Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Monday 24 deceMber 2018

Cuban assembly approves draft of new constitution

By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ sembly, President Miguel “There are a lot of ques-
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN Diaz-Canel said the island’s tions to pay attention and
Associated Press economic challenges — in- respond to,” Diaz-Canel
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s cluding a weak 1.2 percent said. “We’ll give responses
National Assembly on Sat- 2018 growth rate, and simi- to all of them as soon as it’s
urday approved an up- lar growth expected next possible, and those that we
date of the country’s con- year — required the ac- don’t’ have an answer to
stitution, the final step be- ceptance of private busi- for the moment, we’ll never
fore a national referendum ness, joint public-private stop searching.”
expected to approve the ventures and coops work- He did not mention Cuba’s
new charter in February. ing together. He promised unique two-currency sys-
The new constitution con- to fight widespread public- tem, which creates inef-
tains more continuity than sector embezzlement and ficiencies and distortions
change, although it rec- corruption that makes it vir- that are seen as one of the
ognizes the de-facto mod- Cuba’s former President Raul Castro, center, votes during tually impossible to get any- island’s most serious eco-
ernization of Cuban soci- a session to debate the draft of a new Constitution, at the thing done in Cuba without nomic problems. Castro
ety over the last decade. Convention Palace in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. a series of small bribes. called monetary unifica-
The constitution main- “We’ve called a battle, tion an urgent priority be-
tains Cuba as a centrally Legalizing private property in the private sector with- and we’ll wage it, an ethi- fore stepping down in April,
planned economy ruled is a formal recognition of out licenses. cal battle against corrup- but the issue has barely
by a single Communist Par- significant change in Cu- The new constitution also tion, illegality ... and social been mentioned since Di-
ty, but recognizes private ban society since former recognizes worker-owned indiscipline,” he said. az-Canel took over.
property for the first time President Raul Castro per- cooperatives for the first The president also prom- The degree to which the
and paves the way for a mitted home and auto time as a legal form of pro- ised a more responsive new constitution will actu-
separate referendum on sales, creating a booming duction in every sector of government, part of an ally spur change is expect-
legalizing gay marriage. real-estate market, and al- the economy, while main- initiative that has seen al- ed to be seen only after
It also creates the role of lowed more than half a mil- taining Cuba’s largely inef- most all Cuba’s head of the National Assembly ap-
prime minister alongside lion Cubans have permits ficient and stagnant state- ministries start social-media proves a raft of changes to
the current president, as to work as entrepreneurs. run industries as the central accounts for the first time, the civil and penal codes
well as provincial gover- Hundreds of thousands means of production. some of which take ques- and electoral laws next
nors. more work full or part-time Closing the National As- tions from citizens. year.q