Havana, Cuba.- Cubans working abroad or residing outside the island continue today participating in debates about a new constitution for the Caribbean country.

Diplomats and collaborators are holding meetings in the embassies or places where they work, while the approximately 1.4 million Cubans living in some 120 countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have the opportunity since August 31 to issue their criteria via Internet, in a spreadsheet available on the Nation and Emigration portal.

So far, hundreds of proposals and comments have emerged from the meetings of state missions, such as those held in recent days in Panama, Spain, Angola, Ecuador, El Salvador and Uruguay.

In Panama issues such as marriage, the structure of the State and salary came to light, with proposals including the elimination of the 60-year limit for the President of the Republic to begin the first of the two mandates of a five-year term set forth in the draft of 224 articles, which would constitute -if approved in a referendum- a total reform of the Constitution in force since 1976.

Also in Spain, diplomats and representatives of companies and institutions of the island suggested additions, modifications and deletions of the document approved in July in the National Assembly of People’s Power, which is submitted for consultation of the population from August 13 to November 15.

Among the proposals made in Madrid was to define more clearly the attributions of the Communist Party of Cuba, whose leading role in society is ratified in article 5 of the draft.

In Angola, Cuban collaborators addressed the possibility of marriage between people of the same sex, based on what is set forth in article 68, with several proposals to maintain it as it is in the current Constitution, which defines it as the consensual union between a man and a woman.

Regarding the economy, they pointed out the substitution of the term ‘foreign’ to refer to investment, and instead to say that this right is possible for natural and juridical persons.

In the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, and in Quito, Ecuador, business autonomy, citizens’ rights, the structure of the state and the performance of MPs stood out in the meetings.

For their part, a group of Cubans living in El Salvador issued opinions on the draft new Constitution and appreciated the opportunity to participate in the debates.

During the meeting, which took place at the Acres Caguairan Association, they stressed they see their rights and duties recognized by embodying their criteria on the website Nation and Emigration.