Cuba 2019

Cuba is a democratic, independent and sovereign socialist State of law and social justice, organized by all and for the good of all, as an indivisible and unitary republic, founded by the labor, dignity, humanism, and ethic of its citizens for the enjoyment of liberty, equity, justice, and equality, solidarity, and individual and collective well-being and prosperity.

The name of the Cuban State is the Republic of Cuba, the official language is Spanish, and the capital is Havana.

The national symbols are the flag of the lone star, the Bayamo Anthem, and the coat of arms of the royal palm.

The law defines the characteristics that identify them, their use, and their conservation.

In the Republic of Cuba, sovereignty resides nontransferably with the people, from which all of the State's power emanates. The people exercise this power directly and via Assemblies of People's Power and other organs of the State that are derived from them, in the form and according to the norms established by the Constitution and the laws.

The defense of our socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban.

Treason is the most serious of crimes, whoever should commit treason will be subject to the most severe sanctions.

The socialist system that this Constitution supports is irrevocable.

Citizens have the right to combat through any means, including armed combat when other means are not available, against any that intend to topple the political, social, and economic order established by this Constitution.

The Communist Party of Cuba, unique, Martiano, Fidelista, and Marxist-Leninist, the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, sustained in its democratic character as well as its permanent linkage to the people, is the superior driving force of the society and the State.

It organizes and orients the communal forces towards the construction of socialism and its progress toward a communist society. It works to preserve and to fortify the patriotic unity of the Cuban people and to develop ethic, moral, and civic values.

The Union of Young Communists, a vanguard organization of the Cuban youth, is recognized and supported by the State, contributes to the education of the youth in the revolutionary principles as well as the ethics of our society, and promotes their active participation in the edification of socialism.

The Constitution is the supreme norm of the State. All are obliged to comply with it. The orders and acts of the organs of the State, their leaders, functionaries, and employees will act in conformity with that which is prescribed by the Constitution.

That which is prescribed in international treaties that are in force for the Republic of Cuba constitute or form part of national legislative regulations, as applicable. The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba takes priority over international treaties.

All are obligated to strictly adhere to socialist law.

Furthermore, the organs of the State, their leaders, functionaries, and employees ensure its respect in the lives of all people and act within the limits of their respective responsibilities.

The organs of the State, its leaders, functionaries, and employees are obligated to respect, care for, and respond to the people, to maintain close links with the people, and to submit to their oversight in the forms established by the Constitution and the laws.

The State exercises its sovereignty and jurisdiction:

1. Over the entire national territory, comprised of the Island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, the other adjacent islands and cays, the interior waters, and the extended maritime territories established by the law, the aerospace that extends over these territories, and the radio spectrum;
2. Ownership of natural resources
   Over the environment and the natural resources of the country;
3. Ownership of natural resources
   Over the natural resources, both living and nonliving, of the waters, the seabed, the waters above it, and the subsoil of the sea within the Republic's exclusive economic zones according to the territorial extensions set by the law and in accordance with International Law, and
4. Over the continental shelf as far as the law prescribes and in accordance with International Law.

Likewise, the State exercises jurisdiction in the contiguous zone that corresponds to International Law.

The Republic of Cuba repudiates and considers illegal and void the treaties, concessions, or pacts agreed to under conditions of inequality or that alienate or diminish its sovereignty or territorial integrity.

The State's essential objectives include the following:

1. To channel the efforts of the nation in the construction of socialism and to strengthen national unity;
2. The maintain and to defend the independence, integrity, and the sovereignty of our homeland;
3. To preserve national security;
4. To guarantee effective equality in the enjoyment and exercise of rights, and in compliance with the duties enshrined in the Constitution and the laws;
5. To promote sustainable development that secures individual and collective prosperity, and to obtain greater levels of equity and social justice, as well as to preserve and to multiply the achievements of the Revolution;
6. Human dignity
   To guarantee the dignity of people and their integral development;
7. To strengthen and preserve the ideology and the ethics inherent to our socialist society;
8. Right to culture
   To protect the natural, historical, and cultural patrimony of the nation, and
9. Reference to science, Right to culture
   To secure the educational, scientific, technical, and cultural development of the country.

The State recognizes and stimulates the social and mass organizations that bring together distinct sectors of the population, that represent their specific interests and that involve them in the tasks that edify, consolidate, and defend the socialist society.

The law establishes the general principles that these organizations are based upon and recognizes the practice of other associative forms.

The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees religious liberty.

The Republic of Cuba is secular. In the Republic of Cuba, the religious institutions and fraternal associations are separate from the State and they all have the same rights and duties.

Distinct beliefs and religions enjoy equal consideration.

The Republic of Cuba bases its international relations on the exercise of its sovereignty as well as on the antiimperialist and internationalist principles in accordance with the interests of the people and, in consequence:

1. Reaffirms that economic, diplomatic, and political relations with any other State may never be negotiated under the force of aggression, threat, or coercion;
2. Right to self determination
   Ratifies its aspiration for a dignified, true, and valid peace for all states, based on the respect for independence and sovereignty of the people and their right to free determination, expressed in the liberty to choose their political, social, economic, and cultural system as an essential condition to secure peaceful coexistence between nations;
3. International organizations, Customary international law, International law
   Sustains the will to observe, without restrictions, the principles and norms that constitute international law, in particular the equality of laws, territorial integrity, the independence of states, the nonuse of threats of force in international relations, international cooperation for mutual and equal benefit and interest, the peaceful resolution of controversies on the basis of equality, respect, and the other principles proclaimed in the United Nations Charter;
4. Regional group(s)
   Reaffirms its will to integrate and collaborate with the countries of Latin American and the Caribbean;
5. Promotes the unity of all Third-World countries and condemns imperialism, fascism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and other forms of subjugation in any of its manifestations;
6. Protection of environment
   Promotes the protection and conservation of the environment as well as responding to climate change, which threatens the survival of the human species, through the recognition of common, yet differential, responsibilities; the establishment of a more just and equitable international economic order as well as the eradication of irrational patterns of production and consumption;
7. Defends and protects the enjoyment of human rights and repudiates any manifestation of racism or discrimination;
8. International law
   Condemns direct or indirect intervention in the internal or external affairs of any State and, therefore, also condemns armed aggression, any form of political or economic coercion, unilateral blockades that violate International Law, or any other type of interference or threat to the integrity of the States;
9. Telecommunications, International law
   Rejects the violation of the non-renounceable and sovereign right of all States to regulate the use of and the benefits from telecommunications within their territory, according to universal practices and to the international agreements to which Cuba belongs;
10. Reference to fraternity/solidarity
    Classifies wars of aggression or conquest as an international crime, recognize the legitimacy of battles of national liberation and armed resistance to aggression, and considers it our international duty to act with solidarity with the assaulted party and with the people who fight for their liberation and self-determination;
11. International law
    Promotes complete and general disarmament and rejects the existence, proliferation, or use of nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction or those with similar effects, as well as the development and use of new weapons, including autonomous weapons and new forms of waging war, such as cyberwarfare, that transgress International Law;
12. Terrorism
    Repudiates and condemns terrorism in any of its manifestations, in particular, State terrorism;
13. Radio, International organizations
    Ratifies our commitment to the construction of a society of information and knowledge centered on the people and oriented towards sustainable development, in which all may create, consult, utilize, and share information and knowledge in order to improve their quality of life; and defends the cooperation of all states and the democratization of cyberspace, and condemns its use and the use of the radio spectrum for purposes contrary to those purposes stated above, including the subversion and destabilization of sovereign nations;
14. Reference to fraternity/solidarity
    Bases its relationships with countries that edify socialism on fraternal friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance;
15. Customary international law, International law
    Maintains and fosters friendly relations with countries that, despite having a different political, social, and economic system, respect our sovereignty, observe the norms of coexistence between States, and adopt a reciprocal attitude with our country, in accordance with the principles of International Law, and
16. Promotes multilateralism and multipolarity in international relations, as alternatives to the domination and political, financial, and military hegemony or any other manifestation that threatens peace, independence, and the sovereignty of peoples.

The Republic of Cuba may concede asylum, in accordance with the law, to those who are persecuted because of their ideals or their fights for national liberation, progressive activities, socialism and peace, democratic rights and its assertions, as well as to those who fight against imperialism, fascism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and any other form of domination, discrimination, or racism.

Human dignity is the supreme value that underpins the recognition and exercise of the rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution, treaties, and laws.

The Cuban State recognizes and guarantees to a person the non-renounceable, indivisible, and interdependent enjoyment and exercise of human rights, in correspondence with the principles of progressivity and nondiscrimination. Their respect and guarantee are obligatory for all.

All people are equal before the law, receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities, and enjoy the same rights, liberties, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic origin, skin color, religious belief, disability, national or territorial origin, or any other personal condition or circumstance that implies a distinction injurious to human dignity.

All people have the right to enjoy the same public spaces and service facilities.

Likewise, they receive equal salary for equal work, with no discrimination whatsoever.

The violation of this principle is proscribed and is sanctioned by law.

Women and men have equal rights and responsibilities in the economic, political, cultural, occupational, social, and familial domains, as well as in any other domain. The State guarantees that both will be offered the same opportunities and possibilities.

The State encourages the holistic development of women and their full social participation. It ensures the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights, protects them from gender-based violence in all of its forms and in all spaces, and creates the institutional and legal mechanisms to do so.

The State creates the conditions necessary to guarantee the equality of its citizens. It educates all people from the earliest age possible in the respect of this principle.

The State effectuates this right with the implementation of public laws and policies to encourage social inclusion and the safeguard of the rights of people whose condition requires it.

The exercise of these rights of the people are only limited by the rights of others, collective security, general well-being, respect for public order, the Constitution, and the laws.

All citizens have the right to life, physical and moral integrity, justice, security, peace, health, education, culture, recreation, sports, and to their holistic development.

The people have the right to the free development of their personality and must conduct themselves with respect, fraternity, and solidarity.

All people have the right to personal and familiar privacy, to their own image and voice, their honor, and their personal identity.

The home is an inviolable space. One may not enter in another dwelling without permission of the inhabitants, except through a warrant issued by a competent authority following the legal formalities and for a motive previously defined by the law.

Correspondence and other forms of communication between persons are inviolable. They may only be intercepted or registered through a warrant issued by a competent authority in the cases and with the formalities established by the law.

Documents of information obtained in violation of this principle do not constitute evidence within any legal proceeding.

People may not be subject to forced disappearance, torture, or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

People have the right to enter, remain in, travel through, and exit from the national territory, or to change their residence or domicile without any limits other than those established by the law.

All people have the right to request and receive information from the State that is true, objective, and timely, and to access the information generated by organs of the state and its entities, according to the established regulations.

The State recognizes, respects, and guarantees people freedom of thought, conscience, and expression.

Conscientious objection may not be invoked with the intention of evading compliance with the law or impeding another from the exercise of their rights.

People's freedom of press is recognized. This right is exercised according to the law and for the good of society.

The fundamental means of social communication, in any of their forms, are the socialist property of all people or of political, social, and mass organizations, and may not be categorized as any other type of property.

The State establishes the principles of organization and operation for all means of social communication.

The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association for legal and peaceful purposes are recognized by the State whenever they are exercised with respect to public order and in compliance with the precepts established by the law.

Any person has the right to profess or not profess their religious beliefs, to change them, and to practice the religion of their choice with the required respect to other beliefs and in accordance with the law.

All people have the right to enjoy their personal property. The State guarantees its use, enjoyment, and free disposal, in accordance with what is established in the law.

The expropriation of goods is solely authorized for the purpose of attending to reasons of public utility or social interest with the required indemnity.

The law establishes the means to determine their utility and necessity, the required guarantees, and the procedure for their expropriation and the form of indemnity.

Confiscation of property may only be applied as a sanction issued by a competent authority in the cases and through the procedures determined by the law.

When the confiscation of property is ordered in an administrative procedure, a person is always guaranteed the ability to defend their right before the competent courts.

Within its penitentiary policy, the State favors the social reintegration of persons deprived of liberty, guarantees the respect for their rights and the compliance with the norms established for their treatment within prison establishments.

Likewise, it is responsible for the assistance and social reintegration of persons who fulfill their criminal penalties or comply with other measures imposed by the courts.

People have the right to direct complaints and petitions to the authorities, who are obligated to process and respond to them in a timely and pertinent manner that is based on the term and procedure established in the law.

People's intellectual property rights are recognized according to the law and to international treaties.

The rights acquired are exercised by the author and owners in compliance with the law and according to public policies.

The State recognizes the right to succession in the case of death. The law regulates its content and scope.

The State recognizes the right to work. Any person that is able to work has the right to obtain a dignified employment according to their choice, qualifications, aptitude, and the demands of the economy and society.

The State organizes institutions and services that facilitate the ability of working families to carry out their responsibilities.

All people have the right for their work to be remunerated according to its quality and quantity, which expresses the socialist principle of distribution: "from each according to their ability, to each according to their labor."

Child labor, performed by children or adolescents, is prohibited.

The State grants special protection to adolescents who have graduated from vocational school or others who, in exceptional circumstances defined by the law, are permitted to work with the purpose of guaranteeing their training and holistic development.

Workers have the right to a break, which is guaranteed through the eight-hour workday, a weekly break, and annual paid vacations.

The law defines other cases in which exceptions may be made to approve alternative workdays or working systems, with the necessary proportion of time devoted to work and breaks.

People who work have a right to social security. The State, through the social security system, guarantees adequate protection when a person finds themselves unable to work due to age, maternity, paternity, disability, or illness.

Likewise, in accordance with the law, the State protects grandparents or other relatives of minors in their care and attention.

In the case of a worker's death or retirement, the State grants similar protection to his or her family, in accordance with that which is established in the law.

The State guarantees the right to safety and health at work through the adoption of suitable means to prevent work-related accidents or illnesses.

Any person who suffers an accident during their labor or contracts a work-related illness has the right to medical attention, subsidy, or pension in the case of a temporary or permanent incapacity to work, or to other forms of social security protection.

The State, through social assistance, protects persons without resources or shelter, those who are unable to work, those without family members who are able to care for them, and the families that, due to low income, require it, according to the law.

The State recognizes the right to adequate housing and a safe and healthy home for all people.

The State works to make this right effective through shelter construction programs, with the participation of entities and of the population, in correspondence with public policies, the norms of territorial and urban order, and the laws.

Public health is a right of all people and it is the State's responsibility to guarantee access to quality medical attention, protection, and recovery services, free of charge.

The State, in order to effectuate this right, institutes a healthcare system at all levels that is accessible to the population and develops prevention and education programs, in which the society and families contribute.

The law defines the mode in which health services are provided.

Education is a right of all people and the responsibility of the State, which guarantees free, accessible, and quality education services to its citizens for their holistic development, from preschool until the postgraduate level.

The State, in order to effectuate this right, establishes a broad system of educational institutions of all types and education levels, which allows the possibility of attending school during any stage of life according to one's aptitudes and the country's social demands and socioeconomic development needs.

Society and families have the responsibility of education.

The law defines the scope of the obligatory nature of attending school; the basic general preparation that must be minimally acquired; the education of adults and those whose postgraduate or other complementary studies may extraordinarily be remunerated.

People have the right to physical education, sports, and recreation as essential elements of their quality of life.

The national education system guarantees the inclusion of teaching and practicing physical education and sports as an integral part of childhood, adolescent, and teenage education.

The State works to guarantee the necessary resources dedicated to the promotion and practice of sports and recreation for all people, as well as for the preparation of, attention to, and development of athletic talent.

All persons have the right to enjoy a natural environment that is healthy and stable.

The State protects the environment and the country's natural resources. It recognizes their close linkage with the sustainable development of the economy and society to make human life more rational and to ensure the security of current and future generations.

All people have the right to water.

The State works to guarantee access to potable water and to its sanitation, with the required compensation and rational use.

All people have the right to a healthy and adequate diet. The State works to achieve the food security of the entire population.

All people have the right to consume quality goods and services that are not counter to their health, the right to access truthful and adequate information about these items, and the right to receive a dignified and equitable treatment in accordance with the law.

All people have the right to participate in the artistic and cultural life of the nation.

The State promotes culture and the distinct artistic formats in accordance with cultural policy and the law.

Cuban citizens have the right to participate in the formation, exercise, and monitoring of the power of the State, for which purpose they may, in accordance with the laws:

1. Be registered within the electoral registry;
2. Propose and nominate candidates;
3. Elect officials and be elected for office;
4. Referenda
   Participate in elections, plebiscites, referendums, popular consultations, as well as other forms of democratic participation;
5. Make pronouncements regarding the release of documents or information for the purposes of accountability that are provided by elected officials;
6. Revoke the mandate of elected officials;
7. Exercise the powers of the legislature as well as the power of constitutional reform;
8. Perform public functions or roles, and
9. Be informed of the management of the organs and authorities of the State.

All people have the right to start a family. The State recognizes and protects families, regardless of their structure, as the basic cell of society, and works to guarantee that the holistic achievement of their objectives.

They are formed by legal, de facto, or emotional ties, and are based on the equality of rights, duties, and opportunities of its members.

Legal protection of the diverse types of families is regulated by the law.

Marriage is a social and legal institution. It is one of the organizational structures of families. It is based on free consent and on the equality of rights, obligations, and legal capacity of spouses.

The law determines how they are constituted and their effects.

Furthermore, it recognizes the stable and singular union with legal capacity that effectively forms a common life plan that, under the conditions and circumstances indicated in the law, generates the rights and obligations that the law provides.

All children have equal rights.

All titles regarding the nature of one's birth are prohibited.

The State guarantees, through suitable legal procedures, the determination and the recognition of maternity and paternity.

Maternity and paternity are protected by the State.

Mothers and fathers have essential responsibilities and roles in the holistic education and upbringing them as citizens with moral, ethical, and civic values in correspondence with life within our socialist society.

Mothers and fathers or other relatives by blood or marriage who perform the roles of guardianship and caretakers have the duty to feed children and adolescents, respect and guarantee the full exercise of their rights, protect them from all types of violence, and contribute actively to the holistic development of their personality.

Children, in turn, are obligated to respect, care for, and protect their mothers, fathers, and other relatives, in accordance with that which is established by law.

Violence within the family, in any of its manifestations, is considered destructive to the people involved, to families, and to society, and is punishable by law.

The State, society, and families grant special protection to children and adolescents in order to guarantee their harmonic and holistic development, keeping their best interests in mind in the decisions and actions that concern them.

Children and adolescents are considered to have full possession of their rights and enjoy the rights that are recognized in this Constitution, in addition to the rights that are specific to their special condition as a developing person. They are protected from all types of violence.

The State, society, and families recognize young people as active participants in society, for which they create the conditions for the full exercise of their rights and their holistic development.

The State, society, and families, in their respective roles, have the obligation to protect, aid, and provide the conditions to satisfy the necessities and improve the quality of life of the elderly. Likewise, they are obligated to respect their self-determination, guarantee the full exercise of their rights, and promote their social integration and participation.

The State, society, and families have the obligation to protect, foster, and ensure the full exercise of rights for disabled persons. The State guarantees the required conditions for their rehabilitation or the improvement of their quality of life, their personal autonomy, and their social inclusion and participation.

The exercise of the rights and liberties provided for in this Constitution implies responsibilities. They are duties of Cuban citizens, in addition to the other duties established by this Constitution and the laws, are:

1. Duty to serve in the military
   To serve and defend the homeland;
2. Duty to obey the constitution
   To comply with the Constitution and other legal norms;
3. To respect and protect the national symbols;
4. Duty to pay taxes
   To contribute to the public expenditures in the form established by the law;
5. To demonstrate the required respect to the authorities and their agents;
6. Duty to serve in the military
   Perform military or social services according to the law;
7. To respect the rights of others and to not abuse one's own rights;
8. To conserve, protect, and make rational use of the goods and resources that the State and society provide to the people;
9. Protection of environment
   To comply with the requirements established for the protection of environmental health and hygiene;
10. Protection of environment
    To protect the natural resources, flora, and fauna, and to safeguard the preservation of a clean environment, and
11. To protect the country's cultural and historic patrimony, and
12. Reference to fraternity/solidarity
    To act, in one's relations with other people, according to the principle of human solidarity and with respect to the norms of a proper social coexistence.

Foreigners residing in the Republic are equal to Cubans:

1. In the Protection of their person and property;
2. Duty to obey the constitution
   In the obligation to observe the Constitution and the law;
3. Duty to pay taxes
   In the obligation to contribute to the public expenditures in the form and quantity established by the law;
4. In their submission to the jurisdiction and rulings of the courts of justice as well as the authorities of the Republic, and
5. In the enjoyment of the rights and compliance with the duties set forth within this Constitution under the conditions and within the limits established by the law.

The law establishes the cases and the form in which foreigners may be expelled from the national territory as well as the authorities empowered to decide in these cases.

The State guarantees, in accordance with the law, that people may access judicial bodies in order to obtain effective protection of their rights and legitimate interests. Fulfillment of judicial decisions is obligatory and disrespect of these decisions will result in liability for those who violate them.

The State recognizes the right of people to settle their disputes using alternate methods of conflict resolution, in accordance with the Constitution and the legal norms that are established for such purposes.

All people, as a guarantee of their legal protection, enjoy due process in the legal sphere as well as the administrative sphere and, consequently, enjoy the following rights:

1. To enjoy equality of opportunities in all processes in which they participate;
2. Right to counsel
   To receive legal assistance in order to exercise their rights in all processes in which they participate;
3. Regulation of evidence collection
   To provide pertinent means of proof and request the exclusion of those that have been obtained in violation of established law;
4. Judicial independence
   Access to a competent, independent, and impartial trial, when appropriate;
5. To not be deprived of their rights except by the ruling of a competent authority or final judgement of a court;
6. To bring a pertinent action or procedure against the judicial or administrative rulings, when appropriate;
7. Right to speedy trial
   Proceedings without undue delay, and
8. Protection from false imprisonment, Ultra-vires administrative actions
   Redress for material and moral damages and compensation for resulting harm.

Furthermore, in criminal proceedings, all people have the following guarantees:

1. To not be deprived of liberty, unless by a competent authority and for the legally prescribed amount of time;
2. Right to counsel
   To have access to legal assistance from the start of the proceedings;
3. Presumption of innocence in trials
   To the presumption of innocence until declared guilty through a final sentence of a court;
4. Regulation of evidence collection, Human dignity
   To be treated with respect for their dignity and physical, mental, and moral integrity, and to not be a victim of violence and duress of any kind in order to coerce a testimony;
5. Protection from self-incrimination
   To not testify against oneself, one's spouse, civil partner, or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity and second of affinity;
6. To be informed of an accusation against them;
7. Principle of no punishment without law
   To be judged by a legally pre-established court and in virtue of previous laws regarding the crime;
8. To communicate with their relatives immediately, in the case they are arrested or detained. In the case of foreigners, a notification to their consulate will be made, and
9. Protection of victim's rights
   If they are the victim of a crime, to enjoy protection of the exercise of their rights.

Anyone illegally deprived of liberty, of their own account or by a third party, has the right to submit a writ of Habeas Corpus to a competent court, according to the requirements established in the law.

The State recognizes the right of all people to access their personal information in public registries, archives, or other databases, as well as request its non-disclosure or obtain a due correction, rectification, modification, update, or deletion.

The use and treatment of these data is performed according to that which is established in the law.

All people who have suffered undue harm or prejudice by leaders, functionaries, or employees of the State while exercising the duties of their position have the right to issue a complaint and receive the corresponding redress or indemnity as established by the law.

Anyone whose rights as enshrined in this Constitution are violated and who, as a consequence, has suffered harm or prejudice by organs of the State, its leaders, functionaries, or employees while exercising their duties of their position or by undue oversight of these duties, as well as by individuals or by non-State entities, has the right to issue a complaint with the court to obtain restitution of their rights and, in accordance with the law, the corresponding redress or indemnity.

The law establishes the rights protected under this guarantee, and the preferential, expedited, and reduced proceedings to comply with it.

The legal system is governed by the principle of non-retroactivity of laws, except in penal matters when they are favorable to the accused or to the sanctioned person, and in the case of other laws, when they expressly permit it with regard to matters of social interest or public utility, which they must explicate in their content.

The organs of the State are formed and develop their activities upon the foundation of the principles of socialist democracy, which are expressed in the following rules:

1. All the representative organs of State power are elected and renewable;
2. The people monitor the activity of the State organs, their leaders, functionaries, representatives, and delegates, in accordance with that which the law prescribes;
3. Elected representatives have the duty to periodically release required documentation regarding the performance of their duties and may be removed from office at any moment;
4. Each State organ develops, according to its role and within the framework of its competency, initiatives designed to take advantage of resources and local possibilities and the incorporation of the social and mass organizations to their activity;
5. The orders of the superior State organs are obligatory for the subordinate State organs;
6. The subordinate State organs respond to the superior organs and they submit documentation regarding their management;
7. The liberty of discussion, the exercise of criticism and self-criticism, and the subordination of the minority to the majority govern in all of the collegial State organs, and
8. State organs and their leaders and functionaries act with due transparency.

The President of the Republic is the Chief of State.

The President of the Republic is elected by the National Assembly of People's Power from among its representatives, for a period of five years, reports to the Assembly, and is responsible for the management of the Assembly.

To be elected President of the Republic an absolute majority vote is required.

The President of the Republic may exercise the role for two consecutive periods, after which a person may not run for office again.

To be President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, enjoy full civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen by birth, and not possess any other citizenship.

One must also be under the age of sixty in order to be elected to a first term in office.

The following duties correspond to the President of the Republic:

1. Duty to obey the constitution
   To comply with and ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws;
2. To represent the State and to direct its general policies;
3. Foreign affairs representative
   To direct in matters related to foreign policy, relations with other states, and with regard to the defense and security of the nation;
4. To sign the laws emitted by the National Assembly of People's Power, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic in accordance with the law;
5. To present to the National Assembly of People's Power, upon election by this body, in that session or the following session, the members of the Council of Ministers;
6. Head of government removal, Electoral commission, Attorney general, Subsidiary unit government, Cabinet selection, Cabinet removal, Supreme/ordinary court judge removal, Supreme court selection, Head of government selection
   To propose to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State, according to whom the matter corresponds, the selection, designation, suspension, revocation, or substitution of persons occupying the roles of the Prime Minister, the President of the People's Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, the Comptroller General of the Republic, the President of the National Electoral Council, and the members of the Council of Ministers;
7. Municipal government, Subsidiary unit government
   To propose to the appropriate delegates of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power the election or revocation of provincial governors and deputy governors;
8. To be familiar with, evaluate, and adopt decisions regarding the reports presented by the Prime Minister documenting his or her management, as well as those of the Council of Ministers, or those of the Executive Committee;
9. Designation of commander in chief
   To discharge the duties of Commander in Chief of the armed forces and to determine their general organization;
10. Power to declare/approve war, Advisory bodies to the head of state
    To preside over the Council of National Defense and to propose to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State, as necessary, to declare the State of War or War in cases of military aggression;
11. Emergency provisions
    To order a general mobilization when the defense of the country requires it, as well as to declare a state of emergency or a situation of disaster, in the cases prescribed by the Constitution, giving notice of the decision as soon as possible to the National Assembly of People's Power or to the Council of State; in the event that they may not be convened, the proper legal remedies will be applied;
12. Selection of active-duty commanders
    To promote in rank and role the top officials within the hierarchy of the military institutions of the nation and to order their cessation, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the law;
13. Right to renounce citizenship, Conditions for revoking citizenship
    To decide, in appropriate cases, on the granting of Cuban citizenship, to accept renunciations, and to issue orders regarding the loss of Cuban citizenship;
14. To propose, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the law, the suspension, modification, or revocation of the orders and agreements of the organs of the State that contradict the Constitution or the laws, or that affect the general interests of the country;
15. Head of state decree power
    To issue, in the exercise of the office's powers, presidential decrees and other orders;
16. To create commissions or temporary working groups for the realization of specific projects;
17. International organizations
    To propose to the Council of the State the designation or removal of the chiefs of Cuba's diplomatic missions within other States, organisms, or international organizations;
18. To concede or to retract the rank of the ambassador of the Republic of Cuba;
19. To grant decorations and honorific titles;
20. Foreign affairs representative
    To grant or to deny, on behalf of the Republic of Cuba, the approval of heads of diplomatic missions from other States;
21. Deputy executive, Foreign affairs representative
    To receive the credentials of the chiefs of foreign missions. The Vice President may assume this function in exceptional circumstances;
22. Power to pardon
    To grant pardons and to request concessions of amnesty from the National Assembly of People's Power;
23. To participate by his or her own right in the meetings of the Council of State and to convene them when deemed necessary;
24. To preside over the meetings of the Council of Ministers or the Executive Committee, and
25. The other powers that are assigned through this Constitution and the laws.

To be Vice President of the Republic, one must have reached the age of thirty-five, be in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights, be a Cuban citizen through birth and not possess any other citizenship.

The Vice President is elected in the same form and for the same period and mandate limit as the President of the Republic.

The Vice President of the Republic performs the responsibilities and possesses the powers delegated or assigned by the President of the Republic.

In the case of absence, illness, or the death of the President of the Republic, the Vice President will temporarily substitute for the President.

In the case of a definite absence, the National Assembly of People's Power will choose the new President of the Republic.

While the role of the Vice President of the Republic remains vacant, the National Assembly of People's Power will select a substitute.

If the absence is definitive, both in the case of the President or in the case of the Vice President of the Republic, the National Assembly of People's Power will select their substitutes. Until an election is realized, the President of the National Assembly of People's Power will assume, during the interim, the role of the President of the Republic.

The law regulates the procedures for substitution in these cases.

The President and the Vice President of the Republic remain in office until the election of their successors takes place within the National Assembly of People's Power.

The function of imparting justice emanates from the people and is exercised in their name by the People's Supreme Court as well as the other tribunals that are established by the law.

The law establishes the objective principles of the judiciary's activity and regulates the organization of the courts; the jurisdiction and the extension of their competencies; the form in which they are constituted in order to administer justice; the participation of the lay judges; the requirements to serve as a magistrate within the People's Supreme Court or as a judge; the form of election of these as well as the causes and procedures for the removal or the cessation of their functions.

The courts constitute a system of State organs, structured with functional independence from any other.

The People's Supreme Court exercises the maximum judicial authority and its decisions are definitive.

Through its Council of Government, it does not exercise the legislative initiative or the regulatory power, it makes decisions and dictates norms that all courts are obligated to comply with, and, based upon their experiences, it imparts obligatory instructions to establish a uniform judicial practice in the interpretation and application of the law.

The magistrates and lay judges of the People's Supreme Court are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.

The law determines the election of other judges.

The magistrates and judges, in their function of imparting justice, are independent and do not owe obedience except to the law.

Additionally, they are irremovable from their position as long as there are no concurrent legal actions for the cessation of their duties or removal from their office.

The sentences and other final resolutions of the courts, issued within the limits of their competence, must be obligatorily obeyed by the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens; both those who are directly affected by them as well as those without a direct interest in their execution must take part in them.

In the judicial proceedings in which the lay judges participate, they have the same rights and duties as the professional judges. The performance of their judicial duties, given their social importance, has priority with respect to their habitual occupation.

The audiences of all courts are public, except in cases in which State security, morality, public order, or respect for the person harmed by the crime or their family necessitate that they are held behind closed doors.

The People's Supreme Court reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the results of its activities in the form and with the frequency established by the law.

The ability to remove magistrates or judges corresponds to the organ that elects them.

The Attorney General of the Republic is the organ of the State that has, as its fundamental mission, the exercise of oversight over criminal investigations and the exercise of the public penal action in representation of the State; additionally, the Attorney General ensures that the organs of the State, the entities, and the citizens observe strict compliance with the Constitution, the laws and other legal provisions.

The law determines the other objectives and functions, as well as the form, extension, and opportunity in which the Attorney General will exercise the powers of the office.

The Attorney General of the Republic constitutes an organic, indivisible, and functionally independent unit that is subordinate to the President of the Republic.

The management and regulation of the activity of the Attorney General's Office throughout the entire national territory corresponds to the Attorney General of the Republic.

The organs of the Attorney General's Office are organized vertically throughout the country, are subordinate only to the Attorney General of the Republic and are independent of all local organs.

The Attorney General of the Republic and the deputy attorneys general are elected and may be removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or by the Council of State.

The Attorney General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency established by the law.

The Comptroller General of the Republic is the organ of the State whose fundamental mission is to ensure the proper and transparent administration of public funds and the superior monitoring of administrative management.

The law regulates the other functions and aspects related to the Comptroller General's performance of his or her duties.

The Comptroller General of the Republic has functional independence with respect to any other organ, is vertically structured throughout the country and is subordinate to the President of the Republic.

The Comptroller General of the Republic is its maximum authority and the management and regulation of the Comptroller's activity throughout the country corresponds to this office.

The Comptroller General of the Republic reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding his or her performance in the form and with the frequency prescribed by the law.

The Comptroller General of the Republic and the deputy comptrollers general are elected or removed by the National Assembly of People's Power or the Council of State.

All citizens with the legal capacity to do so have the right to contribute to the management of the State, either directly or through their elected representatives within the organs of People's Power and to participate, for this purpose, in the form prescribed by the law, through periodic elections, plebiscites, and popular referendums that will be free, equal, direct, and secret. Every elector has the right to a single vote.

Voting is a citizen's right. The vote is exercised voluntarily by Cuban citizens, both men and women, that have reached the age of sixteen, except:

1. Those who have been judicially restricted from exercising their legal capacity due to a disability;
2. Those who have been judicially disqualified, and
3. Those who do not meet the requirements for residency in the country as prescribed in the law.

The Electoral Registry is public and permanent; it is composed ex officio of all citizens with the legal capacity to vote in accordance with that which is prescribed by the law.

Cuban citizens, both women and men, that are in full enjoyment of their political rights and meet the other requirements established by law have the right to be elected.

If the election is for representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power, they must be over the age of 18.

Members of military institutions have the right to elect and to be elected, just as any other citizen.

The law determines the number of representatives that will make up the National Assembly of People's Power, in proportion to the number of inhabitants within the respective districts in which, for electoral purposes, the national territory is divided into.

The representatives on the National Assembly of People's Power and the delegates on the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power are elected through a vote of the electors that is free, equal, direct, and secret. The law regulates the procedure for their election.

To be considered elected, a representative or a delegate must have obtained more than half of the valid votes cast within the electoral district that the individual seeks to represent.

In the case that a vote of more than half is not obtained, or in other cases of vacant positions, the law regulates the form in which the election will proceed.

The National Electoral Council is the permanent organ of the State with the fundamental mission of organizing, directing, and supervising the elections, popular consultations, plebiscites, and referendums that are convened.

It handles and responds to the complaints that are lodged with regard to elections and performs the other functions recognized by the Constitution and the laws.

The National Electoral Council guarantees the veracity, transparency, efficiency, publicity, authenticity, and impartiality of the processes of democratic participation.

The National Electoral Council has functional independence with respect to any other organ and reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding the performance of its functions.

Additionally, once an electoral process is complete, it informs the nation of the result.

The National Electoral Council is made up of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, and the other members prescribed by the law.

The members of the National Electoral Council are elected and removed, as necessary, by the National Assembly of People's Power or, in some cases, the Council of State.

The organization, functioning, membership, and designation of the electoral authorities at all levels is regulated by the law.

Persons that are nominated or who occupy popularly elected offices may not be members of the electoral organs.

The National Electoral Council monitors the production of and updates to the Electoral Registry, in accordance with that which is established in the law.

All State organs, their leaders and functionaries, and other entities are obligated to collaborate with the National Electoral Council in the exercise of their functions.

The Cuban State bases its policy of Defense and National Security on the defense of independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty, and peace through the prevention and consistent engagement with the risks, threats, and aggressions that affect their interests.

Its strategic conception of defense is based on the War of All the People.

The National Defense Council is the superior organ of the State whose primary mission is to organize, direct, and prepare the country during times of peace to defend itself and to ensure compliance with the norms in force related to the defense and security of the nation.

During extraordinary situations or disaster, it directs the country and assumes the duties that correspond to the organs of the State, with the exception of constituent power.

The National Defense Council is composed of the President of the Republic, who presides over it and, in turn, designates a Vice President and the other members determined by the law.

The law regulates the organization and operation of the National Defense Council and its structures at its various levels.

The military institutions of the State are the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the armed formations of the Ministry of the Interior that, in order to achieve their functions, rely on the participation of military and civilian personnel.

The law regulates the organization and operation of these institutions as well as the military service that citizens must perform.

The military institutions' essential mission is to ensure and maintain the independence and sovereignty of the State, its territorial integrity, its security, and peace.

In the interest of guaranteeing national defense and security in the case of foreign military aggression, the imminent threat of such aggression, or other circumstances that affect the nation's security and defense, extraordinary situations—the State of War, War, General Mobilization, or the State of Emergency—may be temporarily decreed throughout the entire country. The State of Emergency may also be decreed within a part of the national territory.

The law regulates the form in which situations of exception are declared, their effects, and their termination.

In the case of a disaster of any kind that affects the population or the economic or social infrastructure and that exceeds the capacity or the normal response and recovery of the country or of the territory affected, a Situation of Disaster may be decreed.

The law regulates the establishment, effects, and termination of Situations of Disaster.

While situations of exception and disaster are in force, the law determines the rights and duties recognized by the Constitution, whose exercise must be regulated in a different manner.

The National Defense Council, upon reestablishing normalcy within the country, reports to the National Assembly of People's Power regarding its decisions and management during this period.