Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, a consejo popular (; ; sometimes shortened to CP) is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

or political-administrative demarcation of the

National Assembly of People's Power The National Assembly of People's Power () is the supreme organ of power of the Republic of Cuba. It is the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs are subservient to it. It is currently ...

. They were created in 1988. 474 wards had been created as of 2023, with them changing frequently. They function as subdivisions, under

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Under the wards are districts. All wards have at least 5 districts, with urban areas having more and rural areas having less. Most rural wards include 1 major town or village (usually with a population of 700-3,000 at least) with a few hamlets, while urban areas (usually municipal seat) are usually split into wards, named for the city with a I, II and sometimes III, and IV and so forth appended. Sometimes when only two wards are present in a city, they are split into "Norte" (or north) and "Sur" (or south).

History

Barrios

Before the 1970s, instead of consejos populares, municipalities were divided into ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

s''. Some barrios did end up as consejos populares, but most did not. Instead of municipal seats of municipalities having consejos populares, only one barrio, which either adopted the name of the town, or named it centro (center) or cabecera (headtown).

Constitution

The legal terms of a ward of Cuba as said in the

Cuban Constitution Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions sin ...

Spanish

660: Sección Cuarta: Consejo Popular 661: Artículo 193. "El Consejo Popular es un órgano local del Poder Popular de carácter representativo, investido de la más alta autoridad para el desempeño de sus funciones y, sin constituir una instancia intermedia a los fines de la división político-administrativa, se organiza en ciudades, pueblos, barrios, poblados y zonas rurales, a partir de los delegados elegidos en las circunscripciones de su demarcación, los cuales deben elegir entre ellos quien lo presida." 662: "A las reuniones del Consejo Popular pueden invitarse, según los temas y asuntos a tratar, representantes de las organizaciones de masas y sociales, y de las entidades más importantes en la demarcación, con el objetivo principal de fortalecer la coordinación y el esfuerzo colectivo en beneficio de la comunidad, siempre desde las funciones propias que a cada cual corresponden." 663: Artículo 194. "El Consejo Popular representa a la población de la demarcación donde actúa y a la vez a la Asamblea Municipal del Poder Popular. Ejerce el control sobre las entidades de producción y servicios de incidencia local, y trabaja activamente para la satisfacción de las necesidades de la economía, de salud, asistenciales, educacionales, culturales, deportivas y recreativas, así como en las tareas de prevención y atención social, promoviendo la mayor participación de la población y las iniciativas locales para su consecución." 664: "La ley regula la organización y atribuciones del Consejo Popular."

English

660: Section Four: Popular Council 661: Article 193. "The Popular Council is a local body of the Popular Power of a representative nature, invested with the highest authority for the performance of its functions and, without constituting an intermediate instance for the purposes of the political-administrative division, it is organized in cities, towns, neighborhoods, towns and rural areas, from the delegates elected in the constituencies of their demarcation, who must choose among themselves who presides over it." 662: "Representatives of mass and social organizations, and of the most important entities in the demarcation, may be invited to the meetings of the Popular Council, with the main objective of strengthening coordination and collective effort for the benefit of the community, always from the proper functions that correspond to each one." 663: Article 194: "The Popular Council represents the population of the demarcation where it acts and at the same time the Municipal Assembly of Popular Power. Exercises control over production entities and local advocacy services, and works actively to meet the needs of the economy, health, care, education, culture, sports and recreation, as well as prevention and social care tasks, promoting the greater participation of the population and local initiatives for its achievement." 664: The law regulates the organization and powers of the Popular Council."

Gallery

Signs/text in Cuba where it saids “Consejo Popular” 2012-Bodega da Caridad Consejo Popular Havanna anagoria.JPG, Plaza Vieja,

Plaza de la Revolución Plaza de la Revolución (), "Revolution Square", is a municipality (or borough) and a square in Havana, Cuba. The municipality, one of the 15 forming the city, stretches from the square down to the sea at the Malecón and includes the Vedado ...

La Habana Province La Habana Province , formerly known as Ciudad de La Habana Province, is a province of Cuba that includes the territory of the city of Havana, the Republic's capital. The province's territory is the seat of the superior organs of the state and i ...

Consejo Popular Rio Feo - Mapillary (1807678469390147) (cropped).jpg, Río Feo, San Luis,

Pinar del Río Province The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. The capital and largest city is Pinar del Río (191,081 pop. in 2022). Geography The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost p ...

CP de Luis Arcos Bergnes.jpg, Luis Arcos Bergnes,

Camajuaní Camajuaní is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. History In 1819 was decided the construction of a new port in near Caibarién to replace an old one located in Tesisco. From that moment, settlers established in the sur ...

Villa Clara Province Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering on the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Matanzas Province to the west, Sancti Spiritus Province to the east, and Cienfuegos Province to the Sou ...

Bienvenidos a Consejo Popular Vega Alta.jpg, Vega Alta, Camajuaní, Villa Clara Province (a little faded) Consejo popular Dos Hermanas.jpg,

Dos Hermanas Dos Hermanas (, "two sisters") is a town and municipality in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is part of the Seville metropolitan area, lying south of the city of Seville. With a population of 140,430 as of 2024, it is the second ...

, Encrucijada, Villa Clara Province CP de Aeropuerto, Santa Clara.jpg, Aeropuerto, Santa Clara, Villa Clara Province Consejo Popular Anton Diaz (cropped).jpg, Anton Diaz, Santa Clara, Villa Clara Province Consejo Popular Base Aerea.jpg, Base Aérea, Santa Clara, Villa Clara Province Consejo Popular 26 de Julio (cropped).jpg, 26 de Julio,

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, Villa Clara Consejo Popular Cascajal (cropped).jpg, Cascajal, Santo Domingo, Villa Clara Consejo Popular Sabino Hernández (cropped).jpg, Sabino Hernández, Santo Domingo, Villa Clara

References

{{Reflist Subdivisions of Cuba Local government in Cuba