So, here’s my overall analysis of cuban democracy:
It is a democratic system. However, it is one of the most flawed democratic systems out there despite having a number of redeeming qualities. The direct democracy system, outside of the CRR on a local level, seems fundamentally flawed. You have a number of bodies who select delegates to the national assembly but you can’t be sure whether these delegates will actually represent the group they’re supposed to or even just the organisation – the selection process may not be democratic. Overall, I think that direct democracy fundamentally works best on a local level because then people can get directly involved far easier. If you give them more power, this functions very effectively. Let’s get onto more positive things: the popular elections. These are broadly democratic. However, the lack of political parties is flawed: political parties are a valid organisation to allow likeminded people to organise. Essentially, a union for people with political views. That is, in a country with a non-money driven political landscape. The ballot counting, however, seems to be fair and is completely transparent. One problem: there is a small bit of interference with propoganda posters clearly shown in the background of polling booths. Also, having anyone gaurding the ballots is negative: they should be in a room alone and people are only vetted for going in to stop any form of intimadation. However, over all I think that part is pretty solid.
Let’s now talk about the media. Cuba’s media is very authoritarian, with extensive censorship: more than the UK or USA. In a communist country ‘imperialist propoganda’ as you call it should not spread very well: if people are not having a good life and it speaks to them, let it. A communist country means big media companies are likely to be unbiased. Overall, cuban media is censored and overly centralised, limiting the function of free democracy