People's Power: Cuba's Experience With Representative Government by Peter Roman

Author:Peter Roman [Roman, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Latin America
ISBN: 9780742525658
Google: tFQ7bVuGkBsC
Goodreads: 2777138
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 1999-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

In 1993 and 1998, candidates appeared at public meetings in their municipalities or districts. In 1993, some voters told me that they had not been invited to or notified of these encounters with the candidates. That year, I attended meetings of candidates with voters in Bauta, Diez de Octubre, and Cerro, all in the City of Havana. No one asked questions, but several voters did speak on the need to vote for all candidates. The candidates also spoke, exhorting the voters to vote for all, identifying the vote as a plebiscite for the revolution and for Fidel. However, I did find out that at another meeting voters asked questions about (1) tourism—complaints about the separation of tourists from the public; (2) joint ventures with foreign capital; (3) the economic crisis, especially regarding the availability of food and the plan for food distribution; (4) problems with energy; and (5) social security—some complained that medical permission for leaving work was given too freely, and others thought one year off work for child care at 60 percent salary was too much. At a meeting in Habana Vieja, the voters complained bitterly to the then provincial assembly president, Pedro Chávez, about the abysmal state of housing, said they did not want to hear excuses about lack of resources due to the economic crisis, and wanted to know what he was going to do about it because this was a critical problem that had to be resolved.

In 1997 in Centro Habana municipality, I was told of people waiting in line for food, complaining about being told how to vote, and declaring publicly that they wouldn't vote. In the suburbs of Havana, I heard some people complain about the lack of competitive elections, the fact that the old leadership resisted giving up power, and the lack of possibility for self-nomination. One person told me that if dissidents wanted to, they should rim, and even if they got 30 percent of the vote, it would be a tremendous victory for the Revolution.

Just prior to the 1998 elections, I attended election rallies in four municipalities within the City of Havana—Plaza, Marianao, Diez de Octubre, and Playa—with the provincial and national candidates from the district present. The larger and better-organized ones included nationally prominent guests and speakers and, in one case, questions from the audience. However, not even in the small neighborhood gatherings did I witness any meaningful exchange between the candidates and the public. There were no discussions of Cuba's problems, no questions about or mention of policies and possible alternatives, and no presentation of any of the candidates' ideas and capabilities as potential members of the national legislature. Rather, at each gathering, the main thrust of those who spoke as well as of those who participated from the audience was the need and the pledge to vote for all the candidates and a rejection of the type of elections held in Cuba prior to 1959 and in the United States.

On January 6, I went to a rally in Marianao with over four thousand people in attendance.

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