Liberalization versus
Democratization in Cuba?
- 8 AUGUST 2022
- JORGE DOMINGUEZ
Debates about the
Family Code are open on the Island…and faith accompanies them.
“Article 197.
Marriage.1. Marriage is the voluntarily arranged union of two people with
legal capacity to do so, in order to live together, on the basis of affection,
love and mutual respect. Family Code Project .
Cuba debates, and is
about to decide in a national referendum scheduled for this September 25, the
authorization to expand the legal option of a marriage to include two people of
the same sex. The Family Code, in force since 1975, authorizes them only
between a man and a woman. The text cited above was published in
the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba last
January, to allow a broad and public debate, culminating in that national
referendum.
There is thus a
dilemma between social liberalization and political democratization. On
the one hand, the expansion of the option of formal marriage between two people,
regardless of their sex, characterizes liberalization processes in this century
in many different countries. At the same time, resorting to a national
referendum on this issue opens up the option of democratic opportunism,
regardless of the underlying issue. Should a Democrat who supports
same-sex marriage vote against the project sponsored by the government and the
Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), defeating them for the first time since the
1960s, thus sacrificing this liberalization to accelerate democratization?
They are not abstract
questions or alien to reality. In public debates at the national level in
2018 and again in 2021, there is organized opposition to the ruling
project. It is no longer the same type of Cuban political regime that
crushed any hint of opposition for any reason. It continues to be an
authoritarian regime in the face of protests against the regime itself, but it
already allows a margin of opposition to certain specific policies, as is the
case with the Family Code project.
This dilemma, and this
same issue in relation to marriage, arose in 2018 during the discussion of the
draft Constitution, submitted to a national referendum on February 24, 2019. An
initial version proposed marriage between two people, without specifying man or
woman. , in order to expand the option of a marriage to two people of the same
sex. It turned out to be the idea that aroused the most opposition during
the public debate on the draft. The government, to avoid shipwreck,
modified it. Article 82 of the 2019 Constitution reads as follows:
“[Marriage] is founded on free consent and on the equality of rights,
obligations and legal capacity of the spouses. The law determines the form
in which it is constituted and its effects.
It differs from the
previous one in 2018 for three reasons. First, the precedent has been set
that, faced with evidence of opposition, the government changes
course. Second, the outbreak of protests on July 11, 2021, throughout the
island, unprecedented in magnitude since the 1960s, and other minor
demonstrations before and after, indicate the political vulnerability of the
government and the PCC. Third, there is social and economic discontent,
generators of the political, which President Miguel Díaz-Canel himself recognized this
past April.: “Now we are joined by problems of water supply with
drought, inflation, high prices, endless queues, transportation problems, and
all of that is causing stress, discomfort; also the instabilities that we
have had in the national electricity service, which have caused the
uncomfortable blackouts”. After more than a decade with poor economic
results, there is a breeding ground for the opposition.
There is also an
element of continuity between the debates during 2018 and 2021: the organized
opposition of certain faith communities. It was a reason for the
modification of the constitutional article, and it resurfaces strongly in the
debate on the Family Code. Examples include the opposition of three
religious bodies.
The Conference of
Catholic Bishops of Cuba argued in February 2022 that during
"the discussion prior to the approval of the current Constitution of
2019... the majority of Cubans wanted the definition of marriage to be
maintained as the union of a man and a woman , as it appears in the current
Family Code of 1975”. In addition, they are alarmed by the supposed
"gender ideology" that they consider permeates the new Code, as well
as the new proposals in relation to "solidarity gestation",
"assisted filiation", and the adoption that would be possible for a
marriage between people of same sex.
The Baptist Convention
of Western Cuba, in April 2022, had an impact in a similar
way and tone, in this case through a vote of its assembly. Opposes
same-sex marriage, assisted pregnancy, personal affirmation of a gender
identity, the concept of sexual fluidity, and sex education programs introduced
in 2021 by the Ministry of Education.
The Baptist Convention
of Eastern Cuba, also through a vote of its assembly, affirmed : "We do not accept under any
circumstances that in order to please the preferences of a minority of citizens,
the rights and preferences of the majority are violated and ignored, thus
affecting democratic principles that consolidate the unity of a
nation”. That "we do not accept under any circumstances" is
repeated seven times in this short and angry text, which protests the new
measures on gender, sexuality, marriage and education proposed by the
government and the PCC.
HAVANA, CUBA: Cubans Wendy Iriepa (right) and Ignacio Estrada
(left) wave a gay pride flag as they drive off in a vintage American car after
their wedding on August 13, 2011 in Havana, Cuba. It is the first legal
transgender wedding in the country. (Photo by Sven Creutzmann/Mambo
Photo/Getty Images)
But do they preach in
vain? Is the project in danger? Between February and April
2022, according to their report official to the
National Assembly of People's Power, the National Electoral Council convened
79,129 meetings attended by more than six million people; 336,595 people
spoke who formulated 434,860 criteria. Of those, affirmed the Council,
61.96 were in favor of the new Code. However, only 39.96 indicated their
full support (“I agree”). Another 19.66% expressed their support, but
conditioned to changes in the text, while 12.06% opposed the Code itself, 1.62%
expressed their doubts and the rest could not specify their position
well. The most discussed issues were marriage, adoption, assisted
pregnancy, parental responsibility and domestic violence. Even assuming
that 62% support is reliable, it implies 38% opposition to a political regime
accustomed to demanding “unity”.
If only 40% of the
electorate is really in favor, the defeat of the ruling party would be
equivalent to an earthquake. That opposition is made up of three very
different categories of people. One is those who agree with the Catholic
Bishops and the Baptist conventions and, furthermore, respond to their beliefs
rather than to possible support, for other reasons, of the government or the
PCC. Within these religious ranks there will be those who oppose
liberalization in these matters as well as the government and the PCC, perhaps
the most consistent in casting their opposition vote in the referendum.
A second opposition
category may be those who support the social liberalization that the new Code
registers, but do not want to pass up the opportunity to defeat the government
and the PCC for the sake of accelerating the democratization
processes. These matter more than social liberalization.
And a third category
is that of those who generally support the government and the PCC, including
some of its members, but who oppose the substantive issues in the new
Code. The PCC does not come from a liberal history. In the 1960s, the
Military Production Support Units (UMAP) were the punitive destination of
thousands of alleged homosexuals. In 1980, acts of repudiation fueled the
massive departure of alleged homosexuals from the country. In that decade,
the government's initial response to the scourge of AIDS was to lock up any
victim of the infection, forcing them to leave their jobs and families,
regardless of their personal behavior. It is not surprising, therefore,
The voters of a tacit
and unusual coalition remain in favor of him. Some support an
authoritarian political regime while being liberal regarding sexuality and
gender identity. Others oppose this authoritarian political regime, but
value this liberalizing gesture embodied in the new Code.
The debates on the
Family Code have already shaped the old political regime, opening its doors to
the opposition organized for reasons of faith. But, in addition, they have
raised ideological tensions both within the ruling party and within the
opposition. This referendum is one more step in the slow and tortuous path
of change in Cuba.
uncorrected AI translation; Spanish original
https://www.esglobal.org/liberalizacion-versus-democratizacion-en-cuba/
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