Cuba to enact new constitution launching modest state revamp

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba’s national assembly is set to enact the new constitution on Wednesday, allowing the government to launch a modest update of its centrally planned single party system with dozens of laws expected on everything from the economy to political structures. In a February referendum, Cubans overwhelmingly ratified the new constitution after a year of debate, updating its 1976, Soviet-era Magna Carta. While it retains socialism as “irrevocable”, it codifies changes in Cuban society since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, like the opening of the economy to free enterprise, and includes a political restructuring among other changes. The document specifies some of the new laws to be elaborated within the next two years, while more broadly stipulating the national assembly must establish a timeline for the around 50 laws needed to bring governing practice in step with the constitution.

Analysts say that while the constitution establishes the broad framework of this intense legislative process, there is leeway for it to enact more or less reform. “The formation of a more open and democratic country depends on this process and not on the constitution,” said Cuban lawyer and legal columnist for independent media Eloy Viera Cañive. He said Cubans needed to participate in the process, with recent the expansion of internet giving them a powerful tool to do so. Online protests already led the government to partially backtrack on new regulations on the private sector and the arts last December.

Some hope the upcoming legislative process could result in a greater modernization of the stagnant state-run economy, battling with declining aid from key ally Venezuela and a tightening U.S. trade embargo. “(We) will be closely watching whether, and how quickly, Cuba moves to turn the constitution’s recognition of new forms of private property into a law that provides ‘legal personality’ for small and medium-sized enterprises that are privately owned,” said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University.

Cuba’s growing bevy of self-employed citizens have been clamoring for such a law, that would give them the right for example to import and export, ever since former President Raul Castro started expanding the private sector a decade ago. The first laws to be addressed, however, are expected to be others. The constitution stipulates that the national assembly must approve a new electoral law to reflect the restructuring of government within a half-year. Within the following three months, it must elect a president, widely expected to remain Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Castro last April. 'That president must then appoint provincial governors and a prime minister,- a new post separating the role of head of state from head of government.'

The Magna Carta stipulates that within 18 months, new laws reflecting constitutional changes to the judicial system such as the presumption of innocence in criminal cases and habeas corpus should also be introduced. Meanwhile the process of a popular consultation and referendum on a new family code, that will address the controversial issue of gay marriage, should also be kicked off within two years.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-constitution/cuba-to-enact-new-constitution-launching-modest-state-revamp-idUSKCN1RM1VC?il=0

(repost from pb)

Vatican tries 'retreat diplomacy' as South Sudan peace deal falters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican brought together South Sudanese leaders for 24 hours of prayer and preaching on Wednesday, a last ditch attempt to heal bitter divisions a month before the war-ravaged nation is due to set up a unity government. The retreat, which a Vatican statement called “both ecumenical and diplomatic”, will end on Thursday with an address to the leaders by Pope Francis, who has expressed a desire to visit South Sudan. The leaders are all Christians, including President Salva Kiir, his former deputy turned rebel leader Riek Machar, and three other vice presidents.

Machar’s presence was in doubt until the last minute because aides said that Sudan, which is a guarantor to the September peace deal, has been restricting his movements in capital, Khartoum. Sudan, which is predominantly Muslim, and South Sudan, predominately Christian, fought each other for decades before the south became independent in 2011. Oil-rich South Sudan plunged into civil war in two years later after Kiir, a Dinka, fired Machar, from the Nuer ethnic group, from the vice presidency.

Brutal fighting broke out, characterized by extreme sexual violence, the use of child soldiers and attacks on civilians along ethnic faultlines. About 400,000 people died and more than a third of the country’s 12 million people were uprooted, sparking Africa’s worst refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Machar landed in Rome about an hour before the retreat was due to start in the Pope’s Vatican guest house. The leaders will live there and eat together during the retreat. Also attending are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican communion; members of the South Sudan Council of Churches; and other African Catholic and Presbyterian Church leaders. Welby had proposed the retreat to the pope.

A Vatican statement said the retreat would offer the leaders “a propitious occasion for reflection and prayer, as well as an occasion for encounter and reconciliation”. An African Jesuit, Father Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, will preach. The two sides signed a power-sharing deal in September calling on the main rival factions to assemble, screen and train their respective forces to create a national army before the formation of a unity government. That has not happened. Instead, the government has dismissed U.N. investigations into war crimes and gang rape and asked for $285 million in funding to implement the deal. Last month, Brussels-based think-tank the International Crisis Group warned the deal risks total collapse before May 12, when the leaders are due to start sharing power.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-southsudan/vatican-tries-retreat-diplomacy-as-south-sudan-peace-deal-falters-idUSKCN1RM1XU?il=0

Raul Castro denounces renewed U.S. attempts to destroy Cuban revolution

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban Communist Party leader Raul Castro on Wednesday denounced what he called the United States’ renewed attempts to destroy the Cuban revolution and pressure Venezuela, adding that the island nation did not fear its threats. “We will not renounce any of our principles and we reject all forms of blackmail, the increase of the economic war and the strengthening of the blockade,” Castro told the national assembly, which was meeting to enact a new constitution.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-constitution-usa/raul-castro-denounces-renewed-u-s-attempts-to-destroy-cuban-revolution-idUSKCN1RM22S?il=0

U.S. wants U.N. to revoke credentials of Maduro's government

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called on the United Nations on Wednesday to revoke the U.N. credentials of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government and recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader.

He said the United States had drafted a U.N. resolution and called on all states to support it. “The time has come for the United Nations to recognize interim president Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body,” Pence told the U.N. Security Council. Diplomats said it is unlikely Washington will get the support needed to adopt such a measure. It was not immediately clear if Pence was proposing a resolution in the 15-member Security Council or the 193-member General Assembly.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-un-pence/u-s-wants-u-n-to-revoke-credentials-of-maduros-government-idUSKCN1RM23K?il=0

Algerian army chief wants ruling 'gang' prosecuted, backs route to elections

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria’s army chief said on Monday he expects to see members of the ruling elite prosecuted for corruption and will support a transition toward elections after mass protests ousted the long-serving president.

Lieutenant General Gaid Salah’s comments were the strongest hint yet that the military would play its traditional role as kingmaker following veteran leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s resignation after 20 years in office. “The army will meet the people’s demands,” said Salah, addressing officers and soldiers at a military base. “The judiciary has recovered its prerogative and can work freely.” He referred to the ruling caste as “the gang”, a term people have used in the protests to describe Bouteflika’s inner circle, which encompassed retired intelligence officials, oligarchs, members of the ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) and some veterans of the 1954-62 war of independence against France.

The army chief of staff urged the judiciary to reopen a corruption case against oil and gas giant Sonatrach, an object of resentment for many Algerians who accuse their leaders of stealing the North African nation’s wealth. More than one in four people under the age of 30, some 70 percent of the population, are unemployed - one of the central grievances of protesters who want the economy liberalized and diversified to reduce its reliance on energy. In 2012, a series of scandals shook Sonatrach, which was tightly controlled by Bouteflika loyalists. Its CEO and other executives were imprisoned for graft offences.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-algeria-protests/algerian-army-chief-wants-ruling-gang-prosecuted-backs-route-to-elections-idUSKCN1RM1BW?il=0

>>6121289

Agreed, May has been slow walking this thing since she got a hold of it. The only way this moves forward (imho,) is to remove her and her cronies.