During his time as president, Raúl Castro announced a series of reforms. One of these was to overhaul Cuba’s 1976 constitution, which was drafted at the height of Cuban socialism and has long been out of sync with the country’s post-Soviet reality. In July, Cuba’s National Assembly unveiled a proposed version for the new constitution. This draft will undergo a process of public debate throughout the fall and should be ratified in February 2019.
The constitutional reform has intensified debates on the island about rights, citizenship, and the new economy. This essay forms part of a running forum NACLA is hosting to offer a range of views on this crucial process at a critical moment in Cuban history. Read part one of the forum here and part two here.
Ailynn Torres Santana's essay explores the strengths and shortcomings of the conservative opposition against marriage equality in Cuba, one of the polemic items on the new constitution's agenda. (An earlier version of this essay was published in Spanish in OnCuba.)
This fall Cuba is discussing the draft of its new constitution. The new constitution, drawn up by a special commission and then debated by the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular (National Assembly of the People's Power, ANPP), is now open for public debate in local communities, as well as in work and study collectives.
Many issues in the draft proposal are up for debate, but Article 68, which would define marriage as a union between two people, regardless of gender, is one of the most controversial. As local newspaper Adelantereported, in the course of 2,374 discussion meetings, it was mentioned in all but 32.The current constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman with the legal capacity to enter such a contract. But the new constitution simply states that marriage is the union between two people. Although the Family Code and Civil Code would need to be amended first, if Article 68 is approved, Cuba could have marriage equality in the near future. This would enable the country to realize the principle of equality before the law for every citizen—all rights for all people, no more and no less. Read more via NACLA