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Monday, October 22, 2007

Cuba begins season of decision-making

CUBA
Cuba begins season of decision-making
Cuba held municipal elections, starting a process that next year could
alter the look of the nation's leadership.
Posted on Mon, Oct. 22, 2007
BY WILL WEISSERT

HAVANA --
Cubans opened an election cycle Sunday that will lead to a decision next
year on whether ailing leader Fidel Castro will remain atop the
communist-run island's supreme governing body.

The nationwide municipal voting marked the start of a multitiered
process that culminates with parliamentary elections next spring.
Lawmakers could then decide to officially replace Castro, 81, with his
younger brother, Raúl, as head of the 31-member Council of State --
although that would not affect Fidel's more powerful role as head of the
Communist Party.

Government critics and human-rights groups -- which are tolerated but
dismissed as mercenaries of U.S. authorities by Cuba's government --
boycotted the process.

Leading dissident Martha Beatríz Roque said elections are not secret,
since all candidates nominated for municipal positions were chosen by a
show of hands at neighborhood gatherings -- where no one dares to
nominate opposition leaders.

'They are not democratic, so we can't call them `elections,' '' Roque,
an economist who was jailed for opposing the government but released for
medical reasons, said in a recent interview.

Cuba defends its system, saying it stresses service to one's neighbors
rather than excessive fundraising.

Fidel Castro has been the island's unchallenged leader since his
revolution toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. But he has not
been seen in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgeries and
ceding power to a provisional government headed by his brother in July 2006.

THOUSANDS OF POSTS

Vying for 15,236 positions in municipal assemblies nationwide were about
37,258 candidates, and official media have said that a turnout of more
than 95 percent of the island's 8.3 million eligible voters was expected.

''If my commandant recovers his health, we will want him [as president]
forever. There's no one like him,'' said voter Gladys Veitia, tears
welling in her eyes.

Fidel Castro has looked lucid in recent state videos, but also frail and
in little condition to return to power. Cuban television reported that
he cast his ballot about midday Sunday without leaving the undisclosed
location where he has been recovering for nearly 15 months.

In a statement read on official television during a subsequent national
newscast, Castro did not mention the elections, but referred to news
from Washington that, in coming days, President Bush planned to announce
initiatives aimed at fostering a democratic transition in Cuba.

''Bush is obsessed with Cuba,'' Castro wrote, accusing the U.S.
administration of harboring terrorists, torturing terrorism suspects
held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, and prolonging the
45-year-old trade embargo against the island, which he called ``your
genocidal blockade.''

The White House said Bush would announce ''new initiatives'' on Cuba at
the State Department on Wednesday. White House spokesman Tony Fratto
said last week that Bush would ``emphasize the importance of democracy
for the Cuban people and the role the international community can play
in Cuba's transition.''

The municipal elections are held every 2 ½ years. Voting is not
mandatory, although failure to cast a ballot can draw unwanted attention
in neighborhoods, where Committees for the Defense of the Revolution
keep tabs on residents. Anyone 16 or older can cast a ballot.

Organized campaigning is forbidden, but officials posted résumés and
photographs of candidates, listing age, marital status, education and
experience. The Communist Party is the only one allowed by the
constitution, and while candidates do not have to be members, critics
claim that members are the only ones who ever win.

RESULTS DUE MONDAY

Authorities will announce official results late Monday. Many races
feature three or more candidates, and run-off elections next week will
decide contests in which no one receives a majority of votes.

Raúl Castro voted at a polling place near Havana's sprawling Revolution
Plaza. He chatted with children in school uniforms and exchanged
pleasantries with a few military leaders who also voted.

Polling stations in Cuba are manned by children.

http://www.miamiherald.com/942/story/279788.html

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