National Assembly of the People's Power—last held NA December 1986 (next to be held December 1991); results—PCC is the only party; seats—(510 total) PCC 510 (indirectly elected)
_#_Communists: about 600,000 full and candidate members
_#_Member of: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, IFAD, IIB, ILO, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is Switzerland—Cuban Interests Section; Counselor Jose Antonio ARBESU Fraga; 2630 and 2639 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 797-8518 or 8519, 8520, 8609, 8610;
US—protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland—US Interests Section;
Principal Officer Alan H. FLANIGAN; Calzada entre L y M, Vedado Seccion,
Havana (mailing address is USINT, c/o International Purchasing Group,
2052 NW 93rd Avenue, Miami, FL 33172); telephone 329-700
_#_Flag: five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white five-pointed star in the center
_*Economy #_Overview: The economy, centrally planned and largely state owned, is highly dependent on the agricultural sector and foreign trade. Sugar provides about 75% of export revenues and over half is exported to the USSR. The economy has stagnated since 1985 under policies that have deemphasized material incentives in the workplace, abolished farmers' informal produce markets, and raised prices of government-supplied goods and services. In 1990 the economy probably fell 3%, largely as a result of declining trade with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Recently the government has been trying to increase trade with Latin America and China. Cuba has had difficulty servicing its foreign debt since 1982. The government currently is encouraging foreign investment in tourist facilities. Other investment priorities include sugar, basic foods, and nickel. The annual $4 billion Soviet subsidy, a main prop to Cuba's threadbare economy, is likely to show a substantial decline over the next few years in view of the USSR's mounting economic problems. Instead of highly subsidized trade, Cuba will be shifting to trade at market prices in convertible currencies. In early 1991, the shortages of fuels, spare parts, and industrial products in general had become so severe as to amount to a deindustrialization process in the eyes of some observers.
_#_GNP: $20.9 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate - 3% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
_#_Unemployment: 6% overall, 10% for women (1989)