By María Josefina Arce
It has just been five years since the proclamation by the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba of the current Constitution, the result of a long process of study, analysis and discussion, which gave life to a document that responds to its time, to the current political, economic and social reality of the country.
As underlined by the president of the Cuban Parliament, Esteban Lazo, on the social network X, the current Magna Carta is a continuity of the first one approved on April 10, 1869 in Guáimaro, as it safeguards the unity of Cubans, independence and sovereignty of the Homeland.
In its postulate, the document preserves the achievements of the Cuban Revolution, which guarantees all citizens essential human rights such as access to health and education, among others.
For its elaboration, a Commission of 33 deputies was constituted in 2018, chaired by the leader of the Cuban revolution, Army General Raúl Castro. After its debate in the National Assembly of People's Power, it was decided to take the draft text to popular consultation.
All Cubans were free to express their opinions and suggestions. Throughout the length and breadth of the national territory, in work centers, student centers and communities, more than 133 thousand meetings were held from August to November 2018.
Nearly 9 million Cubans participated in this new exercise of participatory democracy, from which 783 thousand 174 proposals were derived, including modifications, additions and deletions.
The new draft was approved in December 2018 by the legislative body and taken to a popular referendum the following year on a historic date for Cubans, February 24, which marks the resumption in 1895 of our wars of independence against the colonial yoke of Spain.
And nearly eight million citizens with electoral rights went to the polls. The text received the affirmative vote of approximately 79% of the electorate and was finally proclaimed on April 10 in an extraordinary session of the National Assembly of People's Power.
During these 5 years, an intense legislative activity has been developed to comply with the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, new laws have been passed that reinforce the rights and guarantees recognized to citizens in the Magna Carta.
Cuba today has a modern and inclusive Law of Laws, built by all Cubans for the present and the future of the country and that exalts the full dignity of the human being.
