The Opposition in Cuba
Below are the opposition
organizations in Cuba that the Directorio
officially represents outside of
the island.
Cuban Reflection Movement
The Cuban Reflection
Movement (Movimiento Cubano Reflexión), based in Camajuaní, Villa Clara, is an
organization that seeks alternatives for change due to the global crisis
affecting Cuban society. Inspired by noble civic traditions and having as its
foundation the democratization of the country, the Cuban Reflection Movement is
a pro human rights and pluralist entity. Librado Linares Garcia, general
secretary, heads the organization, which carries out the majority of its work in
the central provinces of the country - Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos and Villa
Clara. The Cuban Reflection Movement seeks fulfillment of its objectives through
the following:
- Permanent monitoring of the deplorable human rights situation in Cuba.
- Humanitarian aid for political prisoners and for persecuted citizens and their families for being the primary victims of the systematic and institutionalized violation of the civil, economic and political rights of the people.
- The study of problems affecting the Cuban nation at the political, economic and international levels.
- The expansion and
strengthening of working relationships with different organizations inside and
outside the island that seek an end to the national crisis within a framework of
mutual respect, tolerance and related objectives.
Compelled by the urgency of the deteriorating political, economic and social situation in the country and conscious of the indispensable necessity for change, the Cuban Reflection Movement makes a call to all the parties involved in the Cuban conflict to create a climate of political dialogue as a tool for effecting a peaceful transition to democracy and also confirms the legitimacy of civic action with the people that defies any kind of obstacle or danger while seeking to fulfill the sacred dreams of so many generations of Cubans, those dreams that Martí summarized when he said: "I want the foremost law of our Republic to be the cult for the dignity of man."
Cuban Youth for Democracy
Movement
The Cuban
Youth for Democracy Movement (Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia),
founded in 1994 in the city of Guantanamo, works to denounce the violation of
human rights and defend these rights as well as communicate the truth of what
goes on inside Cuba to its citizens and to the outside world and unmask the
regime. The movement helps political prisoners and their families as well as
promotes a project called "University Students Without Borders" (Universitarios
Sin Fronteras). The organization follows in the tradition of the Cuban people to
struggle for political sovereignty, true independence, restoration of democracy
in the country, and respect for human rights and freedom. The current president
of the Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement is Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina, a
prisoner of conscience recognized by Amnesty International who currently serves
a 6-year sentence in the Provincial Prison of Guantanamo. The executive
directors include Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina, president and prisoner of
conscience; Luis Diaz Sanchez, acting president; Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta,
provincial coordinator in Guantanamo; and Hector René Roque Rodríguez, vice
president.
Pedro Luis Boitel National Civic Resistance
Movement
The Pedro Luis Boitel
National Civic Resistance Movement (Movimiento Nacional de Resistencia Cívica
'Pedro Luis Boitel') is an organization based in Placetas, Villa Clara, with
provincial delegations throughout the country, whose primary objective is to
urge and compel the Cuban government to grant a general amnesty to all political
prisoners and abolish political crimes from the Cuban legal code. The
organization compiles reports of human rights abuses, carries out activities
during significant dates, and lends attention and aid to political prisoners.
Every civic resistance act is intended to induce the Cuban government to make
positive changes to the penitentiary system as well as the penal code.
The Pedro Luis Boitel National Civic Resistance Movement, named after the Cuban political prisoner who died in a hunger strike in 1972, is led by Bertha Antunez Pernet, president of the organization. Bertha's brother, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antunez, is a well-known political prisoner incarcerated for "enemy propaganda."
National Council for Civil Rights in Cuba
The National
Council for Civil Rights in Cuba (Consejo Nacional por los Derechos Civiles en
Cuba) is an organization whose primary aim is to inform the citizens of their
civil rights as well as denounce the government's violations of those rights.
The council works to achieve its goals through peaceful acts of civil
disobedience, such as fasts, vigils, debate workshops, commemorative ceremonies
to remember the victims of the regime, etc. The council also monitors human
rights abuses and works to help the families of political prisoners. Jorge Omar
Lorenzo Pimienta is the president of the organization, which is based in Havana
and has delegations in Holguin, Sancti Spíritus, and Villa Clara.
Culture and Democracy Independent Institute
The Culture
and Democracy Independent Institute (Instituto Independiente Cultura y
Democracia) is a non-profit organization of no political or religious tendency.
The organization, which is based in the city of Santiago de Cuba in the eastern
region of the country, has the fundamental objectives of contributing to the
formation of the individual as an active and responsible member of society;
providing education on civic issues; carrying out studies at the different
political, economic and social levels to promote a conceptualization of
democracy as a socio-cultural phenomenon proper and characteristic of each
nation; carrying out events that contribute to a better knowledge of the
cultural values of society; and encouraging the systematic exchange and sharing
of knowledge and material with other organizations and individuals. The Culture
and Democracy Independent Institute organizes seminars, workshops, conferences
and courses of varying topics ranging from human rights to the rehabilitation of
different aspects of Cuban national life (the economic, political, judicial, and
educational systems, for example) after a transition to democracy. The
organization was founded on December 3, 1997, and is currently headed by Jose
Gabriel Ramon Castillo, general director.
The Peace, Love and Freedom Party
(Partido Paz, Amor y
Libertad), based in the western province of Matanzas, in the town of El Roque,
city of Perico, has the primary objective of demanding that the Cuban government
respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and free all current political
prisoners. The organization aims to achieve this goal through nonviolent civic
resistance, including acts to commemorate symbolic and historical dates and
diverse political and recreational activities that would motivate the population
to take up nonviolent civic resistance against the government. The Peace, Love
and Freedom Party was founded on September 24, 1998, and has 15
members.
