Speak truth to tyranny
Our opinion: Support
Cuba's embattled and courageous dissident
movement
Posted on Mon, Mar. 07,
2005 in The
Miami Herald.
Cuba's embattled dissident movement is
back in action -- after suffering a vicious
crackdown only two years ago. In March 2003,
Cuba's dictatorship began rounding up dozens
of activists who increasingly had pushed
for democratic changes. By mid-April 2003,
75 dissidents had been subjected to summary
trials and sentenced to prison terms averaging
19 years. Cuba's dissident movement was
fractured and paralyzed.
Today, however, Cuban dissidents are speaking
out -- three of them even testified before
Congress last week. These activists command
international press attention, criticize
the one-party state and are organizing political
events -- actions deemed ''illegal'' by
Cuba's totalitarian legal system. In true
democratic form, these activists are disagreeing
among themselves.
Our hearts and support are with these courageous
men and women who speak truth in the face
of tyranny, risking imprisonment or worse.
Martha Beatriz Roque, René Gómez
and Félix Bonne, the three who spoke
to U.S. House panels via telephone, were
members of the Group of Four who were imprisoned
for nearly three years after releasing their
critique of the regime, The Homeland Belongs
to Us All, in 1997. Ms. Roque was jailed
again in the 2003 crackdown, sentenced to
20 years and released under supervision
last year because of her poor health. None
of this stopped her from telling U.S. lawmakers
that she supported tough U.S. policies against
Cuba or from organizing a meeting of dissident
groups on May 20, Cuba's independence day.
We fiercely defend her and every Cuban's
right to express their ideas and promote
their vision for Cuba's future. We also
urge the international community, particularly
in the Americas, to redouble pressure on
the regime to release political prisoners.
Free nations mustn't acquiesce to the dictator's
attempts to snuff out dissent.
|