CUBA NEWS
April 13, 2005

Dissidents persist in face of danger

Work toward democratic goals, human rights deserves support

Posted on Tue, Apr. 12, 2005 in The Miami Herald.

You have to admire the courage of dissidents in Cuba. They live under a totalitarian regime where what free people do daily -- criticize the government -- is a crime. Yet the dissidents are challenging the regime in increasingly bold ways, including protest marches, phoning U.S. Congress and seeking support from exiles and foreign countries. All this despite the regime's brutal crackdown two years ago that landed 75 dissidents in prison with average sentences of 19 years.

The Assembly to Promote a Civil Society led by Martha Beatriz Roque is organizing a forum for opposition groups on May 20. Some 300 delegates from throughout the island and observers from abroad have been invited. Ms. Roque was conditionally released from prison only last year, having been sentenced to 20 years in the 2003 crackdown. Still, she and fellow ex-political prisoners René Gómez and Félix Bonne testified by video before U.S. House committees last month seeking support for the May 20 summit and pro-democracy activities. They publicly have asked Cuban exiles to contribute ideas and funds for the summit and see nothing wrong in getting support from the U.S. government.

Such support is a ''crime'' only in the regime's perverse logic. In truth, the U.S. government routinely provides aid to pro-democracy nongovernmental groups worldwide; it supported such groups in Soviet-era Eastern Europe.

The Ladies in White, meanwhile, have been peacefully marching on Sundays after church services to demand the release of their husbands and other political prisoners. They also conduct candlelight vigils and other protests.

The Cuban regime doesn't take defiance lightly. The Ladies in White, about 30 women, were accosted by a state-organized mob of about 100 women shouting insults on Palm Sunday. Organizers of the summit also have been harassed by state-security agents and have had phone service cut.

The regime's warnings to back off are designed to intimidate. But the opposition refuses to back down at risk of imprisonment. They find strength in speaking the truth in a totalitarian society built on lies. The pressure on the opposition is tremendous, however. State-security agents have infiltrated every group to sow division and distrust. Disagreements over how to push for democratic changes are understandable. But the goal for all is the same: to end 46 years of tyranny.

Dissidents should agree to disagree, yet work toward the common goals of multiparty elections, free enterprise and human rights.

The regime surely will increase pressure on dissidents to disrupt the summit. These repressive moves, however, should provoke an international outcry. These daring dissidents deserve worldwide support.

PRINTER FRIENDLY

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