Posted on 05/10/2002 9:31:57 AM PDT by HAL9000
HAVANA, May 10, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Activists delivered more than 11,200 signatures to Cuba's National Assembly on Friday, demanding a referendum for broad changes in Cuba's socialist system less than 48 hours before a visit by former President Carter.Known as Project Varela, the signature-gathering campaign is seen as the biggest homegrown, nonviolent campaign to force reforms in the government established by Fidel Castro 43 years ago.
The petitions propose a referendum that would ask voters if they favor civil liberties like free speech, an amnesty for political prisoners, the right to start their own businesses.
Cuba's constitution says the National Assembly should schedule a national referendum if it receives the verified signatures of 10,000 legal voters.
There was no immediate response from Castro's government to the move. Asked by reporters in April about the campaign, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said he doubted it will succeed and he accused its organizers of being on the U.S. government payroll.
Campaign coordinator Oswaldo Paya of the Christian Liberation Movement and two other men, identified as Antonio Villa Sanchez and Andres Regis Iglesias, entered the offices of the National Assembly shortly before 11 a.m. with two white boxes filled with the petitions. The words "Citizen Petition" could be seen on the side of the boxes.
Paya, who says the project has received no money from any government or group outside Cuba, has said state security agents have harassed the petition drive, particularly as the campaign was near its goal. He said agents had confiscated several thousand signatures, but volunteers had gone out and collected more.
Carter, who arrives Sunday at Castro's invitation, plans to meet with Cuban activists to discuss human rights and religious matters next Thursday, his staff has said. A visit with the organizers of Project Varela is considered likely.
Named for Felix Varela, Cuban independence hero and Roman Catholic priest, the signature drive was discussed by activists here as early 1996. But it wasn't until the last year that volunteers begin collecting signatures in earnest.
Volunteers in recent months have verified signatures, visiting each person who signed and ensuring name, address and national identity documents match.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Cuban Dissidents Petition for Referendum on Reform
May 10, 2002 12:54 PM ET
By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA (Reuters) - A group of Cuban dissidents on Friday handed in an unprecedented petition backed by 11,000 signatures calling for a national referendum to reform the country's one-party communist system.
Leading dissident Oswaldo Paya and two other local activists entered the Cuban National Assembly carrying two white cardboard boxes containing the lists of 11,020 signatures, more than required by Cuba's constitution to ask for a referendum.
"A new moment has begun for our nation, a moment of reconciliation," Paya, a proponent of peaceful internal change in Cuba, told reporters afterward.
The so-called Varela Project, which has become the main rallying cause for the island's small dissident movement, seeks a popular vote on free expression and association, an amnesty for political prisoners, more opportunities for private business, a new electoral law and a general election.
President Fidel Castro's government has dismissed the project as a plot financed by its traditional ideological enemy, the United States, and said it that would not get anywhere.
The dissident proposal for a plebiscite was presented to the Cuban legislature two days before the arrival of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who plans a six-day visit to improve relations between the United States and Cuba and discuss human rights issues.
Carter, a critic of the 40-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, will meet three times with Castro, who has been in power since the 1959 revolution.
In an apparent gesture toward Carter, Cuban authorities on Sunday released the island's most famous dissident, Vladimiro Roca, two months before he completed a five-year jail sentence on charges of subversion.
Roca said the referendum petition was a "step forward" because the government had allowed the collection of signatures, but he doubted authorities would allow a vote.
PUBLIC DEBATE SOUGHT
Paya called on the government to publish the Varela Project proposal so that it could be debated publicly by Cubans, noting that the state-run media has not published a word about the dissident effort.
"The Varela Project does not end today, instead it opens up to all Cubans so that (they may), without fear and with love of their people, sign this petition, analyze it and publicly express their opinions," Paya said in a statement.
The Cuban government, which scorns all dissidents as "counter-revolutionary" pawns of the United States and anti-Castro Cuban American groups, has publicly ignored the project.
The only official reaction to the referendum bid was by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who said its backers were "on the U.S. government payroll" when asked at a press conference.
"I don't think any of their initiatives or slanders in favor of a superpower's policy against a small country will have any success or any echo or support among the Cuban people," Perez said.
Washington's most senior diplomat in Cuba, Vicki Huddleston, has called the Varela Project the most important development of recent times among the Caribbean island's small and traditionally fragmented opposition movement.
Huddleston said last month that Cuba's economic troubles have stirred up discontent among the island's population of 11 million, particularly among the young, who see no future, leading to a growing number of human rights activists.
Castro has frequently maintained that no political transition is needed in Cuba. Often under fire for curtailing freedom of expression, he says his system is more democratic than the Western model, and he denies the existence of political prisoners.
Once all the grievance petitions had been collected, the Party went out and rounded up everybody who had complained, and hustled them off to labor camps for "re-education".
My guess is Fidel and his henchpersons ( Gee ! Wasn't THAT PC ??? ) will do likewise.
a.k.a "useful idiot"
Campaign coordinator Oswaldo Paya of the Christian Liberation
This is going as far as the trash can.
"Already it is a success because over 10,000 Cuban citizens have risked their futures by signing a petition that calls for free speech ... private enterprise, release of political prisoners and an opening to democracy," Ms. Huddleston said. "Unfortunately the government has already begun to try to discredit the project by falsely claiming its organizers are paid by the U.S. government. This is untrue. Project Varela is a homegrown project born of frustration with the present and hope for the future." ***
March 19, 1977 - President Carter drops both the ban on travel to Cuba and on US citizens spending dollars in Cuba.
April 27, 1977 - The United States and Cuba sign a maritime boundary and fishing rights accord.
May 30, 1977 - The United States and Cuba agree to establish "Interests Sections" in each other's country beginning on September 1. Although not formal embassies, these offices will deal primarily with trade and consular matters and will serve as channels of communication between the two countries.
February 27, 1978 - Secretary of State Cyrus Vance states that he does not foresee the normalization of relations with Cuba because of the presence of Cuban troops in Africa.
April 22, 1980 - Cuba announces that anyone who wishes to leave Cuba can depart from Mariel. The Mariel boatlift continues through September and results in 123,000 Cubans coming to the United States. Among these immigrants are several thousand who are criminals and several hundred who are mentally ill.
January 20, 1981 - Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States.
April 19, 1982 - The Reagan Administration reestablishes the travel ban, prohibits U.S. citizens from spending money in Cuba, and lets the 1977 fishing accord lapse.
September 29, 1983 - The House approves the establishment of Radio Marti which passed the Senate on September 13 and is signed into law by President Reagan in October 1983.
December 14, 1984 - The United States and Cuba conclude a migration agreement that provides for the repatriation of 2,746 Marielitos, U.S. admission of 3,000 political prisoners, and the immigration to the United States of 20,000 Cubans annually.
Actually, the "fire in his eyes" was an Arms-For-Hostages deal.
The reason why Carter is going to Cuba is because Bush wants him to. The situation right now is a little too touchy for Bush to get directly involved, but he would like very much to be the president who opened the door to democracy in Cuba.
I don't believe Carter can open any door or that he really expects or wants to. He and his fellow Castro lovers don't want to take out the communist, they want to prop him up so he can continue to spread his poison in our hemisphere and around the world.
Atlanta - Cuban-Americans skeptical of outcome : Carter "useful tool" - Castro "devil"***Rene Diaz, a Cuban-American and CEO of Diaz Foods in Atlanta, sits on the Carter Center's Board of Councilors, an advisory group of prominent regional and local figures. He said Cuban-Americans need to take the opportunity to start a dialogue with Castro to come up with a post-Castro succession plan. When Castro dies, Diaz believes, different groups will vie for power: Castro's brother Raul, opposing generals in the army and the Cuban people. Cuba could "get worse before it gets better." "Carter is one man who can convince Castro that his legacy is important. He doesn't want to be the man who ruled Cuba for 40 years and then he died and it collapsed," Diaz said. "Carter can bring about some dialogues, some ideas to get to the next step. Cuba could be a success story."***
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Why would he use this argument? Why would not letting this communist regime fail be important to Carter and the Carter Center?
But, I had the impression that Carter decided to go to Cuba - and that President Bush decided - since he is butting in and going - we must insist that Carter push for Democratic reforms there. In other words, the Bush administration did not want to bar a former President from such a visit - sort of, if you can't keep the peanut farmer on the farm - at least make sure that he is not going to go do his usual Marxist loving kissup there!
Or is this totally wrong?
The Monroe Doctrine is still a very important part of American foreign policy. By hook or by crook we want the commies out of Cuba. Communism feeds on poverty, despair. The reason why they went communist in the first place is because of the brutal Batista government that was supported by the U.S. They will move to a democratic form of government only if they have prosperity.
Communism has already failed in Cuba. But democracy needs prosperity, they must have that first before opening up their government.
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