Meanwhile in Cuba

In July, the National Assembly - Cuba's parliament - approved [a] new draft constitution and presented it to the public for consultation the following month after more than a year debating the overhaul of the 1976 constitution.

Speaking when the draft was approved, President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez said "each Cuban will be able to freely express their opinions" to build a constitution that "reflects the today and future of the nation".

This was done during thousands of meetings where officials took handwritten notes with the public's feedback.

The Assembly will now consider those comments and make changes to the draft before Cubans get their final say in a national referendum scheduled for February 24, 2019.

[...]

Proposals include opening the door for same-sex marriage, recognising private ownership and scrapping the goal of building a communist society, but rights groups and analysts say the new legislation is more of a nod to a changing world, than an upending of the status quo on the Caribbean island.

[...]

The draft reintroduces the post of Prime Minister, who would lead the cabinet, known as the Council of Ministers, in the daily running of the country. The candidate would be put forward by the president for approval by the National Assembly.

It also proposes having governors for Cuba's 15 provinces, replacing the current system of presidents of provincial assemblies and introduces term and age limits for the presidency.

The president - who will continue to be elected by the Assembly, rather than voters - would serve a maximum of two terms and can be no older than 60 at the start of his or her first term, notable in a country where the elderly Castro brothers held the reigns for decades.

The goal of advancing towards a "communist society" has also been dropped, drawing much attention internationally, but the impact of this is likely to be limited.

The new constitution revises the aim to "the construction of socialism" and, crucially, Cuba will maintain its single-party system under the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), which holds complete control over politics, the economy and society in general.

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The draft also includes a prohibition on negotiating under threat and coercion, codifying an oft-repeated condition set out by the Castros and recently reiterated by Diaz-Canel.

"I think it's meant to send a message to the United States that if somehow the United States is still hoping that it's going to be able to coerce Cuba into making concessions about its domestic politics, it's mistaken," LeoGrande told Al Jazeera.

  alJazeera