Cubans know what they want

Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006

NATIONAL DIALOGUE
Cubans know what they want
BY OSWALDO PAYA

HAVANA -- In March 2003, dozens of leaders of Cuba's Varela Project and
other human rights defenders were detained, subjected to summary trials,
condemned to many years in prison and confined in the most inhumane and
cruel conditions. They were treated like -- and held in prison cells
with -- dangerous common criminals.

In this way the regime attempted to suppress the rebirth of the Cuban
Spring initiated by thousands of Cubans who overcame a debilitating
culture of fear by including their names, addresses and identification
numbers in the text of the Varela Project, a document later presented to
the National Assembly asking for a referendum on its human rights
principles. Despite inhuman treatment and illegal detention, the regime
could not stop the rebirth of the Cuban Spring: Many Cubans continue to
support the Varela Project even amid repression that includes death
threats and physical assault.

State security persecution

Later in 2003 we announced that we had developed a working document of
about 50 pages that would serve as a guide for a National Dialogue (a
discussion in which all Cubans could freely express their thoughts,
desires and goals for Cuba). At the same time, state-security forces
persecuted us throughout the country.

Moreover, individuals inside and outside Cuba used whatever means at
their disposal to attack and discourage us from bringing this dialogue
to fruition. Once again Cubans persevered, and thousands of them -- in
Cuba and in exile -- participated in the National Dialogue.

In doing so, despite the repression, the Cubans involved in this
democratic dialogue developed a program for change. We worked to take
control of our future. Cubans, as individuals and as teams, wrote their
opinions and contributed to enriching this process. Some 12,000 people
participated, and many more read the working document.

We created eight committees that worked together to synthesize our
citizens' contributions in such areas as social security, health, the
economy and property rights, reconciliation and amnesty, and
institutional changes. In this way, Cubans pointed out their goals for
improving Cuba and suggested paths for accomplishing these goals.

On May 10 this year we publicly presented the Program for All Cubans
(Programa Todos Cubanos). It is the product of the National Dialogue and
contains proposals for a number of endeavors, including modification of
the constitution, a new electoral law, a new law of associations and a
plan for changes titled ''Cuba First.'' The editing of this document was
done by Cubans, completely within Cuba.

The Program for All Cubans is more than a document: It is an expression
of the will of Cubans to achieve changes peacefully and by our own hand
-- changes that involve and include all Cubans. In this National
Dialogue, Cubans have demonstrated that we know where we want to go and
how to get there.

We want to preserve the right to free healthcare and education and to
expand our rights to include freedom of religious education and freedom
of expression. We do not want change if it comes at the cost of paying a
ransom to those in power, allowing them to take control of the country's
resources, to define its values, to become millionaires and to leave the
people of the country in distress.

Guaranteed rights

In Cuba, there will be no lynchings, no revenge, no exclusions. Those
now in power will have the same rights as all citizens. There will be no
uncontrolled privatizations, but there will be a guarantee for the right
of all Cubans to a free economy, the right to have private enterprise
and to trade freely. No one will be forced out of his home. The law will
prohibit evictions. All Cubans in exile will regain their rights as
Cuban citizens.

This program is and will remain a proposal until Cubans approve it in a
referendum; in the meantime, it is open for dialogue and for further
development.

The Cuban Spring has been reborn; hope has been reborn. Through this
''dialogue without borders,'' Cubans themselves have built and continue
building our path toward democracy, toward a free society that is more
just and humane. What Cuba needs is many voices around the world that
demand freedom for political prisoners and that support this path for Cuba.

Oswaldo Payá is a leader of the human rights movement in Cuba.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14967078.htm