"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)
MIAMI – Mary Tarrero de Prio, widow of Cuba’s
last democratically elected president, Carlos Prio Socarras, died here
Thursday of respiratory illness. She was 85.
“Though she was
known for her beauty, I always most admired her bravery and compassion,”
daughter Maria Elena Prio said in a statement.
Born in the
western province of Camagüey, Maria Dolores Tarrero Serrano moved to
Havana in the 1940s to serve as the official stenographer of the Cuban
Senate, where she met then-Sen. Prio.
The couple wed on July 14, 1945, and Prio became president in 1948.
As first lady, Mary Tarrero de Prio was active on behalf of ensuring care for the blind and preventing cruelty to animals.
After
the March 1952 military coup led by Fulgencio Batista, the Prio family
left Cuba for Mexico and later settled in Miami, but the ousted
president continue to work for the restoration of democracy on the
island.
The family returned to Cuba after the success of the 1959
revolution led by Fidel Castro, only to leave again for good on seeing
the new government turn into a “military dictatorship that oppressed and
impoverished the Cubans,” the couple’s younger daughter said.
On April 5, 1977, Carlos Prio killed himself in the garage of the family’s Miami Beach home.
“Mary never completely recovered” from her husband’s death, Maria Elena Prio said. EFE
Eight days away from Christmas 2010 and Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet will be spending his eleventh Christmas behind bars. The last Christmas Winnie Biscet, his daughter, spent with her father was in 1998. His supposed crime? A human rights defender and disciple of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. he wants to see Cuba transformed through nonviolent means into a free and democratic society.
Imprisoned in November of 1999 for holding a press conference he was released on October 31, 2002 and rearrested on December 6, 2002 while holding a human rights seminar at another dissident's home. He was imprisoned without trial until March of 2003 when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison during the Cuban Black Spring in which 75 Cuban prisoners of conscience, including Biscet, were sentenced to long and unjust prison sentences. All of them were recognized by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience.
Below is the official video from the Free Biscet Campaign:
2. Let others know about the above video and if you have a youtube account subscribe to the channel and share the video with others.
3. As Christmas is approaching please take a moment to record your own message calling for Dr. Biscet's freedom and that of all Cuban prisoners of conscience. Additionally print out the poster below and photograph yourself with it and e-mail the digital image to freecubanow@hotmail.com it will be used in a special video that will highlight the plight of Dr. Biscet and Cuban political prisoners.
With the efforts of people of goodwill around the world perhaps Dr. Biscet's family will soon be spending Christmas with their father, son, and husband at home. Please help.
30th Anniversary celebration of Founding of Polish Solidarity Union with Former President Lech Walesa at the Museum Of Tolerance in Los Angeles
Cuban punk musician Gorki Aguila attends the 30th Anniversary of Solidarity celebration in Los Angeles with Former President Lech Walesa at the Museum Of Tolerance on December 15, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.*
What are these artists, activists and political leaders celebrating? After decades of brutal repression and horrible labor conditions Polish workers were able to finally organize a labor union in 1980 and forced the communist regime to recognize it following a prolonged labor strike. This labor union, Solidarity, is still active today in a free and democratic Poland that it made possible with its courageous actions 30 years ago.
July 1st - The Government introduces so called "commercial prices" (market prices) for meat products in factory eateries. This minor decision provokes an increasing wave of workers' protests.
July/August - A wave of strikes is running through the country. Jacek Kuroń says: "Do not burn the committees! Establish your own ones!"
August 14th - The strike in Gdansk Shipyard starts, after two days it becomes a general strike of all companies in Region, then in all of the country. This is the beginning of "the Polish August".
August 17th - The Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (MKS), led by an electrician Lech Wałęsa, announces 21 postulates (including e.g. the right to establish free trade unions, freedom of speech and the right to strike)
August 24th - The Plenary of the Central Committee of Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) dismisses eight close associates of Edward Gierek (PZPR General Secretary), including the Prime Minister Edward Babiuch.
August 30th - The Governmental commission ratifies the agreement with the MKS in Szczecin.
August 31st - The agreement is ratified in Gdańsk. At the gate of the shipyard Lech Wałęsa says: "We have free and independent trade unions!".
September 17th - The representatives of over 30 regional founding committees adopt the resolution establishing the Independent and Self-governing Trade Union (NSZZ) "Solidarność".
November 10th - The Supreme Court acknowledges the Constitution of NSZZ " Solidarność". In 1981 about 9.5 million people were members of the union.
Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila speaks at 30th Anniversary of Solidarity celebration in L.A. on December 15, 2010*
Now you might ask yourself what is a Cuban punk rocker doing in the middle of all this? How did he wind up speaking at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles?
Porno para Ricardo's take on a Polish Punk song from the film "All that I love"
It wasn't easy, in terms of getting out of Cuba [in fact the rest of the "Porno para Ricardo bandmates had planned to play the above song in Los Angeles but were unable to travel ] but as to participating in this gathering Gorki's presence makes perfect sense. It turns out that at the same time Solidarity was taking off in Poland so was Punk Rock.
Director Jacek Borcuch (L) & Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila attend 30th Anniversary Solidarity celebrations in L.A.*
The event was organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Film Institute to mark the 30th anniversary of Solidarity and takes its motto – ‘How to overthrow a totalitarian regime using a home-made amplifier’ – from the subtitle to the documentary film Beats of Freedom, which shows the history of Polish rock music under communism and its role in the struggle for freedom.
Beats of Freedom trailer
The screening of the film’s abbreviated version will be followed by a panel with the participation of Jacek Borcuch, the director of All That I Love, the Polish candidate for an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category.
Beats of Freedom Part 1/8
Its promotional campaign is in the hands of the Los Angeles-based company Block Korenbrot and is held under the motto ‘Poland 1981. Solidarity is on the move. Every movement begins with its own sound’.
Jacek Borcuch's All That I Love also deals with the impact of punk rock music and Solidarity in the 1980s but is a fictional account with a Romeo and Juliet romantic subplot.
Wszystko, co kocham - zwiastun (All that I love - trailer)
According to youtube site with an interview of the "Polish actor-turned-director Jacek Borbuch dove into his own memories to write his second feature, All That I Love, shown in competition at the Brussels Film Festival. The film follows the life of a teenage punk musician in Poland in the early 1980s, when Martial Law was imposed by the government and social rebellion against the communist regime was beginning to rise."
Jacek Borcuch, director of “All that I love” interviewed about his film.
Gorki Aguila, of the Cuban punk rock group 'Porno para Ricardo' was the perfect choice to attend and demonstrates the relevance and similarity between the punk music scene in Poland 1980 and Cuba 2010.
(L-R) Musician Stephen Stills, former Polish President Lech Walesa and actress Sharon Stone attend the 30th Anniversary of Solidarity celebration in Los Angeles at the Museum Of Tolerance on December 15, 2010*
Thanks to international solidarity and no doubt a lot of arm twisting the front man of 'Porno para Ricardo' was able to travel outside of Cuba. Now the question remains: "Will he be able to return to the island?" As was the case the last time it all depends on all of us remaining vigilant and assisting Gorki Aguila the next time he asks us for help to the best of our ability.
Actress Sharon Stone makes a peace sign at the 30th Anniversary of Solidarity celebration*
Thank you to whomever thought up of the idea to invite Gorki to celebrate the founding of Solidarity with an act of solidarity with the Cuban people.
*(All photos were taken in L.A. by Charley Gallay/Getty Images North America)
"In the minds of Cuba's current rulers, we Cuban citizens are just like the slaves from whom I am descended, kidnapped in Africa and brought to the Americas by force. For me or any other ordinary citizen to be able to travel abroad, I need a Carta de Libertad, that is a Freedom Card, just as the slaves did:, only today it is called a Carta Blanca, a White Card." - Guillermo Fariñas Hernández.
Dear Mr Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament,
Dear Vice-Presidents and honorable Members of this multi-national democratic forum,
Unfortunately, for want of the tolerance that we so much need on this tormented planet of ours, I cannot be with you as a representative of the Cuban people in rebellion and those Cuban citizens who have lost their dread of the totalitarian government which has been repressing us for a shameful total of 52 years, whose latest victim is the martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
Unluckily for those who misgovern us in our own homeland the fact that I cannot leave and return voluntarily to the island where I was born is, in itself, the most irrefutable witness to the fact that unfortunately, nothing has changed in the autocratic system ruling my country.
In the minds of Cuba's current rulers, we Cuban citizens are just like the slaves from whom I am descended, kidnapped in Africa and brought to the Americas by force. For me or any other ordinary citizen to be able to travel abroad, I need a Carta de Libertad, that is a Freedom Card, just as the slaves did:, only today it is called a Carta Blanca,a White Card.
Original address in Spanish
My deepest hope is that you will not allow yourselves to be deceived by the siren songs of a cruel regime practicing 'wild communism' whose only desire, after pretending to make ostensible economic changes, is that the European Union and the European Parliament will rescind the Common Position, and allow the regime to benefit from the loans and investments used to help Third World countries under the Cotonou Agreements.
Former political prisoners or prisoners of conscience, recently released by 'wild communism', will surely have taken their seats alongside you. It would be a mistake to think that they were set at liberty; they and their families are subject to 'psychological banishment', because their nearest and dearest were blackmailed by the neo-Stalinist Cuban Government.
We, the peaceful opposition within Cuba, take a stoical, rational approach to the material or spiritual difficulties we suffer, as we do to the risk of losing our freedom and even our lives, being as we are part of the least-favored sector of the population. Here, inside Cuba, we are all suffering, but we do not complain, for that reason we hope to be able to rely on your support.
Empty chair at Sakharov Prize Ceremony
Dear Members of the European Parliament, I ask you not to give in to the claims of the Cuban ruling elite, unless the following five demands are met:
First: continue with the release, without banishment, of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and make a public commitment never to imprison non-violent political opponents.
Second: put an immediate end to the violent beating-up and threatening of the peaceful opposition within the country by the regime's military and paramilitary followers.
Third: announce that all Cuban laws which contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are to be examined and repealed.
Four:grant the wherewithal, in daily practice, for establishing opposition parties, mass media not subordinate to the 'State socialism' system, independent trade unions and any other kinds of peaceful social bodies.
Five:publicly accept that all Cubans living in the diaspora have the right to take part in Cuba's cultural, economic, political and social life.
At this crucial juncture in the history of my country, you and all men and women of goodwill throughout the world need to pay close attention to the continual social outbursts and protests within Cuba, caused by frustration in the face of the overweening power of a government capable of issuing the order to murder my compatriots.
I hope to God that there will be no unnecessary civil war between Cubans due to a blind refusal to accept that the political model of 'State socialism' has been and is a failure wherever there has been an attempt to introduce it: something acknowledged by the historic leader of the ill-named Cuban Revolution himself in the foreign press.
The old men who govern Cuba, in their daily contempt for those they govern, do not wish to understand that they should be public servants, and that all genuine public servants give their compatriots the possibility of replacing them or endorsing them. No person in power should seek to be served by those he governs, as is the case in Cuba.
With our sisters and brothers in the struggle who share democratic ideals, with those who are still in prison, those who enjoy ostensible freedom in the streets, and those who have departed into the harshness of exile, we shall continue our unequal non-violent struggle against the Castroite oppressors, and with the help of God, we will win the battle without bloodshed.
If there is one thing that I do in the company of my dissident colleagues, it is to banish any rancor against my political adversaries from my soul. The fact is – and this makes us better human beings to tackle the task of rebuilding our homeland – that in this struggle I have learned to be guided by the words of the first known dissident, Jesus Christ: 'love thine enemies'.
I thank the European Parliament for not abandoning the Cuban people in these more than 50 years of the struggle for democracy. In accepting the 2010 Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience that has been awarded to me I do so because I feel myself to be a tiny part of the rebellious spirit that nourishes the people I am proud to belong to.
I am extremely grateful to you, ladies and gentlemen, Members of the European Parliament, for this gesture shows that you have not forgotten the sufferings we endure, and thus your gesture brings the light of freedom that much closer to my country.
May God grant that in Cuba we shall shortly see reconciliation amongst His children, and that the country will be blessed with democracy.
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández
Qualified psychologist
Librarian and independent journalist, three times imprisoned on political grounds
Human rights − 15-12-2010 - 13:44 Plenary sessions
Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, this year's winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, had to be represented by an empty chair at the prize award ceremony on Wednesday as he did not receive permission to leave his country and travel to Strasbourg to receive the prize.
"Even though activists like Guillermo Fariñas are persecuted and are imprisoned, their voice cannot be silenced. The role of the European Parliament is to amplify that voice", said European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek.
"The Sakharov Prize is the trademark of the European Parliament in the fight for human rights all over the world. The empty chair for this year's laureate Guillermo Farinas is the best example of how important this fight is", added the president.
Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made today the following statement:
"I would like to congratulate Guillermo Farinas on receiving the 2010 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in the name of all those who fight in Cuba for greater freedom and human rights. I regret that he has not been able to travel to Strasbourg to receive his prize in person.
The EU will continue to raise human rights in the EU-Cuba political dialogue and in bilateral meetings with the Cuban authorities at every level, including the situation of political prisoners, freedom of expression and ratification of the international bill of human rights. In this context, I welcome the recent release of a number of political prisoners in Cuba and I hope that the process will lead to the unconditional release of all political prisoners."
Addressing MEPs in a recorded message, Mr Fariñas expressed his gratitude to the European Parliament "for not abandoning the Cuban people in these more than 50 years of the struggle for democracy". He explained that he had accepted the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought "because I feel myself to be a tiny part of the rebellious spirit that nourishes the people I am proud to belong to."
Mr Fariñas criticised the government in Havana, saying "Unluckily for those who misgovern us in our own homeland the fact that I cannot leave and return voluntarily to the island where I was born is, in itself, the most irrefutable witness to the fact that unfortunately, nothing has changed in the autocratic system ruling my country."
He called on MEPs "not allow themselves to be deceived by the siren songs of a cruel regime practising 'wild communism'" when analysing EU policy towards Cuba. According to Mr Fariñas, a change of direction in these relations should only occur if the following five pre-conditions are met:
the release, without banishment, of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, with a public commitment never to imprison non-violent political opponents;
an end to the violent beatings of and threats to the peaceful opposition;
an announcement that all Cuban laws that contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be reviewed and repealed;
granting the means, in daily practice, for establishing opposition parties, mass media not subordinate to the 'State socialism' system, independent trade unions and any other kind of peaceful social bodies;
public acknowledgment that all Cubans living in the diaspora have the right to take part in Cuba's cultural, economic, political and social life.
Guillermo Fariñas
A doctor of psychology and a journalist, 48-year-old Guillermo Fariñas has denounced the Castro regime. He is the founder of "Cubanacán Press," an independent press agency aimed at raising awareness of the fate of political prisoners in Cuba.
Mr Fariñas has spent years in confinement and has gone on hunger strike 23 times so far as a non-violent means of fighting oppression in Cuba. His efforts to secure free internet for all earned him a Reporters Without Borders Cyber-Freedom Prize in 2006.
In July 2010, Mr Fariñas nearly died after a five-month-long hunger strike he began on 24 February, following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a fellow political activist who passed away after 80 days of hunger strike. He ended the strike after the Cuban government gave in to his plea and released 52 political prisoners.
Empty chair ceremony - not the first time in the European Parliament
This is not the first time that the Sakharov Prize has been awarded in the absence of the laureate. In 2008 China's most prominent human rights activists, Hu Jia, was also not able to take part in the ceremony as he was incarcerated, but a video message from his wife Zeng Jinyan was played to MEPs. For other winners, such as Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990 and Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) in 2005, close family members or representatives took part in the ceremony but up to now the winners have still not received the prize in person.
The Sakharov Prize
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded by the European Parliament every year since 1988 to individuals or organisations who have made an important contribution to the fight for human rights or democracy.
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