Government Overview

The current system of government in Cuba is a single-party socialist state, run by the PCC, also known as the Communist Party of Cuba. On the surface, Cuba has a three-branch system, similar to the United States, consisting of a Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branch; however, Cuba has a history of being a totalitarian state with notable leaders like Fidel Castro. This distribution of power is merely a façade for its actual operations. “Cuba is a unitary socialist republic. The government is totalitarian, exercising direct control or influence over most facets of Cuban life.” (Knight and Levinson 2025) We see this emerge later on in the executive branch. 

The branch in charge of legislation is known as the Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular, or in English, the National Assembly of People’s Power. There are over 600 members, each serving a five-year term. Cuba's Version of the Executive branch consists of a president, as well as the president's cabinet, known as the Council of Ministers. Similar to the United States, Cuban presidents are limited to two terms, each lasting five years. The president is considered the head of state, with a prime minister serving as the leader of the council. 

Power is not truly in the hands of the president or prime minister. This power structure bears a striking resemblance to the rise of Putin and the advancement of his position in government to his advantage, including the amendment of term limits and the consolidation of power in his own hands. In Cuba, authority is concentrated in the hands of the First Secretary. As political scientists, we view this as a common practice in tyrannical dictatorships, employed as a means to circumvent elected officials and bypass the social contract or constitution. 

Judicially, Cuba's courts are at the hands of the executive power as well as the Communist Party of Cuba. Judges can be removed and replaced at any time at the discretion of the party in Cuba. This is essentially one of the most significant problems surrounding human rights in Cuba because there is no accountability to anyone but the party in control. All courts in Cuba lack representation from the people. By that, I mean that Cuban courts do not have juries, thereby excluding the people's voice from the government. Previously, with the other branches, we observed similarities to the American branches of power that create a mirage effect of distribution. However, when we examine the courts, we see the opposite. Judges are loyal to the party and have no accountability to be fair to anyone else, as they risk being removed from office. This lack of legal representation throws out the possibility of a fair trial. 

Cuban-Russian Relations 

As discussed briefly earlier, power is in the hands of Miguel Díaz-Canel, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. He also currently sits in the presidency. However, due to term limits, the position of president is merely a title and holds little to no actual power. This means that the possibility of Cuba having a different president is highly likely; however, the position does not guarantee any power to an elected official. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken highly of Miguel Díaz-Canel as well as the infamous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Describing Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution as close ties of brotherhood even recalling him having ‘very warm memories’ of his meeting with Fidel Castro even stating the following, “Fidel has done much to advance bilateral relations and to promote the values of peace, freedom, truth and justice in international affairs.”(“Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article…” 2025) If you know anything about the Cuban Missile Crisis, where the United States was at a stand-off of total world destruction due to ICBMs, or the countless human rights abuses, suppression of media, re-education camps, and much more, you might view that statement as misleading. The same Russian government controlled site also put out the following statement: “The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, is visiting our country as of this writing to participate in the celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Russia has always deeply appreciated Cuba’s contribution to the fight against Nazism.” This small invitation, as well as acknowledgement for Cuba's fight against ‘Nazism’, is so multifaceted. 

First, what is Russia's military Victory Day parade? After the victory against the Nazis and Axis powers in WWII, Russia has held a Victory Day parade to commemorate the more than 10 million fallen troops. Today, the parade still occurs each May 9th, even after the fall of the USSR. However, it has been highly influenced by Russia's power and seen as an excuse to show its military might and nuclear arsenal in the wake of Putin and his war in Ukraine. Kazakhstan, like many post-Soviet states, has disbanded this parade in an attempt to distance itself from Russia. Those invited to the military parade are symbolically the closest allies of the russian government. Notable leaders include the DPRK's Kim Jong-un and the CCP's Xi Jinping, both in control of the largest communist countries still in existence today. What Russia describes as Nazism is very different from what it meant almost 80 years ago. Today, Russia describes anyone against their interests as nazis. Today, some family friends who live in Russia believe that Russia is fighting the Nazis in Ukraine. Россия-1, the leading news channel in Russia, which is closely paralleled to Fox News, uses its platform to control and spew its own narrative. That being said, it is the only news channel, and the suppression of internet sites and disabling of VPNs mean that most Russians, especially older ones, have no alternative information to go by except what is provided. So when in context to talking about Cuba's help to fight this Nazism, they are referring mainly to any democratic process or anything that goes against the ideas of Russia. This seemingly normal statement should now be alarming, considering its context. 

Russian-Cuban Parallels 

Neither Cuba nor Russia has been known for upholding human rights. As briefly talked about before, Cuba has a very troubling past, so how does Cuba look today after the succession of the Castros?  Today, similarly to Russia, press freedom is low, even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, ending communism in Russia. The organization Reporters Without Borders ranks countries based on their press freedom. High on the charts include some of the ‘freest’ nations for the press, like Sweden and Norway. On the same list, Cuba ranks 165, and Russia ranks 171. For example, the United States of America ranks 57th out of 180 nations. (“Index,” n.d.) This ranking places Cuba at the bottom of Latin America in terms of press freedom. The index even goes beyond stating the following: “Miguel Díaz-Canel, a protégé of Raúl Castro, replaced the latter in 2019 as the country’s president, and then as first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. Like Raúl Castro and his late brother Fidel, who had ruled since 1959, he maintains almost total control over news and information.” (“Index,” n.d.)

The Castro name may no longer be attached to power, yet the same practices of misinformation, propaganda, and media suppression stay strong today. Under the Cuban constitution, the media is to be owned by the people, which, in a socialist aspect sounds good; however, just like the problem with Marxist communism, it is only obtainable on paper, not in practice. In practice, a media owned by the people means it is owned by the government; the government is supposed to answer to the people in a socialist state, but it often becomes tyrannical and rarely does so. Therefore, it is perceived that those who control the media tend to adhere to the government's decisions. One thing that comes to mind for me is the famous ancient political philosopher Plato, who discusses the phenomenon of "tyranny of the majority” in his work The Republic, centuries before Marxism or socialism was even thought of, let alone practiced. This idea is essentially that nations governed by the people for the people tend to be the most tyrannical in nature. This connects back to Cuba’s press, which is intended on paper to be for the people by the people, yet it has a minimal view and is highly censored. 

Cuba, like Russia, shares similar philosophies and models for its rights-based frameworks regarding free speech. The Human Rights Watch organization describes the situation regarding rights as limited, stating that “Government critics risk criminal prosecution, and are not guaranteed due process, such as the right to fair and public hearings by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal. In practice, courts are subordinate to the executive branch.” (“Cuba” 2025) In Russia, the same goes. Media content is limited to state approved news channels in both Russia and Cuba. Websites and open forums are restricted. Many journalists have been jailed for expressing their views in both nations. Anyone who does not align with the government's ideological agenda may face prosecution, imprisonment, or even more severe consequences. In Russia, toxic chemical agents have been used to kill political activists and or opponents. Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian operative, defected after escaping Russia to the United Kingdom. While there, he was harsh in his criticism of the Russian government. In 2006, it was traced that he was killed using Polonium-210, a highly radioactive material. This was the first time that radiation was used for a political assassination. More recently, in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, a private military company, was killed suspiciously after an onboard explosive detonated exactly two months after Prigozhin launched a march towards the Kremlin. To which he later turned around after two days. However, Putin has been suspected of having ordered the killing to prove his power and threaten any other future defectors. In Cuba, although there are no reports of recent state-sanctioned assassinations as of yet, Cubans are still subject to punishment and imprisonment for what they say in the media or if they attempt to organize a protest. 

Political Economy

For most Cubans, the reality is economic poverty. The United States has a total trade embargo imposed on the island of Cuba. This is mainly why the island is known for its classic cars. This was a result of the United States not allowing any new imports. Today, you can still see many classic cars, but trade with other nations, such as Russia, has resumed. Russia, in the wake of the Ukraine war, has had similar issues economically with more democratic nations. However, the Trump administration has not imposed heavy tariffs on Russia, as it has on nations like Mexico or Canada, which some would call primary allies. Russians still feel the pressure economically, as most American companies have pulled out of Russia completely. This similar economic pushback has only tightened the relations between Russia and Cuba, rekindling their relationship during the time of the Soviet Union. Reporters without Borders states that“Cuba is experiencing a difficult economic situation, marked by shortages of essential goods, high inflation, and limited access to foreign currency. The new 2019 Constitution authorised private property and foreign investment” (“Index,” n.d.). The nation of Cuba has limited resources to offer other nations, as its leading economic export, sugar, has recently collapsed, and inflation is only rising. Russia views the 2019 constitution reform for private property as a means to generate revenue. If you know anything about Marxist communism, private property is not allowed. However, Cuba is in a situation where it has nothing to offer economically except for its property. Russia aims to make Cuba a new vacation destination by developing urban areas, lowering the cost of living, and expanding shipping opportunities to boost trade and economic growth. It is estimated that Russian businesses will invest more than $1 billion in 2030 (“Russia promises to invest $1 billion in ally Cuba by 2030,” n.d.). My question is, why would Russia spend so much money to strengthen its connections with Cuba to boost tourism while it is currently losing millions on the active military invasion of Ukraine? The answer is the same as it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis—the proximity to the United States. The United States has numerous military bases worldwide, including some located near Russia's borders, and since the end of the Cold War, proximity has been a persistent concern. Russia realizes this, which is why it is funding billions into tourism in the middle of a war.

One quote from the Harvard International Review says it better than any other. “While these moves seem to put Cuba on the path to greater self-reliance, they may put the small island nation under the grip of Russia as it aims to build a rival axis of power to the United States. The long-term infusion of resources into the island gives Russia the potential to withdraw these same resources.” (Loeb 2023) This dependency is what Russia needs because most post-Soviet states, since the war in Ukraine, have moved away from Russian power, oil, and gas exports. The economy is just one way that Russia uses to control other nations. So, proximity mixed with Cuba's communist history and crumbling economy is the perfect storm for Russia's interests. 

The Role of Religion 

During the Soviet Union and communist occupation of Cuba, there was a mandated atheist state. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, changes to Cuba's constitution have allowed for an increase in religious freedoms for all. Vladimir Putin has leveraged this open religious context to appeal to conservatives in the nation and overall reform the country into a traditionally Russian Orthodox one. This is only part of Russia's reforms to its government, but it plays a significant role in shaping the nation's values as well as using religion as a way to control groups of people. They are attempting similarly to the United States to bring Russia back to its core family values, or, in Russian, семейные ценности. They believe religion plays a key role in shaping people into what they believe to be strong and morally competent. They are highly critical of the Western LGBTQ movements, and even in Russia, it has been criminalized. In Cuba, a shift toward Roman Catholicism and Santería has been flourishing.  However, like Russia, the Cuban government has control over a majority of religious freedom inside the country. The United States Department of State said the following: “The CCP continued to directly govern religious freedom through the ORA, which has authority over all matters related to religious groups, including their registration, travel outside the country, and building and construction permits. According to OAA, the ORA arbitrarily applied rules, showing favoritism to religious groups seen as cooperative or supportive of the government” (“Cuba - United States Department of State” 2025).

In Cuba, the government has the authority to determine whether a religious organization aligns with its objectives. Since the dawn of time, religion has played a pivotal role in shaping politics. Starting with divine right monarchies, control was vested in the hands of a king who seemed to be ordained by God. They used their power as the word of God to maintain control and instilled fear to coerce their citizens into conforming to the government's rules. Today, secularism, or the separation of government from religious power, is more common but not entirely gone. We see fundamentalist religions in the Middle East use Sharia law or the word of Islam to govern. However, most commonly today, nations like Russia use the moral framework of a religion to form their laws, similarly to the United States. What is problematic is when they decide to enforce their own agenda on a group of people based on religion. This is happening today in the United States with the overturning of Roe v Wade. Religious values are starting to take precedence in our society, even in secular governments.

Furthermore, in Cuba, all religious groups must be approved by the government, making their ideologies align with the regime. In Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin sent multiple heads of the FSB and KGB, both state security services, into the church to monitor what was being said and spread his own agenda. In Cuba, the same thing is happening. “CSW and religious leaders said the Ministry of Interior continued its systematic practice of planting informants in all religious organizations, sometimes by persuading or intimidating members and leaders to act as informants, or by sending informants to infiltrate a church” (“Cuba - United States Department of State” 2025). Both Cuba and Russia are using religion not as a way to control people based on faith, but also using religion as a weapon by implementing their own informants into organizations to target the vulnerable, using religion as a cover to control the population through moral and fundamental pathways. 

Conclusion 

Today, Russia and Cuba share many similar values and political tactics. We can see similarities in government structure, with both having so-called elected leaders who use workarounds in the governments to stay in power. We see the economic influences that Russia is using against Cuba to make the island nation dependent on Russia in hopes of building trust and loyalty to Moscow. Cuba is on the brink of collapse due to the rising cost of living. Cuban citizens are struggling to make ends meet. Russia is coming in as a lifeline economically, even when most finances in Russia go to funding the Ukraine war. This dependency, mixed with a shared hatred for the United States because of sanctions and withdrawn Western business, only adds fuel to the fire, weaving Cuba and Russia together not just economically but politically as well, based on their shared interests. Their use of religion as a political pawn to control the population mirrors similar values. 

All the various factors contribute to the reason both nations are attempting to rekindle the relations they had during the Cold War. Cuba feels left out in the cold due to the United States' sanctions. They are desperately in need of allies, and no one else is better suited than one of the world's superpowers, Russia. With their shared resentments towards the United States, both nations attempt to scratch each other's backs. At the same time, Russia benefits simultaneously by putting pressure on the U.S. through proximity, a direct echo of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The future for Russia and Cuba is unknown; however, similarities in limited press as well as tyrannical dictatorships using loopholes in the government do not set a stable foundation for government. The possibility of a revolution is high in both nations as they attempt to exert tighter control over their citizens in terms of politics, economics, and religion. Cuba is explicitly attempting to achieve a communist socialist government that has not worked so far in history in the eyes of Marxism. Therefore, the future of both nations is not set in stone. Russia, ever since the war in Ukraine, has had most citizens dissatisfied with the government, as the war drains funding for the country. In addition to the mandatory enlistment, Russian citizens are nearing a breaking point. This shared instability is fueling growing tension in the region, leaving the future of Latin American relations between Cuba, Russia, and the United States bound in uncertainty, with the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis looming in the background as the possibility of nuclear war becomes relevant again, years after the Cold War. 

References

Cuba. 2025. Human Rights Watch. January 29, 2025. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/cuba

In Text  Citation - (“Cuba” 2025)

“Cuba - United States Department of State.” 2025. United States Department of State. January 4, 2025https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/cuba/#:~:text=The%20Catholic%20Church%20and%20several,barred%20from%20leaving%20the%20country.

In Text  Citation - (“Cuba - United States Department of State” 2025)

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article for the Cuban ‘Granma’, Russia and Cuba. 2025. Mid.Ru. May 2025. Accessed November 26, 2025. https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2014214/In Text  Citation -  (“Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article…” 2025)

Index. n.d. RSF. https://rsf.org/en/index

In Text  Citation - (“Index,” n.d.)

Knight, F. W., and S. H. Levinson. 2025. “Cuba | Government, Flag, Capital, Population, & Language.” Encyclopedia Britannica. October 30, 2025. 

https://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba

In Text  Citation - (Knight and Levinson 2025)

Loeb, A. 2023. “Cuba and Russia Tightening Relations.” Harvard International Review. September 27, 2023. https://hir.harvard.edu/cuba-and-russia-tightening-relations/

In Text  Citation - (Loeb 2023)

“Russia promises to invest $1 billion in ally Cuba by 2030.” n.d. Reuters. Accessed ???. https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-promises-invest-1-billion-ally-cuba-by-2030-2025-05-08/

In Text  Citation - (“Russia promises to invest $1 billion in ally Cuba by 2030,” n.d.)

“Российско-кубинские отношения.” n.d. Посольство Российской Федерации В Республике Куба. https://cuba.mid.ru/ru/countries/rossiysko_kubinskie_otnosheniya/

In Text  Citation - (“Российско-кубинские отношения,” n.d.)