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JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ
By International Committee for Democracy in Cuba

President of Slovak Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky ratifies Prague-Bratislava Agreement

Carlos Alberto Montaner, Pavol Hrusovsky and Javier De Cespedes

Whereas during the days of the 17, 18 and 19 of September 2004 over a hundred civic and political leaders met in Prague, Czech Republic followed on the 20 of September 2004 with a gathering in Bratislava, Slovakia, to support the struggle for non-violent democratic change in Cuba by facilitating the conditions to empower Cubans to be agents of civic and non-violent change in their homeland.

Taking into account that participants included former heads of state, current ministers and representatives from the European Union and Latin America, leaders from international and regional organizations, intellectuals, academics, human rights activists and members of nongovernmental organizations, members of parliaments from Europe and Latin America, and representatives of the Cuban civic movement representing the full range of the ideological spectrum including social democrats, Christian democrats, liberals and conservatives. Out of this gathering the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba came into being and presented to the world the Prague Memorandum. Recognizing in the Prague Memorandum that the “true source of sovereignty lies in the exercise of their innate rights by the citizens of any given country. A people are not sovereign if they cannot exercise these rights, if they cannot freely elect their political representatives from different ideological options, if they cannot count on the existence of an independent judiciary to balance the power of the government. We defend Cuban sovereignty when we defend the right of the Cuban people to democracy and when we insist that the Cuban government comply with the international agreements on democracy and human rights that it has signed.” Furthermore the memorandum recognized that, “without a general amnesty for all political prisoners, recuperation of civil liberties and free general multiparty elections the Cuban people cannot fully exercise their sovereignty.”

Sharing, Jose Marti’s belief that solidarity with Cuba’s national civic movement is not a choice but a moral obligation: “Man is not free to watch impassively the enslavement and dishonor of men, nor their struggles for liberty and honor.” We stand in solidarity with Cuba’s emerging democratic opposition out of a shared sense of both honor and obligation in their struggle for liberty and dignity.

In conclusion, we remain resolved to continue to work within the parameters laid out in the Prague Memorandum on behalf of Cuban democracy by strengthening Cuba’s civil society and civic movement so that one day all Cuban citizens are able to live in dignity and are able to fully exercise their rights as human beings in Cuba.

Dr. Pavol Hrušovský         Carlos Alberto Montaner         Javier De Céspedes
Speaker of the National      Cuban Liberal Union              Cuban Democratic
Council. Slovak Republic                                             Directorate

Dr. Alvaro Dubón                Francisco Landero               Representative
Grupo Conservador             Federal Congressman           People in Need
Central American                Partido Acción Nacional        Czech Republic
Parliament                         México

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