Cuban Polls

Candidates talking to students in Cuba (from Juventud Rebelde

Very modestly, the Cuban official newspaper for young people, Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), included in its website a link with information related to the provincial and national assembly elections that will take place next Sunday. Maybe unsurprisingly, such information is not available at first glace in the internet version of the newspaper for the general public, Granma. There, the space for the most relevant news is reserved for the European Union-Latin American and Caribbean States summit, featuring a photo of President Raúl Castro with the Executive Secretary of the Americas Bolivarian Alliance, Rodolfo Sanz.

The information the youth can read about the elections is also quite innocuous. Due to the profile of the audience, the highlight is that candidates have been visiting schools to meet students and share with them the importance of “exercising a responsible and conscious vote [which must be taken] as a patriot’s duty, a pledge with the present and with the future of the fatherland”, according to one of the candidates. In addition, there are several references to the 160^th birth anniversary of José Martí, one of the fathers of Cuba, which is celebrated today. Martí wanted a better country for all the Cubans, the discourse goes, and one way to help him is going to vote.

The Cuban government is not taking any steps into unmarked territories with the next election. With all candidates belonging to the Communist Party, and campaigns being rather very informal meetings with potential voters instead of the massive display of political paraphernalia that occurs in Western democracies, it is almost guaranteed that the electoral process will generate no grievances or unsteadiness in the country. Furthermore, it is relevant to notice that the way in which the information about the elections is presented has a clear message. With an aging leadership, it is the young people who will be in charge of keeping the system running. But beware, because it is a system that has been in place for a long time, with ideas originally coming from Martí, and it is their responsibility to guard it well as it is. On the flip side, this message has a subtext indicating that attempting to bring the youth into the system is an acknowledgement that it is them who could start a change, if any shall occur at any time in the short- or mid-term.