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.
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