Good morning.
I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to testify before the committee.
The Caravane d'amitié Québec-Cuba has been in place since 1994 and it is well established within Quebec society. We have friends from all walks of life. There are some volunteers who work for us. Our friends include some Quebec parliamentarians. We also work with organizations such as the U.S. Pastors for Peace and similar organizations in all cities throughout Canada.
Our objective is to develop friendship with Cuba and to respect its sovereignty. We are all opposed to outside intervention in Cuba. This country is entitled to develop its own social system and its own society.
Obviously, my presentation deals with the electoral process and the way Cubans choose their government.
The ability to choose one's government is a human right. I affirm that this important right is respected in Cuba. There is a very full participatory electoral process in place, one which is guaranteed by the Constitution.
There was a referendum on the Constitution establishing the political structure on February 15, 1976, following a massive public consultation process that had begun one year earlier. At this referendum, 99.3% of eligible voters aged 16 and up took part in the referendum, and 98% of them voted for the proposal.
As Colette said earlier, elections are held every five years. The deputies and delegates at the National Assembly are chosen by general secret ballot. Municipal elections are held every two and a half years.
People nominate and select candidates at public meetings held in local constituencies of voters. In over 14,000 constituencies broken down into districts and zones, there are some 25,000 electoral colleges where the voters lists are posted, together with the biography and photo of all the candidates.
Members of the municipal and provincial assemblies are elected from among the constituency delegates, who are put forward and elected by the people in the district. Candidates must get 50% plus one in order to be elected, if not, there is a second round.
The deputies of the National Assembly or Parliament are selected from among members of the provincial assemblies and work with representatives of the scientific and administrative sectors, associations of farmers and intellectuals and public organizations. In Parliament, there are lots of seats set aside for the general public from the municipalities and the districts, but also for representative sectors of the country, such as the unions and others. These institutions are entitled to a certain number of deputies.
Parliament elects the members of the Council State from among its representatives. The Council State elects the President, who is Fidel Castro. The elected officials, including the constituency delegates, members of municipal and provincial assemblies and deputies of the National Assembly all perform their duties without any remuneration. However, those in the most demanding positions as representatives are paid. Generally, people who had professions other than that of politicians earn the same salary they were earning before they became politicians.
Periodically, elected officials must report on their work and their mandate can be revoked by the people who elected them. Consequently, they must appear before those who elected them, and if these people are not satisfied with their work, they can lose their job.
The voting age in Cuba is 16. The names of new voters are automatically added to the electoral register when they reach this age, because it's done using the civil registry, which gives the names of all citizens. Voting is a voluntary, free and secret process. There is no law requiring voters to vote.
In each election held to date, over 90% of eligible voters voted. The votes are counted publicly at the end of the voting period by electoral officials in the presence of voters who volunteered to come in to ensure the transparency of the electoral process. In Cuba, the ballot boxes are watched by children, and no ballot box has ever been stolen.
That completes my presentation.
Thank you.