Alejandro Langape

Why am I mentioning what I learned at school? Well, because I’ve been thinking about the laws that shape a country’s economic development and that, whether we like them or not, they are followed to a T here in Cuba, in China or Bulgaria.

Vivir del cuento is perhaps the most popular “made in Cuba” TV show that my fellow Cubans on the island watch. In one of its most recent episodes, Panfilo (this old man who struggles with Cuba’s shortages today) has found a wallet. Taking a peek, Panfilo is more excited about finding a whole strip of duralgina tablets than a large sum of money in euros. Read why…

Well, a little after 3 PM on Monday, Alina Balseiro (president of the National Election Commission) revealed the preliminary results of the Constitutional Referendum that was held in Cuba on February 24th, which resulted in a comfortable win for the YES vote, which implies that Cuba will soon have a new Carta Magna.

It’s worth remembering that Article 68, which if approved would have allowed same-sex marriage in Cuba, sparked the most debate in neighborhood meetings to discuss the draft Constitution before the final draft, to be voted on in a referendum on February 24, was approved by the National Assembly. It’s also worth pointing out the fact that it was written in mumbo jumbo.

The new draft Constitution, being proposed to Cubans in a referendum set for February, 2019, is being debated between two dichotomous positions that are forced to stand side by side: change and continuity. Two slight amendments can be seen as early on as Article 5 and become a symbol of this rivalry.