Dear, collegues, I want to speak about a very beautiful country, about my

lovely republic, Cuba! May will you ask me why Cuba? Because I love so
much Cuban culture, salsa dancing, mojitos, and Ernest Hemingway. But
today I will speak about political system of Cuba.
According to the Cuban constitution 1976, Cuba is an independent socialist
republic that is controlled by 1 party: the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), of
which Fidel Castro is the head, with his brother, Raul Castro as vicepresident. The Communist Party is led by a group of 25 individuals chosen by
its head.
Cuba has been governed by this party. PCC rules as the highest leading
force of society and the State. The party monopolizes all government
positions, including judicial offices. The People's Supreme Court serves as
Cuba's highest judicial branch of government. It is also the court of last
resort for all appeals against the decisions of provincial courts. Cuba's
national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea
Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power. The assembly
meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31
member Council of Ministers.
In Cuba, with the Communist rule, there is not a checks and balances system
in place. Cuba is lack of democracy, that it is does not, amongst other
characteristics exhibit a political system similar to the American one. Checks
and balances represents a superior form of democracy.
The Cuban political system is normally described as undemocratic by human
rights groups and academics and is usually classified as a dictatorship, oneparty state or a totalitarian state. The brothers Fidel and Raul Castro have
ruled Cuba since 1959. They have fiercely retained power through the
regimes instruments of repression and control. Both leaders have prevented
dissidents to express their political views, to participate in politics, or even to
hear what others had to say. The lack of frequent, fair and free elections,
political pluralism, and freedom of expression, among other shortages, leads
to discard the possibility of a truly democratic political system.

Cuba's legal system limits civil and political rights, such as the freedoms of
assembly, religion, and expression. Citizen opposition is seen as connected
to a broader conspiracy against Cuban authority. Therefore, actions taken to
compel political conformityincluding torture, detention, and imprisonment.
Economic and social rights are also limited by government control. While
Cuba is committed to education and free healthcare for all citizens, its
policies restrict academic freedom and labor rights. Only educational
curriculum that aligns with Marxist principles is allowed. The government
also controls all means of production and permits only one labor union, which
implements its objectives. Today, the Cuban government continues to
repress dissent and discourage public criticism. It now relies less on longterm prison sentences to punish its critics, but short-term arbitrary arrests of
human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others have increased
dramatically in recent years. Other repressive tactics employed by the
government include beatings, public acts of shaming, and the termination of
employment.
The Cuban government follows a socialist approach to economic
development, where the state owns most of the means of production and
holds tight control of many facets of the economy. Currently, the state
possesses the large majority of the firms in the island and employs more
than 90% of the labor force. The main sources of revenue for the
government include taxes, remittances, tourism, and the export of sugar and
nickel. Furthermore, the presence of foreign capital is restricted to few
sectors like mining, technology, and oil extraction.
Most industries are owned and operated by the government and most of the
labor force is employed by the state. Following the fall of the Soviet Union,
the Communist Partyencouraged the formation of cooperatives and selfemployment. In 2014 Cubas economic freedom score was 28.7, making its
economy one of the worlds least free. Its overall score was 0.2 point higher
than last year, with deteriorations in trade freedom, fiscal freedom, monetary
freedom and freedom from corruption counterbalanced by an improvement
in business freedom.

However, the existence of many dysfunctions in the Cuban system does not
necessarily mean that it will collapse. Solid historical evidence has suggested
that unless the leaders of the Communist Party decide otherwise, Cubans will
have to live under a one-party authoritarian state for many years to come.
Neither growing demands for economic needs, nor international influence
has persuaded Cuban leaders to revise their vision of a Cuban socialist state.
The lack of strong opposition has not permitted the expression of dissident
views. An effective security apparatus led by the leaders of the Communist
party hinders the appearance of an opposition capable of challenging the
government and the party. That is to say, the future of Cuba may not lie in
the hands of the majority of its citizens, but rather in the will of the leaders
of the Communist Party.