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A summit in Cuba to plan
democracy
Our opinion: EU, Latin
America should stand with the dissidents
Posted on Fri, May 20, 2005
in The
Miami Herald.
The world will witness a momentous event
today in Cuba, if all goes as planned. More
than 300 representatives of opposition groups
plan to meet on the outskirts of Havana.
Appropriately, this bold summit starts on
Cuba's Independence Day. The goal is to
create a plan to spread democracy and civic
action. Ultimately, the dissidents are fighting
to liberate Cuba's people from fear and
tyranny. European and Latin American governments
should show solidarity with their cause.
Organized by the Assembly to Promote Civil
Society, the group's methods are peaceful:
open dialogue, exchange of ideas, support
from abroad. They have defied the Cuban
government's spies, intimidation, harassment
and threats. These grass-roots dissidents
are the island's true freedom fighters --
particularly prime leaders Martha Beatriz
Roque Cabello, René Gómez
Manzano and Félix Bonne Carcassés.
All have overcome their fear of reprisal.
They have exposed the lie that Cuba is a
socialist paradise.
The three leaders have been imprisoned
for criticizing the government's abuse of
power. Yet they testified via phone to the
U.S. Congress last year. Ms. Roque was among
75 dissidents rounded up in the government
crackdown in 2003 and now is out on conditional
release from a 20-year sentence. Any of
them could easily be thrown into a punishment
cell for organizing this event.
Their efforts, and those of all the assembly
participants, shouldn't be overshadowed
by any regime smoke screen. Nor should news
of anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles
distract from the dissidents' goal. Any
regime attempt to disrupt the event should
be roundly denounced by governments that
value democracy, such as Spain and Brazil.
The last time dissidents tried to meet
on this scale was the Concilio Cubano event
in 1996. The government jailed Concilio
leaders and shot down two Brothers to the
Rescue planes. Thus, the event fell apart.
Yet the dissident and civic movements have
continued to grow in Cuba.
This time, state-security agents have bugged,
followed, harassed and sown divisiveness
among dissidents. That's business as usual.
But, as of Thursday, no widespread arrests
had been reported. The regime recently deported
two EU Parliament members and refused to
authorize travel requests by former Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev and former Czech
President Vaclav Havel -- all of whom were
to attend the assembly.
When the EU reviews its Cuba policy next
month, it should remember that diplomatic
dialogue works when both sides are willing
to give and take. Such engagement is futile
when one party has remained in power for
46 years with no intention of sharing it.
The EU -- along with Latin American nations
-- should support the work of Cuba's dissidents
by condemning the regime for its abuses.
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