Cuba: Government Structure

Cuba is governed as a unitary socialist republic in which the Communist Party of Cuba is constitutionally recognized as the sole legal party and the leading force of both state and society. The current constitution, approved by referendum in 2019, reaffirms this one-party framework and centralizes political authority rather than distributing it among competing parties, distinguishing Cuba's system from the multi-party democracies found elsewhere in the region.

State power is organized around three principal bodies. The National Assembly of People's Power is the unicameral legislature, made up of roughly 470 deputies who meet in only two ordinary sessions each year. Because the full Assembly convenes so briefly, it elects a smaller Council of State to act on its behalf between sessions, giving that body broad governing authority for most of the year. Day-to-day administration falls to the Council of Ministers, effectively the national cabinet, which is led by a prime minister and several deputy prime ministers alongside the heads of individual ministries.

The First Secretary of the Communist Party holds the most influential position within this arrangement, a role distinct from and generally regarded as more powerful than the presidency itself. Elections take place for local and national assemblies, but candidates are not nominated through competition between rival parties, meaning ultimate political authority remains concentrated within the Communist Party's leadership structure.