Why Cuba is a Democracy and the US Is Not

[T.Ruth2power]

Why Cuba is a democracy and the US is not
by Tim Anderson
15 March 2007

The US has run a powerful and illegal economic blockade against Cuba for almost 50 years, after its investment privileges were withdrawn. It now runs propaganda suggesting that the Cuban people need US-styled “democracy”. Well let's look at democracy in both countries, including civil rights and participatory democracy, as well as representative democracy.

In representative democracy, Cuba is clearly ahead. Cubans have open elections for their National Assembly (as well as their provincial and local assemblies); this assembly then elects the ministers, including a president of the Council of Ministers.

In the US, there is a directly elected Congress and a president indirectly elected through electoral colleges. This president of state then appoints ministers. Yet a majority of the elected US Congress cannot block many presidential “prerogatives”, including the waging of war. So even when the majority of the population and the majority of the Congress oppose a war, the president can still wage it. In the US, then, the elected assembly does not really rule.

In Cuba, the Constitution (Art 12) repudiates wars of aggression and conquest, and all ministers are accountable to the elected National Assembly. The president of Cuba's Council of Ministers (falsely called a “dictator” by the imperial US president) is not above the National Assembly and has no power to “veto” a law passed by his country's National Assembly. In the US, the president can and does veto Congressional laws.

In the US, eligibility for election to office depends on subscription to one of two giant parties and substantial corporate sponsorship.

More here:
http://www.doublestandards.org/anderson1.html

[Pappy]

1. I completely agree

Bush has turned the U.S. into a dictatorship and Fedil has turned Cuba into a paradise.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

9. A paridise with one one name on the ballot is *NOT*

a democracy!

[AlphaCentauri]

2. We need election reform, get private money out of it

[Selatius]

3. I think a one-party system is about as bad or worse than a two-party system.

The US falls woefully below modern democratic standards in many regards, but I hardly think a one-party system is any better.

[Javaman]

4. I enjoyed the hit piece on Cuba this weekend on NPR...not.

it was so slanted toward the anti-cuban groups it was disgusting.

My wife had it on and I finally couldn't take it anymore, I had to shut off such tripe.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

5. Of Course It Is! That's Why So Many People Keep Hoppin On Rafts & Risking Their Lives To Get There!

:eyes:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Even the genuine political asylum seeker that my church in Portland sponsored

said that the majority of the "boat people" from Cuba just want to go shopping and take advantage of the goodies that are offered to Cuban illegal immigrants and no others.

[TheWraith]

8. They risk their lives, and many of them die, to go SHOPPING?

Tell me another one.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Materialism is a strong lure

and there are those goodies if they make it to shore: automatic refugee status, 3 months of full wefare assistance, and a warm welcome from the Cubans already in Miami.

People risk their lives walking through the Sonoran Desert in the summer or crossing the Caribbean from Haiti looking for ways to earn more money here in el Norte, and all they get if they're caught is jail and an unceremonious trip home.

[Zywiec]

10. LOL - That's a good one!

:rofl:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. Well, No One Ever Said That Genuine Political Asylum Seekers Can't Be Total Morons.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard...

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

14. Sorry but there are no Cuban Illeals

The minute they set foot on US soil they are legal..

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. And NO other nationality, no matter how bad their government is, gets that privilege

Why, other than political pressure from the emigres already living here?

If we evaluated Cuban emigres according to the same standards we evaluated people from other countries, there would be a lot fewer Cubans in this country.

[High Plains]

27. Well, they do get free entry if they make it.

Unlike the millions of people fleeing democratic capitalist Mexico and the other Latin American democratic capitalist countries.

[TheWraith]

7. Um, that's bullshit. Cuba is clearly NOT a true democracy.

That National Assembly is a joke since Cuban law basically bans any political activity not supportive of the current government.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Okay, smart asses, explain to me the difference in the treatment of

Cuban versus Haitian boat people. Haitians are starving and their country is in a state of anarchy controlled by street gangs. Any sane person would want to leave. Yet Haitians are sent back automatically while Cubans (who may be poor but aren't starving and don't have to worry about being randomly killed by street gangs) are allowed to stay automatically.

[TheWraith]

17. The Cuban exiles have a lot of political power. No such lobby exists for the Haitians.

We started kissing the collective asses of the Cuban exiles when Fidel came to power: Cold War and all that. They've continued to build on it for decades, to the point where they're basically the irreplaceable voter bloc of south Florida.

And I fail to see how the lack of concern for Haiti means that Cuba is somehow democratic.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

21. What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in china

or weather or not Cuba is a democracy..

[Hippo_Tron]

26. Pointing out that Cuba isn't democratic doesn't mean we support US policy toward Cuba

As I said below I think we need to normalize our relations with Cuba. That doesn't mean I think that they are a democracy by any means. I just think that they are not a threat to national security and it would be better off for all parties involved if we would trade with them.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

13. This article is so wrong in so many ways..

"-it is an 18 room house of course it will have higher usage than the "average" house"

The head of state in cuba has far more power than the president of the united states and in Cuba election for that office there is only one name on the ballot

"Yet a majority of the elected US Congress cannot block many presidential “prerogatives”, including the waging of war."

Huh?

The US constitution section eight give congress the sole power in making war, just because a majority of our elected leaders ceded that power in the case of Iraq (including Clinton) does not mean it is not their power..

further because of the power of the purse a majority of congress can stop the president from doing *anything* if they are willing to fight...

--

In the US, eligibility for election to office depends on subscription to one of two giant parties and substantial corporate sponsorship.

Bernie Sanders would disagree he is not in one of two major parties...

[LeftinOH]

18. ...and Cubans can freely criticize their government on internet forums, while

only a privilieged few Americans are even allowed to have personal computers.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Xithras]

19. This argument wrongly presumes that Congress opposes the war.

I fail to see any evidence of that. Pretty speeches aside, neither party has made any serious move to oppose the war. Actions against it are the domain of a vocal, but small, minority.

[varelse]

20. *cough*

This looks like "a vocal, but small minority" to you?

:wtf:

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

22. He was talking about congress..

[Xithras]

23. As DOLA pointed out, as as I clearly stated, there is little opposition IN CONGRESS.

For most, stating their opposition to the war appears to be little more than a scam to drum up supporters and win elections.

Congress could end this war TOMORROW if they really wanted to, with or without administration support. They could ban signing statements, they could redefine the Supreme Court to eliminate Bush's nominees, they could withdraw all foreign troops from every country in the world. They have that power, if Congress really, truly opposed Bush.

But they don't. Most Democrats make excuses for their continued support, and nearly all Republicans do, so what we end up with is a very small minority of Senators and Representatives who make a lot of noise, and a much larger supermajority willing to look the other way and occasionally use it as fodder for political attacks.

It is blatantly false to say that Congress opposes the war. They may not support it as openly as they once did, but they're still cutting the checks, authorizing more expenditures, and opening the doors that allow Bush to wage it.

[varelse]

24. I get you now

the Democrats did well in the 2006 elections because voters were angry about the war, but Congress has not acted on that mandate at all since then... yes, I misread your post, sorry.

[Hippo_Tron]

25. I think that's a bit ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than our embargo with Cuba

Not to mention the Helms-Burton Act, which the rest of the world laughs at us for passing. Cuba policy is probably the best example of special interest control over our government.

[slackmaster]

28. Link to the 1992 Cuban constitution

http://www.cubanet.org/ref/dis/const_92_e.htm