|
Yahoo! June 26, 2002.
Cuba mulls constitutional amendment
Wed Jun 26, 6:14 Am Et . By Anita Snow, Associated Press
Writer.
HAVANA (AP) - Rejecting Washington's demands that Cuba embrace capitalism,
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told hundreds of fellow lawmakers that
consecrating socialism in the constitution could help the current system survive
after Fidel Castro and his brother Raul die.
Perez Roque's unusual public reference to the mortality of both Cuba's
president and his designated successor came Tuesday night, on the eve of a third
day examining a constitutional change that would declare Cuba's economic,
political and social systems to be "untouchable."
The National Assembly's discussion of the amendment, backed in speeches over
two days by nearly 100 lawmakers, comes as Cuba feels increased pressure from at
home and abroad to carry out democratic reforms.
There was some public discussion of Fidel Castro's inevitable death a year
ago after he briefly fainted in the broiling sun. But Perez Roque's frank
acknowledgment of the eventual deaths of both Castro brothers — and their
entire generation of original revolutionaries — was rare.
The proposed constitutional amendment is "key," said Perez Roque,
to "what we do when the generation that carried out the revolution, and the
command of it today, the generation of Fidel, of Raul ... is no longer with us."
"The key is not to be disarmed of our ideas," said the foreign
minister, who at 37 is among the youngest of the ranking officials in the
communist government.
While many speakers referred to the corruption, poverty, and racial
discrimination of Cuba before the 1959 revolution that brought the Castro
brothers to power, Perez Roque used another country as a point of reference.
The foreign minister noted that the Soviet Union collapsed "even though
75 percent of the population had supported a referendum against dissolution just
a few months before."
Fidel Castro, who will be 76 in August, and Raul Castro, the 71-year-old
defense minister, presided over the gathering of nearly 600 National Assembly
deputies gathered for the special session. They both are also members of
parliament.
The session originally was expected to take two days, but on Tuesday evening
National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon announced that the session —
and a nationwide work stoppage — would continue into Wednesday. The
government has closed banks, schools and most offices and factories so citizens
can follow the sessions, which are being broadcast live on state television.
The government says the proposed amendment is its answer to President Bush's
refusal last month to lift American trade and travel restrictions until the
Caribbean island undertakes reforms including multiparty elections.
The measure also appears to be Castro's effort to undermine the Varela
Project, a homegrown effort to organize a referendum on the question of reform,
said opposition activists and a Latin America specialist who traveled here with
Jimmy Carter last month.
"No other country, to my knowledge, has ever tried to make any part of
their constitution impossible to change," said Robert Pastor, a political
science professor from Emory University.
"This may be a sign that they view Varela as a threat and are trying to
pulverize it," said Pastor, who sat in on Carter's meetings with Castro and
other high-ranking officials. "If so, this is a sign not of strength, but
of fear."
In a telephone interview from Atlanta, Pastor said he had been a delegation
adviser and could not speak for the former president's Carter Center, which has
not commented on Cuba's proposed amendment.
Pastor said the delegation had extensive talks with senior officials about
the Varela Project, which seeks a referendum on whether Cuba should embark on
reforms such as freedom of expression and the right to own a business.
A few days before Carter arrived, organizers delivered a petition with
11,000 signatures to the National Assembly. But most Cubans had never heard
about the homegrown effort until Carter mentioned it in a speech here. Six weeks
later, the unicameral parliament has not responded.
National Assembly underway in Cuba
Tue Jun 25, 8:39 Pm Et . By Anita Snow, Associated Press
Writer
HAVANA (AP) - With cries of "Viva Fidel!" and "Homeland or
Death!" lawmaker after lawmaker argued Tuesday in favor of enshrining
socialism in Cuba's national constitution as a permanent act of defiance to
growing demands for democratic reforms.
Well into the second day of a special session called by Fidel Castro ,
National Assembly members left no doubt that later they would approve the
government proposal to make Cuba's economic and political systems sacrosanct.
"I vote for my perfectible, socialist nation," said lawmaker and
world-renowned folk singer Silvio Rodriguez.
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said the amendment would protect the
socialist system and the ruling Communist Party of Cuba for future generations
after the deaths of Castro, 75, and his brother and designated successor, Raul
Castro, 71.
The amendment is "key," said Perez Roque, to "what we do when
the generation that carried out the revolution, and the command of today, the
generation of Fidel, of Raul ... is no longer with us."
As the speeches continued into a second evening Tuesday, National Assembly
President Ricardo Alarcon announced that the session — and a nationwide
work stoppage — would continue into Wednesday. The government has closed
banks, schools and most offices and factories so citizens can follow the
sessions, which are being broadcast live on state television.
Cuba is under new pressure from at home and abroad to carry out democratic
reforms.
The government says the proposed amendment is its answer to President Bush
's refusal last month to lift American trade and travel restrictions until the
Caribbean island undertakes reforms including multiparty elections.
But the measure also appears to be Castro's effort to undermine the Varela
Project, a homegrown effort to organize a referendum on the question of reform,
said opposition activists and a Latin America specialist who traveled here with
Jimmy Carter last month.
"No other country, to my knowledge, has ever tried to make any part of
their constitution impossible to change," said Robert Pastor, a political
science professor from Emory University.
"This may be a sign that they view Varela as a threat and are trying to
pulverize it," said Pastor, who sat in on Carter's meetings with Castro and
other high-ranking officials. "If so, this is a sign not of strength, but
of fear."
In a telephone interview from Atlanta, Pastor said he had been a delegation
adviser and could not speak for the former president's Carter Center, which has
not commented on the proposed amendment, which declares the Cuban socialist
system "untouchable," meaning it is not subject to change.
He said the delegation had extensive talks with senior officials about the
Varela Project, which seeks a referendum on whether Cuba should embark on
reforms such as freedom of expression and the right to own a business.
A few days before Carter arrived, organizers delivered a petition with
11,000 signatures to the National Assembly. But most Cubans had never heard
about the homegrown effort until Carter mentioned it in a speech here. Six weeks
later, the unicameral parliament has not responded.
"I think President Carter's visit will have a long-term effect on Cuba,"
Pastor added. "We just don't know yet how it will play out."
Besides printing Carter's speech, state media has not mentioned the Varela
Project. Instead it has focused on changing the constitution.
A petition drive last week by organizations tied to the government and the
ruling Communist Party collected more than 8 million signatures representing
more than 99 percent of Cuban voters.
Varela Project organizer Oswaldo Paya says many of those who signed the
government petition felt compelled to do so. | 
