.” Q. “ How long did the voyage last ? ” A. “ In all 36 hours. We landed at the M oradas Islands, 65 miles from M iami.”

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XV.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence given by the witnesses quoted above established the follow ing facts: With regard to the administration o f justice : 1. 2. 3. 4.

Subordination of the judiciary to the political authorities Subjection o f the judges to the people’s militia. Violation of the principle of proper jurisdiction. Abolition of the irremovability o f judges.

With regard to the revolutionary courts : 5. M ost o f their members are not lawyers, and in many cases are illiterate. 6. The accused is not aware of the charges against him until the time when the prosecutor puts forward his provisional conclusions during the trial. 7. The accused are subjected to physical and moral torture during their imprisonment. 8. The accused are not allowed to receive professional assistance from any lawyer before the trial. 9. The prosecutor coaches the witnesses for the prosecution who have been proved in many cases to be false witnesses. 10. The prosecutor proclaims his opinion publicly, making use o f radio and television to prejudice public opinion against the accused. 11. The prosecutor charges the accused with vague and imprecise crimes. 12. The prosecutor, who is often ignorant of the most elementary legal m atters, commits grave procedural mistakes. 13. Defence counsel only becomes aware of the charges a few minutes before the trial begins and sometimes only during the hearing itself. 14. Defence counsel are prevented from seeing their clients. 15. Defence counsel have themselves been persecuted, imprisoned and even shot for defending political prisoners. 16. There is little evidence adm itted from defence witnesses. 17. Defence witnesses have been harrassed and persecuted. 18. In many cases defence witnesses have been taken from the stand to prison. 19. The witnesses for the prosecution are in the main militiamen, soldiers in the Rebel Army or members o f the G-2 secret police. 259 599

20. The verdict, owing to the ignorance o f the members of the court, has often been drawn up beforehand by government legal officials. 21. There have been cases in which the sentence of death has been carried out while an appeal was still pending. 22. W hen the death sentence was passed, appeals were entered automatically and in m ost cases neither the accused nor their counsel were aware o f the contents o f the appeals. 23. There have been cases in which a revolutionary court has acquitted the accused and the Prime M inister, Fidel Castro, has rescinded the verdict and ordered the accused to be retried. With regard to individual freedom : 24. Personal persecution o f citizens opposed to the regime, who are constantly watched and discriminated against. 25. Detention without trial, sometimes for more than two years. 26. Indiscriminate, large-scale arrests without any legitimate reason or observance o f any procedure. 27. Encouragement of denunciation by “ vigilante ” committees in every district. With regard to conditions in Caban prisons : 28. Inhum an overcrowding o f the prisoners in all C uban prisons. 29. C omplete lack of hygiene. 30. Lack of adequate medical care. 31. Objectionable food. 32. C onstant m ental torture through the system o f arbitrary granting o f visits by relatives, prevention o f correspondence with relatives and confiscation o f food and medicines sent to prisoners by their relatives. 33. Inhum an disciplinary penalties under the system of “ punish m ent cells ”. 34. Physical ill-treatm ent in form o f blows with rifle butts and bayonet jabs. 35. Simulated executions. 36. C onstant subjection o f prisoners to humiliating personal searches. 37. Ostentatious preferential treatm ent for common criminals in comparison with political prisoners. 38. Binding or handcuffing of political prisoners when being moved. 39. Exaction o f forced labour from political prisoners. 40. C onfiscation o f all their belongings. 41. Obligation on political prisoners to wear a prison uniform. 260 600

With regard to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment: 42. Cynical obstruction of relatives trying to visit political prisoners. 43. A system o f long and exhausting wait to obtain entry to the prison. 44. Insistence on humiliating personal searches of women wish ing to visit their relatives in prison. 45. Use of sexual perverts to carry out such searches. 46. Degrading treatm ent of sick, old and otherwise handicapped women. 47. Systematic postponements of admission to visits. 48. A rbitrary limitation of the lengh of visits. 49. The infliction o f mental tortures on visitors by giving false inform ation implying natural death or execution of relative. 50. Prohibition of visits by men to the political prisoners. 51. Prohibition under pain of severe penalty of the slightest gesture of endearment between prisoners and their visiting relatives. 52. Permanent guard by soldiers armed with machine guns throughout the whole duration of the visits. With regard to religious freedom : 53. Individual persecution of priests, members of religious orders, monks and leading laymen. 54. Obstruction o f C hurch services by means of threats outside the C hurch and provocations during the services. 55. Large-scale expulsions o f priests and monks. 56. Closing down and confiscation of religious colleges. 57. A rbitrary arrests of priests. With regard to labour : 58. Persecution and arrest of workers and peasants who refused to join the people’s militia. 59. Loss of freedom in bargaining with the state which, through its agencies, has become the monopolistic employer. 60. Dismissal of freely-elected trade union leaders and their replacement by seasoned communist leaders and other supporters o f the regime. 61. Impossibility of changing jobs without the consent of the government. 62. Abolition of all democratic rights achieved by the Cuban industrial working class. 261 601

63. Discrimination against professional workers—doctors, law yers, engineers—who refused to join the people’s militia. 64. Occupation and taking over o f organizations of professional workers and academic associations by organs of the State. With regard to property : 65. Seizure, confiscation and expropriation o f economic enter prises without compensation. 66. Widespread confiscation of property on political grounds. 67. A rbitrary confiscations o f personal property and household items. 68. Frequent entry into homes by armed militiamen without search w arrant and resulting in indiscriminate damage and theft. With regard to the freedom o f the press : 69. Seizure of newspapers and radio and television stations. 70. C onfiscation and liquidation of these establishments. 71. Interference with editorial policies. 72. Artificial creation by the government of disputes between the management and staff. 73. G radual concentration of news media under government control and resulting complete abolition of the freedom of expression. With regard to education : 74. Complete abolition of university autonomy. 75. A rbitrary dismissals of teachers and professors on political or religious grounds. 76. Collective purges. 77. Taking over and confiscation of private colleges. 78. Abolition of academic freedom and im position of “ socialist revolutionary doctrine ”. 79. Obligation on faculty and students to join the people’s militia. 80. Physical coercion by means o f insults, threats and sur veillance o f professors by government supporters among the students. 81. Public denunciations of teachers as “ counter-revolu tionaries ”. 82. C onstant watch on extra-curricular activities of faculty and students. 83. Open political interference through the government-con trolled students federation (FEU). 262 602

With regard to the right o f asylum : 84. The embassies of Latin American countries which grant the traditional right o f asylum are closely guarded by militiamen and soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. 85. Entrance to these embassies and eventual asylum may be obtained only by subterfuge or violence. 86. A safe conduct to leave the embassy and reach the country o f asylum is being granted arbitrarily and often after m onths of procrastination. With regard to exit from Cuba : 87. Obstruction of persons wishing to leave C uba by all imaginable means. 88. Humiliating checking requirements such as personal searches. 89. Blatantly arbitrary practices in the granting of exit permits to persons complying with all government requirements.

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CONCLUSION The material presented in this R eport suggests a great variety of conclusions o f varying degrees of importance. All four parts o f the R eport and some chapters of these parts contain such summaries. A brief review o f these conclusions appears necessary to enable a final appraisal o f the Rule o f Law in C uba under the regime of Fidel C astro. According to the outline followed in this Report, reference should first be m ade to the findings concerning the economic, social and political situation o f the Republic o f C uba at the end o f 1958. Its assessment has been a m atter o f great controversy between pro-Castro and anti-Castro forces inside and outside Cuba. Indeed, Fidel Cas tro ’s statements on this subject have been used to justify the revolu tionary process in Cuba. The present R eport reveals th at in Decem ber 1958 C uba could not be considered as a backward country facing economic collapse and undergoing an ominous social crisis. As pointed out in the Report, there was indeed a num ber of serious social and economic problems in Cuba. But it is also true th at all those problems could have been solved by an efficient and honest government under full observance of democratic processes and hum an rights. The crisis th at caused C uba’s main weakness has been a political one. The R eport exposes corruption and illegality in past C uba administrations as one o f the m ost im portant characteristics of C uban public life. U nder the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista all these chronic ills were brought to a climax. The ensuing resentment ex plains why the revolutionary movement against Batista was mainly oriented toward a re-enactment of the 1940 C onstitution. The Report also shows how that instrum ent with its advanced social and economic philosophy had become the symbol o f the C uban people’s struggle for legality, freedom and social justice. The unequivocal implemen tation of its principles would have m eant in the internal life o f C uba a true revolution, an orderly, democratic and peaceful one. M ost of the C uban people hoped that such development would one day come about. Together with the free world they hailed with satisfaction the trium ph of the C uban revolutionary movement headed by Fidel Castro. But very soon Fidel C astro and his small but dynamic group o f followers, including Communists and fellow-travelers, eliminated, step by step, the already weak and unorganized democratic groups who opposed the establishment o f a totalitarian 264

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regime. Extremist forces, which were at the start ready to share power with m oderate elements, operated in a country which had not yet consolidated its institutional structure. As pointed out in this Report, m any institutions, especially those of industrial and economic character, were only slowly maturing. Trade unions and political parties, m ost o f them well intentioned and respectable, were caught in the political whirlwind stirred up by corruption and violence. This unbalanced political situation facilitated the success o f Fidel Castro. The world has now learned the results. As affirmed by The Economist (October 6, 1962), “ it m ust be adm itted that C uba has fallen under communist influence more quickly and completely than many people thought likely a couple o f years ago (including this paper) I t should be emphasized that this has happened in a coun try with exceptionally rich natural resources and with a considerable degree o f social and economic development. How could it have occurred? In his speech o f December 1961, Fidel C astro said that before his conquest of power he could not expose his ideas and pro jects as clearly as after he gained control; had he done so he would not have had the support o f many people and the revolutionary movement against Batista would not have acquired the impetus that made its victory possible. Fidel C astro did not fight directly and openly against his form er democratic partners; at least not before he had exploited their services to the original revolutionary movement. Only then did he destroy them. The history of the C uban revolutionary legislation is a study in concentration o f power. As Part II of the R eport reveals, the struggle between the Rule of Law as defined in the 1940 C onstitution, for instance, and the extremist forces o f the C uban regime, has been epitomized by the five amendments to the 1940 Constitution, the Fundam ental Law and the sixteen amendments to that Fundam ental Law. All these amendments have been passed in the course of two and a half years. The constituent power o f the Council of Ministers, which has concentrated in its hands both executive and legislative functions, has become the tool for the construction of a comprehen sive totalitarian machine. After each constitutional amendment en croaching upon the remaining safeguards of life, property and per sonal freedom of the Cuban citizens, and passed by the Council of Ministers acting as a constituent power, legislation has been adopted by the same C ouncil o f Ministers acting as a legislative organ, em powering any of its members to implement—in his executive capac ity—the relevant provisions without any further control by or appeal to, an independent authority. Violations o f the Rule o f Law have been occurring in C uba from the very beginning o f the C astro regime. It has been pointed out in this R eport that as early as August 1959 the International C ommission o f Jurists expressed its concern over the precarious situation o f the Rule o f Law in th at country. Often the breaches o f the Rule of 265 605

Law which occurred in the early days of the Castro regime were con doned even by moderate and genuine democrats as “ exceptional measures ” for “ exceptional situations The revulsion against Batista and his associates, guilty o f untold atrocities, ran so high th at almost everyone in the C uban revolutionary government, and many observers abroad, were ready to accept the retroactivity o f criminal law when detrimental to the accused, the application of the death penalty and total confiscation o f property for political offences, the suspension of habeas corpus, etc. All that was done because it seemed “ urgent, necessary and exceptional ”. Yet the resulting illegality gained m omentum and soon the “ exceptional ” repressive measures began to apply to other opponents than to Batista and his henchmen. In less than three years, m ost of the democratic leaders who shared responsibility for the first inroads against the Rule o f Law, were in exile, in prison, or executed. U nder the impact of Cuban events, the International Commission o f Jurists deems it appropriate to appeal to international legal opinion. It behooves lawyers to watch jealously over the maintenance of the Rule of Law and to expose relentlessly those minor infractions which, if unnoticed and unchecked, lead to m ajor violations and, finally, create an irreversible situation. The C uban case is a sad example of such a development. The Rule o f Law has been violated in C uba in a num ber o f differ ent but correlated ways. The first such m ethod consisted o f adding new concepts to the principles incorporated either in the C onstitution o f 1940, or in the Fundam ental Law of 1959, or in any subsequent constitutional amendment. M oreover these new elements have been developed with more detail in subsequent enactments. An objective analysis of the Cuban revolutionary legislation reveals a consistent double approach. On one side there are the formal, traditional legal standards of a democratic and republican form o f government which give the legal system the appearance of a state under the Rule of Law. On the other side, there is “ special legislation ” expressing definite political intentions and purporting to legalize an implacable perse cution of those opposed to the totalitarian objectives o f Fidel Castro and his followers. The second type of violation o f the Rule o f Law in Cuba consists in implementing the decisions o f the responsible leaders of the Cuban regime without regard to existing legal provisions, including those of their own special legislation. The so-called “ revolutionary legis lation ” has been brushed aside by the Castro regime whenever it suited their needs. The resulting violations of hum an rights have been borne out by evidence gathered in Part IV of this Report, in which a variety of techniques o f intim idation of the C uban population is exposed. Finally, there is still another form o f violation o f the Rule o f Law by Fidel Castro and his followers that m ust be mentioned here. Cuba has been rooted by its legal tradition and thought in the continental 266 606

civil law system. The basic cultural and social values o f the C uban people are those of Western culture. Several periods of political dictatorship notwithstanding, the C uban people strove to m aintain the existing established institutions, which pointed the way towards a gradual development of a liberal and democratic republic. On the strength of such expectations and indeed of promises did the people welcome Fidel C astro and give him almost unanimous support. If any one particular action by Fidel Castro were to be pointed out as particularly reprehensible, then it would be the betrayal of this trust o f the C uban people, the attem pt to uproot their best tradi tions, and to break their spirit of freedom. By subjecting the country to the rule o f a totalitarian machine based on alien ideology, the regime o f Fidel C astro suppressed by violence the very principles which it promised to uphold. Forem ost among them, the Rule of Law has disappeared from the C uban scene.

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RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS Journal o f the International Commission o f Jurists • Volume III, No. 2 (Winter 1961): This Journal concludes the series on Preventive Detention with articles on Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ghana and Malaya. There is also an article on Emergency Powers and a document on the European C ourt of Human Rights. This issue is comple mented with 22 pages of book reviews. Volume IV, No. 1 (Summer 1962): The Rule of Law in the Contemporary Welfare State, by Fritz Gygi. The Lawyer in Communist China, by ShaoC huan Leng. The Ombudsman in New Zealand, by A. G. Davis. Freedom of Movement: Right of Exit, by Rudolf Torovsky. The Application of the European Convention on Human Rights in Municipal Law, by Philippe Comte. The Power of the Judiciary in East Germany, by Walther Rosenthal. Notes: Ombudsman for Britain? by A. A. de C. Hunter. Document: Inter-American Draft Convention on Human Rights. Book Reviews. Bulletin o f the International Commission o f Jurists dum ber 14 (October 1962): This number deals with the various aspects of the Rule of Law and legal developments with regard to the Congo, the Eichmann Trial, Kenya, Turkey, South Africa, UAR, USSR and Yugoslavia. Newsletter o f the International Commission o f Jurists Number 13 (February 1962): Outlook for the Future, New Members of the Commission, Missions and Tours, Observers, Press Releases and Telegrams, United Nations, National Sections, Essay Contest, Organizational Notes. SPECIAL STUDIES The Rule o f Law in a Free Society (July 1960): A report on the International Congress of Jurists held in New Delhi, 1959. The African Conference on the Rule o f Law (June 1961): Report on the first African Conference on the Rule of Law, held in Lagos, Nigeria, January 1961. Tibet and the Chinese People’s Republic (July 1960): Report to the Inter national Commission of Jurists by the Legal Inquiry Committee on Tibet, Introduction, the Evidence Relating to Genocide, Human Rights and Progress, the Status of Tibet, the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, Statements and Official Documents. South Africa and the Rule o f Law ( November 1960): Detailed inquiry into the problems of Apartheid in the Union of South Africa. Analysis of legis lation and practice compared with pertinent provisions of the Universal Decla ration of Human Rights. Statements by Commission’s Observer, F. Elwyn Jones, Q. C., M. P., Legislative Texts, Affidavits. The Cassell Case: Contempt in Liberia (August 1961): A study of the disbarment of Counseller Christian A. Cassell of Monrovia for critical obser vations on the administration of Justice in Liberia. The Berlin Wall: A Defiance o f Human Rights (March 1962): The Report consists of four parts: Voting with the Feet; Measures to Prevent Fleeing the Republic; the C onstitutional Development of Greater Berlin and the Sealing off of East Berlin. For its material the Report draws heavily on sources from the German Democratic Republic and East Berlin: their Acts, Ordinances, Executive Instruments, published C ourt decisions and excerpts from the press. South African Incident: The Ganyile Case (June 1962): This Report records another unhappy episode in the history of the arbitrary methods employed by the Government of South Africa. In publishing this report the Commission seeks to remind its readers of the need for unceasine visilance 608

The Road to Freedom, Grounded in the Rule of Law

About Florida International University

Florida International University, a public university located in Miami, has a passion for student success and community

solutions. The university is classified by Carnegie as “R1.” FIU is among the top 100 public universities in U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best Colleges and 18 academic programs are individually ranked. FIU was recently ranked as the

second best performing university in Florida and graduates are among the highest-paid in the state. FIU has multiple stateof-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility and FIU’s Medina Aquarius Program. FIU has awarded more than 330,000 degrees since 1972 and enrolls more than 57,000 students in two campuses and

centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and sites in Qingdao and Tianjin,

China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA with more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu

About the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs

Launched in 2008, the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at FIU educates the leaders and

changemakers of tomorrow through innovative teaching and research that advances global understanding, contributes to policy solutions and promotes international dialogue. One of the largest schools of its kind in the world, the Green School enrolls more than 5,700 students and employs 360 fulltime faculty. It offers 38 interdisciplinary degree programs at the

bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, as well as 54 undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. The Green School

encompasses eight signature departments: Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics, Global and Sociocultural Studies, History, Modern Languages, Politics and International Relations, Public Policy and Administration and Religious Studies.

Home to 16 of the university’s most prominent international centers, institutes and programs, the Green School is an affiliate member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA).

About the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy

The mission of the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy is to study and explore the politics of human rights, the processes of democratization in societies that were once under autocratic or totalitarian governments, and

the experiences of societies currently in transition around the world. Our ambition is to foster partnerships, international

dialogue, and greater global exchange in the areas of human rights, democratization and diplomacy. Our experiential basis

and point of departure is Eastern and Central Europe, the home of Václav Havel. As the struggle that concluded in 1989 with the rebirth of democracy from totalitarianism in said region recedes from the attention of younger generations, the values

upheld and the freedoms won more than 30 years ago must be preserved in research, publication, and implementation in all areas of public affairs and in service to the concept of an open society.

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