"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)
Twenty three years ago today the Berlin Wall was torn down and today Germany is the most powerful nation in a peaceful and democratic Europe. If some would have had there way that wall would still be there today.
Nonviolent demonstrations throughout East Germany in the months preceding the announcement in the video below laid the groundwork for a nonviolent transition:
Protest demonstrations broke out all over East Germany in September
1989. Initially, protesters were mostly people wanting to leave to the
West, chanting "Wir wollen raus!" ("We want out!"). Then protestors
began to chant "Wir bleiben hier", ("We're staying here!"). This was the start of what East Germans generally call the "Peaceful
Revolution" of late 1989.[70] The protest demonstrations grew
considerably by early November. The movement neared its height on 4
November when half a million people gathered at the Alexanderplatz
demonstration, a rally for change in East Berlin's large public square
and transportation hub.
The announcement by Günter Schabowski, the Communist party boss in East Berlin and the spokesman for the SED Politburo, that Germans would be able to leave their country via border crossing points is anti-climactic but nonetheless historic marking the day the Berlin Wall began to be physically torn down.
One of the last victims, Chris Gueffroy
was just 19 years old when he was shot dead on February 5, 1989 trying to
cross the Berlin Wall. Not even twenty years old and murdered for wanting
to live in freedom.
The end of the Berlin Wall was not inevitable and it took the courage and persistence of many Eastern Europeans to achieve it. Even today in places like Cuba there are Walls that have been built that need to be torn down. It is for this reason that November 9, 1989 is a date that friends of freedom should always remember.
President Barack Obama and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez
The Chavez for Obama political advertisement released by the Romney Campaign links together Hugo Chavez, Mariela Castro, and the image of Che Guevara in a thirty second spot which states the following (translation below courtesy of The Miami Herald):
NARRATOR: Who supports Barack Obama?
CHAVEZ: “If I were American, I’d vote for Obama.”
NARRATOR: Raúl Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, would vote for Obama.
CASTRO: “I would vote for President Obama.”
NARRATOR: And to top it off, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency
sent e-mails for Hispanic Heritage month with a photo of Che Guevara.
CHAVEZ: “If Obama were from Barlovento (a Venezuelan town), he’d vote for Chávez.”
ROMNEY: I’m Mitt Romney, and I approve this message.
Below is the actual advertisement:
Supporters of the President have attacked it and the media has reported on the debate over the advertisement describing its content as controversial and incendiary, but the question remains, is it accurate? Is it true?
Three claims are made:
1) Hugo Chavez would vote for Obama if he were an American citizen.
Reuters reported on September 30, 2012 that Hugo Chavez had endorsed President Obama quoting the Venezuelan strongman saying: "I hope this doesn't harm Obama, but if I was from the United States, I'd vote for Obama," ... "Obama is a good guy ... I think that if Obama was from Barlovento or some Caracas neighborhood, he'd vote for Chavez". The video in the advert does not represent or take out of context what Hugo Chavez is saying. The claim is accurate and true.
2) Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro said as a citizen of the world she would vote for Obama.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on June 4, 2012, Mariela Castro: "As a citizen of the world, I would like him to win," Castro told CNN's
Christiane Amanpour in an interview set to air Monday. "Seeing the
candidates, I prefer Obama." ... "If Obama counted on the full support of the American people, then we
can normalize the relationships; we can have better relations than what
we had under President Carter". The claim is accurate and true.
3) President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
sent e-mails for Hispanic Heritage month with a photo of Che Guevara.
The Washington Post reported on September 14, 2012 that the EPA sent an e-mail out that "contained passages about Hispanic culture apparently copied word-for-word from Buzzle.com.
And as icing on the oopsie-cake, it also featured a photo of a horse
and buggy — no doubt meant to illustrate the picturesque elements of the
culture — passing a painted billboard of Che Guevara." It was widely covered in the media. The claim is accurate and true.
The claims made in the advertisement are accurate and not taken out of context. It is not the advertisement that is incendiary or controversial but the affinity of a authoritarian despot, and the daughter of a dictator for President Obama and EPA circulating an image of Che Guevara, a mass murdering advocate for totalitarian dictatorship and a symbol for violent political action.
Amnesty International reported on October 29, 2012 that two Vietnamese songwriters who face up to 20 years in jail for writing songs criticizing their government. Vo Minh Tri, known as Viet Khang, 34, and Tran Vu Anh Binh, known as
Hoang Nhat Thong, 37 have both been held in custody since late 2011. According to Amnesty International both stand accused of "conducting anti-state propaganda under Article 88 of Viet Nam’s Criminal
Code – an offense that carries a sentence of up to two decades."
Article 88 in Vietnam's penal code bears a striking resemblance to Article 88 in Cuba's Criminal Code. According to Human Rights Watch the Vietnamese law makes it a crime punishable with a twenty year prison sentence for anyone "conducting propaganda against the state." According to Human Rights Watch the Cuban law states that "any act designed to impede or
prejudice the economic relations of the Cuban state or the economic
relations of any industrial, commercial, or financial institution or any
other type of institution" can be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The United States lifted economic sanctions on Vietnam on February 3, 1994 and normalized relations on July 11, 1995. US companies are investing in Vietnam and doing business with the Vietnamese dictatorship. Its totalitarian nature has not been altered. Economic sanctions have been maintained on Cuba to the present date.
The fact that the laws and even the Article numbers are the same may be a sign that they are collaborating and sharing worse practices to maintain repression. This leads to an interesting conclusion that economic engagement with the United States has not lead to political liberalization. On the other hand Burma (Myanmar) maintained sanctions and political liberalization appears to be underway.
"Remember that no political programme can stand without the constructive programme." - Mohandas Gandhi
Hurricane Sandy made landfall around 1:00am at a point close to Marverde beach in Stgo de Cuba province and left the Cuban national territory around 5:00am exiting out of Cabo Lucrecia in Holguin province on October 25, 2012. At least 11 people were killed in Eastern Cuba and the property destruction was vast.
The amount of destruction wreaked by Hurricane Sandy in Cuba is only
possible because of the steady damage done by Hurricane Castro over the past 53 years to the island's infrastructure. Despite the infusion of billions of dollars in Soviet aide through the 1980s and now billions in aide from Venezuela the deterioration of Cuba's buildings, roads and bridges have remained in constant decline over the past five decades. The Cuban healthcare system has also been in decline since the end of the Soviet Union. Although in many circles the myth still endures despite the squalid reality.
Now reports have emerged that Cholera, a scourge not seen in decades is back. Combined with Dengue fever the recovery from Hurricane Sandy will not be an easy process and with the continued presence of the Castro regime more difficult still for the Cuban populace.
It would be fair to say that Cuba's longest and most damaging hurricane has been Hurricane Castro.
Nevertheless, in times of crisis solidarity is a must and over the past half century Cuban exiles have been the main source of humanitarian assistance to Cuba.
The Santiago section of the Municipalities of Cuba in Exile located at 845 SW 14 Avenue Miami, FL is requesting donations of canned foods, medicines and other items for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. This location will be open from 8:00am to 6:00pm EST to collect assistance for the hurricane victims. They have announced that they will not accept clothes.
Assistance will be shipped via Sisters of Charity and Catholic Charities (Caritas). Catholic Charities have also set up an online form for donations. For more information on how to help or volunteer call 305-858-6739.
"We believe that injustice and tyranny must be confronted with courage and perseverance." - Forum 2000 participants
Forum 2000 Declaration
Our Commitment to Furthering the Legacy of Václav Havel
Fresh from travelling around the globe as the new President of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel came to realize that, although civilization had always faced challenges, those it faced today appeared more complex, more interconnected and more in flux than at any time in the past. He saw that such challenges could not be effectively met by a single individual, group, country, or region, nor could they be dealt with from the perspective of a single ideology, religion, or branch of knowledge. Instead, the search for solutions would require, he believed, a continuous, open-minded dialogue on a broad range of topics involving a wide variety of participants.
Václav Havel searched for a way to make this happen. That is why he, along with Elie Wiesel and Yohei Sasakawa, established Forum 2000 in 1997 providing it with their sponsorship, their ideas, and practical means to operate. Over the past decade and a half, Forum 2000 has made a unique contribution to facilitating a wide ranging global dialogue on many different issues, set in the symbolic environment of Prague.
The past year has been marked by two painful losses: the passing away of Václav Havel, and the death of Oldřich Černý, who from the beginning was Forum 2000’s Executive Director and moving spirit. Their legacy, however, remains and the time has come to restate clearly where Forum 2000 stands and where it is heading.
This year's conference, focusing on Media and Democracy, in itself a fundamentally Havelian topic, offers a perfect opportunity for such reflection.
Our Inspiration
Forum 2000’s founders have left us the indelible legacy of their ideas and approaches, whether it be Václav Havel’s insistence that "telling lies can never save us from further lies," or Elie Wiesel’s profound observation that "indifference is the epitome of evil," or Yohei Sasakawa’s devotion to alleviating disease and human suffering. These are the principles that will continue to guide us as we move forward.
Since 1997, our discussions have also been shaped by the growing number of Forum 2000 participants, prominent personalities from all walks of life, who cherish the experience and often return to participate again, providing us with valuable feedback and inspiration for our further activities.
And the inspiring genius loci of Forum 2000’s primary location: For centuries, Prague has been a crossroads of history. It represents a symbiosis of different cultures, in particular the Czech, German and Jewish cultures, until their relative harmony was destroyed by nationalist clashes and the horrors of Nazism. In both 1938 and 1948, Czechoslovakia paid dearly for the politics of appeasement and yielding to intimidation. Communism, which established a totalitarian state in post-war Czechoslovakia, managed to survive attempts at reform by crushing the Prague Spring in 1968 and went on to last a total of forty years. Democracy has not come easily to this region, and it has had to be struggled for throughout a troublesome transformation. The quest continues.
Our Values
We believe that injustice and tyranny must be confronted with courage and perseverance. The very least we can do is to remember and remind. The late Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, as well as Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, were regularly invited to Forum 2000 conferences, even though it was certain their authoritarian rulers would not allow them to attend. Forum 2000 also repeatedly drew attention to the plight of freedom loving people in Belarus, Russia and Tibet. Václav Havel was the first head of state to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama for an official visit, and support to Tibetans has been maintained via Forum 2000 till the present. Through Forum 2000’s Shared Concern Initiative, Václav Havel began a successful campaign to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, jailed in China for his human rights activities, and urged his and his wife’s release from prison. As symbolic as these actions are, we believe they bolster the power of these powerless and confirm the legitimacy of their uncompromising stances. The struggles of human rights activists are an acute reminder of the need to stand up for democracy and human rights, freedom and liberty, and the principles of citizenship, civility and responsibility, wherever they are under threat.
We believe that vibrant and engaged civil societies form the bedrock on which respect for human rights, functioning democracy, social justice and sustainable economic prosperity are based. These civil societies are equally vital for posing the key questions of public life, and often help find practical solutions.
We believe in genuine and open dialogue. Rather than pretend we have ready-made answers to the problems we face, Forum 2000 seeks to create a space for frank and profound reflection about the values that underlie human behavior and for exploring how they can be applied to real-world situations. It seeks to be a place where commonly accepted orthodoxies can be questioned with audacity, and directly.
We believe that real partnership can exist among those who speak openly and tell the truth. Such a relationship requires tolerance between nations, ethnic groups, cultures, religions and individuals at a basic human level. It requires a willingness to listen and, on occasion, an agreement to disagree. It is only by attempting to place oneself in the shoes of another that entrenched differences can be overcome and solutions to great challenges envisaged.
Our Methods
Our flagship annual Conferences gather dozens of participants of many different ethnic, cultural, religious and professional backgrounds, including prominent politicians, senior academics, religious leaders, but also little known dissidents and young activists. The discussions are open to the public in Prague, and to a global audience via online broadcasting and the publication of contributions and outcomes. In addition, Forum 2000 conducts specific dialogues in other smaller-scale formats. We envisage bringing the dialogue to other locations in the world.
The Shared Concern Initiative is a vehicle for facilitating the joint expression of an opinion shared among groups of distinguished leaders and personalities. Wherever our shared values come under attack, the Shared Concern Initiative can give a voice to that concern, one that can be heard around the world through a number of media outlets. Developments in Venezuela, Tibet and Ukraine are recent additions to the issues the Initiative has addressed since its establishment in 2005.
Forum 2000 provides intangible yet direct support to the evolution of civil society in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. The annual NGO Market in Prague helps civil society actors intensify their cooperation, find partners more easily and operate freely and effectively. Finally, an indispensable part of Forum 2000's mission is outreach to young people through a variety of educational activities.
***
We, participants of the 2012 Annual Forum 2000 Conference, along with members of Forum 2000 governing and advisory bodies, salute the lifelong work of the late President Václav Havel and pledge to uphold his legacy as set out in this declaration.
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