Cubans Vote in One-Party General Elections

abcnews.go.com — By Marc Frank

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans voted in one-party general elections on Sunday, with President Fidel Castro saying the election showed defiance against U.S. efforts to destroy the country's communist revolution.

Dissidents dismissed the poll as a fraud and urged people to boycott it, but authorities said that 7.4 million people, or 89.6 percent of registered voters, had cast their ballots by early afternoon.

The election is held every five years to choose 609 deputies to the National Assembly and 1,119 representatives to provincial assemblies.

Voters have no choice of candidates which are equal to the number of open seats. They can check a box for all the candidates, or vote for one or more of them, or none.

The father of Elian Gonzalez, a young boy who survived a shipwreck that killed his mother while trying to reach the United States and whose later return to Cuba ignited fury among many Cuban Americans, was among those on the slate. Others included a mix of well-known leaders and personalities, such as singer Silvio Rodriguez as well local officials.

Castro, dressed in his traditional military uniform, cast his ballot as voters chanted "Fidel, Fidel" in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, where he stood for re-election to the National Assembly.

"This is a response to the empire in its efforts to destroy the revolution," Castro said, referring to the United States.

Dissident Vladimiro Roca, who was released from prison last year after serving a five-year sentence for opposition activity, had a different view. "This is not an election because in an election you can choose between different options. Here the only option is to continue as we are ... this is one of Fidel Castro's many frauds," he told Reuters.

Like other members of Cuba's small and hounded dissident movement which Havana charges works for the United States, Roca called on voters to boycott the polls or spoil their ballots.

DISSIDENTS OBSERVE POLLS

Some dissidents went to polling stations to observe the vote count when they closed. Roca told Reuters he was allowed to observe, but another dissident, Martha Beatriz Roque, was turned away. Roque said some 200 dissidents participated in the action countrywide and a full report would be issued on Wednesday.

It is the first election since dissidents in May delivered 11,000 signatures to the government requesting a referendum on electoral reforms, the right to operate private businesses, more civil rights and amnesty for political prisoners.

Cuba's constitution requires petitions signed by more than 10,000 voters be considered for a referendum vote.

Asked in Santiago de Cuba why the government has not directly responded to the initiative, named the Varela Project after an 18th century priest and independence hero, Castro said it was not worth even discussing.

"Do you think in a country as serious, hard working and heroic as this we are going to pay attention to such foolishness," Castro said, charging that the project was invented by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

The United States and Cuba do not have diplomatic relations but maintain interests sections in each other's capitals. Washington has maintained an economic embargo against Cuba for more than 40 years and worked to isolate the government.

Castro, 76, was expected to be sent back to parliament, which will elect the Council of State. That body designates the President of the Republic and Castro, in power for 44 years, is expected to be chosen for another five-year term.

Castro defended Cuba's electoral system to reporters, insisting that the country's only legal political organization, the Communist Party, had stayed out of the process.

Havana points to a traditional turnout of about 98 percent as proof of huge support for the government, while dissidents say it reflects voters' fears they will be ostracized if they do not participate.

Angela Ramirez, a housewife from Havana's La Lisa district, said she voted because it was her duty. "I support the system as the best possible. I would like more choice, but at least we are not in the situation Argentina or Venezuela is in," she said.

Other Cubans said they felt compelled to vote. "It may seem like you can vote or not, but if you don't you are marked, so it is in your interest to turn out," said Francisco, a taxi driver who cast his ballot in the Central Havana district.