This Sunday, Cuba is going to an election where there is nothing to choose

Cubans are being called to an election this Sunday where they will have little or no choice. They have to vote yes 470 candidates who will occupy 470 places representatives of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament), previously selected according to the criteria of reliability and political loyalty, basically.

Among the candidates, there can be no shortage of historical ones, despite their advanced years. Starting with the former president Raul Castro, 91 years old; José Ramón Machado Ventura, 92; and Ramiro Valdés, 90. And the oldest of all, Guillermo García Frías, 95, who went viral some time ago after an insane statement in which he proposed solving Cuba’s serious food problem with ostriches.

Most of the senior government officials and quite a few military personnel are also there, including the heavyweights of the Gaesa Corporation, which controls most of the country’s economy.

Other well-known names are also highlighted, such as sexologist Mariela Castro, daughter of Raúl; Gerardo Hernández, one of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States on charges of espionage; and Elián González, raft boy who was involved in a custody incident in 1999.

Although there are scientists and representatives of other social sectors, the presence of top artists and intellectuals is absent. Only the most loyal to the regime remained on the list, such as the writer Miguel Barnet or the singer-songwriter Raúl Torres, who has lately distinguished himself by composing songs for every patriotic occasion that calls for it. The list is mostly filled with bosses, propagandists and bureaucrats of all levels.

moving stampede

Given the migration stampede in recent years and the possibility that these numbers may affect the results, the authorities have decided to delete from the voter list all those who are not physically present in their place of residence. A kind of house-to-house census is being conducted, in which citizens are reminded that they must go out to vote.

Although there will be those who vote out of conviction, many will vote out of convention, out of habit or because of “not marking”. And there are more and more people who openly decide not to be part of the show.

Criticism in networks

Social networks have become a platform for expressing reasons for not voting. University professor Alina Bárbara López, one of the most respected critical voices in the countryhe explained it as follows: “I see no reason to elect the same political class that was incapable of leading my country on the path of prosperity, that does not allow citizens to participate in decision-making, that deepens poverty and forgets about social justice, that deliberately ignores us, which does not dare to enable the rights established by the Constitution itself”.

Vote for what?, is a question that many ask themselves, such as the writer and art critic Jorge Gómez de Mello, who presents his motives. Because I don’t agree with the miserable way in which my life, the life of my family and my peers is going, he said.

Ordinary Cubans will wake up on Sunday more worried about bringing something to the table amid the brutal crisis, galloping inflation and general shortages the country is experiencing than the election.

“All in all, they’re going to pick them anyway and they’re not going to solve any problem for me.” I’d rather go out and install some food to see if we can eat something decent,” summed up electrician Alberto González.

In the last local elections, in November 2022, just over 5.7 million Cubans voted, 68.58%, the lowest percentage since 1976. Nothing makes us expect a better number this Sunday.