By Nancy San Martin. nsanmartin@herald.com. Posted on Tue,
Nov. 05, 2002 in
The Miami
Herald.
Just four days after being released from prison, prominent Cuban dissident
Oscar Elías Biscet on Monday called on sympathizers and democratic
governments to rid the island of President Fidel Castro, stopping short of
endorsing an armed ouster.
''So long as the dictatorship of communist Castro exists, we Cubans cannot
live in liberty and democracy, and violations of human rights will continue,''
Biscet said during a teleconference press briefing from Havana.
''I ask the democratic governments of the world, the people who love justice
and liberty, to support the Cuban people and not the government of this island,
which usurped, betrayed and dishonored the population,'' Biscet said.
The 41-year-old physician was released from a prison last week after serving
three years on charges of insulting a national symbol, creating a public
disturbance and "instigation to crime.''
Biscet was arrested Nov. 3, 1999, after displaying three Cuban flags upside
down as a sign of distress.
Monday's press briefing, organized by the Miami-based Cuban Liberty Council,
was the first since Biscet's release. Even as he endorsed a peaceful transition
toward democracy, Biscet did not condemn the use of violence, likening ''people
who use other methods'' to Cuban patriots such as José Martí.
Biscet also criticized a grass-roots referendum initiative known as the
Varela Project, saying that it is framed within a Constitution implemented by
Castro, and he cautioned against lifting the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba.
Biscet said he will continue to push for change in Havana and plans to
invite writers from the government media, along with international journalists,
to a press conference later this week.
Meanwhile, opposition sympathizers are trying to bring attention to a case
involving another imprisoned dissident who was recently hospitalized after
falling ill from a lengthy hunger strike.
Leonardo Miguel Bruzón, 43, was arrested in February on charges of
civil disobedience after he organized a demonstration in honor of the civilian
pilots from Miami shot down by Cuban MiGs in 1996. His health remains fragile.
His case has gotten the attention of the U.S. Department of State and Amnesty
International.
''We call upon the Cuban government to provide Mr. Bruzón with the
best medical care available and to release him from imprisonment,'' said Charles
Barclay, a State Department spokesman. "We call upon the world community to
demand his release and the release of hundreds of other prisoners incarcerated
for simply demanding freedom and justice.''
Herald writer Larissa Ruiz Campo contributed to this report.
http://www.biscet.org/ |