Reflection from the radical opposition to the Castro dictatorship

"A genuine man goes to the roots. To be a radical is no more than that: to go to the roots." - Jose Marti

Regis Iglesias Ramirez: Former prisoner of conscience

Following a presentation of two of his books on October 26, 2019 at Cafe Demetrio in Coral Gables, Regis Iglesias Ramirez answered questions from the audience and explained the Christian Liberation Movement's radical position and the root problem that confronts Cuba.

"Our position is radical not only in discourse, it is in our actions. Because we go to the root of the problem. The root of the problem in Cuba has not even been the violence, repression, jail, and exile that has been exerted against persons. It has been precisely that the Cuban people have not been able to decide for themselves in 60 years. Therefore, all the proposals of the Christian Liberation Movement have gone to the root of the problem that is to give tools to the Cuban people so that they can reclaim their rights and truly take their sovereignty into their hands. 

We, the Christian Liberation Movement, have always said that we are willing to die for what we want but we are not willing to kill. And in this sense I believe that it is the spirit of the gospel that Oswaldo always referred to by which we have been guided and by which we have been consistently determined to work for the freedom of Cuba."

Regis Iglesias Ramirez with Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas in May 2002

Original text in Spanish: 

Nuestra posición es radical no solo en el discurso, es en nuestro accionar. Porque nosotros vamos a la raíz del problema. La raíz del problema en Cuba no ha sido incluso la violencia que sé ha ejercido contra el pueblo, no ha sido incluso la represión, la cárcel, el exilio contra las personas. Ha sido precisamente que el pueblo Cubano no ha podido decidir por si mismo en 60 años. Por lo tanto todos las propuestas del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación han ido a la raíz del problema que es darle instrumentos al pueblo Cubano para que pueda reclamar sus derechos y verdaderamente tomar en sus manos la soberanía popular.

El Movimiento Cristiano Liberación, nosotros siempre hemos dicho que estamos dispuesto a morir por lo que queremos pero no estamos dispuesto a matar. Y en este sentido creo que es el espíritu del evangelio que hacia siempre referencia Oswaldo por el cual nos hemos guiado y por el cual hemos estado consecuentemente decididos a trabajar por la libertad de Cuba.