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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Former exile criticizes Cuba dissidents,
praises Spanish election
Andrea Rodriguez. Associated
Press. Posted on Mon, Apr. 26, 2004.
HAVANA - Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo, the former
exile who last year returned to Cuba to
live without government approval, on Monday
praised the election of Spain's new prime
minister in an unusual political statement.
Gutierrez-Menoyo at the same time criticized
dissidents who had admired new President
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's more conservative
predecessor, Jose Maria Aznar.
Zapatero's electoral victory in March showed
"the good sense" of the Spanish
people, wrote the 68-year-old Gutierrez-Menoyo,
a former rebel commander who fought in the
Cuban revolution before falling out with
Fidel Castro and spending 22 years in prison
on the island.
"For Cuba (the electoral victory)
must represent a happy opportunity in which
the differing groups can and must be discussed
within the confines of mutual respect,"
the statement read.
Gutierrez-Menoyo's statements in the past
have dealt solely with his decision to return
to Cuba and seek government approval to
remain here legally.
In the Monday statement, Gutierrez-Menoyo
said he was "perplexed" by some
of the island's government opponents, including
democracy activist Oswaldo Paya.
He said Paya bade farewell to Aznar "with
adolescent admiration" while approaching
Social Democrat Zapatero "without even
blushing from his opportunism."
Paya, promoter of the Varela Project democracy
effort, accused Gutierrez-Menoyo of siding
with the Cuban government in its opposition
to the island's dissidents.
"Mr. Menoyo is among those who call
themselves members of the opposition - but
without any substance - and then criticize
those of us who are working inside Cuba,"
Paya said after reading the statement.
Paya said he had sent a letter to Aznar
when he stepped down as prime minister "because
he was a friend of mine and of Cuba,"
and then sent a letter to Zapatero "because
he was democratically elected."
The Varela Project sought to force a referendum
on civil rights such as freedom of speech
and assembly, private business ownership,
an amnesty for political prisoners and electoral
reforms. It was shelved by Cuba's parliament.
Gutierrez-Menoyo's two-page communique
bore the letterhead of Cambio Cubano, a
Miami-based organization that favors dialogue
with communist officials. Many exiled Cuban
leaders in Florida criticize Cambio Cubano
- or Cuban Change - as being too "collaborative"
with Castro's government.
Born in Spain, Gutierrez-Menoyo later became
a Cuban citizen. During his years in exile,
beginning in the 1980s, he retained his
Cuban citizenship although he also had U.S.
residency.
He returned to Cuba in August during a
family vacation and stayed. His wife and
three school-aged sons went back to Miami,
but have visited him here since.
Gutierrez-Menoyo says he is still waiting
for the Cuban government to clarify his
migratory status, but insists as a Cuban-born
citizen he has the right to live on the
island. He says he wants to open a Cambio
Cubano office and bring democracy to Cuba.
Gutierrez-Menoyo has promoted dialogue
with Castro in recent years and even has
even met with him several times - but not
since returning to live in August.
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