President René Hernández Headquarters Havana, Cuba | Founded 1959 Political position Centre | |
Ideology Centrism
Christian democracy
Christian humanism
Christian socialism International affiliation Centrist Democrat International | ||
The Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Cuba, abbreviated PDC) is a Christian Democratic political party in Cuba. Although changes to the Cuban constitution in 1992 decriminalized the act of forming political parties other than the Communist Party, none of the parties (Communist Party included) are permitted to campaign or engage in any public political activities on the island.
Overview
The Christian Democratic Party (CD) has the largest structure of any oppositional Cuban parties. A smaller group within the Party called Cristo del Rey (CR) broke away in 1996. The president of the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba is Cuban exile Marcelino Miyares Sotolongo and the international secretary is José Ignacio Rasco, also in exile. Rasco, who founded the Cuban Christian Democratic Party in 1959 is a professor, writer and columnist. In addition, he is President of the Jacques Maritain Institute of Cuba and also President of Editorial Cubana.
The party's manifesto, (created in Miami 1991) states; "We have made the decision to found the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba because we wish to offer a political alternative to our mother country in the fight for human rights, economic development and social justice within a democratic and pluralistic framework." The party invokes the legacy of Simón Bolívar and José Martí, whom they say "conceived Latin America as a brotherhood of shared, common and sovereign nations." The Christian Democratic Party of Cuba are publicly against all foreign intervention in Cuba, and declare their opposition to the United States embargo.