Constitution of Cuba

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Cuba
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Cuba

Institutions Constitution National Assembly of People's Power Council of State Council of Ministers Supreme Court Provinces Municipalities Committees for the Defense of the Revolution People and organizations President Raúl Castro First Vice President José R. Machado Ventura Vice President Juan Almeida Bosque Abelardo Colomé Ibarra Carlos Lage Dávila Prime Minister Political parties Communist Party of Cuba Opposition Democracy and human rights Elections Human rights Foreign relations Foreign relations Cuba-People's Republic of China relations Cuban-Soviet relations Cuba-United States relations Cuba-Venezuela relations
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Since attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba has had five constitutions. The current constitution was drafted in 1976 and has since been amended.

1 1901 Constitution
2 1934 Constitution
3 1940 Constitution
4 1976 Constitution
- 4.1 Original provisions
- 4.2 Later amendments
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] 1901 Constitution

The 1901 Constitution was Cuba's first as an independent state. It contained the Platt Amendment, which allowed the United States to intervene in Cuba's affairs to protect its independence.^{[citation needed]}

The 1901 Constitution was indeed a carbon copy of the Constitution written at La Yara in 1896, and met with fierce opposition from its principal author Major General José Braulio Alemán who strongly opposed the Platt Amendment.^{[citation needed]}

It was Alemán's contention that Cuba should be and remain "Libre y Soberana", Free and Sovereign; and that the Platte Amendment just traded Spain's strong arm tactics on the island for the yoke of American imperialism.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 1934 Constitution

Cuba's second constitution came into effect in 1934. This document was intended to be a provisional constitution.

[edit] 1940 Constitution

In 1940, during the de facto presidency of Fulgencio Batista, a constitution was created. It was influenced by all segments of political society. Widely considered one of the most "progressive" constitutions in existence at the time, it provided for land reform, public education, minimum wage and other progressive ideas. Some of its provisions were not implemented in practice. Following a coup d'etat by Fulgencio Batista in 1952, parts of this constitution were suspended.

Prior to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and the other revolutionaries, through the Manifiesto de Montecristi, claimed that their chief goal was to reinstate the Constitution of 1940. However, the revolutionaries reneged on their promise and abrogated the Constitution of 1940 once in power.

The last surviving signer of the 1940 Constitution, Emilio Ochoa, died in Miami, Florida, on June 27, 2007.^[1]

[edit] 1976 Constitution

After consolidating power, the revolutionary government of Cuba sought to institutionalize the revolution. Without following the procedures laid out in the Constitution of 1940, the Socialist Constitution of 1976 was adopted by the national referendum on February 15. This document came into effect on February 24, 1976. This constitution provided for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries.

[edit] Original provisions

This constitution called for a centralized control of the market, and committed the State to providing its citizens with access to free education and health care. It also required that parents, regardless of their own beliefs, inculcate their children with socialist values. Moreover, it limited freedom of conscience--by permitting the state to regulate the activities of religious institutions on the island--and freedom of speech-- by allowing the authorities to criminalize speech that was not in accord with the socialist principles that underlied the State.

[edit] Later amendments

In the late 1980s, as the Eastern Bloc collapsed, the laws of Cuba changed again to respond to the new conditions of the Special Period. Because of a need for foreign direct investment, the Constitutional amendments of 1992 granted foreign corporations a limited right to own property on the island if they took part in joint ventures with the government. It also provided for non-discrimination based on religious belief (i.e., allowing persons with religious belief to join the Communist Party of Cuba).

In 2002, the Constitution was again amended to stipulate that the socialist system was permanent and irrevocable.