Hope in Cuba remains despite the repression and harassment the Cuban government has directed toward the people, especially toward dissenting voices, over the last four decades. Gradually, organizations independent from the state have formed and expanded, seeking to reclaim their social space.
These organizations represent different political and social tendencies within the country, but they all ask for the same thing - that the government respect their right to exist. Members wish to assemble and express themselves freely according to the standards outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Cuba signed in 1948.
In recent years, the opposition has matured considerably. No longer solely made up of intellectuals based in Havana or human rights and political organizations, it now stretches the length of the island and includes social and professional groups such as fishermen's unions, farmers' cooperatives, independent libraries, civic study centers, independent journalists, and independent teachers' and lawyers' associations, just to name a few.
Defying severe repression and the risk of arrest, these Cuban dissidents carry out acts of nonviolent civil disobedience including hunger strikes, flyer distributions, marches, labor strikes, sit-ins, religious services, calls to the public to abstain from single-party elections, meetings, and floral offerings to the fallen.
The following is a brief outline of the evolution of this opposition, which has gradually created a strong and independent civil society in the country and poses a considerable challenge to the 43-year communist dictatorship.
1978 Founding of the Human Rights Movement
The Comité Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos ("Cuban Pro Human Rights
Committee") is founded in Havana, led by Ricardo Bofill, to promote the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1988 First Human Rights Report
The United Nations Human Rights Commission visits Havana and receives from
the Comité Cubano Pro Derechos Humanos a report documenting hundreds
of cases of human rights violations in Cuba. This report is the first of its
kind to reach the UN Human Rights Commission.
1989 Resolution
The United Nations Human Rights Commission condemns the Cuban government for
the first time for human rights violations and calls on the Castro regime
to improve its human rights situation.
1992 Growth of the
Opposition
The human rights movement begins to grow and diversify into a broad opposition,
spreading from Havana to the provinces and widening to include civic groups
and political parties as well as human rights advocates.
1994 Demonstration at the "Malecón"
In an atmosphere of harsh repression and government negligence during an economic
crisis, hundreds demonstrate in a spontaneous protest by the seawall and promenade
in Havana known as the "Malecón." During this protest, popularly
called the "maleconazo," the population voices its discontent, shouting
for freedom.
1995 Concilio Cubano
Dissident groups throughout the island begin to plan and coordinate for a
national summit of the opposition scheduled to take place on Feb. 24, 1996.
The summit is called Concilio Cubano (Cuban Council) and the campaigning begins
both in and outside the island to prepare for the event.
Feb. 24, 1996 Downed
Brothers to the Rescue Airplanes
On the day Concilio Cubano is scheduled to take place, two Brothers to the
Rescue airplanes flying in the Florida straits on a rescue mission to pick
up Cuban rafters are shot down by Cuban MiGs over international waters. Opposition
activists all over the island had been arrested or detained days prior to
the council. The event does not take place.
1997 Aftermath of the Shootdown
In the months after the shootdown, opposition groups undergo a process of
re-evaluation and re-orientation, and begin to prepare for the visit of Pope
John Paul II.
June 27, 1997 "The
Homeland Belongs to All"
Drafted by four members of the opposition, the tract "The Homeland Belongs
to All" is made public in a press conference in Havana. One woman and
three men - Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, Felix Antonio Bonne Carcassés,
Vladimiro Roca Antunez, and Rene Gomez Manzano - had written the essay, questioning
the Communist Party's interpretation of Cuban history and the party's political
program. All four authors were arrested and sentenced. Thanks in part to considerable
international pressure, all have since been released.
Feb. 20, 1998 "Agreement
for Democracy"
Twenty-seven organizations in Cuba and 47 in exile create this agreement to
show that despite geographical separation, Cubans are united for the country's
future democracy. The groups ratify the document yearly and more organizations
continue to join.
1998 Civic Resistance
on the Streets
Cuban physician Oscar Elias Biscet begins a series of public protests to denounce
the high abortion rate in Cuba. He calls on the opposition to move their acts
of peaceful demonstration from their homes to the streets. Biscet is currently
a prisoner of conscience incarcerated at the Cuba Sí Prison in the
province of Holguín.
1998 Visit of Pope
John Paul II
During the Pope's historic visit to Cuba, dissidents find solace in the Pope's
message of self-liberation. They also lead a peaceful protest during his speech
at the Plaza de la Revolución, calling out for freedom.
1999 Campaign of Homage
to Pedro Luis Boitel
Early in 1999, the Castro regime passed Law 88, a stringent law designed to
intimidate dissidents with the threat of arrest and harsh sentences. Nevertheless,
in May of this year, the National Civic Resistance Movement Pedro Luis Boitel
once again carried out its annual Campaign of Homage to Pedro Luis Boitel
from the 13th to the 25th of May, leading hunger strikes, public protests,
and vigils. The opposition enjoyed renewed strength as it defied the dictatorship's
repressive measures.
June 7-July 17, 1999
Ayuno Vida y Libertad ("Life and Freedom Fast")
The largest number of protesters so far carry out a national demonstration
called the Life and Freedom Fast. The 40-day event allows participants to
gather and pray in the homes of activists and to call on the government to
respect human rights and free political prisoners.
November 1999 Ibero-American
Summit
Opposition members steal the spotlight from the Castro regime, holding press
conferences and protests in the public eye during the summit and benefiting
from the
March 6, 2001 Proyecto
Varela ("The Varela Project")
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas of the Christian Liberation Movement begins
a petition project to collect signatures from the population and request a
referendum. The Varela Project seeks five basic reforms: freedom of expression,
freedom of association, amnesty for political prisoners, the right to form
private companies, new electoral law, and free elections. The project receives
the endorsement of almost 200 opposition groups in Cuba.
May 10, 2002
Led by Oswaldo Payá, a coalition of opposition groups in support of
the Varela Project submits 11,020 signed petitions to the Cuban government's
parliamentary body, the National Assembly. The petition surpasses the 10,000
signatures required by the existing socialist Constitution to request a national
referendum. The Cuban government does not address this move directly, but
rather, carries out its own signature drive to declare the 43-year totalitarian
regime "irrevocable." Considered a triumph for the opposition, the
submission of the signatures for the Varela Project propels the Cuban opposition
movement into the spotlight, capturing international headlines. Today, promoters
of the Project continue to collect signatures, insisting that the Cuban government
heed the voices of the thousands who are calling for change.
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