Center for a Free Cuba

ISHR: Small concessions by Raul Castro cannot hide the facts of continuing repression and violence against dissidents.

Placetas-Frankfurt am Main (May 27, 2008): Over this past weekend, Cuban police forcibly disbanded a meeting of Cuban civil rights activists. The International Society for Human Rights declares that at least two people were injured by the police. This deployment of police is the most severe show of force in the past month. The ISHR calls on the government of General Raul Castro to promptly cease using force against civil rights activists and followers of the Cuban democratic movement.

The meeting took place in the town of Placetas in the home of the well known human rights activist and previous political prisoner Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, often called “Atunez”. The Afro-Cuban member of the ISHR in Frankfurt am Main continues to be one of the most prominent non-violent civil rights activists against the communist dictator in Cuba. Although he sat 19 years in prison for publicly criticizing Fidel Castro he still fights for human rights in Cuba, explains the ISHR. He protests with sit-ins, hunger strikes and silent vigils.

The civil rights activist Martha Beatriz Roque explained that at least 30 people were temporarily apprehended. Two of them were mistreated by the police and required medical attention. Roque is the speaker for the “Asamblea para Promover la Sociedad Civil en Cuba”, which despite being declared illegal by the Castro regime is one of the leading opposition groups against the dictator.

Moralinda Paneque returned home extremely distressed and worried after her last scheduled family visit to her son on Monday, May 5, 2008, in the Prison of Las Mangas. “ I anticipated an improvement in his health but that wasn’t at all what I witnessed…”

Dr. José Luis García Paneque’s semblance was a shock to his mother, father and sister, “…my son resembles a skeleton…he barely has any fat under his skin…he has stick like thighs, his backbone protrudes as he bends over…he is emaciated to the point that his stomach is almost touching his backbone…his skin color is very strange to me…I would describe it as grayish blue…”.

The 42-year old Cuban prisoner of conscience who weighs a little over 100 pounds told his family that he continues bleeding daily through the rectum, a complication related to the malabsorption syndrome he suffers from, an illness that he developed in prison and which does not allow the food he ingests to nourish his body.

Dr. García Paneque also expressed that he is having trouble sleeping at night since the common prisoners he is forced to share a barrack with make loud noises as they play games throughout the night.

Dr. García Paneque was arrested on March 18, 2003, and sentenced to 24 years in jail during the wave of repression that the Cuban government carried out against members of the civil society who were promoting independent ideas on the island.

The wife and four children of this Cuban doctor were forced to seek exile in the United States on March 8, 2007, because of the violent acts of repudiation that were being carried out against their home by mobs instigated by Cuban State Security.

Dr. García Paneque’s family makes an URGENT APPEAL to the international community since they fear for the safety and physical and psychological well-being of this Cuban physician who is unjustly imprisoned in a maximum-security prison for peacefully defending the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his own country.

Information obtained from Mrs. Moralinda Paneque via telephone from Las Tunas, Cuba, by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women / LAIDA CARRO / E-mail: joseito76@aol.com / FAX: 305-740-7323

This renewed rowdy appearance of the Cuban police against those who think differently politically stands in opposition to the new signals being sent by the regime. After General Raul Castro recently allowed the purchase of Computers, Microwave ovens, and cell phones, a concession which is only meaningful to a small number of financially well off Cubans, he has granted a further improvement. Once a week, critical editorials appear in the only daily newspaper “Granma,” edited by and central organ of the Communist party. In these editorials Cubans complain about corruption, the economic model, and low salaries.

“It is self evident that in these restricted critiques- a complete repudiation of Communism is not desired,” stated the ISHR. The editorials serve simply as an outlet for pre-approved critique. No truly uncensored complaints against the system are allowed. Of course this is a good first step in the course towards the freedom to express ideas; the question remains whether these concessions are serving as a skilful maneuver to quiet European observers. Through such accommodations, the Castro brothers could further their success in appeasing the international community and in unfreezing their frozen assets. But while politically different thinkers are imprisoned for a peaceful gathering, no actual improvement can be discussed, says the ISHR.

Junio 12, 1998
Visit between the 18th and the 31th of January 1998
(Cont.)

The Diplomats

We spoke with different diplomatic representatives from the EU and also from the U.S. In general the following topics were discussed: the political situation after the Pope’s visit, human rights, the opposition and its international recognition, the role of the Church and the influence of foreign investment, the role of the EU versus that of the US.

The British Embassy

Human rights: Regular contact is maintained with English NGOs (AI, Cafod) about Cuba and the issue of human rights. The EU is currently being chaired by the UK and Tony Blair has made it quite clear that human rights will be a priority in the EU’s future policy, also specifically with respect to Cuba.

In contrast with Clinton in the U.S., Blair has received a great deal of support from his Parliament. Remarkably enough, Labor is much more critical of Cuba than the Tories ever were. The embargo is also condemned. The English promote Cuban trade relations but, at the same time, defend the idea of a ‘conduct code’ for entrepreneurs, especially with respect to worker rights and the environment. The recently-acclaimed-by-Castro British important ‘trade delegation’ was not much more than a couple of businessmen dropping in from a nearby island, to spend new years eve at the ‘Tropicana’. No substantial amount of capital is invested in Cuba: a fatally complicated bureaucracy, and the hardships imposed by the Helms/Burton law, have scared many away.

‘Codes of conduct for entrepreneurs, such as those contained in the ‘Arcos principles’, are not viable cards to hold while Castro rules the land; that would topple the whole notion behind current ‘joint ventures’.’ ‘Nevertheless, we are in favor of voluntary guidelines for entrepreneurs with respect to, for example, the payment to Cuban workers directly’.

Internal politics: ‘The Cuban Communist Party has more internal divisions at present than ever, not in the least because of the selective effect of “dollarization”. Everyone lives off the Black Market (’our shared common secret’), since the average monthly salary of 200 pesos cannot buy much. Castro has practically no friends left, not even in the National Assembly. The Party and the Army are no longer necessarily identified with each other. In 1994, serious popular uprisings (riots) took place; it was feared that the Army would join the peoples side. Now the military are being coddled as much as possible. Many high Party officials, members of the armed forces or the ministries, own strategic holdings in the area of tourism and transport. Cuba is increasingly becoming like any other ordinary Latin American country: corruption is not rare anymore. A small middle-class is slowly emerging.’

About the opposition: ‘Why does open revolt still not exist? People are under too much pressure just surviving. The status quo is maintained chiefly through State control, intimidation, persecution, divide-and-reign politics and the underlying rivalry and suspicion existing among the opposition itself. When Amnesty International makes reports about the opposition, it sometimes quotes outdated sources, sometimes focussing on the wrong people. The prisoners on a hunger strike in Santa Clara got a permit to leave, but the four members of the ‘Dissidents Working Group’ in Havana did not: they insist on staying in Cuba. Castro would love to get rid of these ‘troublemakers’ in particular. Amnesty International should seek more support for the special U.N. rapporteur assigned to Cuba, and also for the EU ‘common position’. The U.S. embargo is a lost case: both the U.N. and the Vatican repudiate and ridicule it. Via the embargo, the U.S. tries to keep the Cuban regime in check. Will a ‘day of reckoning’ ever come? Perhaps there is too much shared guilt around this topic. Preventing a blood-full revenge is also the responsibility of the EU countries and European NGOs. It is imperative that international attention be focussed on the protection of Cuban dissidents.’

U.S. Interest Office

‘We do not believe that any really profound changes can take place by way of the Pope’s visit. Castro has made a big to-do about the success of the visit. However, we could take important measures with Cuba months before the event, such as, for example, increased cooperation on coast-guard surveillance. Some bilateral agreements exist now, for increased cooperation in areas such as regional drug control, migration, cultural and educational exchanges. Turning back boat refugees has gone on without problems recently; no incidents have taken place.

The MCL (Oswaldo Payá) carried out an intriguing appeal to lift the embargo ‘on food and medicine’. We spoke to Ranneberger (State Department), advisors of Jesse Helms, and the Senators and Advisors from the Democratic Party in Cuba, forming part of the ‘Pilgrims Program’ during the Pope’s stay. Democrat Rangel held a personal talk with Castro about the embargo. On paper, no U.S. embargo exists on food and medicines: the Cuban State is supposed to request whatever medicines are needed and we examine the application. Normally we only impose the following restrictions: the medicine requested must not be found anywhere on the island, and a neutral third party must see to it that the supplies are not sent to military hospitals, used in tortures or sold to third parties. Millions of dollars in medicine have been shipped to Cuba during the past years. Lifting the rest of the embargo is not politically feasible yet, as long as no significant or fundamental changes take place. Only small modifications have been advanced, just enough to keep the State on its feet. Who can assure us that Castro will later allow U.S. citizens into the country? For the Cuban elite, there has never been a boycott. They can get always everything they want’.

On international involvement: ‘The discussion should not focus on the contradictions between North and South but, instead, on Cuba’s internal affairs. We greatly welcome the EU ‘common position’. Awareness about Cuba is increasing also in Latin America, as we are glad to note. Cuba was harshly criticized during the last Latin American Summit (Chile, then Venezuela). These expressions of disapproval are new. Canada, with its gigantic ‘joint-venture’ investment in the hotel sector, completely plays along with the regime’s philosophy of discrimination: no economic development in the private sector and no independence for the Cuban civil population’.

Canada

An evaluation of the Pope’s visit and how the regime benefitted from it is in order. Canadian diplomats: ‘Apparently, the Cuban State made a big commotion about the Pope’s stay but, in reality, it tried to keep the people as far away from him as possible. Many men could not attend Mass because they were not given time off from their work. The critical words pronounced by the Pope during his sermons were not re-transmitted on television in the evenings, although his attacks on the embargo and Capitalism certainly were.’

‘The economic system is crazy and completely bankrupt. No real planning exists, they are still experimenting. Citizens have no incentives to do their best. Effectivity is hard to find. The few existing vegetable and fruit crops often just rot. Before the Revolution, Cuba was an important food exporter and held third place in the development rank list of the whole Latin American continent’.

‘Our policy is different from that of the U.S. It is geared towards dialogue, exchange and mutual respect. There are people in the regime who do really listen carefully. In an informal way, we discuss the eventual release of prisoners with the authorities, although only about those who do not ‘pose a threat to the State’. We also discuss the need to pay Cuban employees who work for foreign companies, in dollars. We invest a great deal, in the hope that the Cuban regime will change its thinking. Now, through ‘bonuses’, hard-working laborers in farming cooperatives can currently get their mandatory service shortened. Competition and decentralization in industry are bound to raise productivity. However, until now, there is still no real policy: the dollar was only introduced because they were forced to do so. They are just experimenting’.

On international policy: ‘The European ‘common position’ has caused friction. It would be better to offer assistance and training courses, in order to improve the discredited legal system, like we do. The EU should seek to establish more dialogue. We maintain some contact with U.S. representatives, but these links are not really close-knitted.’

Spain

On the Pope’s visit: ‘Castro manipulated the visit skillfully. It helped to legitimate the regime. Castro turned his weakness into strength: ‘We are not afraid of what the Pope said. We are strong enough!’. The papal visit has not really contributed to any fundamental changes yet. It is true that some things were said that would have been impossible to say only four years ago. In a way, the Pope and Castro shared many of the same criticisms regarding the embargo, foreign debt and the IMF policy. Castro supported the Church’s social doctrine. The opinions that did not coincide were carefully evaded or brushed aside.

About the Spain-Cuba relationship. ‘There is no Spanish ambassador in Cuba yet. Spanish entrepreneurs (the most important ones, after the Canadians) pronounced themselves against the proposed ambassador and have strongly inhibited Premier Aznar’s critical attitude towards Cuba. There are also dissidents who are not, per se, against foreign investment in Cuba. But as far as things look now, foreign investment favors the regime and not the population itself. The ‘Arcos Principle’ with respect to ethical codes of conduct for entrepreneurs, has never been the subject of discussion among Spanish investors. Quite possibly, once the regime falls, Spanish investors, in particular, will be the object of popular fury and be thrown out of Cuba. In general, European investment in Cuba is not too impressive, consisting of only approximately eight million dollars.’

‘The bombs placed in several hotels in the summer of 1997, probably came from groups located in Miami. However, without help from within, nothing can happen’.

‘Salaries are so low that everyone steals from the State when they get a chance. You just have to, in order to survive. Cuban workers are exploited exactly in the way as Karl Marx describes in ‘Das Kapital’. If the one-and-a-half million Cubans in Miami were to stop sending money to their relatives in Cuba, the regime would collapse’.

Regarding U.S.-Cuban relations: ‘Cuba is not impressed by the ‘common position’. Commissioner Manuel Marin’s pledge to make change possible (the carrot-and-stick approach) had no effects whatsoever. He left the country without having achieved any success. Former Premier González didn’t achieve much either, although his approach was completely different. What approach can be really effective? We really don’t know; the Canadians, who pursue another policy, also have no answer. Nevertheless, when the U.S. formally protested at the arrest, without formal charges, of the members of the ‘Internal Dissident Working Group’ in Havana (July 1997), the response given by the Cuban regime to the EU included a clearly improvised charge - they had pulled it out of their sleeve really!’

‘The Cuban Penal Code is unacceptable to the European Union. Anyone can be imprisoned up to four years for ‘desacato’ (disrespect)! The Pope based his list of requests for the release of political prisoners on humanitarian grounds; this in order not to irritate the Cubans, who always allege that political prisoners are judged impartially, according to the Cuban Constitution. The regime believes that the Constitution is not up for discussion and no foreigner can interfere with it. Even if Castro is looking for ways to make closer links with Europe, the EU must remain consistent in its ‘common position’, as long as no fundamental improvements in the area of human rights take place in Cuba.

The Netherlands

Maduro, the ambassador of The Netherlands, and First Secretary Ms. Zuidwijk, both graciously offered us a helping hand. We were often exchanging ideas during our stay. Maduro thinks the report made by Pax Christi’s youth group, ‘La realidad detrás del símbolo’ (1996), is too sharp in tone and that some names should have been omitted. Some members of the Church got in trouble because of this report, he says (its authors hold that no one was named in it without previous consent). With respect to the issue of political prisoners, the ambassador favors quiet diplomacy. Together we discussed the approach Apostolou would take before the Parliament, with respect to the expulsion of delegation member Erik Laan.

The Netherlands just completed its busy period as chair of the EU. In this function, many contacts with Cuban leaders were carried out. In broad terms, Maduro’s opinions about Cuban affairs and how the Cuban situation is evolving match those of many of his EU colleagues. He also believes that the Pope’s visit was manipulated by the regime and does not expect any structural transformations to come out of it. Castro’s sudden words in favor of religion and the Pope are seen as reprehensible and without credibility. On the other hand, the Church limits itself to its all-cautious ‘low key’ attitude.

Ambassador Maduro does observe some openings in the Cuban policy, however. He recently appeared ‘live’ on State television for the first time, on the European emergency-aid program Echo. Here the Cuban regime was obviously taking a calculated risk. Nevertheless, Maduro knows from first-hand experience how strongly the regime identifies the ‘common position’ adopted by the EU as discrimination and unwarranted interference in internal affairs. A cooperation agreement, in which a human rights clause in included, such as the EU has with countries such as China and Vietnam, was angrily rejected by the Cuban regime.

On European investment: ‘Investment stagnates. The Netherlands is not much different, though it has a good reputation in Cuba. Europe hesitates because of Cuban bureaucracy; its uncertain future and existing anxiety about nationalization. Cuba attempts to lure investors with favorable conditions. Not long ago, the regime discovered another profitable source of income: the so-called ‘non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs), though in Cuba no independent organizations exist.’

‘U.S. policy should focus less on trying to exclude Cuba from making regional cooperation links in the Caribbean region. In the area of drug control and emigration policies, a beginning has been made. Cuba wants to highlight its regional profile. It is founder of the geographical, political and economic cooperation link the ‘Caribbean Association of States’(CAS), formed with Central and South American countries. Cuba is also an observer in Caricom. The U.S. cannot become a member of CAS and, being a super-power, it is annoyed by that.’

With respect to U.S. asylum policy: ‘this tends to exclude the ‘heavy-weights’ among dissidents from seeking refuge in the U.S. According to the U.S., these people should just stay in Cuba, so that the work advanced inside the country continues to be carried out. We find this an inhuman criterium.’

The European Emergency-Aid Program Echo

The current Director is the founder of the Spanish division of ‘Physicians without frontiers’. He has been in the post for one year. The EU gave around eight ECU million last year, to aid projects in the social and medical areas. ‘Control has improved: some European NGOs (approximately 25) accompany the shipments from the moment of their arrival, by air and by sea, and distribute them until they reach the provinces of destination. The State itself does not intervene. Now and then, some stealing does take place, but such products are not yet found on the Black Market. In spite of the coolness between the EU and Cuba, ‘Brussels’ (where Echo is located) took the decision to work with the Cuban regime (for political reasons or in order to raise effectivity?). Cubans now pay 50% of the sea transport and 100% of the airfare (most via ‘Cuba Aviación’). What is striking is that the regime never mentions European donations, but does make a lot of fuss out of every donation made by ‘the American people’, for example via ‘Pastores por la Paz’.’

Approximately two million people were reached through the Echo Program. It has no access to prisoners, although it would love to have it. This is something only the International Red Cross (ICRC) can do, but they are also not allowed into the country. What can Brussels do to that? The U.S. de facto embargo on medicines works along all the bureaucratic ins-and-outs in a similar fashion: it is hard to get shipments to Cuba. Wouldn’t it be possible for Echo to exchange thoughts on this matter with the US?, we ask.

Physicians without Frontiers

Two Dutch women have led an AIDS-prevention project in Havana since 1996. It distributes six million condoms a year. The project is increasingly involved in the distribution of information. The program provides regular consultation hours and brochures. It is geared mainly to male or female prostitutes, who chiefly cater to the tourists who frequent Cuba in search for sex. ‘What is more, Cuba is extremely promiscuous’, people say, ‘because there is no other type of diversion’. According to official sources, among a population of 11 million, Cuba has 1.800 HIV-positive patients. Although the regime’s control on the population has been much stricter than in other countries, it has decreased. This is due to the fact that medical developments are going downhill. There is a dramatic increase in sexually-transmitted diseases, although no public official figures are available. The fear that such diseases may get out of control is probably the reason why the Ministry of Health staff is unwilling to let the project thrive. Every once in a while, PWF loses hope due to the Cuban bureaucracy and inflexibility, although now it is also beginning to see progress. In two years, the project is to be taken over by Cuban personnel. ‘That is sure to work’, say the doctor and her assistant, during a too-costly lunch we share in a too costly hotel. Later on, we inform both PWF and the nuns of Justitia et Pax, who work in the poor neighborhoods and know the prostitutes, about each other’s work. Both were ignorant of each other’s activities and hesitant to show interest in learning about it. ‘If they also could do something about the cause of prostitution’, was the first reaction, from one who knows all the ins and outs of Havana’s poor neighborhoods.

The Church

The Commissie Justitia et Pax (J. et P.)
Pastoral Social
Asistencia Social, Archbishopry Havana

Justitia et Pax no longer has a Director. Unfortunately, the Bishop has been transferred to a distant Diocese in Guantanamo. The Commission actually only carries out social work, in a very discreet and careful manner. There is no open expression of ‘justice and peace’ at all; the Church does not take risks: ‘We are kept under watch’.

Extensively discussed are the campaigns that the Church held in order to prepare for the Pope’s visit, and how the authorities reacted to these (posters hung by hundreds of youngsters were immediately removed by the security services, etc.). After his departure, the ‘despapificación’ (the Pope eradication effort) was fully underway, in order to quench any expectations the people might have gotten. Attendance to church and open masses were impressive before the Pope’s arrival. ‘That was, in any case, one achievement’. Now the Church will persist. She will try to summon back people’s faith and the Gospel’. Honesty, ethics and moral values have been lost during the last 40 years, and people are trying, from home to home, to bring them back to life. People have an immense need to give more meaning to their lives.

The Church’s social work is called ‘Pastoral Social’ and is geared mainly to helping relatives of prisoners. It provides no actual legal help, but help of a more symbolic nature, or, once in a while, something to eat. Religious are hardly allowed to enter prisons and then only under strict security measures and only in cases of prisoners who are very well-behaved, in the eyes of the regime, and request Church presence for ‘religious reasons’. Most inmates formulate this type of request but the regime dispenses it most of the time. It is far easier for prostitutes to gain access to prisons than for Church people.

Justitia et Pax tries to keep updated lists of prisoners. Via the Party, it manages to send correspondence from relatives. The Justitia et Pax lawyer acts as an official contact with the Party’s Central Committee, specifically with its ‘Religious Affairs Division’, headed by Ms. Caridad Diego. Complaints filed against jail conditions are never answered.

J. et P.: ‘We are powerless. The International Red Cross (ICRC) should return to Cuba and demand access to the Detention Center. The role played by the National Red Cross as accomplices of the Cuban security services should be openly denounced by the ICRC.’

‘After the Pope’s departure, the Church did not gain the extra space it was expecting to receive. At least we haven’t noticed it’. The ‘Casas de misión’ (evangelization centers) are not new really. They are no real concession’.

‘We Cubans have become humiliated beggars, dependent on foreign aid instead of being able to work and produce for ourselves. Dollars coming in through foreign investment, in the form of famous ‘joint-ventures’, go straight to the State. They do not benefit the population at large at all. Let the embargo, that Castro so abuses, come to an end, and then he will have no more excuses! Caritas is always forced to set aside for the State an ever-changing percentage of the foreign donations received (medicines, food). Many goods are stolen as soon as they reach the airport or the harbor. Instead of going to an empty pharmacy, people come to us asking for food or medicine. We buy products such as milk powder, oil, cans, etc., in the dollar shops, to be passed on to families with children or old people. We get funds for this from organizations like Adveniat and Misereor; thanks to them we are still alive! Naturally, that is also not the solution. Why shouldn’t we be able to earn money ourselves? If you are not ‘loyal’ to the Party, you just won’t get any work. Most highly-educated people, even experts, have to resort to working in the garbage dump services, or in cemeteries, only because they are not considered politically trustworthy. A specific example: if, as a mother, you are not a member of the State-run women’s organization, FMC, your child will have no place in a child-care center. However, you can only be a member of the FMC if you have a regular job. How can you work, with young children at home? It is a vicious circle. Really, it is rather logical that prostitution at home be seen as a kind of solution.’

‘When the school term begins, parents have to make sure they get school supplies, textbooks, cleaning materials and so forth. They also get these types of things from us. Do you think this Church contribution is ever acknowledged? In the meantime, every time the famous U.S. peace pastor, Lucy Walker, donates a typewriter, the regime applauds.’

‘The Pope referred to abortion in Cuba, and rightly so. The Minister of Health mentions the proportion of one abortion to one birth. In the rather large nearby hospital, that we visit often, approximately thirty abortions take place daily. It is not unusual for women to be forced to have abortions. To rebel against the practice is futile.’

The Nunciature

Will the Church have more space for maneuver after the Pope’s visit? This is something people cannot tell yet. ‘The Pope’s list of requests has not been fulfilled yet. Of the fifty foreign priests and other religious functionaries expected to come and help strengthen the Cuban Church, the majority has not yet arrived; most were not authorized a visa and are still on the waiting list. No Catholic education will be permitted but perhaps later on we can celebrate Easter or, who knows, maybe Christmas once more. Access to the mass media? It remains uncertain.’

The Nunciature never speaks out in its host country; it lets the local Church do that. It does not want to put dialogue with the regime at risk; that is why keeping links with the opposition is so dangerous. They do ask discreetly after some prisoners, for sure (they are also not allowed to visit prisoners). ‘We need more Pax Christi presence here!’.

The ‘Center for Citizen Formation’ of the Pinar del Río Diocese. Talk with Director Dagoberto Valdez

This center was mentioned previously in a Pax Christi publication.

The center has been in existence for four years and its goal is to provide citizens with training, so that they are prepared to participate actively in society. The starting point is the Church’s social doctrine. Discussion groups with parishioners and people from all different walks of life are organized, dealing with social and economic issues and international politics as they relate to Cuba. Citizens are encouraged to take an active participation. They also try to promote dialogue with the Party at local, regional and national levels. They publish a somewhat critical magazine, ‘Vitral’ (Stained Window), greatly enjoyed among Cuban Church circles. It is also distributed in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico (and Pax Christi Netherlands). The Party does not find it ‘red’ enough, even though party leaders are invited to send their contributions as ‘atheist writers’.

The center is actively supported by the Diocese and is generally regarded as the Cardinal’s spiritual child and also as a ‘greenhouse’ for future leaders in the transition period. There seems to be a rather large number of civil opposition groups that feel excluded from the center and believe that it is elitist.

Director Valdez, a layman, is full of good spirits and regards the Pope’s visit as something positive. He does not believe a stream of repression will follow it. ‘The Pope led us out to the door, now we have to go on further on our own. He said everything that should be said. What he put in motion is not reversible anymore. The Church is bound to profit from this. The last years we have been accorded more space in society and the citizens are reaping the benefits. Guided change is the way of the Church; we must distance ourselves from radical civil opposition groups. However, we do accompany dissidents as much as we can, when they are put in prison. But in reality, we have no genuine access to them’.

‘We do not want to exclude anyone and respect the role of anyone who contributes, whether it be those associated with the Church or individual citizens or political groups. It is our task to feed hope and to lead people out of the apathy to which paternalism has condemned them’.

The regime

Delegate Apostolou held an interview with Mr. J. Lezcano from the National Assembly, Head of Foreign Affairs. Lezcano pledged to increase the ties between Europe and Cuba. He regards the EU ‘common position’ as discrimination and interference in Cuba’s internal affairs. ‘Foreign governments do not have reason to interfere with our laws; if people are put in prison, it is done according to the Cuban Constitution. We also do not question your laws. That the UN Special Rapporteur for Cuba was not allowed to enter Cuba, is due, in our opinion, to the fact that appointing such a rapporteur was not an independent act undertaken by the UN, but rather something instigated by the U.S. The U.S. blocks our integration in the Caribbean region. Can Europe make any positive contribution? The ‘Platform for Human Rights and Democracy in Cuba’, founded by Pax Christi in The Hague last year, was set up with cooperation from the mafia in Miami.’

Epilogue 1

End of February, 1998.

The release of large groups of prisoners is expected in the meanwhile; both the Cuban regime and the Vatican speak of hundreds. The Pope is believed to have given the Cuban authorities a list of about 300 prisoners (political and ‘ordinary’ inmates), putting in a plea for mercy; that is, he requested that they all be unconditionally released. Meanwhile, there is a great deal of confusion about the names on that list. Very soon it appeared that at least one hundred of those on the list had already been released (some, even years before). Apparently the Church in Cuba did not check the list with the internal opposition before it was presented to the authorities. Is this due to the lack of contact between the Cuban church hierarchies and the country’s civil opposition? Seventy people listed are said by Fidel Castro not to qualify for release, due to the nature of their ‘counter-revolutionary’ activities. As far as the four dissidents of the Internal Dissident Working Group in Havana (Beatriz Roque, among others) are concerned, arrested last summer for writing a critique on the recommendations issued by the Fifth Party Congress, ‘The Motherland belongs to all’, the EU protested and demanded that the four be released, until now without success. The four have declared not to leave the country after their possible release.

What remains is not clear. A group of about nineteen ‘conscientious objectors’, among whom can be found sick and old people, will leave for Canada. Many opposition leaders, who pose a real threat to Castro and who, above all, refuse to leave the country, will not be in this group. On the contrary, new processes (against the four members of the Havana ‘Dissident Working-Group’) and prison sentences have been announced, in compliance with Cuban Penal Code. As long as the Cuban Penal Code is not converted into a modern, fair, juridical system, the cells emptied will be filled constantly with new victims.

Clearly the propaganda surrounding the “release of hundreds of prisoners” has been more a question for “international consumption” than a real change in policy (Cuba seeks to approach Europe and wants to profit from the commercial preferences of the ACP-countries). To applaud the measure prematurely is bound to damage the people it is intended to help. They will experience that, once again, the international community lets itself be cheated by Mr. Castro and his proxy.

Conclusions and recommendations

- The Pope’s visit to Cuba is valued as positive, in general, although the efforts made by the Cuban regime to ‘coopt’ the visit on its behalf are also recognizable. In any event, the Pope’s journey probably contributed to greater local freedom of movement for parishes in general; under this umbrella, all sorts of civil ‘cultural groups’ emerged, that were previously forbidden, groups that, according to the law prohibiting free associations or reunion, could not exist in effect.

On an international scale, the Pope’s call to lift the embargo has undoubtedly led to a definite change in the U.S. climate regarding the imposed measure; it is a fact that the embargo on food and medicine will be lifted shortly. Even Senator Jesse Helms, who initially proposed tightening the embargo, has made proposals in this direction himself.

Likewise, aggressiveness and mutual exclusion among Cuban circles in Miami has also become somewhat lower in tone. The volume of the ‘flexible’ and the ’strict’ has grown less loud. It is possible that the Pope’s words about reconciliation and dialogue were heard by the diaspora.

It is of the utmost importance that awareness in Europe serve to unmask the Cuban reality, and that recognition be given to the existence of a Cuban opposition worth being appreciated and supported in practical terms.

Europe, that is, the EU member states, as well as European NGOs, must intensify its links with its U.S. counterparts, in order to reach consensus regarding a social policy benefitting the entire Cuban population. Lifting the embargo must help towards this, as well as taking other measures designed to create and increase confidence.

* European entrepreneurs desiring to invest in Cuba should adopt behavior codes such as the ‘Arcos Principles’, that, among other things, comply with international behavior codes formulated by the International Labor Organization (ILO), so that Cuban citizens can also benefit from foreign investment and not just the State. As it stands today, foreign investment only serves to strengthen the existing totalitarian regime. The EU should publicly support the ‘Arcos principles’ and actively encourage enterprises to abide by these guidelines and implement them. NGOs and specific international trade union federations can play a favorable role in getting the ‘Arcos principles’ put into effect.
* The EU’s ‘common position’ (96) must be permanently upheld. It must be defended, at all costs, if no genuine improvement in the area of human rights and democracy takes place in Cuba. It is also of crucial interest that the EU keeps regular contact with Cuba’s internal opposition.
* Pressure must be kept on the Cuban regime to allow international human-rights organizations into the country; to release political prisoners and to make the necessary, democratic reforms to the Cuban penal code.
* The International Red Cross (ICRC) should have unrestrained access to Cuba’s detention centers. The National Cuban Red Cross must be investigated by the ICRC, as to become independent from the Cuban regime.
* The current Cuban UN representative in Geneva, former Public Prosecutor and Minister of Justice Carlos Amat, has been identified as the person responsible for the murder of the passengers on the ‘13 de marzo’ raft in 1994, both by survivors and relatives of the victims of the ‘revolutionary tribunals’ in the Sixties and Seventies. He has been singled out as a war criminal. Pax Christi Nederland makes an appeal to all international human-rights organizations to request before the UN, as well as before the Swiss regime, to declare Carlos Amat ‘persona non grata’ and send him back to Cuba.

Epilogue 2

May 1998

It seems our fear came true: rather than some substantial change, the Pope’s visit to Cuba has served to added to the international legitimization of Castro’s regime, in spite of the fact that a large amount of the cuban population has wholeheartedly welcomed and appreciated the Holy Father’s efforts. About the famous release of around three hundred prisoners (only about half of them political prisoners, some under the condition of exile), much international successful propaganda has been made. Various international leaders are preparing to visit the island. An example is prime minister Chrétien of Canada (country number one investing in Cuba) who visited Cuba in april 1998. But their modest calls for respect for human rights are plainly rejected by Fidel Castro as intolerable interventionism. French, italian and spanish entrepreneurs are happy to increase their commercial ties with the regime, unhindered by ILO-conventions. The spanish king and government representatives are about to visit the island.

Due to political manoeuvering between member states of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, shrewd diplomatic lobbying and pressure exerted by the Cuban regime, all combined with an inefficient advocacy on the part of activists and human-rights NGOs (Cubans and non-Cubans alike), the mandate for the Special Rapporteur for Cuba was not prolonged for the first time since its installation eight years ago.

It is more necessary than ever that international NGOs replace the task of the Special Rapporteur on defending human rights in Cuba. Human Rights Watch /Americas, Amnesty International and Reporters sans Frontiers are increasingly paying attention to the suffering of the cuban population in a highly qualified way. Pax Christi Netherlands continues the promoting of NGO cooperation on a European level, informing the European Union and seeking international support for the internal dissidence in Cuba.

Our proposals now are to promote:

1) the establishment in Habana of an office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, such as in Colombia.

2) the installation in Cuba of a church led ‘Vicaría de Solidaridad’, comparable to the church human rights office in Chile during the dictatorship of general Pinochet and the ‘Tutela Legal office’, in El Salvador, during the war in Central America.

3) the establishment of a Human Rights Commissioner for Cuba at the European Union.

Liduine Zumpolle
Latin America Department
Pax Christi Netherland

The Miami Herald
By CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER

President Bush summoned just about everyone to the State Department. He wanted to issue an important statement to the Cubans on the island. The ceremony on Wednesday had a feeling of urgency. He was flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Mel Martinez of Florida, the Cuban-American members of Congress and other notables. His was not an election-year message directed at Florida voters. Those are made while clad in a guayabera and delivered as in a rally. This was something a lot more serious.

Bush talked to all Cubans, but especially to the ruling clique. The Americans have vital and precise information: A huge majority in the apparatus of power wants major changes. A hundred reports have been issued about the debates conducted in Cuba over the problems affecting the country, and the results are almost unanimous: Practically nobody wants to keep the current regime. They begin, timidly, by asking for economic changes and, before you know it, they’re demanding political changes and individual freedoms.

Life beyond communism

That makes sense. How can anyone believe in the virtues of the single party and collectivism after half a century of failures and misery? A huge majority of citizens wants the restoration of property rights, democracy and pluralism. Among the intellectuals, artists and students, the clamor is almost unanimous. The only person who remains convinced of the virtues of communism is Fidel Castro, and his death, preceded by senile dementia, cannot be far off.

Not even Raúl, who was a communist before Fidel, believes in that mumbo-jumbo. That’s why Bush didn’t mention him in his speech. He wanted to leave all options open. That’s why he addressed the armed forces and the security corps. Those who welcome the wishes of society and initiate or facilitate the transition to democracy will have all the support they need from the United States. There is life beyond communism.

There is another key element in Bush’s speech. He prefers freedom to stability. He does not admit the cynical argument (defended by some U.S. military officers) that it is preferable to have a tyranny on the island, keeping things quiet to prevent a massive exodus of Cubans, rather than run the risk of a possibly turbulent transition to democracy. That’s called learning from history.

Throughout the 20th century, the United States sided with repugnant dictatorships while seeking stability and ended up the loser. Upon that twisted reasoning lay the censurable links with Somoza, Trujillo, Batista and Pinochet. The left condemned Washington for that stance. Now, Bush stands on the ethical side of the conflict with Castro’s dictatorship, and the left, mindless of its own contradictions or its lack of democratic values, continues to condemn him.

In turn, Bush and his advisors realize that the interests of the United States can be guaranteed only if a democratic regime with an efficient economic system is installed in Cuba. Prolonging the dictatorship, even if it is an imitation of the Chinese model, only extends the problem; it does not resolve it. Better to have a country shaken by a tumultuous change — as happened in Eastern Europe — than allow in Cuba what happened in Russia. There, there were no mass conflicts, but an anti-American mob of mafiosi and policemen took over the Kremlin.

What the United States prefers is to see a future Cuba that resembles the Czech Republic or Hungary, not Russia or China. Fortunately, that’s exactly what almost all Cubans want.

How will Cuba pay for its needs during the change? Bush also described that: Washington will create an international fund for that purpose. When the time comes, there will be no shortage of funds, advice and support. The idea was put forward two years ago at Princeton University by former Uruguayan President Luis Alberto Lacalle. He even gave it a name: the José Martí Fund.

Petrodollars or starvation

The idea was picked up by FAES, a think tank presided by former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, who incorporated it into a document called ”Latin America: An agenda for freedom,” coordinated by deputy Miguel Angel Cortés. Then, hand-carried by Aznar, the idea entered the White House. The Cubans will not find serious economic obstacles when they transform the dictatorship into a democracy and pass from collectivism to the market and private property.

That part of the message is very important. Fidel Castro is dying, but he’s trying to bequeath to the Cubans a replacement caudillo: Hugo Chávez. And the way to persuade them to accept Chávez is by not giving them any other option: Either they accept the Venezuelan’s leadership, with his petrodollars and multimillion-dollar subsidies (about $3 billion per year), or they starve to death.

But that blackmail is over. There is a way to emerge from the abyss in which El Comandante will leave Cuba. Chávez, whom Cubans detest, can go somewhere else to spout his delirious 21st-century socialism. The Cubans lived their 20th-century version intensely and learned their lesson forever.

©2007 Firmas Press

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Gracias. Buenos Dias. I am pleased to be back at the State Department. I appreciate the work that’s done here. Every day the men and women of this department serve as America’s emissaries to the world. Every day you help our country respond to aggressors and bring peace to troubled lands. Every day you advance our country’s mission in support of basic human rights to the millions who are denied them. Secretary Rice constantly tells me about the good work being done here at the State Department, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I thank you for your hard work and I’m pleased to be with you.

Few issues have challenged this department — and our nation — longer than the situation in Cuba. Nearly half a century has passed since Cuba’s regime ordered American diplomats to evacuate our embassy in Havana. This was the decisive break of our diplomatic relations with the island, a troubling signal for the future of the Cuban people, and the dawn of an unhappy era between our two countries. In this building, President John F. Kennedy spoke about the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba’s dictatorship. And it was here where he announced the end of the missile crisis that almost plunged the world into nuclear war.

Today, another President comes with hope to discuss a new era for the United States and Cuba. The day is coming when the Cuban people will chart their own course for a better life. The day is coming when the Cuban people have the freedom they have awaited for so long. (Applause.)

Madam Secretary, thank you for your introduction. I’m pleased to be with you and Ambassador Negroponte and all who work here. Thanks for the hospitality. I’m pleased to be here with our Secretary of Commerce, Secretary Carlos Gutierrez — born in Cuba. I appreciate other members of my administration who are here.

I particularly want to thank the members of Congress who have joined us: Senator Mel Martinez, born in Cuba; Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, born in Cuba; Lincoln Diaz-Balart, born in Cuba; su hermanito –(laughter) — Mario Diaz-Balart. I want to thank Chris Smith for joining us, Congressman from Jersey; Thaddeus McCotter, Michigan; Debbie Wasserman Schultz, from Florida; as well as Tim Mahone from Florida. Appreciate you being here.

I thank the members of the Diplomatic Corps who have joined us. I appreciate the Ambassadors to the Organization of American States who are with us. I particularly want to thank the Cuban families who have joined me on the stage.

One country in our region still isolates its people from the hope that freedom brings, and traps them in a system that has failed them. Forty-eight years ago, in the early moments of Cuba’s revolution, its leaders offered a prediction. He said — and I quote — “The worst enemies which the Cuban revolution can face are the revolutionaries themselves.” One of history’s great tragedies is that he made that dark prophecy come true.

Cuba’s rulers promised individual liberty. Instead they denied their citizens basic rights that the free world takes for granted. In Cuba it is illegal to change jobs, to change houses, to travel abroad, and to read books or magazines without the express approval of the state. It is against the law for more than three Cubans to meet without permission. Neighborhood Watch programs do not look out for criminals. Instead, they monitor their fellow citizens — keeping track of neighbors’ comings and goings, who visits them, and what radio stations they listen to. The sense of community and the simple trust between human beings is gone.

Cuba’s rulers promised an era of economic advancement. Instead they brought generations of economic misery. Many of the cars on the street pre-date the revolution — and some Cubans rely on horse carts for transportation. Housing for many ordinary Cubans is in very poor condition, while the ruling class lives in mansions. Clinics for ordinary Cubans suffer from chronic shortages in medicine and equipment. Many Cubans are forced to turn to the black market to feed their families. There are long lines for basic necessities — reminiscent of the Soviet bread lines of the last century. Meanwhile, the regime offers fully stocked food stores to foreign tourists, diplomats and businessmen in communism’s version of apartheid.

Cuba’s rulers promised freedom of the press. Instead they closed down private newspapers and radio and television stations. They’ve jailed and beaten journalists, raided their homes, and seized their paper, ink and fax machines. One Cuban journalist asked foreigners who visited him for one thing: a pen. Another uses shoe polish as ink as a typewriter ribbon.

Cuba’s rulers promised, “absolute respect for human rights.” Instead they offered Cubans rat-infested prisons and a police state. Hundreds are serving long prison sentences for political offenses such as the crime of “dangerousness” — as defined by the regime. Others have been jailed for the crime of “peaceful sedition” — which means whatever Cuban authorities decide it means.

Joining us here are family members of political prisoners in Cuba. I’ve asked them to come because I want our fellow citizens to see the faces of those who suffer as a result of the human rights abuses on the island some 90 miles from our shore. One of them is Olga Alonso. Her brother, Ricardo Gonzalez Alonso [sic], has been harassed by Cuban authorities since he was 11 years old, because he wrote things that the Cuban authorities did not like. In 2003, Ricardo was arrested for his writings and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The authorities seized illegal contraband they found in his home. These included such things as a laptop computer, notebooks and a printer. Olga, we’re glad you’re here. Thank you for coming. (Applause.)

Marlenis Gonzalez and her daughter, Melissa, are here. They recently arrived from Cuba, but without Melissa’s father. Jorge Luis Gonzalez Tanquero dared to defend the human rights of his countrymen. For that, he was arrested for crimes against the state. Now he languishes in poor health inside a Cuban prison. Bienvenidos. (Applause.)

Damaris Garcia y su tia, Mirta Pernet, are with us today. Damaris calls the Cuban government “a killing machine” — those are her words. They’ve seen relatives imprisoned for supporting liberty. One beloved family member, Omar Pernet Hernandez, was a poor man who sold candy on the streets of Havana. For advocating freedom, he is serving a sentence of 25 years. He’s 62 years old, he’s emaciated. Yet he remains a determined advocate for human rights for the Cuban people. Bienvenidos. (Applause.)

Also with us is Yamile Llanes Labrada. Yamile’s husband, Jorge [sic] Luis Garcia Paneque, was a surgeon and journalist. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison for daring speak the truth about the regime. Yamile herself was accused of espionage and she feared for the safety of her four children. After Jos ’s arrest, a mob organized by state authorities surrounded their house. The mob carried sticks and threatened to set fire to the house with the family inside. Earlier this year, Yamile and her children made it off the island. They do not know when they’ll see their father again. Bienvenidos, Yamile. (Applause.)

I want to thank each of you [for] coming today. I thank you for allowing me to share your stories, and I thank you for your courage. I ask that God watch over you and your loved ones. Que Dios les bendiga a ustedes y a sus familias. And I join your prayers for a day when the light of liberty will shine on Cuba.

These are just a few of the examples of the terror and trauma that is Cuba today. The socialist paradise is a tropical gulag. The quest for justice that once inspired the Cuban people has now become a grab for power. And as with all totalitarian systems, Cuba’s regime no doubt has other horrors still unknown to the rest of the world. Once revealed, they will shock the conscience of humanity. And they will shame the regime’s defenders and all those democracies that have been silent. (Applause.) One former Cuban political prisoner, Armando Valladares, puts it this way: It will be a time when “mankind will feel the revulsion it felt when the crimes of Stalin were brought to light.” And that time is coming.

As we speak, calls for fundamental change are growing across the island. Peaceful demonstrations are spreading. Earlier this year leading Cuban dissidents came together for the first time to issue the Unity of Freedom — a declaration for democratic change. They hear the dying gasps of a failed regime. They know that even history’s cruelest nightmares cannot last forever. A restive people who long to rejoin the world at last have hope. And they will bring to Cuba a real revolution — a revolution of freedom, democracy and justice. (Applause.)

Now is the time to support the democratic movements growing on the island. Now is the time to stand with the Cuban people as they stand up for their liberty. And now is the time for the world to put aside its differences and prepare for Cuban’s transition to a future of freedom and progress and promise. The dissidents of today will be the nation’s leaders tomorrow — and when freedom finally comes, they will surely remember who stood with them. (Applause.)

The Czech Republic and Hungary and Poland have been vital sources of support and encouragement to Cuba’s brave democratic opposition. I ask other countries to follow suit. All nations can make tangible efforts to show public support for those who love freedom on the island. They can open up their embassies in Havana to pro-democracy leaders and invite them to different events. They can use their lobbies of the embassies to give Cubans access to the Internet and to books and to magazines. They can encourage their country’s non-governmental organizations to reach out directly to Cuba’s independent civil society.

Here at home we can do more, as well. The United States Congress has recently voted for additional funding to support Cuban democracy efforts. I thank you all for your good work on this measure — and I urge you to get the bill to my desk as soon as we possibly can. (Applause.) I also urge our Congress to show our support and solidarity for fundamental change in Cuba by maintaining our embargo on the dictatorship until it changes. (Applause.)

Cuba’s regime uses the U.S. embargo as a scapegoat for Cuba’s miseries. Yet Presidents of both our political parties have long understood that the source of Cuba’s suffering is not the embargo, but the communist system. They know that trade with the Cuban government would not help the Cuban people until there are major changes to Cuba’s political and economic system. Instead, trade with Cuba would merely enrich the elites in power and strengthen their grip. As long as the regime maintains its monopoly over the political and economic life of the Cuban people, the United States will keep the embargo in place. (Applause.)

The United States knows how much the Cuban people are suffering — and we have not stood idle. Over the years, we’ve granted asylum to hundreds of thousands who have fled the repression and misery imposed by the regime. We’ve rallied nations to take up the banner of Cuban liberty. And we will continue to do so. We’ve authorized private citizens and organizations to provide food, and medicine, and other aid — amounting to more than $270 million last year alone. The American people, the people of this generous land, are the largest providers of humanitarian aid to the Cuban people in the entire world. (Applause.)

The aid we provide goes directly into the hands of the Cuban people, rather than into the coffers of the Cuban leaders. And that’s really the heart of our policy: to break the absolute control that the regime holds over the material resources that the Cuban people need to live and to prosper and to have hope.

To further that effort, the United States is prepared to take new measures right now to help the Cuban people directly — but only if the Cuban regime, the ruling class, gets out of the way.

For example — here’s an interesting idea to help the Cuban people — the United States government is prepared to license non-governmental organizations and faith-based groups to provide computers and Internet access to Cuban people — if Cuba’s rulers will end their restrictions on Internet access for all the people.

Or the United States is prepared to invite Cuban young people whose families suffer oppression into the Partnership for Latin American Youth scholarship programs, to help them have equal access to greater educational opportunities — if the Cuban rulers will allow them to freely participate.

We make these offers to the people of Cuba — and we hope their rulers will allow them to accept. You know, we’ve made similar offers before — but they’ve been rejected out of hand by the regime. It’s a sad lesson, and it should be a vivid lesson for all: For Cuba’s ruling class, its grip on power is more important than the welfare of its people.

Life will not improve for Cubans under their current system of government. It will not improve by exchanging one dictator for another. It will not improve if we seek accommodation with a new tyranny in the interests of “stability.” (Applause.) America will have no part in giving oxygen to a criminal regime victimizing its own people. We will not support the old way with new faces, the old system held together by new chains. The operative word in our future dealings with Cuba is not “stability.” The operative word is “freedom.” (Applause.)

In that spirit, today I also am announcing a new initiative to develop an international multi-billion dollar Freedom Fund for Cuba. This fund would help the Cuban people rebuild their economy and make the transition to democracy. I have asked two members of my Cabinet to lead the effort — Secretary Rice and Secretary Gutierrez. They will enlist foreign governments and international organizations to contribute to this initiative.

And here’s how the fund will work: The Cuban government must demonstrate that it has adopted, in word and deed, fundamental freedoms. These include the freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of press, freedom to form political parties, and the freedom to change the government through periodic, multi-party elections. And once these freedoms are in place, the fund will be able to give Cubans — especially Cuban entrepreneurs — access to grants, and loans and debt relief to help rebuild their country. (Applause.)

The restoration of these basic freedoms is the foundation of fair, free and competitive elections. Without these fundamental protections in place, elections are only cynical exercises that give dictatorships a legitimacy they do not deserve.

We will know there is a new Cuba when opposition parties have the freedom to organize, assemble and speak with equal access to the airwaves. We will know there is a new Cuba when a free and independent press has the power to operate without censors. We will know there is a new Cuba when the Cuban government removes its stranglehold on private economic activity.

And above all, we will know there is a new Cuba when authorities go to the prisons, walk to the cells where people are being held for their beliefs and set them free. (Applause.) It will be a time when the families here are reunited with their loved ones, and when the names of free people — including dissidents such as Oscar Elias Biscet, Normando Hernandez Gonzales, and Omar Rodriguez Saludes are free. (Applause.) It will be a moment when Cubans of conscience are released from their shackles — not as a gesture or a tactic, but because the government no longer puts people in prison because of what they think, or what they say or what they believe.

Cuba’s transition from a shattered society to a free country may be long and difficult. Things will not always go as hoped. There will be difficult adjustments to make. One of the curses of totalitarianism is that it affects everyone. Good people make moral compromises to feed their families, avoid the whispers of neighbors, and escape a visit from the secret police. If Cuba is to enter a new era, it must find a way to reconcile and forgive those who have been part of the system but who do not have blood on their hands. They’re victims as well.

At this moment, my words are being transmitted into — live into Cuba by media outlets in the free world — including Radio and TV Marti. To those Cubans who are listening — perhaps at great risk — I would like to speak to you directly.

Some of you are members of the Cuban military, or the police, or officials in the government. You may have once believed in the revolution. Now you can see its failure. When Cubans rise up to demand their liberty, they — they — the liberty they deserve, you’ve got to make a choice. Will you defend a disgraced and dying order by using force against your own people? Or will you embrace your people’s desire for change? There is a place for you in the free Cuba. You can share the hope found in the song that has become a rallying cry for freedom-loving Cubans on and off the island: “Nuestro Dia Ya Viene Llegando.” Our day is coming soon. (Applause.)

To the ordinary Cubans who are listening: You have the power to shape your own destiny. You can bring about a future where your leaders answer to you, where you can freely express your beliefs and where your children can grow up in peace. Many experts once said that that day could never come to Eastern Europe, or Spain or Chile. Those experts were wrong. When the Holy Father came to Cuba and offered God’s blessings, he reminded you that you hold your country’s future in your hands. And you can carry this refrain in your heart: Su dia ya viene llegando. Your day is coming soon. (Applause.)

To the schoolchildren of Cuba: You have a lot in common with young people in the United States. You both dream of hopeful futures, and you both have the optimism to make those dreams come true. Do not believe the tired lies you are told about America. We want nothing from you except to welcome you to the hope and joy of freedom. Do not fear the future. Su dia ya viene llegando. Your day is coming soon. (Applause.)

Until that day, you and your suffering are never far from our hearts and prayers. The American people care about you. And until we stand together as free men and women, I leave you with a hope, a dream, and a mission: Viva Cuba Libre. (Applause.)