Anti-investment dissidents pray for imprisoned colleague
CNN. From staff and wire reports. July 10, 2000. Web posted at: 9:44 p.m. EDT (0144 GMT)
HAVANA -- A day after three dissidents who have opposed international investment in Cuba prayed together for the release from prison of a fourth colleague, a moderate group of government opponents called for normal relations with the United States.
The group, which calls itself the Reflective Roundtable of the Moderate Opposition, told a news conference Monday that it will form a committee "to handle new and greater points of understanding and communication between both nations and to collaborate with both states in the removal of the
obstacles that impede a positive and respectful rapprochement."
"We want to exercise our right to address the governments and societies of both countries, in the search of a better understanding that will benefit both sides," said Rosa Maria Rodriguez.
The Roundtable said it will contact other opposition groups as well as churches and professional organizations not controlled by the government to stimulate public discussion of rapprochement.
They said they would also deliver a copy of their proposal to the U.S. Interests Section, which represents American interests in Cuba in the absence of formal relations.
The Cuban government has been lobbying hard for an end to U.S. policies forbidding trade with the island and has won the support of a number of American businessmaen, farmers and politicians.
Dissident: We must 'speak our faith'
Three dissidents who were imprisoned for, among other reasons, opposing international investment in Cuba, came together Sunday for the first time since their recent release. The three attended Mass on the day the Roman Catholic Church set aside to remember prison inmates.
"It was very important for us to be able to participate in this way, to speak our faith," said Marta Beatriz Roque, who was freed with fellow dissidents Rene Gomez Manzano and Felix Bonne in late May after an international campaign on their behalf.
Their colleague Vladimiro Roca, a former military pilot and son of a late Communist Party leader, is still behind bars, serving a five-year sentence.
"Above all, we need to pray for our brother in the cause, Vladimiro Roca," Roque said.
The three spoke briefly with reporters as they left the church in central Havana dedicated to Cuba's patron saint, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre.
Roque said the government did not impede their attendance of the Mass, which was celebrated by Cuba's highest-ranking Catholic Church representative, Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
Four sought concrete solutions
The four were arrested in July 1997 for circulating a series of documents, including one that criticized a draft document of the Fifth Communist Party Congress held later that year. They were all convicted of incitement to sedition in a one-day trial held behind closed doors.
Their critique, called "The Homeland is for All," complained that the Communist Party was concentrating on the glories of the revolution while failing to provide concrete solutions to the nation's economic problems.
Other documents urged Cubans not to vote, exhorted Cubans who are living abroad to encourage their relatives on the island to undertake acts of civil disobedience, and asked foreign investors not to pour money into the nation. The group also held several news conferences with foreign reporters.
The newly formed committee for the normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations believes communication between both countries would ultimately favor a democratic opening in Cuba
Priest seeks to 'maintains order'
In a rare political outburst, a number of parishioners in the church shouted "Freedom! Freedom!" and applauded when a white dove was released.
The three dissidents remained silent and the parish priest, the Rev. Ramon Polcari, called on parishioners to quiet down.
"We are not going to take advantage of this situation," Polcari said. "We are going to maintain order and the religious spirit that these things symbolize."
Also attending the service were well-known human rights activists Gustavo Arco and Oswaldo Paya, who called on the government to issue a general amnesty for the nation's imprisoned dissidents. Cuba has long maintained that it holds no prisoners of conscience, only common criminals.
CNN Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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