Cuban Constitution Declares a Socialist State That Was Never Real

Madelyn Sardiñas Padrón, a chemical engineer and activist from Camagüey, has recently published an insightful critique dismantling the three pillars that Article 1 of the 2019 Cuban Constitution claims as the foundation of the State: socialism, the rule of law, and social justice.

The piece, titled "Cuba: What Socialism is Irrevocable?" and shared on the civic platform CubaxCuba, argues that none of these three principles are present in Cuban reality. According to Sardiñas Padrón, the Constitution uses them as tools for political legitimacy and control.

"Cuban reality shows that the socialism proclaimed has never existed: it was always a state monopoly using socialist rhetoric without upholding its principles. The opening line of Article 1 thus becomes a hollow assertion, useful for legitimizing the regime but empty in theory and in the daily lives of the citizens. So, if there was and is no socialism, what exactly is declared irrevocable in Cuba?" Sardiñas Padrón writes.

Reevaluation of Socialism in Cuba

Regarding the first pillar, the activist argues that "in what might be the most blatant distortion of socialist theory, the regime established in Cuba since 1959 classified all means of production as 'fundamental' and turned the State from administrator to the absolute owner of virtually everything." The 1968 Revolutionary Offensive nationalized thousands of small private businesses, from grocery stores and workshops to barbershops and shoeshine stands, even categorizing media as "fundamental means of production."

Sardiñas Padrón states that this led to "the community being reduced to a bureaucratic system, where workers were only called to nod in approval of centrally directed plans," while leadership roles were filled by political appointees from the single party. This model's inefficiency is evident today: between January and May 2026, 363 state enterprises reported losses, an increase of nearly 43% compared to the same period in 2025.

The Illusion of Rule of Law

Concerning the rule of law, Sardiñas Padrón highlights that the Constitution itself contradicts this notion: "It's unnecessary to look at practice; the Constitution itself denies the existence of the rule of law in Article 5, which declares the only political party legally permitted as the superior guiding force of society. In other words, the law legitimizes political power instead of limiting it." This internal contradiction is compounded by arbitrary detentions, political trials against peaceful protesters, and restrictions on press freedom and association.

Social Justice: A Broken Promise

The third pillar—social justice—also falters when compared to reality. "Individuals who devoted their lives, inspired by the promise of a better future, now survive on pensions that barely afford 900 ml of oil, if they haven't already seen their children leave," the activist writes. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) projects a 10.3% contraction in Cuba's GDP for 2026, with the minimum wage equivalent to less than five dollars on the informal exchange.

Sardiñas Padrón is no stranger to the repression she denounces. She was arbitrarily detained on July 11, 2023, in Camagüey for stating on Facebook that political prisoners exist in Cuba. In March 2026, she publicly challenged the regime to hold a free plebiscite on government change, and in July of that year, she exposed the collapse of three major lies of official discourse on the fifth anniversary of the July 11 protests.

"The Cuban Constitution declares a socialism that never existed, a rule of law contradicted within its own text, and social justice [that] only exists in rhetoric. The legal framework authorizes a centralized system that uses socialist language to justify absolute control and legitimize political power," concludes the activist, posing an unanswered question to the regime: if socialism was never real, what exactly does Article 4 of the Constitution declare irrevocable?