Cuba approves the draft new Constitution



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AFP

The Cuban Parliament approved on Sunday a draft of new Constitution which recognizes the market and private property as part of its economy, without abandoning its course Socialist .

The new constitutional text was unanimously approved at a regular session of the National Assembly. The project now goes to popular debate from August 13 to November 15 . Finally, a national referendum will take place before its final approval.

"We are confronted with a project that will contribute, after the popular referendum, to strengthening the unity of Cubans around the revolution ," said President Miguel Díaz-Canel to closes the two-day parliamentary session.

Díaz-Canel, who succeeded Raúl Castro on April 19, emphasized that in this discussion " every Cuban will be able to freely express his opinions and contribute to reaching a constitutional text this reflects the present and the future of the country. "

The draft of 224 articles reaffirms" the socialist character "of the Cuban political system and the main role of the Communist Party in power and alone at the same time maintains its economic fundamentals : "the socialist property of the whole people and the planned direction of the economy"

However, removes from the new Magna Carta the part that alludes to the "communist society" as an end.

Legal Floor for Reforms

After four decades of majority ownership, Raúl Castro began reforms in 2008 to "update" the economic model of the island that promoted private work, However, these reforms, which Díaz-Canel must now pursue, require a legal floor that does not exist in the current Magna Carta, dating from 1976.

The project lays the foundation for to integrate different economic actors, recognizing the role of the market in the socialist economy of the island foreign investment and new forms of ownership, among The recognition of this form of property may give way to the legalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, resulting from the reforms.

"This dynamic opens perspectives of other changes It would now be not only desirable but logical from a development perspective," said Cuban political badyst Arturo Lopez -Levy, professor at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

In addition, the new Constitution will generation of wealth through a private activity governed by the socialist system a subject that has generated many debates in parliament, according to images broadcast by Cuban television.

The president had already warned a few days before the Meeting of the National Assembly that "in Cuba there will be no capitalist tricks. "

At the political level, the project will establish the formula of the President of the Republic (current President of the State Council and Ministers), and v ice-president Restores the position of prime minister.

In addition, contrary to the 1976 Constitution, the project defines marriage as the union between two persons, without specifying the bad legally opening the way for same-bad marriage [19659017] a significant demand from the LGBT community on the island.

Tense financial situation

In his speech to the National Assembly, Díaz-Canel informed that the Cuban economy grew by 1.1% in the first half and that 39, it remains under "a tense situation in finance," and invoked "the effective use of available resources, guaranteeing basic services."

Saturday, the President announced the members of its Council of Ministers. Most of them were ratified in the position they occupied during the government of their predecessor. Although he made some adjustments in the economic field

"The government must badume great challenges in a complex international context and with the economic situation that the country", he added.

The Cuban economy, embargoed by the United States for more than five decades, increased by 0.5% in 2016 and 1.6% in 2017.



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