Cuba's history, government structure, and political system

Country Assessment of Cuba

Brief history of Cuba

Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus on the 28th of October 1492 and was initially named Juana, as homage to the daughter of the royals of Spain, Ferdinand the Fifth and Isabella the First. Throughout the following years, the country's name would be continually changed, to eventually be set Cuba, a derivation from its aboriginal name of Cubanascnan.

Before Columbus had sailed to the region, the country had been inhabited by an Amerindian population, called Ciboney, which was able to create food sufficiency and satisfactory national wealth. Yet, as the country was colonized by the Spanish, the prosperity of the aboriginals, and their support in creating national wealth, significantly declined. The colonization of Cuba commenced in 1511 with the creation of the town of Baracoa by Spanish soldier Diego Velazquez. Cuba became as such a supply base for expeditions in Mexico and Florida. The Ciboney were exploited to extensive degrees and their population soon decreased. The reaction of the Spanish colonists was that of bringing African slaves into the country and having them perform the demanding woks.

The Spanish had imposed restrictions on trade, but the country prospered through illicit commercial activities. By the 17th century, the restrictions were removed and trade and colonization flourished. Consequently, by 1817, the country's population had increased to over 550,000 people, more than three times its 1774 numbers of 161,000 individuals. In the 19th century however, the Spanish regime became more oppressive, eventually leading to violent reaction from the part of the population. In 1895, the Cuban revolution broke out and it would lead to the country's independence in 1898, and the creation of the independent state in 1920; the constitution was signed in 1901.

Cuba's independence was overseen by the United States, which gained control over the country's financials and economy. Over the years, the intervention of the North American country grew to alarming levels, generating also national dissatisfactions and even riots (Mayer).

2. The Cuban government

In terms of its political regime, Cuba is defined as a "republic with a centralized socialist system of government closely identified with the workers" (Hello Cuba, 2010). The decisive power within the county falls in the hands of the Popular Power National Assembly. This institution assigns the members of the Council of Ministers, which in turn represents the highest executor power within the Central American country.

The executive committee is formed from:

The Cuban president

The first vice-president of Cuba, and the vice presidents in the Council of Ministers.

The Popular Power National Assembly sits regularly twice a year, and during its sittings, its functions are transferred to the National Assembly; the National Assembly is composed from 31 ministries especially assigned to serve administrative and supervision functions throughout the year, but also during the biannual sittings. As of 1993, the members of the Popular Power National Assembly are elected by the population, through secret and individual vote and their mandates are valid for the duration of five years.

From the legal standpoint, the judicial power and responsibility fall on the hands of the People's Supreme Court. The members of the People's Supreme Court are appointed by the National Assembly and they must also report to this institution. The People's Supreme Court integrates a president, a vice president and judges, and it is structured into the following components:

The Whole

The State Council

Criminal courts

Civil courts

Administrative courts

Labor courts

Courts fro crimes against the state, and finally

Military courts

"The judicial system is based on the principle that all judges, be they professional or lay, are independent and are subject only to the law, and all professional or lay judges are elected, accountable and can be replaced" (Hello Cuba, 2010).

3. Foreign relations

Cuba's foreign relations were extensive during the reign of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as the Eurasian construction offered its vast support and resources. Yet, the decline of Cuba's greatest partner led to significant losses in the international market. Without support from the socialists and with low interest from the westerners, the Cuban authorities were forced to reshape the nature of their foreign relations. This led to a relative isolation of Cuba from other global regions.

Throughout the past decade however, the country has managed to set the basis for trade relations with the countries in Southern America. Additionally, it has developed partnerships and collaborations with China and Russia. The United States and the European Union remain reticent to developing relations with Cuba and continually accuse the country of human rights infringements (Official Journal of the European Union, 2004).

Under the administration of Fidel Castro, Cuba had assigned representatives -- Castro's protegees -- to be sent to various global locations and represent the country at international events, renegotiate the country's debt, assess business opportunities, open embassies or set the basis for international agreements. Under Raul Castro -- Fidel's brother and the current Cuban president -- the country's approach to foreign relations has remained generally consistent. "Although Raul seems not to spend as much time as Fidel receiving foreign dignitaries or traveling abroad, the scope and pace of Cuban diplomacy under his […] leadership has intensified, with presidential visits, cooperation agreements, ministerial dialogues and summit participation" (Sweig, 2009, p. 244).

Some important visits abroad and guests from foreign locations throughout 2008 and 2009 include:

The visits of Raul Castro to Brazil, Russia, Algeria, Venezuela and China

The welcoming of guests in 2008: Dmitry Medvedev -- Russian President; Luis Inacio Lula da Silva -- Brazilian President; Hu Jintao -- Chinese President;

The welcoming of guests in 2009: Michelle Bachelet -- Chilean President; Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner -- Argentinean President (Sweig, 2009).

5. The Cuban economy

With a gross domestic product of $111.1 billion for 2009, Cuba is classified as the 65th largest economy of the globe. Before the break out of the internationalized economic crisis, the Cuban economy had been maintaining a continually ascendant trend; its growth rates for 2007 and 2008 had been of 7.3 per cent, 4.3 per cent respectively. Yet, the crisis generated ruptures in the economy, which was only able to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2009.

In a nutshell about the Cuban economy: "The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela including some 30,000 medical professionals" (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010).

Relevant numeric information:

The income per capita for the average Cuban individual is of $9.700

The GDP composition by sector is of: 4.3 per cent agriculture; 20.9 per cent industry and 74.8 per cent services

The labor force is of 4.968 million and the unemployment rate is of 1.6 per cent

The composition of the labor force by sector: 20 per cent agriculture; 19.4 per cent industry and 60.6 per cent services

The inflation rate is of 4.3 per cent and the public debt accounts for 34.8 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010).

6. Military threat

In terms of military threat, Cuba does not manifest any intention of attacking its neighbors or any other global locations. Relative to its military capacities, these register declines due to insufficient funds. Yet, they remain stable and able to defend the country. More specifically, the fall of the Soviet partner led to the weakening of the armed forces; however, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) still hold on to residual strength. "At present, Cuba does not pose a significant military threat to the U.S. Or to other countries in the region. Cuba has little motivation to engage in military activity beyond defense of its territory and political system. Nonetheless, Cuba has a limited capability to engage in some military and intelligence activities which would be detrimental to U.S. interests and which could pose a danger to U.S. citizens under some circumstances" (Federation of American Scientists, 1997).

References:

Mayer, E., History of Cuba, Emayzine, http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/HISTOR~7.htm last accessed on May 27, 2010

Swig, J., 2009, Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press U.S.

1997, the Cuban Threat to U.S. National Security, Federation of American Scientists, http://www.fas.org/irp/dia/product/980507-dia-cubarpt.htm last accessed on May 27, 2010

2004, Official Journal of the European Union, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:076E:0384:0386:EN:PDF last accessed on May 27, 2010

2010, a Brief History and Overview of Cuba, Hello Cuba, http://www.hellocuba.ca/history.php last accessed on May 27, 2010

2010, the World Factbook -- Cuba, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html last accessed on May 27, 2010