For decades communist Cuba has claimed to be one of the most democratic countries in the world even though it has been ruled by the same family dictatorship for 65 years. However, Cubans have grown weary of this obvious lie.
Cuban independent journalist Orlando Freire Santana explains in CubaNet (my translation):
The falsehood of participatory democracy in Cuba
The average Cuban shows no interest in the delegate’s accountability process that is now beginning.
A new chapter begins across Cuba these coming days in what the regime calls the “process of accountability from delegates to their voters.” It may be the highlight of the so-called “participatory democracy,” which official rhetoric praises as the best option to ensure citizen involvement in the life of the nation.
However, if it were true these meetings between delegates and the population genuinely promoted real participation in community or national matters, or if the delegates actually resolved the concerns of their voters, there would be no doubt that citizens would demand these meetings take place regularly.
The reality, however, shows the opposite. In fact, the entire year of 2023 passed without any such accountability meetings — which were originally scheduled every three months and later every six — and no one raised their voice to demand these assemblies be held.
Now, in the days leading up to the start of this new process, it has been the regime’s state-run media that has carried out a major campaign in favor of these meetings. The powers that be know the situation on the island is difficult, and that public support for the government may be at its lowest point in recent times. Nevertheless, they are playing the card of holding these assemblies, using the voter turnout percentages to get a clearer sense of how many Cubans still rally around the regime.
Citizens, on the other hand, seem to be ignoring the authorities’ media blitz. Neither personally nor through the so-called mass organizations — such as the CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution), the FMC (Federation of Cuban Women), or other Communist Party appendages — has there been any expression of enthusiasm in radio or television news about the upcoming accountability meetings.
On the contrary, for the average Cuban, it’s an annoyance to leave their house, miss a favorite TV show — which are few, perhaps the current soap opera or Pánfilo’s antics on Vivir del Cuento — just to attend a gathering full of talk but with little problem-solving.
A few days ago, Homero Acosta, the secretary of the Council of State, appeared on the Mesa Redonda program on Cuban State Television. Among other things, he mentioned the material difficulties — of course, not forgetting to blame the “blockade” — that accompany this accountability process. He also had to admit that more than 100 delegate positions across the country were vacant. According to him, these were delegates who had fallen ill or had moved away from the neighborhoods where they were elected.
Of course, Mr. Homero Acosta said nothing about the many PCC (Cuban Communist Party) militants at the grassroots level who were forced to accept their nomination for the elections, following instructions from the higher levels of the Party, which dictated that they could not refuse if nominated by the electorate. Later, if elected, they would come up with some excuse (like the mentioned illnesses or moving homes) to step down from the delegate position. This is yet another example of what we have previously commented on, that these militants are cannon fodder, expected to follow orders from the regime’s elite without question.
If in almost none of the country’s districts the delegates are able to spark any interest from their voters, then we must agree that the health of participatory democracy in the districts without delegates is worsening by the day.