Cuba? a Democracy? I Think Not ..

Samuel Huntington would lead us to believe that a government can be defined as a democracy purely by its institutions. Take a look at the Cuban government. In Cuba, there is a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. There are periodic elections, which all citizens at a certain age are allowed to participate in. Judging by these clear parallels to known democracies such as Great Britain or America, Cuba is obviously a democracy, right? Wrong!

In Cuba, The National Assembly of People's Power, or the Cuban Parliament, embodies the legislative branch, which is in charge of the economy. Its members are elected every five years. However, if the Communist party deems the candidate 'unsuitable' then they are not allowed to run. Even if a candidate ends up being elected, the Communist party can ultimately still pick someone else as the victor. In fact, in the 2003 elections, because of the elimination process the Communist party used, there was only one candidate for each seat in the National Assembly of People's Power, which can hardly be constituted as an election.

The legislative branch is in charge of electing the president and the vice president. Truthfully, the 'executive' branch of the Cuban government can hardly be defined as a branch. The only transfer of power in the last fifty years was from Fidel Castro to his brother.

The judiciary branch of the Cuban government cannot be qualified as a democracy because it denies citizens basic civil liberties such as conducting unfair trials, placing many restrictions on leaving the country, allowing arbitrary imprisonment, and instating unconventional means of interrogation, even to the point of torture.

Every citizen that has lived there two years or more is allowed to vote, but if they travel or are abroad for any reason, whether condoned by the country because of military or any other reason, or not, during elections, they are not allowed to vote.

Therefore, although Cuba has the basic institutions necessary to be qualified as a democracy, it cannot be defined as such because looking at its institutions would be an incomplete assessment of the government. Just because a country has the institutions necessary to be defined as a democracy, does not make it one. When civil liberties are infringed upon and the selection process for candidates is as prejudiced as it is, the appearance of democracy is merely a masterfully orchestrated mirage.