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Posted on 01/18/2003 3:22:59 PM PST by Libloather
Elian's Father Up for Election in Cuba
2 hours, 55 minutes ago
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA - The father of Elian Gonzalez, President Fidel Castro, an Olympic track medalist and a popular folk singer are on the ballot for Cuba's parliament in Sunday elections.
Candidates for the 609 seats run unopposed, leading critics to complain elections on the communist Caribbean island are meaningless. A recent pro-democracy petition, signed by thousands of Cubans, requested election reforms but was ignored by the government.
Castro — a member of the unicameral National Assembly along with being president for 44 years — claims the country's vote is more democratic than those of other nations because voter turnout is high and campaigns do not involve large amounts of money and propaganda.
This year, the president called on Cuba's more than 8 million voters to go to the polls and vote "united" for all candidates listed on their ballots.
Voters can mark or leave blank the circle next to each name on the ballot. This year, there is an additional circle for a united vote, signifying support for all candidates listed.
"An energetic and resounding victory is needed to show the enemy our force and unity," Castro said late Saturday on state television.
Internationally renowned dissident Oswaldo Paya, a leading organizer of the Varela Project petition, said during a visit to Mexico last week that the elections are "neither constitutional nor legitimate."
New electoral laws are among the reforms sought by Varela Project organizers, who in May gave the National Assembly a petition signed by 11,020 voters asking for a pro-democracy referendum. The National Assembly leadership never responded.
Among the parliament's duties are the approval of laws proposed by Cuba's ruling Council of State, headed by Castro. It also reconfirms Castro's presidency in the weeks after the general elections, which happen roughly every five years.
A first round of balloting in October elected members of Cuba's municipal assemblies. Fifty percent of the parliamentary candidates on the Sunday ballots were chosen from municipal assembly members.
The other half include many nationally known figures, such as Juan Miguel Gonzalez, father of Elian, the Cuban boy at the heart of the international child custody battle in 2000.
Other candidates include Cuba's hurricane expert Jose Rubiera, whom islanders watch on state television; track star Ana Fidelia Quirot, who won a bronze Olympic medal in 1992; Culture Minister Abel Prieto; Havana city historian Eusebio Leal; and world renowned folk singer Silvio Rodriguez.
Because half the candidates are chosen at the grass-roots level, Jose Luis Toledo, a lawmaker and dean of the University of Havana's Law School, characterized the elections as "truly democratic."
"Alongside a great scientist, there could be a sugar cane cutter or a baker" among the candidates, Toledo said.
It's enough to make any south Florida voter dizzy...
Why does this not suprise me?
Sounds like AlGore's idea of an election. They run unopposed because if a dog were on the ballot, it would win.
Sounds like Janet Reno's Motor Voter speech...or John McCain on CFR. What good is (clean) money? Free speech, assembly and press endowed by "Papa Castro" only on his chosen. Counting ballots, the easiest job in Cuba...and Iraq.
yup.
As I see it, this Father is nothing more than an agent of the Force of Darkness whose followers and those who empower him are his Army of Legions.
Just can't stop thinking of that poor kid. Hope he gets to take a nice diplomatic trip to Spain with his dad... and runs away.
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