THE DECLARATION OF MÓSTOLES: A Call for the Restoration of Human Rights & Sovereignty to Cubans

On September 2, 2010 Ten Cuban former prisoners of conscience banished to Spain and housed in Móstoles made public a manifesto demanding a national dialogue without exclusion of the Cuban people to obtain political, economic and social rights for all Cubans.

TEXT OF THE MANIFESTO

DECLARATION OF MÓSTOLES

The people of Cuba are the victims of those who with sickly optimism respond to interests that are not those of the Cubans in order to barter and manipulate the postponed aspirations for freedom of our people.

Political prisoners, who have been banished to Spain, were jailed for defending peaceful dialogue between Cubans as a civilized way to achieve political, economic and social rights that for over fifty years, the Cuban totalitarian regime has denied the people.

Only the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), and the government of Spain seem to see changes in the state of lawlessness which the Cuban people are subject to.

Confusing the forced exiles that have been carried out to date, with an opening process towards democracy is an insult to the legitimate right of all Cubans who want to build a free and reconciled society.

In Cuba the will of the people calling for a REFERENDUM on the Varela Project, an initiative of law which is a massive exercise of popular sovereignty, is ignored.

Still in our country those who fight to restore the people's voice are pursued, assaulted and imprisoned.

Still obtuse forces of the tyranny are thrown at a heroic mother who had to bury her son was killed for defending a cause that was just.

For there to be changes repression should cease and the laws that deny freedom repealed.

Unfortunately it occurs that some political sectors in Spain and its government seem to want to endorse with its stubborn commitment to declare change, without rights for the Cuban people, recognizing as the only interlocutor the repressive forces which the Cuban people are subject.

They are turning the current military junta on the island, into the economic Mafia of the future.

We do not know if this attitude of some in Spain responds flawed ideological or spurious economic interests. But, by siding with tyranny, they deny the fraternal bond that has united, and will always join the Spanish people and the Cuban people.

The undersigned, former political prisoners of conscience banished to Spain, only recognize as signal the beginning of changes in Cuba when there is a transparent commitment from the government of the island to the national dialogue that has already started in and out of Cuba between tens of thousands of Cubans to exercise sovereignty in designing the future of the nation, without exceptions, or external opportunism that marginalize the voice of the people.

SIGNED:

Regis Iglesias Ramírez. Ex political prisoner banished.
Antonio Ramón Díaz Sánchez. Ex political prisoner banished
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta. Ex political prisoner banished
Normando Hernández. Ex political prisoner banished
Ricardo González Alfonso. Ex political prisoner banished
Julio César Gálvez. Ex political prisoner banished
Jesús Mustafá Felipe. Ex political prisoner banished
Marcelo Cano. Ex political prisoner banished
Arturo Pérez de Alejo.Ex political prisoner banished
Fabio Prieto Llorente.Ex political prisoner banished

Móstoles, Madrid 2 de septiembre de 2010.

Original Spanish text below:

TEXTO DEL MANIFIESTO

DECLARACION DE MÓSTOLES

El pueblo de Cuba está siendo víctima de quienes con optimismo enfermizo responden a intereses que no son los de los cubanos, pues truecan y manipulan las impostergables aspiraciones de libertad de nuestro pueblo.

Los presos políticos que hemos sido desterrados a España, fuimos encarcelados por defender pacíficamente el diálogo entre cubanos como vía civilizada para alcanzar los derechos políticos, económicos y sociales que por más de cincuenta años el sistema totalitario cubano ha negado al pueblo.

Sólo el Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), y el gobierno de España parecen ver cambios en el estado de no derecho al que está sometido el pueblo cubano.

Confundir los destierros que se han realizado hasta la fecha, con un proceso de apertura hacia la democracia es un insulto al legítimo derecho de todos los cubanos que quieren construir una sociedad libre y reconciliada.

En Cuba se ignora la voluntad del pueblo que reclama un REFERENDO sobre el Proyecto Varela, iniciativa de ley que es un ejercicio masivo de la soberanía popular

Aún en nuestra patria se persigue, agrede y encarcela a quienes luchan por devolver la voz al pueblo.

Aún las fuerzas obtusas de la tiranía son lanzadas contra una heroica madre que ha debido enterrar a su hijo asesinado por causa de la justicia

Para que haya cambios deben cesar la represión y ser derogadas las leyes que niegan la libertad

Sucede desafortunadamente que algunos sectores políticos en España y su gobierno parecen querer avalar con su obstinada apuesta los cambios, sin derechos para el pueblo cubano, reconociendo como único interlocutor a las fuerzas represivas que someten al pueblo cubano

Están convirtiendo a la junta militar actual en la isla, en la mafia económica del futuro.

No sabemos si esta actitud de algunos en España responde a taras ideológicas o a espurios intereses económicos. Pero, tomando partido con la tiranía, niegan el vínculo fraterno que ha unido, y unirá siempre al pueblo español y al pueblo cubano.

Los abajo firmantes, ex-presos políticos de conciencia desterrados a España, solo reconoceríamos como señal del inicio de los cambios en Cuba cuando exista un compromiso transparente del gobierno de la isla al diálogo nacional que ya se ha iniciado dentro y fuera de Cuba entre decenas de miles de cubanos para diseñar soberanamente el futuro de la nación, sin exclusiones lacerantes, ni oportunismos externos que marginen la voz del pueblo.

FIRMADO:

Regis Iglesias Ramírez. Ex prisionero político desterrado.
Antonio Ramón Díaz Sánchez. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Normando Hernández. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Ricardo González Alfonso. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Julio César Gálvez. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Jesús Mustafá Felipe. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Marcelo Cano. Ex prisionero político desterrado
Arturo Pérez de Alejo.Ex prisionero político desterrado
Fabio Prieto Llorente.Ex prisionero político desterrado

Móstoles, Madrid 2 de septiembre de 2010.

Human Rights Foundation releases video on Cuban Ladies in White

Cuba Video: The “Ladies in White” Steadfast Until Every Political Prisoner is Free

NEW YORK (September 1, 2010) – In order to provide an accurate backdrop with regard to the announcement of the Cuban government’s release and forced exile of 52 political prisoners, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) releases an exclusive video documentary short of the “Ladies in White,” a civil society group inside Cuba that organizes peaceful Sunday marches for freedom and human rights.

The world-renowned group is formed by the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and supporters of political prisoners who were arrested during the “Black Spring” government crackdown on Cuban dissidents. During the four-day period that occurred in March 2003, 75 independent journalists, librarians, and democracy and human rights advocates were arrested and ultimately convicted with sentences ranging from 6 to 28 years.

Currently, 26 of the prisoners have been released and exiled to Spain, while another prisoner was released to the United States for medical treatment. At least five of the prisoners have refused to accept exile, meaning they choose to remain in prison unless they are granted unconditional release and allowed to stay in Cuba.

“The release of these innocent individuals is a welcome development and cause for celebration, but we must remember that the mechanism of repression remains firmly entrenched in Cuba. None of these arrests should ever have been made in the first place,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of HRF. “It should be made clear that their release does not indicate a reversal of conviction or pardon. These men are still considered treacherous criminals by the Cuban government. If they are allowed to stay in Cuba it shall be with the specter of certain and continuous political persecution and harassment,” he continued.

The Ladies in White have declared that they will continue protesting every Sunday until all of the Black Spring prisoners have been released. In the video, Laura Pollan, spokeswoman for the Ladies in White, relates the history of how the group formed following the Black Spring and discusses recent events that have brought international attention to Cuba’s political prisoners.

“The government states that there's a lot of freedom in Cuba, that it's a paradise,” said Pollan. “I'd invite those people who believe that Cuba is free to come and live here; to come and live here like a regular citizen, without bringing dollars; to come to work, and make what a regular worker makes; to come and live in a humble house, buy their food with a ration book, and express themselves here as much as they do in their own countries against their governments and other individuals, so that they see what the outcome is in Cuba,” she continued.

The Cuban government has been under pressure to release its political prisoners following the February death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political prisoner who went on a hunger strike to protest Cuba’s treatment of its prisoners. The death of Zapata prompted another dissident, Guillermo Fariñas, to launch his own hunger strike.

“The whole world is awakening and removing its blindfold with regards to Cuba,” said Pollan.

“The prisoners should be allowed to choose for themselves whether to remain in Cuba or leave the country. Those prisoners who have refused a forced exile are courageously willing to sacrifice their own freedom and stand up for freedom of expression for all,” said Halvorssen. “This is a powerful threat to a regime that has held power for 51 years and ruthlessly persecutes its opponents.”

With the release of the 52 political prisoners, Cuba’s criminal code—which allows the “pre-emptive” arrest of an individual before committing any crime—remains unchanged, as do laws allowing for the arrest of anyone writing anything critical of the Cuban government.

“The cyclical release of political prisoners in Cuba is usually followed by the arrest of more dissidents who have committed some kind of ‘thoughtcrime’ or who have done nothing but exercise their right to free speech. Further, there are still an untold number of political prisoners in Cuba’s jails, and Raúl Castro could simply replace these 52 prisoners with another crackdown on Cuba’s opposition voices tomorrow,” said Halvorssen. “Any significant reform involves more than window dressing to obtain European credits or editorial kudos from the foreign media. Why not a full transition to democracy and the respect of basic civil rights and civil liberties?” he added.

In May 2010, HRF also released videos of former prisoner of conscience Armando Valladares and world-renowned blogger Yoani Sánchez in honor of Global Cuba Solidarity Day. The videos were filmed exclusively for the 2010 Oslo Freedom Forum and are now available on YouTube.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the Americas. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF does not support nor condone violence. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Václav Havel, Mutabar Tadjibaeva, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

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Contact: Thor Halvorssen, Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246.8486, info@thehrf.org

Franklin Brito: A Martyr for Liberty and Human Rights in Venezuela

"I’ve learned of the death of hunger striker Franklin Brito. It appears that Hugo Chavez now has his own Orlando Zapata" - Yoani Sanchez, August 31, 2010 on twitter










(Above) Franklin Brito before and after engaging in 8 hunger strikes

Hunger strikes are the ultimate recourse in the arsenal of non-violent resistance, and over the years around the world it has succeeded at times but in places like Cuba, Ireland, and now in Venezuela a human being has died on hunger strike.

In Cuba the names of Pedro Luis Boitel and Orlando Zapata Tamayo are remembered as is Bobby Sands of Northern Ireland (who the Cuban dictatorship built a memorial to in Cuba) and now Venezuela's Franklin Brito has joined this select grouping that demonstrates the ultimate price when engaging in a hunger strike.

Franklin Brito was a farmer and a biologist whose land was expropriated by Hugo Chavez in 2000 according to CNN. Other news agencies place the date of expropriation anywhere between 2003 and 2004. He exhausted every recourse and was driven to the final option: the hunger strike in 2005.El Universal out of Caracas offers a chronology of Brito's odyssey. In the video below taken October 5, 2009 on day 93 of a hunger strike Franklin was carrying out in which he explains how all of this began:



Despite its widespread violation there is a right to private property enshrined both in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Organization of American States' American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. It is an internationally recognized human right and clearly stated:

Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article XXIII of the American Declaration states: "Every person has a right to own such private property as meets the essential needs of decent living and helps to maintain the dignity of the individual and of the home."

When Franklin Brito's family said that he stood for "the struggle of the Venezuelan people for property rights, access to justice, for living in freedom," they were simply stating the facts of the matter. In the video below taken on November 19, 2009 Franklin Brito declares that:

"I am not doing this strike for something material or because persons have behaved badly towards me - that one could say are corrupt. I am doing this strike for dignity and justice. I believe that these are the greatest values that a human being should have."

The Venezuelan tyranny* said that Franklin Brito was mentally unstable because he had sown up his mouth and cut off one of his fingers on live television. The Red Cross, Caracas Clinical Hospital and the Venezuelan Psychologists' Association said that Franklin Brito was of sound mind.

The tactics Mr. Chavez is using in questioning the mental stability of his adversaries, and smearing them, even in death, is straight out of his Cuban mentor's repertoire. Friends and family of Franklin Brito had best organize the facts and evidence surrounding his case protect it and duplicate it so that it cannot be seized and destroyed. They should engage in speaking out anywhere and everywhere to counter the avalanche of slander and libel from regime apologists against a man who can no longer defend himself.

Hugo Chávez has nationalized 2.5 million hectares as part of a “land reform drive.” The so-called reform, combined with increased government control over the economy, has exacerbated food shortages in Venezuela with Chavez forced to step up imports despite abundant land and a tropical climate just like Cuba did years ago.

It is not madness to take extremes in the defense of liberty and justice, but it is madness to repeat the same failed policies that have bankrupted and destroyed nations the world over and expect a different outcome in your own homeland.

"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

*Use of the term tyranny is not a rhetorical exercise but defines what Hugo Chavez's democratically elected government has descended into a tyranny. There are two dictionary definitions of tyranny which are often related to each other. For example in the case of Cuba with Fidel Castro it is the state ruled by an absolute ruler but in the case of Venezuela it is the "arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority" that applies.

Martin Luther King, Jr. on the importance of having an aggressive attitude

Combined with understanding, good will and a sense of discipline

Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested by police in Montgomery, Alabama on September 4, 1958

Richard D. Heffner of the NBC Sunday television program “The Open Mind” on February 10, 1957 interviews Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and former judge Waties Waring. It is the first extensive television interview with Reverend King.

It is interesting to note the similarity with the debate taking place today in the Cuban opposition between those that prefer a slower incremental approach and those who prefer a more aggressive approach.

“I think it’s better to be aggressive at this point. It seems to me that it is both historically and sociologically true that privileged classes do not give up their privileges voluntarily and they do not give them up without strong resistance. - Martin Luther King, Jr. (1957)



"All of the gains made that we received in the area of civil rights have come about because the Negro stood up courageously for these rights and he was willing to aggressively press on. So I would think that it would be much better in the long run to stand up and be aggressive with understanding, good will and with a sense of discipline. Yet these things should not be substitutes for pressing on and with this aggressive attitude. I believe we will bring the gains or other civil rights into being much sooner than just standing idly by waiting for these things to be given voluntarily.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. (1957)

SIX PRINCIPLES OF NONVIOLENCE

Fundamental tenets of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence described in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. The six principles include:

(1.) Nonviolence is not passive, but requires courage;

(2.) Nonviolence seeks reconciliation, not defeat of an adversary;

(3.) Nonviolent action is directed at eliminating evil, not destroying an evil-doer;

(4.) A willingness to accept suffering for the cause, if necessary, but never to inflict it;

(5.) A rejection of hatred, animosity or violence of the spirit, as well as refusal to commit physical violence; and

(6.) Faith that justice will prevail.

SIX STEPS OF NONVIOLENT SOCIAL CHANGE

A sequential process of nonviolent conflict-resolution and social change based on Dr. King’s teachings. The Six Steps of Nonviolence developed by The King Center include:

(1.) Information gathering and research to get the facts straight;

(2.) Education of adversaries and the public about the facts of the dispute;

(3.) Personal Commitment to nonviolent attitudes and action;

(4.) Negotiation with adversary in a spirit of goodwill to correct injustice;

(5.)Nonviolent direct action, such as marches, boycotts, mass demonstrations, picketing, sit-ins etc., to help persuade or compel adversary to work toward dispute-resolution;

(6.) Reconciliation of adversaries in a win-win outcome in establishing a sense of community.

Text taken from The King Center

The Juan Juan Almeida Affair: Dying to Live

A Hunger Strike for access to health care & family














Juan Juan Almeida is in Miami with his family and in the process of obtaining much needed medical care for a degenerative autoimmune/inflammatory disease: ankylosing spondylitis which the Cuban healthcare system was unable (or unwilling) to treat. Human rights activists and dissidents have been left emaciated through a process of ill treatment resulting in malnutrition and in at least one case paraplegic. To avoid their fate this son of past priviledge had to undergo a water only hunger strike and risk death to save his life and see his family again.

Although Juan Juan Almeida was the son of one of the political insiders of the Cuban dictatorship and Fidel Castro's godson he had fallen out of favor with the regime. When his father, Comandante Juan Almeida died, he was kicked out of his father's funeral. Despite a nice home and family abroad was otherwise treated not like one of the well connected but like an average Cuban. No longer able to travel freely since 2003 nor given access to state of the art health care available to the nomenklatura and foreigners. Human Rights Watch documented the travel restrictions placed on him in their 2010 report.

As years passed and the degenerative disease progressed and the risk of being physically crippled increased along with the pain. Juan Juan began to protest his situation. Escalating into new tactics over time and finally arriving at the ultimate non-violent method of protest: the water only hunger strike. Since, he was not in prison, he was able to announce his hunger strike on camera and issue his specific demands which were to be able to travel out of Cuba to see a doctor and embrace his family.



He was able to provide periodic updates like the one below given to Yoani Sanchez six days into the hunger strike.



After beginning the hunger strike he would still resort to some of his earlier high profile tactics, for example, taking to the streets demanding his right to travel. His relationship with prominent Cuban bloggers like Claudia Cadelo and Yoani Sanchez let the world know and see first hand his protests. Eventually he would begin his own blog and communicate to the world.



There are a number of factors of why his hunger strike ended with his arrival in Miami and not his death unlike the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. It is important to analyze what were the different factors and circumstances that led to the different outcomes.


Michael Nagler in his course an Introduction to Nonviolence filmed in the fall of 2006 offers a great analysis of fasts and hunger strikes beginning at 46 minutes 38 seconds, and is highly recommended for a deeper understanding of fasts and hunger strikes. In the video Nagler offers a word of caution: "Nonviolence is not a feel good operation its very scientific you have to know when to do what."

Nagler's Five rules for Hunger strikes

1. Have to be the right person for the job. Not to be used by just anybody.
2. Right audience. (You should only fast against someone who was in sympathy with you on a very deep level. Gandhi never fasted against the British.)
3. Doable demand
4. Last Resort
5. Consistent with the rest of your life

Nagler describes fasting unto the death within nonviolence:

"This is not a case of suicide. You are not killing yourself. You are risking death. What you are doing is putting your life into the hands of another person." ... "You are not killing yourself but you are saying to the person that your behavior is so unacceptable that if you continue it its going to kill me. It is an extreme case of taking on the suffering that is in a situation." ...This is different from a threat because what you are saying to the person is "I am going to exhibit to you mirror back to you the ultimate consequences of what you are doing." ... "This is an act of truth. You are killing us - you are killing our people and I'm going to show you that you are doing it to awaken your conscience."...Thats why you have to be carrying on a conversation on a nonverbal level.

There are no guarantees in nonviolent resistance as there are not in violent resistance but in studying the terrain and observing the strategy and tactics carried out one can gain an idea of what the likelihood is of success. In the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, imprisoned and cut off from the rest of the world with no ties to the dictatorship and years of principled non-violent opposition. This method of protest was consistent with the rest of his life. His demands were doable: stop torturing him and provide decent care to him and other prisoners. It was a last resort after nearly seven years of torture, beatings, and degradation. However, he did not have the right audience: according to Nagler you should only fast against someone who has sympathy with you on a deep level.

Now in the case of Guillermo Fariñas, he was not imprisoned therefore could communicate his strike to the world, but was also someone that the regime did not have ties of affection. On the other hand Juan Juan Almeida did have those ties, as Fidel Castro's godson and the son of one of the Comandante's of the revolution. A man without a history of violence making his protest in line with the rest of his life. Although not a guarantee that they would not let him die it increases his chances of success over both Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Guillermo Fariñas.

Nevertheless Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death shook the dictatorship and in that aftermath increased the odds for both Guillermo and Juan Juan's successful hunger strikes, but in the absence of the Zapata non-violent moment it would have been Juan Juan Almeida with the better chance to succeed.



Nevertheless, it required an escalation to a total hunger strike on August 9, 2010 and hospitalization along with the mediation of Cardinal Jaime Ortega for Juan Juan Almeida to be granted permission to travel and obtain the health care and reunification with his family that he had been asking for since 2003.