|
Free the political prisoners
By Martin Palous, www.mzv.cz/washington.
Posted on Mon, Oct. 25, 2004 in The
Miami Herald.
Last month the International Committe for
Democracy in Cuba sent, from Prague, a clear
message to Fidel Castro and his cronies:
Cuba's political prisoners have not been
forgotten; they have become the conscience
of the Free World. International support
is stronger than ever for those struggling
to win respect for human rights and a nonviolent
transition to democracy.
The Prague Memorandum was not the only
action to come out of the committee's unprecedented
gathering of academics, journalists, activists
affiliated with nongovernmental organizations
and world politicians. International networks
of solidarity, too, were formed to work
with Cuba's democrats to attain their fundamental
objective: to throw off the yoke of totalitarianism
and live in a free country. The committee
envisions a Cuba that is genuinely una patria
para todos -- a country for all, with a
democratically elected government that respects
human rights and the rule of law and that
can pull Cuba out of its current misery
and put it on a path of reconciliation,
justice and economic prosperity.
Castro's masquerade is over. The world
is smarter, and he can no longer mislead
it by describing his totalitarian rule as
a ''socialist revolution in a life-death
confrontation with the imperialistic giant
of the North.'' In the past, democratic
European, Latin American and North American
nations were often divided in their dealings
with Cuba, but participants of the Prague
conference -- which represented a broad
spectrum of political views and experiences
-- were united in their desire to assist
in the rebirth of Cuban democracy. The Prague
summit of ICDC was a great success.
Even so, it is well to admit that not everything
went perfectly and not everyone was 100
percent happy. There were few voices from
Miami, the natural center of the Cuban disaspora
in the United States -- an absence that
raises a serious question as to how to overcome
the gap in communication.
International actions , such as those taken
in Prague, can do much to mobilize world
public opinion to support the cause of Cuban
democracy. The Prague Memorandum makes clear
that democratic countries should be more
straightforward and more principled in dealing
with Havana. Rather than fool themselves
by ''constructively engaging'' high-level
officials of the totalitarian regime, they
instead should be pressing Havana to release
its political prisoners and to respect all
of its international obligations. The ICDC
and other international bodies have auxilliary
roles to play in that effort.
What's most important now, however, is
building new relationships among Cubans
themselves. The critical question for international
commmunity is: What can be done to help
Cuban democrats at home and ''near abroad''
to communicate more effectively? It must
be taken into account, of course, that these
two groups of essentially likeminded people
have been living for decades in very different
worlds without enough opportunities to have
a genuine political communication. So far,
their arguments have been maliciously distorted
and misrepresented by Castro's propagandists.
On Nov. 9, the world will commemorate the
15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall that after World War II divided Germany
and symbolically Europe. There is no doubt
that despite the difficulties of transition
that followed, Central European nations
have made gigantic steps toward restoring
free and democratic societies. People are
enjoying a freedom that they had been deprived
of for many decades.
I share the joy of liberation and invite
all friends of Cuba's future democracy to
celebrate with us. On this occasion, let
us launch a friendly and constructive discussion
about possible transition scenarios and
strategies at the University of Miami's
Institute for Cuba and Cuban American Studies.
Join us, at least through the airwaves,
for that evening and day of Central European
and Cuban solidarity and friendship. Let
us enjoy together some Czech and Cuban music.
It has been almost 20 years ago since President
Ronald Reagan, in Berlin, called on then-Soviet
Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ''tear down
this wall!'' Let us send a similar message
to Havana on Nov. 9: ``Fidel Castro, open
your prisons and leave!''
Martin Palous, a former political dissident,
is the Czech Republic's ambassador to the
United States.
|
