The nonviolent campaign that shook up the dictatorship in Cuba, changed the Cuban Communist Constitution and continues to haunt the Castro regime.
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| Oswaldo Payá Antonio Diaz, and Regis Iglesias after turning in signatures |
The national coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, Eduardo Cardet, issued a statement on the 18th anniversary of these petitions being presented.
"On a day like today, 18 years ago the first signatures were delivered in support of the Varela Project (11,020 signatures), which constituted a formidable expression of free adherence to a project that managed to unite diverse people in a common purpose, demanding full rights for all Cubans. The totalitarian state persists, misery as a resource of oppression deepens, repression intensifies; the longing for freedom, justice and prosperity of our people is an old long-delayed longing.The General Secretary of the Christian Liberation Movement and one of the individuals who turned in the petitions, Tony Diaz Sanchez placed the importance of the Varela project in context stating, "The liberation of a people begins at the ballot box as an invitation to each of the citizens to actively participate in the necessary transformations. This is the essence of the Varela Project, an essence that is also the aim and strategy of the Christian Liberation Movement and that we do not abandon ourselves until we Cubans live in freedom in the land that saw us born."
Enough of dictatorship!All rights for the Cuban people!Long live the Varela Project, Long live the MCL!Homeland, Liberty and Life!"
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| Regis Iglesias, Tony Diaz, and Eduardo Cardet of the Christian Liberation Movement |
The New York Times reported on this historic event at the time and the author of the article understood its importance:
"Two days before a historic visit to Cuba by the former President Jimmy Carter, human rights activists today delivered an extraordinary challenge to the Communist government of President Fidel Castro in the form of petitions signed by more than 11,000 people seeking greater freedom. The petition drive, known as the Varela Project, calls for a referendum under the terms of the Cuban Constitution on whether there should be more freedom of expression, an amnesty for political prisoners and a chance for ordinary citizens to own small businesses. The signed petitions were delivered this morning to the National Assembly, after supporters painstakingly verified each signature, in the most significant peaceful effort to bring reform to Cuba in four decades. ''All of these Cubans, who with great courage and sacrifice have signed Project Varela, are the social vanguard for peaceful change in Cuba,'' said Oswaldo Paya, who led the drive. He said changes in the rights of Cubans could only be achieved peacefully.The three activists, members of the Christian Liberation Movement, would pay a high price, along with dozens of others, for advocating human rights reforms within the existing legal frame work in Cuba. In March of 2003 both Antonio Diaz Sanchez, and Regis Iglesias were arrested and subjected to political show trials and sentenced to long prison sentences. They would spend years in prison followed by forced exile. Oswaldo Payá was killed on July 22, 2012 under circumstances that point to a state security orchestrated extrajudicial execution.
The Varela Project, named after the Cuban Catholic Priest Felix Varela, sought to reform the Cuban legal system to bring it in line with international human rights standards. They had followed the letter of the law in organizing the campaign and yet the dictatorship's response to a nonviolent citizen's initiative was to first coerce Cubans into signing another petition declaring the Constitution unchangeable and quickly passed it through the rubber stamp legislature without debating the Varela Project, which according to the Cuban law drafted by the dictatorship meant that it should have been debated by the National Assembly.
Ten months later on March 18, 2003 the Black Cuban Spring would begin with a massive crackdown on Cuba's civil society with many of the organizers of Project Varela, imprisoned and summarily sentenced up to 28 years in prison. The 75 activists who had been imprisoned with long prison sentences became known as the "group of the 75."
The dictatorship announced, at the time, that the Cuban dissident movement had been destroyed but the Castro regime was mistaken. First, the remaining activists who were still free continued gathering signatures and would turn in another 14,384 petition signatures on October 5, 2003. Secondly, the wives, sisters and daughters of the activists who had been detained and imprisoned organized themselves into the "Ladies in White." A movement that sought the freedom of their loved ones and organized regular marches through the streets of Cuba, despite regime organized violence visited upon them.
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| Regis Iglesias with Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia |
The Economist in its December 14, 2005 issue published a conversation with Oswaldo Paya titled "An unsilenced voice for change" that outlined what had taken place:
Between 2001 and 2004, Mr Payá's movement gathered 25,000 signatures in a vain attempt to persuade Cuba's National Assembly to change the constitution to allow multi-party democracy. Activists of his Christian Liberation Movement made up more than two-thirds of the 75 dissidents and journalists rounded up and jailed for long terms in April 2003. [...] Spain is “complaisant” with Mr Castro's regime, Mr Payá says. “We need a campaign of support and solidarity with peaceful change in Cuba” of the kind that brought an end to apartheid in South Africa and to the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile.It took over eight years, but the last of the group of the 75 were eventually released. Many were driven into exile but a core group remain in Cuba and are still defiant. One of the Project Varela leaders still active and mobilizing large numbers today is Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, but others lost their lives defending human rights and dignity who had also gathered signatures for the Varela Project, such as Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
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| Project Varela petitions delivered in 2002, 2003 and 2016 |
However, let us end this entry with a documentary produced at the time followed by a reflection
on one of the key actors in the Varela Project. The National Democratic Insitute created a documentary in September 2002 about the Varela Project, entitled "Dissident: Oswaldo Payá and the Varela Project," which premiered in several film festivals.
Regis Iglesias has written a chronology of how he experienced things on May 10, 2002 that has been published at the Christian Liberation Movement's website and below is an excerpt.
... Under this repressive state, hundreds of citizens have been working for Cuba. All of this was on our minds the night of May 9. For these reasons that night, in a small room in a house literally fenced by the most sophisticated espionage techniques and by dozens of repressive agents, we met, Oswaldo Payá, Antonio Díaz, Oswaldo Alfonso, Julio Ruiz Pitaluga, Ernesto Martín Fonseca, José Daniel Ferrer, Efrén Fernández, Jorge Colmenero and I to decide the details of the presentation, the next morning, of the Varela Project at the headquarters of the National Assembly of People's Power. Our will was unwavering because millions of Cubans have placed their hopes for freedom in this Project, even from their silent sympathies. We cannot fail them.
[...]
A wave of journalists rushed at us as he got out of the car. Behind him, Antonio and I went down with the two boxes containing the signature ballots. Oswaldo declared: “We came to present the Varela Project, then we will talk. Now we are going to present the signatures, more than 11,000 ″, and we continued our march towards the side entrance of the building where the population is served. I raised my fist with my index and thumb fingers extended to make the sign of Liberation. Dozens of onlookers, journalists, repressive agents and seven more opposition activists involved in the "operation" watched the scene, some with disbelief, others with hatred, most with hope and happiness. "I have waited 42 years to see this," said Julio Ruiz Pitaluga, who spent 24 years in Castro jails and still lived on the Island.
The doorman of the legislative offices recognized Antonio and greeted him. Another individual dressed as a custodian asked how many of us were to enter, after Oswaldo informed him of the reason for our presence there. "Three, we are three," replied the Liberation leader. We went up the few steps of the premises and they invited us to go to a small room that was on our left.
There we waited for an official to arrive, who identified herself as Columbié Lugo, who would attend to us because the Deputy in charge of the Population Services Department was absent at that time. We explained the reason for our presence and delivered the two boxes with the signature forms, a list with the names and general information of each signatory, the Legal Foundation of the Varela Project (with a copy). The lawyer corresponded to our courtesy and we asked her to sign a duplicate of the letter to Mr. Alarcón, she graciously agreed to stamp the official seal of said legislative body on his signature. We said goodbye to Lic. Columbié Lugo, of the people who were in the hall of the building and began to go down the steps of the entrance to the offices amidst the "assault" of questions from the press who anxiously waited on the sidewalk our departure. Several dozen curious onlookers crowded the street.
I couldn't sort all the images and fleeting thoughts that went through my mind. Now I was trying to take a look at the people on the street. I looked at their amazed faces, their gestures and tried to guess their mimics. I was able to see Ernesto Martín, José Daniel, and Ricardo Montes among the large group, they were part of our support." ...
This courageous act of civic courage is remembered, and continues to impact inside Cuba and marks a historic moment that is shaping the eventual democratic transition that will arrive on the island.
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