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The Provincial Electoral Council of Granma secured first place in the First National Innovation Workshop of the Cuban electoral body with the project "Little Guardians of Socialist Democracy," an initiative that, according to its organizers, is designed to instill political and electoral values aligned with the regime in children from an early age.
According to the official description published this Thursday on the Facebook profile of the Provincial Electoral Council of Granma, the proposal aims to promote "civic, patriotic, and citizen participation values in the new generations" and constitutes "a demonstration of the commitment of the Cuban electoral system to the formation of a strong democratic culture, based on education, social responsibility, and love for the Homeland."
The event images show a student in a school uniform holding a ballot box decorated with the colors of the Cuban flag, while adults pose next to handwritten signs featuring the name of the project.
The initiative comes at a time when the Cuban regime is intensifying the use of minors in political events. So far this year, children have been mobilized to anti-imperialist tribunals in schools, festivals against the embargo, and May Day marches.
The project also coincides with increasing international pressure on the Cuban electoral model. A few days ago, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez was unable to respond during an interview with the television station ABC News regarding what would happen if Cubans voted freely, limiting himself to describing the country as "a different kind of democracy".
In April, Díaz-Canel stated before the television network NBC News that Cuban leaders are elected "from the base," while omitting that the candidacies are filtered by committees aligned with the Communist Party and that there is no legal opposition on the island.
The official campaign #MySignatureForTheHomeland, launched that same month, also sparked massive rejection, with Cubans demanding free elections instead of signatures of support for the regime.
In this context of questioning the political system, the regime seeks to consolidate its electoral narrative from childhood, using minors as symbolic actors in a process that does not allow for competition or legal opposition.
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