All Cubans Will Become Constituents

All Cubans will be a constituent in the popular referendum that will begin on Monday on the draft of the constitution of Cuba, said Marcela González, member of the national team for processing the proposals.

This will be a democratic process and of real participation, the specialist told Granma newspaper, who is part of the thousands of members of the group that will collect information derived from the 135 thousand meetings to be held throughout the country until November 15.

Gonzalez explained that the work teams are made up of high-level professionals, university graduates from various careers such as law, teaching, as well as researchers.

He added that engineers graduates of the University of Computer Science, who developed an application on data processing, whose volume was considerable, also participated in it.

This team will work in each municipality and province of the country to ensure that all criteria are properly processed, and reach in full the Commission in charge of Constitutional Reform, according to Gonzalez.

The objective, he emphasized, 'is to produce a document that reflects the thinking of the people.'

The proposed new Constitution includes a preamble and 224 articles, divided into 11 titles, 24 chapters and 16 sections, and maintains the political foundations of the socialist and revolutionary state.

It includes the promotion of sustainable development, the search for equity, respect and attention to the people by the organs of the State and their representatives at the various levels, adherence to International Law, the rejection of terrorism and nuclear weapons, and the fight against climate change.

Likewise, it recognizes new forms of property, in addition to the socialist one, considering the boom in Cuba of the private sector that is made up of more than half a million people.

Also, as a distinctive aspect of its predecessor, in force since 1976, the text elevates to the constitutional rank the principles of foreign policy defended for decades by the Revolution.

After being widely debated in the Cuban Parliament, it will be submitted to the referendum on Monday and then the project will return to the National Assembly for the elaboration of the Constitution that, nourished with the criteria and the contribution of the Cubans, will go to referendum.

If approved in the referendum, Cuba would have a magna carta in tune with the priorities of the international community such as the fight against terrorism and climate change, the defense of human rights and the promotion of multilateralism.