Draft of Cuba’s new constitution drops communism for socialism

A DRAFT of Cuba’s new constitution keeps the Communist Party as its leading political force but states as its aim the construction of socialism rather than communism, reflecting changing times, top officials told lawmakers this weekend.

Cuba is replacing its Soviet-era constitution with a new one to reflect and implement political and economic changes designed to make its one-party socialist system – one of the last in the world – sustainable.

The constitution will, for example, recognise private property, something long stigmatised by the Communist Party as a vestige of capitalism, Homero Acosta, secretary of the council of state, said.

The draft also appears to strengthen political institutions and create a more collective leadership structure, after nearly 60 years of rule by the late Fidel Castro and his younger brother Raul.

It omits a clause in the current constitution on aiming to build a “communist society”. Instead, it talks about building socialism, reflecting the fact Cuba has moved into a different era following the fall of the Soviet Union.

One of the most hotly awaited and controversial changes is the recognition of marriage as between two individuals rather than between man and wife, opening the path to samesex unions.

The national assembly is expected this weekend to pass the document, which will then be submitted to a popular consultation. A final draft will later be put to a national referendum.