Under Cuba’s one-party system, civic associations of individuals whose will to participate in the political life is legitimate from the standpoint of a democratic society, are considered and treated as illegal, and criminalized by the government with the official labels of “worms,” “scum,” “mercenaries,” “terrorists,” and “counter-revolutionaries.”
This Sunday, as it happens every five years, Cubans will engage in an orchestrated parade; façade elections which are neither free not fair.
Regarding the independent candidates, First Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raul Castro’s likely successor, stated: “There are six initiatives for the 2018 elections that seek to propose counter-revolutionaries as candidates … We are taking steps to discredit all that.”
