Cubans living abroad will participate in the constitutional debate

More than 1.4 million Cubans living outside the island, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), will have the right to participate in the popular consultation process that will be held to enrich Cuba’s new Constitution.

It is “an act considered unprecedented in the history of the Cuban Revolution,” said Ernesto Soberón, director of Consular Affairs and Cuban Residents Abroad (DACRE), during a meeting with foreign journalists.

The process, which will follow the same procedure for all Cubans, will be based on a form prepared for it and which, according to Soberón, will be available in the next few weeks on the Nation and Emigration website (www.nacionyemigracion.cu.) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Cuban official stressed that the site has allowed many Cubans to read the text of the proposed Constitution — especially residents living in the U.S. and Spain.

With this convocation, and the fact that Cubans are dispersed in more than 120 nations across the globe, some of which Cuba does not maintain diplomatic relations with, Cuban authorities are banking on the strengthening of ties with their fellow citizens living outside their borders.

At present, Soberón said, there are many Cubans who participate in numerous projects in cooperation with the homeland, also in business, in the cultural sphere, recreational, sports and scientific-technical exchanges, as opposed to a minority that aspires to overthrow the revolution.

The draft Constitution recognizes double and triple citizenship, although on the island only the Cuban will be recognized. It is the so-called effective citizenship.

Ernesto Soberón assured the foreign correspondents of renewed meetings as things develop. By then, there will be questions and answers, he said.