Cubans will vote in a referendum on Sunday on whether to allow same-sex marriage and surrogacy, which experts say could become an opportunity to voice opposition to the government.
More than eight million Cubans over the age of 16 are eligible to take part in the voluntary and secret ballot – the first time a law has been decided by public ballot.
Just months after the government passed a penal code criticized for restricting freedom of expression, the Family Code would allow not only marriage and surrogacy (as long as money is not exchanged), but also adoption by same-sex couples and parental rights to non-biological mothers and fathers .
If passed, Cuba would become only the ninth country in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage, following in the footsteps of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay and some Mexican states.
The vote comes as Cuba is mired in a deep economic crisis, fueling mass immigration away from the island, with an increasingly vocal populace expressing dissatisfaction with the one-party state.
This could turn Sunday’s referendum on the government initiative into a protest vote.
Since Havana has been waging an intense campaign in favor of the measures, rejection of the points could offer Cubans a rare opportunity to publicly censure their government.
Many could vote “no” or even abstain altogether to “make the government pay for the crisis,” Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuban academic at Holy Names University in California, told AFP.
The referendum, he added, is a unique “opportunity to show approval or disapproval” of the communist government.
And while a “No” is unlikely to win, it is expected to garner between 25 and 30 percent of the vote, which in itself would be something of a reproach for the government.
In 2019, the new constitution was also put to a referendum and passed with 78 percent of the vote, but that was already the lowest approval rating the government had received since the 1959 communist revolution.
– crackdown –
Six decades after Fidel Castro’s revolution, Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis in 30 years, fueled by tightening US sanctions and a collapse in tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Faced with critical import shortages and skyrocketing inflation, many Cubans are struggling to access medicines, electricity, fuel and basic necessities.
The country erupted in historic anti-government protests in July last year, with citizens calling for food and more freedoms.
Hundreds have been arrested and jailed, but that hasn’t stopped repeated demonstrations in recent months in a country notoriously intolerant of dissidents.
In May, parliament unanimously approved a reform of Cuba’s penal code with severe restrictions on social media use, which opponents say is intended to quell future public discontent.
– ‘A father and a mother’ –
The Family Code is intended to replace the 1975 legislation that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The government had attempted to change this in the 2019 constitution, but withdrew its proposal against strong opposition from churches and conservative groups.
It was instead incorporated into the family code, which President Miguel Diaz-Canel tweeted Wednesday “represents the hope of thousands of people marred by painful histories of exclusion and silence.”
The marginalization of LGBTQ people in traditional Cuban macho society peaked in the 1960s and 70s.
In 2010, Castro admitted that the Cuban Revolution had oppressed members of the community as dissenters, including using forced labor camps for re-education. Some were driven into exile.
A major opponent of the family code is Cuba’s powerful Catholic Church, which claims “it is a child’s right to have a father and a mother.”
The government touted its initiative during weeks of nationwide public consultations attended by more than half of Cuba’s 11.2 million people.
Other suggestions in the code include a clear definition of the rights of older people and the provision that no one found guilty of abusing a minor can ever adopt a child.
The code requires more than 50 percent of the votes to pass and would go into effect the day after the results were announced.
Even if there is a protest vote on Sunday, or the draft is rejected in principle, some believe the outcome will already be known and the code will be passed.
“It’s already decided,” said Martha Beatriz Roque, a longtime dissident who believes the government paid only lip service to “respecting people’s rights.”
