Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Cuban Revolution triumphed in January 1959. From that point in time until the Organs of People's Power (Organos del Poder Popular, OPP) were established with the passage of the 1976 Constitution, Cuba experimented with a series of provisional governments. The Cuban Constitution was not a radical break in the political course of the Cuban Revolution, but a formalization, revitalization, and strengthening of past practices, with a new emphasis on decentralization and defining the roles of the Cuban Communisty Party (Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) and the government. Fidel Castro Ruz (b. 1926) and his adherents encountered an institutional vacuum when they defeated the Batista regime in 1959. Nothing in the political and governmental spheres remained undenigrated. The need for quick action to make profound changes, in the face of internal and external threats, made representative government untenable for the leaders of the revolution. Laws were enacted by decree. A type of direct democracy developed where citizen political participation was defined as mobilization in support of carrying out government policies. The first attempt at local government, the Coordination, Operation, and Inspection Boards (Juntas de Coordinación, Ejecución e Inspección, JUCEI), was comprised of representatives of political and mass organizations, and lasted from 1961 to 1965. These boards proved ... log in or subscribe to read full text