Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1959 based on the "one state – one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a Marxist–Leninist state. The present Constitution of Cuba, which was passed in a 2019 referendum, also describes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and of the state" and as having the capability of setting national policy, and First Secretary of the Communist Party is the most powerful position in Cuba. The 2019 Constitution of Cuba identifies the ideals represented by Cuban independence hero José Martí and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as the primary foundation of Cuba's political system, while also stressing the importance of the influence of the ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.
Granma is the yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in November 1956 to overthrow the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The 60-foot diesel-powered cabin cruiser was built in 1943 by Wheeler Shipbuilding of Brooklyn, New York, as a light armored target practice boat, US Navy C-1994 and modified postwar to accommodate 12 people. "Granma", in English, is an affectionate term for a grandmother; the yacht is said to have been named for the previous owner's grandmother.
Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns include Manzanillo and Pilón.
Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions since winning its independence. The first constitution since the Cuban Revolution was drafted in 1976 and has since been amended. In 2018, Cuba became engaged in a major revision of its constitution, which was widely discussed by the people and by academics. The current constitution was then enacted in 2019.
Elections in Cuba are held at municipal, provincial, and national levels. Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba, and all other political parties being illegal. Elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting.
The National Assembly of People's Power is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Cuba. It is currently composed of 605 representatives who are elected from multi-member electoral districts for a term of five years. The current President of the Assembly is Esteban Lazo Hernández. The Assembly only meets twice a year, with the 31-member Council of State exercising legislative power throughout the rest of the year. The most recent elections were held on 26 March 2023. As of April 2023, the number of representatives is 470.
Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada was a Cuban politician. He served as his country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) for nearly 30 years and later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1993. Subsequently, Alarcón was President of the National Assembly of People's Power from 1993 to 2013, and because of this post, was considered the third-most powerful figure in Cuba. He was also until 2013 a Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.
The 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties was the handover of the title of president and presidential duties from longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro to his brother Raúl Castro, the next-in-line-of-succession person in Cuba, following Fidel's operation and recovery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to be diverticulitis. Although Raúl Castro exercised the duties of president, Fidel Castro retained the title of President of the Council of State of Cuba and President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, during this period.
Carlos Aurelio Lage Dávila is a Cuban politician. Until 2009, he was a Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers of Cuba. Lage was described as Cuba's de facto prime minister.
Parliamentary elections were held in Togo on October 14, 2007 for the 81 seats in the National Assembly. There were over 2,000 candidates, with 32 parties and 41 lists of independent candidates competing. The ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) was victorious, winning a majority of 50 seats. The remaining seats were won by opposition parties; the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) won 27 seats and the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) won four seats. They were the first parliamentary elections since the beginning of multiparty politics in the early 1990s in which all major parties participated.
Local elections were held in Cuba on 21 October, 28 October and 31 October 2007. These elections are of national importance as they are the only direct elections in Cuba's political system, and because the municipal and provincial assemblies elect half the members of the National Assembly of People's Power, which in turn elects the President of Cuba. Therefore, this election will indirectly determine whether Fidel Castro will remain president or whether the vice-president and acting president Raúl Castro will officially take over.
An indirect presidential election was held in Cuba on 24 February 2008, in which the National Assembly of People's Power elected a new President of the Council of State and the members of the Council of State. The election followed the January 2008 parliamentary election. In the election, Raúl Castro, who had been Acting President since July 2006, was elected as President of the Council of State, succeeding his older brother, Fidel Castro.
Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla is a Cuban diplomat and politician. He is a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and has served as Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2009.
José Ramón Machado Ventura, M.D. is a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the First Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba from 2008 to 2013. With the election of Raúl Castro as President of Cuba on 24 February 2008, Machado was elected to succeed him as First Vice President, serving until 2013. He was elected Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 2011.
The vice president of Cuba, previously the vice president of the Council of State between 1976 and 2019, is the second highest political position obtainable in the Council of State of Cuba. Currently there is a provision for several vice presidents, who are elected in the same manner as the president of Cuba.
Melba Hernández Rodríguez del Rey was a Cuban politician and diplomat. She served as the Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam and to Cambodia.
Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel y Bermúdez is a politician and engineer who is the third first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. Díaz-Canel succeeds the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, making him the first non-Castro leader of Cuba since the revolution. Díaz-Canel's leadership thus represents a non-dynastic form of succession for the party as well as for the state, and the end of Castro leadership in Cuba.
Parliamentary elections were held in Cuba on 11 March 2018 to elect members of the National Assembly of People's Power. Prior to the elections, President Raúl Castro declared he would not be seeking a new term, and a new President of the Council of State will be elected by the National Assembly. His deputy, Miguel Díaz-Canel, was subsequently elected as the new president. However, Castro remained the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the country.
Parliamentary elections were held in Cuba on 26 March 2023 to elect members of the National Assembly of People's Power.
