Havana, October 22 (RHC)-- Former members of the U.S. Congress met in Havana with a group of Cuban deputies, headed by the President of the Cuban Parliament's Commission on Constitutional and Judicial Affairs José Luis Toledo Santander.

During the exchange, the U.S. visitors and the Cuban lawmakers discussed the Cuban political system and the current economic transformations taking place in the Caribbean state. The former U.S. congressional representatives learned about the work of the National Assembly of People's Power (the Cuban Parliament), particularly their branch offices at the municipal and provincial levels.

The visiting delegation from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, headed by its President Barbara Kennelly, thanked the Cuban legislators for the warm welcome and expressed satisfaction with this, their first visit to the Caribbean state.

The U.S. visitors said they were particularly astonished when they learned that Cuban deputies are not paid an extra salary for their legislative work, and that unlike the U.S. and many other countries around the world, the Cuban Communist Party does not interfere with parliamentary elections.