Public Meeting: Cuba: How A Socialist Democracy Works

sligo | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Wednesday October 06, 2010 23:49 by Simon McGuinness - Cuba Support Group Ireland

Cuban style "participative democracy" works, we should try it here

Contrary to the perception of Cuba as a dictatorial one-party state, the involvement of citizens there in decisions that affect them reaches levels only dreamed of here in Ireland

Declan Bree invite all to a Public Meeting on “Cuba: How A Socialist Democracy Works’” which will be held in the Glasshouse Hotel , Hyde Bridge, Sligo, on this Friday evening the 8 th of October commencing at 8.00.p.m .

The guest speaker at the event, which is being held under the auspices of the Connolly Forum, is the journalist, author and poet, Dr Tomas Mac Siomoin.

Tomas, who has lived in Cuba, is a doctoral graduate of Cornell University, New York, has worked as a lecturer in the USA and Ireland and was a member of staff in Sligo IT in its early years. He has worked as a journalist, as editor of the newspaper “Anois” and, for many years, he was editor of the literary and current affairs magazine, “Comhar”.

He will be pointing out that, contrary to the perception of Cuba as a dictatorial one-party state, involvement of citizens there in decisions that affect them reaches levels only dreamed of here. For example, the radical social and economic reforms announced recently are the agreed result of lengthy and intense consultation involving both Government and the trade unions which, together with other social organisations, such as the churches, involve the vast majority of Cuban voters.

With such an intense engagement with politics, it is hardly surprising that enthusiasm for the electoral process in Cuba contrasts sharply with the voter apathy that often characterises elections and referenda here. Voting in Cuba is voluntary, but turnout for referenda or elections seldom dips below 95%.

How can it be that our media never allows that story to be told? What are they really afraid of?

Flyer for Sligo meeting 0.86 Mb