The Top 3 Countries For Women in Government

May 18, 2022

For most of history, men have made up all global governments. However, today, a select few lead the world with more than half of their parliamentary seats being occupied by women.

UN Women’s Event. UN Women Gallery. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

While governments around the world are still generally male-dominated, and men continue to hold most positions of high power, women have made significant strides. Rwanda and Cuba are the only countries in the world with more than 50% of their government being occupied by women today, while Bolivia maintained a female majority from 2014-2019.There are other countries whose highest roles are filled by women. For example, Jacinda Ardern is the prime minister of New Zealand, Sanna Marin is the youngest prime minister ever elected in Finland, Mia Mottley is the first woman elected as prime minister in Barbados, and Katrín Jakobsdóttir is the prime minister of Iceland. However, Rwanda, Cuba and Bolivia are the only three countries led by women in terms of legislative percentages. .

Rwanda

In 2003, Rwanda set a rule that at least 30% of government seats had to be filled by women. That very year, the elections resulted in nearly a 50/50 gender split in Rwanda’s parliament. Ten years later, the Rwandan parliament became 64% female. In 2022, Rwandan parliament is still 61% women.With that being said, women in the Rwandan government say that they still face sexism, despite holding the majority. District Vice Mayor Claudette Mukamana says women’s abilities are still questioned; Executive Secretary for the Rubavu District Berthilde Muruta says their motives for being in government are questioned.

Cuba

In 2018, Cuba followed Rwanda as the second country to elect a female majority parliament. Since 2018, 53% of Cuba’s parliament has been made up of women. Unlike Rwanda, Cuba does not have a quota in place for women in government. Despite the majority-woman parliament, there have been criticisms of Cuba’s treatment of elected women, just like Rwanda, including that the higher up one goes in the government, the less women there are. Essentially, while in terms of pure statistics women dominate Cuba’s government, men continue to occupy the roles with the most political power.

Bolivia

In 2020, Bolivia’s proportion of women in parliament equaled 46% and has stayed at that figure since. But from 2014 to 2019, Bolivia was one of the only countries with a majority woman government, at 53%. Like Rwanda, Bolivia has gender quotas, but these quotas are enacted a bit differently in Bolivia versus Rwanda. Bolivia has a quota for the number of female candidates put forward in any given election cycle, as opposed to the number actually elected. For the Lower House, Bolivia requires at least half of the candidates to be women.

Cubans Protest Government’s Response to Economic Crisis

July 15, 2021

Political turmoil, severe economic struggles and lack of freedom have pushed Cubans to take a stand against their government.

People walking the streets of Havana, Cuba. Tiago Claro. Unsplash.

Thousands of Cubans marched the streets of Havana on Sunday, July 11 in protest against the poor economic conditions and governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other hardships, many demonstrators have faced long-term hunger and medicine shortages due to the Cuban government's lack of action to address the struggles of its people. These protests have led to the damaging of police equipment, the detainment of a journalist and the death of a civilian.

Besides having a mere 15 percent vaccination rate, due to shortages, pharmacies and hospitals lack even the most basic medicines such as penicillin and aspirin. According to Cuban healthcare authorities, on Sunday there were almost 7,000 new reported COVID-19 cases, with a total of nearly 240,000 COVID-19 patients across the country. Many Cubans have also reported having to wait hours in line to purchase food, if they even have access to food to begin with.

These cruel living conditions have pushed many Cubans to a breaking point—in fact, these protests mark the first large-scale acts of defiance that Cuba has seen since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The main difference since then is the easy accessibility of the internet, which has been used to spread the word about the protests and inspire a larger turnout. In an attempt to silence protesters on social media, internet access across Cuba was cut off for roughly 30 minutes amidst protests on July 11, with shutdowns intermittently continuing. This makes the stories from activists who were arrested or beaten by police difficult to corroborate due to lack of evidence.

Despite suppression efforts, protesters have managed to maintain a far reach, with Cuban communities such as Little Havana in Miami gathering in solidarity with Cubans. The Cuban protest movement has also garnered international support on social media with the hashtag #SOSCuba, and many celebrities have gotten involved to raise awareness about the protests.

In response to the unrest, the Cuban government has directed the blame toward the American trade embargo, which they believe is responsible for the nationwide shortages. While some activists agree with this point, others have argued that the issue goes far beyond the American embargo, and that it is more due to governmental financial mismanagement and a lack of tourism revenue.

Explore 4 Chinatowns from Around the World

March 8, 2021

Travel to any of the inhabited continents and you will find Chinatowns, historical and contemporary ethnic enclaves of Chinese people outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. While there is no conclusive count as to how many Chinatowns exist, they will often be found in any community with a history of Chinese immigration.

The first Chinatown is considered to be Binondo, a neighborhood in the Philippines’ capital of Manila that developed in 1594. Since then, Chinatowns have developed around the world, most recently with Tijuana, Mexico’s La Mesa neighborhood in 2012.

The United States is home to some of the most famous Chinatowns, including those in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. That said, for those looking to travel abroad, here is a list of some of the most unique Chinatowns to be found.

1. El Barrio Chino, Havana

*The paifang marking the entrance to Havana’s Chinatown. Kaldari. CC0.*

Located just three blocks away from the Cuban capitol building, Havana’s Chinatown is a relic of prerevolutionary times. The neighborhood, which began to develop in the 1840s with the arrival of the first Chinese immigrants to the island, became the largest Asian ethnic enclave in all of Latin America by the 1920s.

Following the 1959 Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro and the 26th of July Movement, during which the country became communist, the vast majority of Chinese-Cubans fled to neighboring countries like the United States. However, beginning in the 1990s, the Cuban government began the process of revitalizing the neighborhood centered around its historical roots.

Today, the Chinese-Cuban population in Havana is small. However, visitors to El Barrio Chino have a variety of restaurants and shops to visit, most of which are centered around Calle Cuchillo. Popular favorites include Restuarante Guang Zhou, whose menu offers a blend of Cuban and Chinese cuisine, Sociedad China Chang, which centers its food around a buffet, and Restaurante Tien Tan, whose menu includes fish and pork dishes which utilize the best ingredients from the Chinese and Cuban kitchens.

2. Chinatown, Singapore

*An aerial view of Singapore’s Chinatown with the city skyline in the background. William Cho. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.*

While not necessarily an enclave in the traditional sense given that the majority of Singapore’s population is ethnic Chinese, Singapore’s Chinatown is one of the most historically and culturally significant neighborhoods of the city-state. While the appearance of a Chinese community has been documented in Singapore as early as 1330, the neighborhood was not officially designated as a Chinatown until 1822 when British colonizer Sir Stamford Raffles allocated the area west of the Singapore River as such.

Today, Singapore’s Chinatown is one of the most popular in the world. The neighborhood includes historically preserved sites such as the Sri Mariamman Temple, as well as more recent cultural icons like the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Likewise, given that the city-state is world-renowned for its food culture, Chinatown is no exception. Popular spots for street food include the Chinatown Street Market, a pedestrian outdoor mall, and the Maxwell Food Centre, which features some of the best hawker center food including oyster cakes, peanut soup and chicken rice.

3. Quartier Asiatique, Paris

*A group of performers at Paris’ Chinese New Year parade. Passion Leica. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.*

While many Chinatowns around the globe have been around for centuries, Paris’ Quartier Asiatique is much more recent. In the late 1970s, many refugees from the Vietnam War settled in the 13th arrondissement. This was followed by later waves of ethnic Chinese immigrants coming from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Many of the ethnic Vietnamese immigrants later moved to other parts of France, leaving the neighborhood with a distinct Chinese presence.

Today, Paris’ Chinatown is considered to be the largest by population in Europe. Visitors to the neighborhood have a number of places to visit. The popular Asian supermarket chain, Tang Freres, is based in the neighborhood and offers a number of foods and goods shipped in directly from China. Restaurants such as Noodle Bar and Les Jardines de Mandchourie have some of the best Chinese food in the whole city. Likewise, the neighborhood has an annual Chinese New Year parade in February which is the largest parade in all of Paris.

4. Chinatown, Sydney

*People walking in Sydney’s Chinatown. blairwang. CC BY 2.0.*

Sydney’s Chinatown has a history rooted in movement. Many Chinese immigrants in the 1850s were drawn to Australia and settled in The Rocks, a neighborhood that gained the colloquial nickname “Chinese Quarter.” However, due to growing anti-immigrant sentiment and racism beginning in the late 1880s, Sydney’s Chinatown transitioned away from The Rocks to Campbell Street in the 1920s, before relocating again to Dixon and Hay streets, where the current Chinatown lies.

Today, Sydney’s Chinatown is world-renowned for its food and attractions. The Chinese Garden of Friendship, located just a block away from Dixon Street in Darling Harbour, was designed in conjunction with Sydney’s sister city of Guangzhou, China, and features carefully cultivated flora and beautiful architecture. Likewise, every Friday at 4 p.m., Dixon Street is taken over by the Chinatown Night Market. The stalls in the market feature everything from street food staples like dumplings and kebabs, to clothing and jewelry imported directly from China.

Venezuela Labels Coronavirus-Infected Citizens as ‘Bioterrorists’

August 30, 2020

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has implemented harsh measures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to arrest, detain and punish those infected with the virus and citizens who have broken quarantine measures. These authoritarian measures mark a stark contrast with the relief efforts of neighboring countries, as Maduro has labeled those suspected of coming in contact with the virus as “bioterrorists.”

The government was initially quick to respond to the virus, suspending all flights from Europe and Colombia and banning all public gatherings on March 12, before the country had officially reported any cases. However, cases in Venezuela have since risen, with experts suggesting that the current tally of 42,898 infections is much lower than the actual case number due to an insufficient amount of testing materials.

Infected Venezuelan citizens have been subjected to inhumane treatment, leading many to defy the government’s orders. According to a taxi driver from Caracas who was forced into a state-run isolation facility, the government treats infected citizens in an inhumane manner.

“I spent three days sleeping on an aluminum chair,” the driver said in an interview with Bloomberg. “They fed us cold rice, lentils and arepas. The place was controlled by armed militias and Cuban doctors.”

Venezuela’s approach to the pandemic is a result of its failing health care system and Maduro’s resistance to internal reforms advocated for by activists over the past decade. The country’s sociopolitical system, which at one time was hailed by some as one of Latin America’s best, was brought to its knees after oil prices plummeted in the early 2010s. This just exacerbated shortages of basic food staples that began under the presidency of Hugo Chavez.

Using drastic anti-protest tactics which became commonplace in the mid-2010s, Maduro has authorized security forces to impose punishments for violating social distancing protocol such as sitting under the hot sun for hours, intense physical exercise and beatings.

In response to citizens evading testing facilities for fear of being subjected to harsh punishments, the Venezuelan military has encouraged citizens to turn in neighbors who they suspect have come into contact with the virus throughout the summer.

“Defense for the health of your family and community,” one tweet by the military stated in Spanish. “[Someone who helps others hide their infections] is a bioterrorist, which puts everyone’s health at risk. Send [us] an email with their information and exact location. #ReportABioterrorist.”

Maduro has largely ignored calls to reform his response to the pandemic, dismissing claims that those infected have been treated inhumanely.

“[In Venezuela] you’re given care that’s unique in the world, humane care, loving, Christian,” Maduro said in an Aug. 14 national address.

In response to calls for aid from organized opposition groups, on Aug. 21 the United States granted activists access to millions of dollars of previously frozen Venezuelan assets to be used to support health care workers. However, it is unclear how these funds will be accessed by opposition-supported health care workers, or if the Venezuelan government will be able to interfere with their distribution.

As of this article’s publication, Maduro has not responded to calls for pandemic relief reform, nor have efforts been made to test in a more humane manner.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

Passengers boarding a flight at Jardines del Rey Airport in Cayo Coco, Cuba. CWhatPhotos. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Trump Administration Suspends Private Charter Flights to Cuba

August 23, 2020

On Aug. 13, the United States Department of Transportation suspended nearly all charter flights between the U.S. and Cuba. The announcement comes five months after the Trump administration suspended charter flights to any airport on the island aside from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana.

Under the order, only a handful of public charter flights will be authorized to fly between Havana and the U.S., as well as flights authorized in relation to emergency medical assistance, search and rescue and “other travel deemed to be in the interest of the United States.”

In a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained that the measures are being taken as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts against the Maduro administration in Venezuela.

“To … strengthen the economic pressure on the Cuban regime as a means to restrict the regime’s ability to repress its people and support the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela … I respectfully request that the Department of Transportation suspend until further notice all charter flights between the United States and all airports in Cuba over which the Department of Transportation exercises jurisdiction, except for authorized public charters to and from Havana, and other authorized charter flights for emergency medical purposes, search and rescue and other travel deemed to be in the interest of the United States,” Pompeo wrote.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel responded to the announcement in a tweet condemning the new policy.

“The United States has suspended all charter flights: a measure which will isolate more Cuban families,” Diaz-Canel wrote in Spanish. “[This] continues hostile rhetoric, a resurgence of the blockade, and hate and scorn against Cubans.”

Proponents of the decision like Mercedes Schlapp, a Cuban-American who is currently working on President Trump’s reelection campaign, argue that while the measure will further restrict travel to the island, it will not prohibit Cuban-Americans from visiting family members.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Cuban-Americans can continue to visit their families while the United States continues to hold the regime in Havana and its allies in Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua accountable,” Schlapp said in a statement in Spanish to CiberCuba.

However, opponents of the decision argue that the policy only furthers the separation of families on the part of both the Trump and Diaz-Canel administrations.

“This action only helps the Cuban regime to continue separating families - a tactic the Trump administration has disturbingly embraced,” Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden for President, stated in a press release. “Make no mistake: this is a cynical, cruel and calculated political decision, but with real, human consequences.”

Historically, the United States has maintained a standard of limited travel to Cuba. Beginning in 1963 under the Kennedy administration, travel to the island nation was prohibited for most Americans.

These restrictions, as well as the ongoing embargo against the island, began to be lifted under the Obama administration. In March 2016, President Obama announced that the Department of Transportation would allow U.S. citizens to travel to the island under a “People to People” visa, a policy which saw numerous airlines and American businesses begin working in the country. Obama notably traveled to the country to meet with then-President Raul Castro, the first time a sitting U.S. president had visited Cuba in 88 years.

This policy was reversed only three years later by the Trump administration. In June 2019, Trump removed the “People to People” visa and banned all cruise ships, private yachts and fishing boats from docking in the country.

These restrictions were further tightened later that year when Trump suspended all commercial flights to any Cuban airport aside from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. This was done in an attempt to reinforce the long-standing tourism embargo.

Prior to last week’s charter flight suspension, the Trump administration had imposed an annual limit of 3,600 charter flights beginning on June 1, 2020, which would only be allowed to land in the nation’s capital city.

Experts believe that these increasingly restrictive policies are being made in an effort to help Trump win Florida, a swing state which contains a large Cuban-American population and has recently polled in favor of Joe Biden. However, it is unclear whether this new policy will have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the November general election.

Cubans walking through downtown Havana. Pedrod Szekely CC BY-SA 2.0

Cuba’s Pandemic Response Could Offer Solutions to Other Nations

June 6, 2020

Cuba has long been renowned for its health care system. The island nation of 11 million maintains a ratio of 8.4 doctors per 1,000 citizens, the highest for any country according to the World Bank.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant threat to this system, as housing shortages and limited financial resources continue to remain widespread issues for the country. Despite this, Cuba has maintained a relatively low number of cases in comparison to similar-sized countries, with The New York Times reporting 2,119 total cases and 83 deaths as of June 5.

This has led some to argue that the successes of the Cuban health care system and COVID-19 response can serve as a model for other countries still combating the virus.

Universal Health Care

One of the hallmarks of the Cuban health care system is that it is available to all citizens either for free or at a significantly reduced cost. This can be attributed to the nation maintaining a deeply centralized authoritarian government, which allows for strict control on the prices of medical goods and services.

Cuba’s health care system is by no means perfect. The nation still faces shortages on a number of medical resources, and access to more advanced procedures is often limited to the larger cities like Havana and Santiago de Cuba. However, Cuba has continued to retain low infant mortality rates and high life expectancies, numbers which outpace similarly developed countries and are on par with those of the global north.

A Rapid Domestic Response

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health implemented a “prevention and control” plan on January 28, a solid month and a half before the country would see its first positive COVID-19 case on March 18. The plan outlined concrete details as to when and how the nation would limit international travel in the name of public health, as well as policies for how virus relief resources would be distributed throughout the island.

The plan was fully implemented on March 20 with a ban on tourist arrivals to the island and the enforcement of domestic quarantine procedures. At the time, Cuba had only 21 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The nation began mass testing on May 11 to further contain the spread of the virus.

The swift implementation of the “prevention and control” plan proved successful; the number of active COVID-19 cases peaked at 849 on April 25. The Ministry of Public Health reported that the number of active cases in the country had dropped to 161 as of May 28.

Cuban Doctors Abroad

Beginning in 1963 with the stationing of 56 Cuban doctors in Algeria, Cuba has continued to send doctors, nurses and health care workers abroad on both a voluntary and monetary basis, which has grown to an estimated 28,000 Cuban medical professionals working abroad today. This practice of medical diplomacy has continued into the COVID-19 era, with the nation having sent over 2,300 medical personnel abroad to over 24 countries to combat the virus as of May 26.

While some countries like the United States have refused this sort of outside medical aid, others have been more welcoming to Cuban health care workers. Italy welcomed two separate teams of Cuban doctors to Lombardy and Piedmont, two of the hardest hit regions in the country, during the pandemic’s height in the country.

Critics have argued that the practice of sending doctors abroad is merely a form of exploitative diplomacy done in an effort to legitimize the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba. That said, the vast majority of Cuba’s medical diplomatic efforts are done in developing countries whose citizens would otherwise have no access to quality medical care.

The bikers roll out of Cienfuegos, site of a 1957 rebellion by navy officers against the Batista dictatorship. (Lisette Poole)

Roaring Through Cuba With Che Guevara’s Son

December 14, 2019

Travel across Cuba by motorcycle with the son of the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. Learn about the history of the Cuban revolution and the family life of Cuba’s lead guerrilla and hero.

Cubans attend a public discussion to revamp the country’s Cold War-era constitution in Havana, in August 2018. Reuters/Tomas Bravo

Cuba Expands Rights but Rejects Radical Change in Updated Constitution

March 13, 2019

Cuba has rejected a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in its new and revised constitution, a move that disappointed some gay rights activists.

An article that would have redefined marriage as a “union between two people” – rather than a “union between a man and a woman” – was eliminated from a proposed new constitution, which was written last year by the National Assembly, analyzed and debated in thousands of public meetings across the island and, on Feb. 24, approved by the Cuban people at referendum.

But marriage equality is not totally off the table in Cuba.

Marriage is now defined in the constitution as “a social and legal institution” and “one form of family organization.” In other words, same-sex marriage is not explicitly permitted – but it’s no longer strictly prohibited, either.

This is how social change works these days in Cuba, my home country and the subject of my academic research. Progress is no longer revolutionary. It comes slowly, and cloaked in moderation.

Slow change

In this way, Cuba has undergone a gradual and dramatic metamorphosis under the governments of Raúl Castro and his successor, President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Thanks to a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations under President Barack Obama, American tourists began visiting the communist country for the first time since the Kennedy administration placed a trade embargo on Cuba after Fidel Castro’s 1959 communist revolution.

Starting in 2008, Castro opened the economy to some foreign investment and allowed Cuban workers – once confined to government jobs – to start small businesses.

The new constitution – the fourth such update to Cuba’s founding document – creates official legal standing for Castro’s economic reforms, which had remained in legal limbo under a Cold War-era constitution that did not recognize private property or the business sector.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel with former President Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel Castro. AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Many Cubans hoped the reform process would also expand civil liberties, bringing Cuban law more into line with its changing society.

LGBTQ rights groups, in particular, launched public awareness campaigns about sexual diversity. By late 2018, the path seemed to have been paved for gay marriage.

But religious groups fiercely opposed the move, and ultimately the government removed new language defining marriage as a “union between two people.”

Some hits, some misses

Still, the newly approved constitution does substantially expand social, political and economic rights in Cuba.

It limits Cuban presidents to two five-year terms. Previously, Cuba had no term limits. It also creates a prime minister position and strengthens local government, shifting power out of the executive. The criminal justice system in Cuba now operates on the presumption of innocence, not guilt.

Freedom of assembly, long restricted on the island, has also been expanded.

Previously, Cubans had the “right to meet, demonstrate and associate, for licit and peaceful purposes,” but only as part of a so-called “organización de masa” – the Cuban term for state-run groups. The new constitution removes the words “organizaciones de masa,” depoliticizing the freedom of assembly.

It remains to be seen whether the government will actually respect Cubans’ new right to form independent organizations – especially if those groups are political in nature.

“Spontaneous gatherings [in Cuba] are not seen positively and are always perceived to be the product of a foreign power,” wrote José Gabriel Barrenechea of La Trinchera, a blog for and by “young Marxists,” in a recent post.

Greater equality

Cuba’s prior constitution prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, sex, national origin and religious belief. Now gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic origin, disability and territorial origin have been added to the list.

The National Assembly stopped short of proposing any affirmative action policies, however, which would have been a more radical step toward equality.

The 1959 Cuban Revolution aimed to abolish all economic and racial differences among the Cubans, at least 36 percent of whom are Afro-Cuban. And Cuba’s inequality levels still remain well below other countries in the region.

But the recent economic reforms that increased prosperity for some have left certain minority groups – namely Afro-Cubans and the elderly – behind. Anti-discrimination statutes do nothing to close the widening wage gap.

The verdict is also mixed on how women fare under new laws.

Abortion, which unlike in the majority of Latin America and Caribbeanhas long been easily accessible in Cuba, is now officially protected in a provision guaranteeing women’s access to reproductive health services. And all forms of gender-based violence, not just domestic abuse and sexual assault, but also street harassment and workplace intimidation, are criminalized.

However, a popular constitutional guarantee that the government will provide free, universal child care and elder care to all working families women was eliminated.

This shifts the burden of care away from the government and onto the family. In a patriarchal society like Cuba’s, I believe women will inevitably assume these domestic duties.

Cubans evidently feared that other heralded rights would be lost, too.

In last year’s island-wide public meetings, people frequently requestedassurances that universal health care and free public education through the post-graduate level would be maintained.

They were.

Rights deferred

But some long-hoped-for rights remain elusive.

Independent media is still prohibited, a blow to the blogs and alternative news sites that have cropped up to fill the information vacuum of a country where all news sources are government-owned.

Some analysts have observed that, as in the case of gay marriage, language defining the role of the media in Cuba was loosened somewhat. And in December the government announced it would allow Cubans to access the internet on their smartphones.

This may leave the door open for greater press freedom in the future.

However, in my analysis, regional politics make that unlikely to occur any time soon.

For six decades, the U.S. government has tried to destabilize Cuban society by broadcasting anti-Communist messages on radio and TV broadcasts.

Now, the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting has turned its attention to social media. The Trump administration in 2018 admitted that it tried to create fake Facebook accounts to foment dissent on the island, though it says the project “never got off the ground.”

This revelation will likely only strengthen the Cuban government’s resolve to limit Cubans’ access to information.

The constitutional reform process has confirmed that radical progress in Cuba will have to wait. But Cuba is changing, in zigs and in zags – just perhaps not as fast as some might hope.

MARIA ISABEL ALFONSO is the Professor of Spanish at St. Joseph's College of New York.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION

As gay Cubans gain more rights, opposition is also growing. AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

As Cuba Backs Gay Marriage, Churches Oppose the Government’s Plan

October 4, 2018

Cubans are debating a constitutional reform that, among other legal changes, would open the door to gay marriage. It would also prohibit discrimination against people based on sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity in the communist nation.

The proposed new Constitution, drafted by a special commission within Cuba’s National Assembly, was unveiled in July. If the National Assembly and President Miguel Díaz-Canel approve the document after a Feb. 24, 2019 public referendum, marriage would be defined as a “union between two people.”

Cuba’s 1976 Constitution, known as the Carta Magna, defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. And it does not fully protect private enterprise, freedom of association or allows for same-sex marriage – despite growing social acceptance and political tolerance for such rights.

Emigrés who retain Cuban nationality have been invited to participate in Cuba’s public debate on the constitutional reform – though not to vote on it – via a digital forum run by the Foreign Ministry – a level of citizen outreach that’s “unprecedented” in Cuba, says Ernesto Soberón, the ministry’s director of consular affairs and Cubans residing overseas.

Cuba’s political process opens up

This lively, broad-based debate is a sign of how much Cuba – a main subject of my research as a professor of literature and cultural studies – has changed in recent years.

President Raúl Castro, who took over for his ailing older brother Fidel in 2006, began to open Cuba’s economy to foreign investment and normalized diplomatic relations with the United States, which has maintained its economic embargo on the Communist island since 1962.

Raúl Castro also worked with President Barack Obama to ease some economic restrictions on Cuba.

Castro stepped down in April 2018, handing power over to the much younger Díaz-Canel.

Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro met in Havana in 2016, the culmination of the diplomatic ‘normalization’ process between the U.S. and Cuba. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Cuba has moderately amended its Carta Magna just three times. A 1978 constitutional reform created an official channel for youth political participation, for example, while that of 1992 liberalized elements of Cuba’s socialist economic model to revitalize Cuba’s economy.

Today’s proposed reform is a complete overhaul. It would add 87 articles, change 113 and eliminate 13, even a section of Article 5 affirming Cuba’s “advance toward a Communist society.”

Beyond legalizing gay marriage, the new Constitution would protect private property, limit the presidential term to five years and introduce the role of prime minister.

Intense debate has surrounded the possibility of marriage equality in Cuba, and not just within the government’s official public meetings. Cubans are also discussing and debating gay marriage with neighbors and friends, in the streets and online – a departure from Cuba’s traditionally more top-down style of government.

The rise of gay rights in Cuba

Cuba’s nascent LGBTQ rights movement also began under Raúl Castro, thanks in large part to the leadership of his daughter Mariela Castro, a National Assembly member and president of the semi-governmental Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual, founded in 1987 to advance sexual awareness in Cuba.

A lack of opinion polling makes it difficult to measure Cuban public support for gay marriage. But acceptance of homosexuality, both within the government and in civil society, has grown appreciably.

During the 1960s and 1970s, homosexuality was considered incompatible with Cuba’s model of the revolutionary man: atheist, heterosexual and anti-bourgeoisie. Gay people, active Christians and others who defied these ideals were sent to military work camps to “strengthen” their revolutionary character.

Today, the Cuban government appears to accept homosexuality as part of socialist society. In 2008 the National Assembly approved a law allowing sexual reasignment surgery.

La Habana holds annual marches against homophobia and transphobia and cities across the island celebrate the Gay Pride parade.

Mariela Castro (center), daughter of former president Raúl Castro, is a leader in Cuba’s LGBTQ movement.Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini

But legacies of intolerance remain.

The Assembly of God Pentecostal Church, the Evangelical League and the Methodist Church of Cuba, among other Christian churches, have issued a joint statement opposing gay marriage.

Traditionally, religion has taken a back seat to politics in Cuba. AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera

Their public letter, published on June 8, argues that such “gender ideology” has “nothing whatsoever to do with our culture, our independence struggles nor with the historic leaders of the Revolution.”

Cuba is a secular country where political ideology has historically trumped religion. Religious opposition to a government proposal is rare.

It is even more unusual for the church to attempt to mobilize the Cuban public, as some Christian leaders are trying to do now.

According to the Cuban magazine La Jiribilla, preachers on the streets have been handing out fliers saying gay marriage defies God’s “original design” for the family.

Traditionally, religion has taken a back seat to politics in Cuba. AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera

LBGTQ activists answer

Gay rights groups and feminists are responding with a creative show of force.

Clandestina, Cuba’s first online store, and the tattoo studio La Marca are spearheading a campaign called “Cuban design,” celebrating a “very original family” – phrasing that rebuts Christian claims about God’s design.

“More than anything, this is an issue of free expression,” Roberto Ramos Mori, of La Marca, said in an email. “The way to push back against hate is calmly, with intelligence – and, of course, humor.”

Cubans with internet access use the hashtag #mifamiliaesoriginal to signal their support for LGBTQ rights on social media.

The church’s powerful opposition to marriage equality reflects a strategy commonly deployed across Latin America, says the Cuban feministAilynn Torres Santana.

Catholic and evangelical groups in Ecuador used similar language, for example, to oppose a 2017 law allowing citizens to choose their own gender identifier, she says. In response to the legislation – which recognized gender as “a binary that is socially and culturally created, patriarchal and heteronormative” – churches called for “citizens to live in harmony with nature.”

Similar scenes played out when both Colombia and Brazil advanced LGBTQ rights, with Christian groups dismissing any attempt to change traditional gender roles as the “result” of what they pejoratively call “gender ideology.”

What’s next for Cuba

Gay marriage is not the only battlefield for Cuba’s newly empowered churches.

Abortion, illegal in most of Latin America, has been a woman’s right in Cuba since 1965. Traditionally, not even Cuba’s Catholic church publicly opposed it.

Recently, though, Christians in Cuba have begun publicly advocatingagainst abortion.

If conservative religious groups manage to prevent gay marriage in Cuba, I believe it would be a setback for social progress on the island.

But the mere existence of alternative voices in Cuba’s public sphere – including that of its churches – is, itself, proof that the country has already changed.

MARÍA ISABEL ALFONSO is a Professor of Spanish at St. Joseph's College of New York.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION

Travel to Cuba

April 13, 2018

A return to the past, old cars, colonial houses, and decoration anchored in the 50s. Cuba, marked by dictatorships and political revolutions, maintains its lifestyle intact. A tour of the north and center of the island: Havana, Viñales, Cayo Jutías, Playa Larga, Bahía Cochinos, Playa Girón, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, Santa Clara, Cayo Santa María.