Liberalism in Cuba
Encyclopedia
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Cuba
. It is limited to liberal
parties
with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.
Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution of 1959
, there have been three liberal parties in existence. Those parties are: the Liberal Democratic Party
(Partido Liberal Democrático, observer LI
), the Democratic Solidarity Party
(Partido Solidaridad Democrática, observer LI
) and the illegal Cuban Liberal Movement
(Movimiento Liberal Cubano). In exile the Cuban Liberal Union
(Unión Liberal Cubana, member LI
) is active.
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. It is limited to liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.
Introduction
From the founding of the Republic in 1902 to the Cuban Revolution of 1933, the Cuban Liberal Party held the presidency on numerous occasions.Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution of 1959
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, there have been three liberal parties in existence. Those parties are: the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Cuba)
The Liberal Party of Cuba was a major political party in Cuba from 1910 until the Cuban Revolution the late 1950s.-History:The party first contested elections in 1910, when it won 23 of the 41 seats in mid-term elections...
(Partido Liberal Democrático, observer LI
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
), the Democratic Solidarity Party
Democratic Solidarity Party
The Democratic Solidarity Party is a political liberal party in Cuba. Although changes to the Cuban constitution in 1992 decriminalized the right to form political parties other than the Communist Party of Cuba, these parties are not permitted to campaign or engage in any public political...
(Partido Solidaridad Democrática, observer LI
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
) and the illegal Cuban Liberal Movement
Cuban Liberal Movement
The Cuban Liberal Movement is a liberal party in Cuba, founded in 2004. The party's Headquarters are in Havana.-See also:*Liberalism*Contributions to liberal theory*Liberalism worldwide*List of liberal parties...
(Movimiento Liberal Cubano). In exile the Cuban Liberal Union
Cuban Liberal Union
The Cuban Liberal Union is a liberal party in Cuba. The party is a member of Liberal International.-See also:*Liberalism*Contributions to liberal theory*Liberalism worldwide*List of liberal parties*Liberal democracy*Liberalism in Cuba...
(Unión Liberal Cubana, member LI
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
) is active.
Cuban Revolutionary Party (PRC)
- 1892: Left-wing liberals formed the Cuban Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Cubano), to fight for Cuban independence and liberal democracy.
- 1902: The PRC is dissolved.
Liberal Party
- 1902: The Liberal Party of Cuba was founded by many of those who had formerly been members of the PRC.
- 1925: The Liberal Party wins the elections with Gerardo Machado as their candidate.
- 1929: Machado runs for a second term by altering the Constitution, and is fraudulently elected. The Liberal Party splits between "machadistas" and those against Machado.
- 1933: The Revolution takes place, in which a group of students, the FEU, led by Ramón Grau San Martín, a Professor of Physiology at the University of Havana, seek to overthrow Machado, and later, the US backed provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Allying themselves with a group of soldiers led by Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
, the provisional government is overthrown and Grau is made President.
The Second Cuban Revolutionary Party (PRC), the Party of the Cuban People (PPC) and the Liberal Party
- 1934: After Grau's removal from the presidency by Batista, a group of former students, Grau, and several former members of the Liberal Party form the new Authentic Cuban Revolutionary Party, or PRC (Partido Revolucionario Cubano- Autentico) to fight for their beliefs. The PRC begins to compete with the traditional Liberal Party, which was stained by its support of Machado.
- 1940: Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
is elected President of Cuba with the support of the Liberal Party. The new Constitution is promulgated later that year, with Carlos Márquez SterlingCarlos Márquez SterlingDr. Carlos Márquez Sterling y Guiral was a Cuban lawyer, writer, politician and diplomat....
as President of the Convention. - 1944: Ramón Grau San Martín is elected President of Cuba, with the support of several former Liberal Party members, as the PRC wins its first elections.
- 1947: Eduardo ChibasEduardo ChibásEduardo René Chibás Ribas was a Cuban politician who used radio to broadcast his political views to the public. He primarily denounced corruption and gangsterism rampant during the governments of Ramón Grau and Carlos Prío which preceded the Batista era...
breaks off from the PRC to protest the corruption of the Grau government and forms the Partido del Pueblo Cubano- Ortodoxo (PPC) or the Party of Cuban People- Orthodox. Several former PRC and Liberal Party members, including Márquez Sterling, join. - 1948: Carlos Prio SocarrasCarlos Prío SocarrásCarlos Prío Socarrás was the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new elections were to be held.- Governance :...
of the PRC is elected President of Cuba. - 1951: Eduardo Chibas dies from an accidental suicide. Had he survived, the PPC would most likely not have fragmented as it did during the 1950s.
Batista's coup and second government
- 1952: The Liberal Party of Cuba supports Batista's coup of 1952 and joins the provisional government, and later Batista's second government. By now the Liberal Party is a shell of its former self, controlled by Batista.
- 1952–1958: The PRC and PPC split between those who argue for revolution and support Castro, and those who seek compromise with Batista and support free and fair general elections.
- 1958: The General Elections of 1958 fail, as Batista rigs the elections to ensure the victory of the government candidate Andrés Rivero AgüeroAndrés Rivero AgüeroAndrés Rivero Agüero was the last person to be elected president of Cuba in a multiparty election. He was born to extremely poor parents in San Luis, Oriente Province on 4 February 1905. He taught himself to read when he was 16...
and a member of the Liberal Party, against Carlos Márquez SterlingCarlos Márquez SterlingDr. Carlos Márquez Sterling y Guiral was a Cuban lawyer, writer, politician and diplomat....
running for the Partido del Pueblo Libre. - 1959: Castro takes power and outlaws all political parties except the Communist Party. The traditional Liberal Party, PRC, and PPC legally cease to exist. The Liberal Party continues underground and extralegally.
Liberal leaders
- José MartíJosé MartíJosé Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
, founder of the PRC and leading Cuban intellectual - Martín Morúa Delgado, Afro-Cuban and President of the Cuban Senate
- Juan Gualberto GómezJuan Gualberto GómezJuan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer was an Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion...
, Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader, close collaborator of Martí's, served as part of the committee of consultations that drafted and amended the Constitution of 1901, and as a Representative and Senator - José Miguel GómezJosé Miguel GómezJosé Miguel Gómez y Gómez was a Cuban General in the Cuban War of Independence who went on to become President of Cuba.-Early career:...
, the first member of the Liberal Party elected to the presidency of Cuba - Gerardo MachadoGerardo MachadoGerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
, a president of Cuba elected under the Liberal Party - Orestes Ferrara, a professor at the University of HavanaUniversity of HavanaThe University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
, Cuban Secretary of State and delegate to the Constitutional Convention - Carlos Márquez SterlingCarlos Márquez SterlingDr. Carlos Márquez Sterling y Guiral was a Cuban lawyer, writer, politician and diplomat....
, a leading member of the Liberal Party during the 1930s and 1940s and President of the Constitutional Convention in 1940. He later served in the first government of Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
.
See also
- History of CubaHistory of CubaThe known history of Cuba, the largest of the Caribbean islands, predates Christopher Columbus' sighting of the island during his first voyage of discovery on 27 October 1492...
- Politics of CubaPolitics of CubaCuba is constitutionally defined as a "socialist state guided by the principles of José Martí, and the political ideas of Marx, the father of communist states, Engels and Lenin." The present Constitution also ascribes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and...
- List of political parties in Cuba