Upcoming elections announced
An official declaration by the Council of State on Monday, July 9, summoned Cuban voters to general elections.
The Cuban electoral process will kick off on October 21 with elections for members of the Municipal Assemblies of Popular Power. Any district where a candidate does not garner more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election on October 28 between the two candidates with the most votes. The period of office for municipal delegates is two and a half years.
The official release said that “The date of the election for delegates of the Provincial Assemblies and the National Assembly of Popular Power will be announced at the proper moment. Provincial and national delegates are elected for a period of five years.
According to Cuban Electoral Law, general elections serve to elect “members of the National Assembly of Popular Power, the Assembly’s President, Vice President and Secretary; President, First Vice President, Vice Presidents, Secretary and remaining members (up to 31) of the Council of State.”
CELAM’s assembly meets in Havana
For the first time Havana hosts the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM), the institution that groups the Conferences of Catholic Bishops of Latin American countries.
Monsignor Juan de Dios Hernández, a Jesuit priest and auxiliary bishop of the Havana dioceses, reported in the web page of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishop’s that “it is known that we are a novelty in the Latin American context, for our Church has been able to evangelize in a social and political situation that is different from the rest of the continent, since it is in a socialist country, and nevertheless it has not lost the mission that is unrenounceable, which is the evangelizing mission.” Monsignor Hernández is also the Cuban Conference’s secretary general.
“We are part of that (Latin American) Church; we are not a separate entity, and a manner of visualizing this reality is to celebrate in our country this ordinary Assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate,” said the Cuban bishop.
For observers of the religious issue on the island, particularly related to the Catholic Church, the CELAM meeting in Havana could be interpreted as part of the process of relaxation between the Cuban Church and the authorities. It is also a clear manifestation of CELAM towards the Church and Cuban Catholics.
Two new bishops for Cuba
On July 8, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Domingo Oropesa Lorente, a Spanish national, as bishop of Cienfuegos, and Álvaro Julio Beyra, as bishop of Bayamo.
What strikes most as odd is the appointment of a Spanish priest as bishop of a Cuban diocese.
Havana lashed by tropical storm
On Monday, July 9, a severe tropical storm suddenly blew through several municipalities of the Cuban capital. Hail, heavy rains, and winds over 100 km per hour hit the municipalities of Plaza, Cerro, Playa and 10 de Octubre.
The rain, which registered more than 35 mm in the Casablanca area, flooded streets in Havana and affected, for hours, electric power in several areas.
According to the power company, 25 of 224 electrical circuits in Havana were affected, which represents some 60 megawatts of demand.
Climate change will influence Cuba
Luis de La Paz, a researcher at the island’s Meteorological Institute said to Prensa Latina news agency that climate change will cause a rise in annual average temperature of 1.6-2.5 degrees Celsius in the country.
The national territory, he added, will experience an increase in the frequency of extreme events, including droughts and floods, and sea level could rise more than 95 centimeters.
According to de La Paz, another one of the consequences will be the decrease of wooded areas, loss of biodiversity and a reduction of the area for agriculture.
New article by Fidel Castro
Under the title “Cuba’s Self-Criticism,” the national media, on July 11, published a new “Reflexion by the Commander in Chief.”
In his article Castro praises the recent decision by the Young Communists’ Union of trimming down to 200,000 the original 600,000 students that would donate a week’s vacation for several tasks.
Out of economic rationality, the work will be done in their municipalities and will be targeted mainly to backing efforts of the energy revolution, explaining to the population measures for savings and to convince debtors to pay for the electrical appliances they were given at subsidized prices.
Castro pointed out that what Cuban citizens’ need most is knowledge, in order to build up a greater conscience. He also said that “My hair stood on end when a few days ago a distinguished bureaucrat said on television that now that the special period is over we will send every year more and more delegations for such and such events.
“Where did that barbarian come from? I wondered. Perhaps it is a donation sent by Sancho Panza from his Barataria.”
Castro called on the young to read and discuss on vital issues.
