Reply #29: Cuba does have an elected government.

[Mika]

I know that this fact makes uninformed American heads explode, but it is so. (Can hardly blame them though because Americans are travel banned from Cuba by their own government, so they can't really see the place or meet Cubans in Cuba easily & legally. So most Americans rely on their own government and its paid minions, that have a declared and well funded mission to overthrow the government of Cuba, for their info on the island. Sad, really.)

The Cuban government was reorganized (approved by popular vote) into a variant parliamentary system in 1976.

I witnessed an entire election season in Cuba during the 1997-98 season.

http://www.poptel.org.uk/cuba-solidarity/democracy.htm

This system in Cuba is based upon universal adult suffrage for all those aged 16 and over. Nobody is excluded from voting, except convicted criminals or those who have left the country. Voter turnouts have usually been in the region of 95% of those eligible .

There are direct elections to municipal, provincial and national assemblies, the latter represent Cuba's parliament.

Electoral candidates are not chosen by small committees of political parties. No political party, including the Communist Party, is permitted to nominate or campaign for any given candidates.

You can read a short version of the Cuban system here,
http://members.allstream.net/~dchris/CubaFAQDemocracy.html

Or a long and detailed version here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0968508405/qid=1053879619/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-8821757-1670550?v=glance&s=books