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Constitution of Cuba
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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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
1934 Constitution
Cuba's second constitution came into effect in 1934. This document was intended to be a provisional constitution.
1940 Constitution
In 1940, during the de facto presidency of Fulgencio Batista, a constitution was created. 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.
The last surviving signer of the 1940 Constitution, Emilio Ochoa, died in Miami, Florida, on June 27, 2007.
1976 Constitution
After consolidating power, the revolutionary government of Cuba sought to institutionalize the revolution. 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.
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. The state had the power to regulate the activities of religious institutions on the island, and the private ownership of media companies was forbidden.
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.
See also
External links
- Constitution of Cuba 1992 English language version
- Original Spanish language Text, by the Political Database of the Americas.
- Original Spanish language Text of 2002, by the Portal Cuba.
- in English translation from the original legal text.
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