Previously, a broad popular consultation process was developed, where 6,481,200 voters participated with 336,595 interventions in more than 79,000 meetings, which led to changes to 49.15% of the content of the project.

In general, the Family Code:

It seeks to recognize and protect vulnerable sectors of society.
There is an intentional treatment against discrimination and violence in the family space.
Recognizes the rights of older adults.
It incorporates the possibility of solidary gestation.
Transformation of a system of authority to one of responsibility in the relationship between mothers and fathers with their children.
It develops the right of all people to found a family and marry.
Family caregivers are named and recognized.

The new proposal of the family substantive text has as background Law No. 1289 of February 14, 1975, Family Code, modified in several of its precepts, essentially by Law No. 51, of July 15, 1985, of the Registry of Civil Status and Decree-Law No. 76 of January 20, 1984.

The project seeks to guarantee the rights of all people, regardless of the structure or form of organization they have opted for when forming a family, so that values ​​such as mutual respect, loyalty, solidarity, assistance reciprocal, as well as the affection between its members so that the family does not cease to be a moral entity, of a plural nature that has a single objective: to make those who compose it happy. It is about designing a normative body tailored to the Cuban society of these times.

At the end of the process, he told the press that it is going to be an intense day, which we arrived at as a result of a process that had to do with the construction of a fair, necessary, up-to-date, modern regulation that gives rights and guarantees to all people and diversities of families and creeds.

The president said that the Family Code has gone through a broad popular discussion process that has allowed a group of modifications. He recalled that they have worked with more than 25 versions of this legal norm.

“This Code started from popular debate, from a social need. In recent years our society has become more heterogeneous, Cuban families have changed and new types of relationships have appeared. There were debts with the treatment from legal norms to certain issues of inheritance and affection, and I think it was fair that they were taken into account at a time like this.

Díaz-Canel said that the regulations were also based on the study of situations and court cases, of the daily experiences of different types of families, of events that have occurred at a certain time, personal experiences. From these experiences —said the president— it is better understood why a Code was needed.

“The expectation is not that it will be a unanimous vote, but I do believe that it will be majority by our people,” said the president.

Likewise, he recognized that the Family Code includes issues that the people of Cuba still cannot understand.

“I think that in 62 years we have not overcome a criterion of patriarchy in some families, nor the understanding of diversity.”

We have respected the law and the opinion of all —said the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba—, but there are people who have not understood that the Code does not deny the family they defend, but rather gives guarantees to that type and to others.

In his words to the press, Díaz-Canel said that there is a whole platform against the Code that starts from the demonization and discredit of the Cuban Revolution.

“There are people who demonstrate against the Code, especially on social media, using vulgar and hateful language. If the Code said the opposite of what it says, those haters would be criticizing it too. It is not a problem of convictions, reasoning, rationality or feelings, there are simply people who adopt that position because they consider that if it is a Code within the Revolution, then it should not be valid”.

The president considered that the expressions towards the Code have to do with the understandings that people have in their own family or creed conditions.

“I believe that we have also assumed a position of courage by calling a referendum in the conditions that the country is going through: shortages, blackouts, shortages, with an important part of the economy paralyzed due to the intensification of the measures applied by President Trump in his mandate and maintained by the current administration of the United States.”

The first secretary of the PCC said that it has already been won, because regardless of whether the vote is yes or no, “we were all less selfish and looked more towards families and society.”

In this sense he added: “We all learned more about what our family and social realities were. Only the popular debate that has been generated and the way in which people have stopped to think about issues that at a given moment were not in their interest has already contributed to our society in terms of spirituality and feelings in relation to the family” .

Due to the depth and scope of the Family Code and the diversity of topics, the president considered that this is a monumental work. It has been subjected to two citizen participation processes, the Popular Consultation and the Referendum.

“That tells us that the country is on the way to continue expanding its military.

“That tells us that the country is on the way to continue expanding its democratic and participatory exercise, within the socialist Constitution. Each time the legal norms approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power are reached with more participation, seeking more criteria from the population”, commented the president.

In this regard, he stressed that all these laws and decree laws that are being prepared and approved, as well as public and government policies, are advised by groups of experts, so that all these regulations emerge from the outset with legal robustness, with a humanistic approach, towards socialism and from the treatment of integrality.

Miguel Díaz Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla/ Cubadebate.

“My expectation is that the majority of the population will vote yes. We have to get used to the fact that on such complex issues, where there is a diversity of criteria, there are people who can give a vote of punishment, because even if they have nothing against the Code, they assume a position determined by disgust because of the complex situation they are going through. . That is also legitimate,” said the head of state.

Likewise, he said that we cannot solve the economic problems that we have and then build a legal norm like this. “If a majority vote is yes, then it takes a tremendous effort because there is a group of constructions that support everything that the Code recognizes in terms of guarantees and rights.”

Most people understand that we are growing, assured Miguel Díaz-Canel.

“When we overcome the complex situations we are going to have a Code at the society level that helps and gives guarantees. I strongly believe in the participation and wisdom of our people. In addition, we have worked with transparency and loyalty. There was a constitutional mandate and we have fulfilled it in the times agreed by the National Assembly, regardless of the complex situation in the country.”

“The Code must be read, interpreted and assumed from and with the heart, always putting oneself in the place of others. The Code breaks taboos and prejudices. The most important thing is that we have grown as a society”, concluded the Cuban president.

(By: Thalía Fuentes Puebla y Abel Padrón Padilla/Cubadebate)

The president of the National Electoral Council, Alina Balseiro, explained that the electoral steps taken are very important, both the dynamic test and the vote abroad, planned as established in the program.

She affirmed that in the test carried out this Sunday in the Cuban nation some difficulties were identified, however, the electoral body will work to resolve the problems presented.

Meanwhile, she noted that all the conditions have been created for Cubans to exercise their right to vote next Sunday.

Recently, Balseiro confirmed that the 168 municipalities in the country have activated the electoral structure, and have the documentation and other inputs that ensure the development of the voting, in which more than 200,000 people participate.

She also specified that the legislative process will take place in the more than 24,000 authorized polling stations in the country.

Likewise, she told national television that more than 400,000 young people will vote for the first time; that the referendum will allow Cuban men and women to exercise their right to vote with complete transparency and democratically elect a law that is committed to the well-being and happiness of all families.

On September 25, Cubans will take the legislative norm to a popular referendum, considered transcendent due to the breadth of rights and opportunities that it guarantees to all people.

(With information from Prensa Latina)

Exclusively to the Cuban News Agency, the official explained that the territory’s 3,891 polling stations will open this Sunday and the conditions for this process will be verified, although the voting rehearsal and data processing will be carried out in 4,000 chosen polling stations. .

From six in the morning and until one in the afternoon, the dynamic test will be carried out, in which the electoral authorities and the population will intervene, she said.

On September 25, the day of the popular referendum, it is expected that 1,626,047 capital voters will go to the polls to cast their vote for the new Family Code, a step that will decide on the entry into force of this important law.

Dupuy Zapata affirmed that several months ago the trainings in accordance with the electoral law began, the lists of voters were verified and updated, explanatory brochures were prepared and the system for processing the information was prepared.

I consider that the Code is very positive, inclusive, respects the decisions of people and the rights that the current law does not include, she asserted.

She highlighted that the legal norm protects grandparents, defends the possibility of same-sex marriage, the responsibility of parents and contemplates the different types of families. It is a Code for the future of all, she said.

The National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba approved in its July 2022 session the new Family Code after a popular consultation process, which will enter into force if it receives the majority affirmative vote (yes) of the valid votes cast by the voters.

(Taken from ACN)

Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, president of the electoral body, told the press that the results are favorable and in them the massiveness of Cubans stands out, since on this occasion three percentage points were registered above for the same period during the second stage of the general elections of March 2018.

The official also explained that this result is preliminary and that on Monday the results will be released with a closing date of six in the afternoon this Sunday, although the official figures will be public once the process of reviewing, organizing and validating the results ends, which will happen in the next few days.

From seven o’clock in the morning, more than 24,000 polling stations opened their doors throughout the country, to which the population flocked to express its vote on a text that introduces modifications in the structure of the State and recognizes private property as a supplementary actor in the national economy.

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, exercised his right to vote in an electoral college in the capital municipality of Playa, to endorse the new Constitution of the Republic of Cuba. After depositing his ballot, Raúl exchanged with the pioneers who guarded the ballot boxes and with the members of the polling station.

Around 8:30 a.m. Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, exercised this right and told the press that the Constitution that was endorsed, now strengthened thanks to the popular consultation to which it was subjected, is also to give continuity to the Revolution and Socialism, to perfect it, and reaffirms the unity of Cubans, immersed in economic tasks and preparation for defense.

Salvador Valdés Mesa, first vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers, said that the new Magna Carta responds to the current and future interests of the people and even after a multitudinous popular consultation experienced the modification of 60% of its articles, which evidences its democratic character.

José Ramón Machado Ventura, Second Secretary of the PCC, highlighted the transparency and popular participation in the entire process of analysis, debate and collective construction of the document, which contributed to its improvement.

The vice president of the Council of State, Inés María Chapman, said, once the new constitution had been endorsed, a period of intense legislative activity was taking place to update fifty laws and another important group of norms and regulations, among them the Family Code, regulations related to physical planning, water use, foreign investment, private work, the environment and the electoral law itself.

(ACN)

According to the President of the commission, Alina Balseiro, about 7,524,318 citizens over 16 years attended the polls, a figure that will grow on Monday when the CEN offers preliminary results during a press briefing.

The day was quiet and with a massive popular protagonism, traditional scene on the island, said the official, who acknowledged the population for their participation.

The 24,000 polling stations established in Cuba closed at 18:00 local time, and the members of the polling centers opened the ballot boxes to count the votes, a process that is public and hosted thousands of neighbors in the 15 provinces.

Although the details of the referendum will not be known until Monday afternoon, in terms of number of Yes votes, those that reflect the No vote and the annulled ones, media and witnesses present predict a clear support for the Constitution to replace the one in force since 1976.

(Prensa Latina)

On his Twitter account, the Venezuelan head of State described the voting as historic, and noted that ‘it will mark the course of new victories for the Cuban Revolution.’

Likewise, Maduro highlighted the efforts to lead the constitutional process by the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Raul Castro, and President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

For her part, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said at the International Assembly of the Peoples in Caracas on Sunday that with the electoral process, Cuban citizens ratified the consolidation of the socialist model.

More than eight million Cubans were called to exercise their right to free, direct and secret vote in more than 25,340 polling stations nationwide on Sunday, and 81.53 percent of them cast their vote, accounting for 7,524,318 people.

According to preliminary statistics from the Electoral Commission in Cuba, participation in the referendum is 3 percent higher than in the general elections held in 2018.

(Prensa Latina)

Miriam Iluminada Rech, coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in the 57th precinct in Playa municipality, where President Miguel Diaz-Canel voted just a few hours ago, affirmed that a revolutionary town is the one who is voting on a new Constitution.

Among the motivations of Cubans to attend the democratic event, Rech mentioned the greatness of the Revolution and the values it fosters such as humility and humanism.

‘Because this Revolution as our Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro, said, is of the humble and for the humble and that is us Cubans, a humble but honest people with an impeccable morality’, she said.

In as much, Mara Valdes, neighbor of that municipality, assumed as a right and a duty her participation in the referendum and to support the new Magna Carta.

‘Certainly (the law of laws) is more appropriate to the new times and I think it will benefit us a lot because it is much wider and more inclusive,’ she said.

At the same time, Merida Cano, 75, recalled that in Cuba the text was discussed in each neighborhood, work centers, and the people expressed their criteria, so, she said, that is in the later a duty compliance with what is established in that law.

She also warned that Cuba’s vote for the ratification of the new Constitution represents the support for Venezuela, which is in the sights of the United States.

Cano also stated that Washington dreams on Venezuela´s fall because it considers that the domino effect can defeat the Cuban Revolution, something that it has not been able to do in 60 years.

She also pointed out that the majority of the Cuban people will demonstrate with the vote yes their commitment to the continuity of the socialist project of the country and its solidarity with the Venezuelan Government and people.

This is until the last breath, she concluded.

(Prensa Latina)

The Army general went to an electoral college in Playa municipality in Havana to endorse the constitution approved in December by the National Assembly of Popular Power.

After depositing his ballot, the leader spoke with the pioneers (primary and middle school students) who guarded the polls and with the members of the polling station.

Raul Castro headed the parliamentary commission responsible for drafting the Constitution, which is the result of the contribution of the population, expressed in more than 780,000 proposals, many of them incorporated into the text, which came out of a consultation in which nearly nine million people participated.

(Prensa Latina)

The Valley, almost 60 kilometers west of the provincial capital, is home to the residents of Vallecito and La Bajada in District 49.

They are 433 persons to vote after being guaranteed transportation and insurance, says Felix Armando Ganges, member of the Electoral Commission of the western province of Pinar del Rio.

So many reasons we have to be present here, assure residents in the place totally forgotten before the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

Ramon Valdes is among them, who narrates to current generations the anxieties experienced before January 1, 1959 by the men and women who inhabited San Antonio Cape and its vicinity.

We are taken into account, our voices enriched the letter of the new constitution we currently supported, he says.

Similar situation is felt in 1, 219 polling stations in this western territory.

Discipline and respect distinguish the day, says Jorge Jesus Cirion, President of the provincial electoral Commission.

A total of 474, 238 Pinar del Río residents must vote on February 24, in which Cuba endorses its constitution.

 (Prensa Latina)