Cuba

[Peace on Earth]

I figured this would be a good place to go for some information on Cuba. I don't trust Wikipedia or other sources to present it in a balanced light. Call me crazy.

Anyway, I'll post a list of questions. Any answers I welcome. Thanks.

1) How much political power does the average Cuban have? My main concern is that the Castros have been in power for over half a decade, and this seems quite improbable if an effective democracy was in place.

2) Are labor unions allowed in Cuba? I read on Al Jazeera that the only labor union allowed the Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC).

3) What is the level of repression with regard to media and speech in Cuba? Does the state allow various media outlets, regardless of ideology, to publish or be broadcast?

[Adil3tr]

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[el_chavista]

1) How much political power does the average Cuban have? My main concern is that the Castros have been in power for over half a decade, and this seems quite improbable if an effective democracy was in place.
If you call "effective" democracy the politcal elections then the Castros and all the Cuban leaders of the revolution have been elected all the revolution spent time.

2) Are labor unions allowed in Cuba? I read on Al Jazeera that the only labor union allowed the Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC). Labor unions are key institutions in any revolution that "respects itself". What is hard to say is if labor unions in the Cuban socialism represent the workers class' conscious inherent to them in the capitalism yet.

3) What is the level of repression with regard to media and speech in Cuba? Does the state allow various media outlets, regardless of ideology, to publish or be broadcast? In recent times you can find even bloggers like Yoany Sánchez spreading her critics to the world (her webblog has a multi-translation to so many languages -a little help from western offices) and even you can get drunk and blame on the government whatever you want in a recorded video on the streets without being send to a gulag. But capitalist media aren't allowed to do political campaigns like in Venezuela.

[Sixiang]

3) What is the level of repression with regard to media and speech in Cuba? Does the state allow various media outlets, regardless of ideology, to publish or be broadcast?
I don't know about media, but I have read this brief article on speech (never mind. I can't post links yet because I am still quite new). So here's a quote of what it says (since it's short enough):


The Cuban Government has not allowed full freedom of speech in Cuba. This is not to say it always forbids all forms of criticism.

People in Cuba do not often speak out against the government. There are some who are not afraid to and do so. A taxi driver told us, "I don't want the President, I don't want the Government, I don't want the Revolution!"

Clearly he was not afraid of saying this, and there is no chance anyone would find out about it. If the government were to find out, it is doubtful anything would happen. However, without ever witnessing such a response, it is impossible for us to know what events would take place. Unfortunately, many people who claim that Cuba has no freedom of speech are also unclear on the facts.

Tourists would probably be well advised not to make negative comments towards the Government. At the very least, many people would consider this highly impolite.

People distributing enemy political propaganda are often harassed or imprisoned. Local Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) watch out for dissenting people in their area.

The Cuban Government keeps tabs on all of its workers. Major acts of dissent may be noticed in these reports, but it is hard to be sure of this.

Occasionally, some anti-government speech is allowed. The Cuban Government held a program to collect suggestions for improvement at the beginning of this coming century.

Also, movies critical of the government such as "Fresa y Chocolate" (Strawberries and Chocolate) are produced in Cuba.



I thought it was pretty interesting. Not sure how credible it is, but it seems legit.

Well, I can say a few things about the media. I'm pretty sure that all broadcasts have to be approved by the State before they go on air, but I'm sure the internet has allowed more information to pass through the censors. And as far as I know, different political ideologies and parties are allowed to exist in Cuba, they just apparently aren't allowed to "campaign" (whatever that is supposed to imply) or back candidates. Even the Communist Party cannot do this, so the candidates may not be listed with their party, but they pretty much can be associated with parties for one reason or another. I also watched a documentary on Cuba in which a member of Cuba's national assembly talked about how he is not a member of the Communist Party or any political party, but was elected.

[fa2991]

1) How much political power does the average Cuban have? My main concern is that the Castros have been in power for over half a decade, and this seems quite improbable if an effective democracy was in place.

Cuba's electoral system is basically like Australia's system (or any other parliamentary democracy), except there's no campaigning and only one guy worth voting for.


2) Are labor unions allowed in Cuba? I read on Al Jazeera that the only labor union allowed the Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC). Independent unions? Nope.


3) What is the level of repression with regard to media and speech in Cuba? Does the state allow various media outlets, regardless of ideology, to publish or be broadcast?There are dissident and critical media sources, but they aren't looked upon favorably and have been banned occasionally. Nothing too horrible, though.