Wednesday, July 11, 2007

U.S. gov’t rejects Cuban elections

The Bush administration rejected Cuban leader Raul Castro’s decision to hold elections for the National Assembly in late October. Despite Raul’s comments several months ago on a change of leadership on the island, State Department spokesman Tom Casey doubted that the elections would be “free and fair”:

“If Castro-lite, meaning Raul Castro (image), wants to hold elections-lite, meaning the kind that they have held in the past -- single party elections that don't allow the people to have a choice and only allow them to ratify the rule of the current dictatorship -- whether its Fidel Castro's name that is on top of the ballot or Raul Castro's doesn't really matter much.”

Reuters deemed the National Assembly as “a rubber-stamp parliament which meets only twice a year for a day or so,” though the more vital issue is whether or not the electoral process indicates a political transition away from the ailing Fidel Castro.

Sources- Caribbean Net News, Earthtimes.org, New Zealand Herald, IOL, The Latin Americanist

Image- BBC News

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