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| Reference Material |
| Cuba to enshrine communist system By Reuters June 22, 2002, Philippine Daily Inquirer HAVANA � Cuban President Fidel Castro�s government said on Thursday it will adopt amendments enshrining its communist system in the national constitution to counter threats from US President George W. Bush. Rejecting US demands that the island open up to democracy and a market economy, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon said Bush - backed by anti-Castro exiles in Florida � wanted to destroy Cuba�s revolution and reverse half a century of social gains. We will affirm that the political, economic and social bases of our constitution are unchangeable,� Alarcon said at a rally in Havana�s Revolution Square where he received 23 truckloads of signatures supporting the amendments. The 8.2 million signatures, amounting to 98% of Cuba�s voting population, were gathered since Saturday in a campaign that dissidents said was aimed at crushing their own proposals for internal reform���. Cuba�s small dissident movement saw the signature campaign as a move to stamp out their Varela Project, a moderate proposal seeking a referendum on greater civil liberties for Cuba�s 11 million inhabitants. The Varela Project, which has never been publicized by Cuba�s state-controlled media, would ask Cubans if they favor freedom of speech and assembly, the right to own a business and an amnesty for political prisoners���. |