1940 Constitution of Cuba

The 1940 Constitution of Cuba was implemented during the presidency of Federico Laredo Brú and took effect on 10 October 1940. It was primarily influenced by the collectivist ideas that inspired the Cuban Revolution of 1933. Widely considered one of the most progressive constitutions at the time, it provided for land reform, public education, a minimum wage and other social programs. It had 286 articles in 19 sections.

Despite the fact that some political parties had refused to participate in some elections in anticipation of fraud by the government in power, all parties presented candidates for the election of a Constitutional Assembly in November 1939. Beneath the variety of parties, the two national leaders who had dominated Cuban politics since the ouster of Machado in 1933: former President Ramón Grau and Fulgencio Batista, a military leader who had dominated several recent presidents. Each maneuvered to form coalitions, but public interest was only sufficient to produce a turnout of 57% of the eligible voters. The 76 delegates from nine political parties first elected Grau chairman, but he was removed when the Conservative Party delegates, who had campaigned in opposition to Batista, switched sides and supported Batista's candidate for chairman, Carlos Márquez Sterling. The assembly debated publicly for six months and adopted the constitution at the Capitol in Havana. It was signed on 1 July 1940, in Guáimaro, Camagüey, as a tribute to the anti-colonial revolutionaries who signed a draft of a proposed Cuban constitution there in 1879. A later U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, Philip Bonsal assessed the outcome:

The final product was generally considered enlightened and progressive. It reflected a serious consideration of Cuba's experience and of Cuba's problems. It embodied the hopes and aspirations of many. Some of its clauses may have been, as alleged particularly by conservatives, unworkable. It contained a number of provisions requiring implementing legislation from the Congress. That legislation, in matters affecting the propertied classes and their American allies, was either not forthcoming or was delayed to the very end of the twelve years during which the constitution was in force....

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