¿TODOS SOMOS AMERICANOS? IL TRADIMENTO COSTITUZIONALE CUBANO

The historical roots of the 1959 revolution can be traced back to the struggle between United State and Cuba. Castro’s policy has its roots in a new idea of cubanidad, free from foreign guidance; the 1940 Constitution seemed to be the solution, in fact it explicitly guaranteed rights to employment, minimum acceptable standards for working conditions, property ownership, education, and social security. The 1940 Cuban Constitution is commonly considered the first successful, truly sovereign Constitution on the Island. So when Castro overthrew Batista in 1959, he quickly proclaimed a Fundamental Law that effectively replaced, in theory, the existing constitution. But this new document, practically, consolidated political power from the three branches of the former Cuban Government into a central authority and removed many civil and political rights previously guaranteed to all Cubans. While the Fundamental law resulted in substantial changes in the distribution of political power and rights, Castro claimed that the statute was a mere amendment to the 1940 Constitution. This was the first step of Castro’s regime and the end of the modern democracy idea in Cuba.