Cubans Go To Polls For Local Elections

Millions of Cubans voted Sunday in local elections that Fidel Castro billed as a way of repudiating Sen. Jesse Helms and others seeking a tighter U.S. embargo against the communist country.

“Those people are helping these elections,” Castro told reporters after casting a ballot in the Havana neighborhood of Vedado, according to the Mexican government news agency Notimex.

Castro certainly could count on the elections showing strong support for his regime. The overwhelming majority of the 30,000 candidates are members of the Communist Party and all candidates are approved by the party.