Elections slated for January 20

Cuban
Radar                                                                              Read Spanish Version

Elections
slated for January 20

A
Service by the Radio Progreso Alternativa Havana Bureau

A
government decree signed by acting president Raúl Castro calls
for the election of members of the Provincial Assemblies and
representatives (delegates) to the National Assembly of Popular Power
(Cuban parliament), to be held on January 20, 2008.

The
announcement has raised questions as to whether Fidel Castro will be
nominated, for his election as member of the National Assembly is
essential to his subsequent election as President.

A
call to boycott elections

The
opposition group Todos Unidos (All United), led by Vladimiro Roca,
sent a communiqué to foreign correspondents in Cuba calling
for a boycott of the coming elections for members of the Provincial
and National Assemblies of Popular Power scheduled for early 2008. 

Todos
Unidos pledges its support to the “initiatives of civil society
groups that are calling for peaceful protests against the alleged
elections by annulment of the ballots, abstention or other means."

Last
September Cubans flocked to the polls and elected members of the
country’s 169 municipal assemblies. According to a report by the
National Election Council, over 96 percent of registered voters
exercised their right to vote.

Army
engineers work at areas damaged by Noel

In
areas of the eastern province of Granma, which were ravaged by the
fury of Storm Noel, two units of the Revolutionary Armed Forces’
Corps of Engineers are in full swing.

Their
main mission is to open up roads that were washed away or blocked by
falling rocks, as well as the repairing of damaged highways, drains
and bridges.

Heading
the units is Colonel Miguel Avalle who told the press that forces
under his command will repair over a hundred kilometers of roads in
the province.

New
holidays

The
official daily Granma
reported on Monday, November 19, that a decree signed by acting
president Raúl Castro has declared December 31 and January 2
as public holidays.

According
to the decree, basic services and other works vital to the economy,
such as the sugar harvest and services to tourism, will be exempted.