CUBANS VOTE; ALL CANDIDATES MUST BACK PARTY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993                   TAG: 9302250069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SANTIAGO, CUBA                                LENGTH: Short
CUBANS VOTE; ALL CANDIDATES MUST BACK PARTY
Cuba on Wednesday held its first direct elections for parliament since the 1959 Communist revolution, but only candidates supporting the party line were permitted to run.
Candidates were selected by labor and social groups affiliated with the Communist Party and were approved by city assemblies.
President Fidel Castro, himself a candidate, was greeted by thousands of cheering Cubans as his motorcade pulled up at the Manuel Isla Perez elementary school, where he voted.
The only apparent opposition came from several anti-Castro radio stations in Miami, heard easily on the island, which urged Cubans to cast blank ballots or avoid the polls in protest.
Wednesday was the first time since the revolution that Castro has faced a popular election. He is seeking a National Assembly seat. That body elects the Council of State, whose leader is the president of the country.
Castro, who also is head of the Communist Party, said there were no plans to hold direct elections for the Council of State.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB