A/HRC/39/16 Model for Socialist Development and the Outline of the National Plan for Economic and Social Development until 2030. 9. In Cuba, the right to participate in public affairs was not limited to the electoral process; there was not one single model of democracy or an agreed formula in that regard. Elections were held periodically and in absolute freedom, in accordance with the electoral law. They were characterized by the existence of automatic and public electoral registries, popular appointment of candidates and high turnout levels. 10. At the recent election of deputies to the National Assembly of People’s Power, 86 per cent of those eligible to vote had done so, with 94 per cent of valid ballots. Such results, which were not achieved in countries usually portrayed as ideal democratic models, showed the high level of legitimacy and popular support enjoyed by the Cuban political system. The National Assembly represented Cuban society in all its diversity. Some 53 per cent of Members of Parliament were women and 41 per cent were black or mulatto; their average age was 49 years old, and 13 per cent of them were aged between 18 and 35. For 56 per cent of them, it was the first time they had been elected. 11. Cuba continued to promote the right to full equality. That was a permanent goal that it would continue to pursue relentlessly. Progress had been made in terms of preventing and addressing manifestations of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Cuba had also strengthened its programmes aimed at protecting children, young people, older persons and persons with disabilities. 12. Civil society in Cuba constituted a significant actor on the national scene, with over 2,200 organizations. One of the State’s priorities was to guarantee the exercise of human rights, and thousands of human rights defenders in every sphere of social life enjoyed government recognition. However, as in many other countries where the rule of law prevailed, the legal system in Cuba could not be infringed upon or subverted to satisfy a foreign agenda that called for a change of regime, the constitutional order and the political system. 13. Cuba cooperated with the United Nations human rights mechanisms, which were universal and non-discriminatory. It was a party to 44 of the 61 international human rights instruments, and was among the States with the highest levels of ratifications. In 2017, Cuba had received visits from the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity. 14. Despite the achievements it had made, Cuba was aware of the remaining challenges and was striving to meet them. The people deserved efficient institutions to improve their well-being and quality of life and to promote social justice. In that regard, as the former President, Raúl Castro, had indicated in December 2017, more comprehensive and farreaching efforts had been made to ensure that, at the same time as the currency system was unified, the existing distortions in terms of subsidies, prices and wholesale and retail rates would be eliminated, as they would in terms of pensions and salaries in the State sector. A Constitutional reform process would begin in the near future, with broad popular participation. 15. The strengthening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States, and its extraterritorial implementation, had caused deprivation and continued to be the main obstacle to the country’s development. That policy, which the international community rejected, violated the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law and represented a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people. It thus qualified as an act of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. The delegation demanded the return to Cuba of the territory usurped by the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo, where the United States maintained a detention camp in which serious human rights violations were being committed. 16. The delegation expressed its openness to dialogue and its willingness to provide all the information requested during the universal periodic review process. There should be no double standards or politically motivated manipulation during that process. As the President 3