» Non-Cooperation

Exile groups call for civil disobedience in Cuba
By EFE Noticias

 

 

Emilio J. López

(Translated by Directorio Democratico Cubano)

 

Miami (USA), July 25 (EFE).- Cuban exile organizations in Miami announced the launch of a campaign today in support of the civil disobedience movements that are developing in Cuba. In a press conference held in Miami, exile group leaders highlighted “non-cooperation with the Castro dictatorship” through the Cuban people’s refusal to participate in harassment and “acts of repudiation against members of the opposition.”

 

The initiative, which occurs in response to a call to action made by Cuban political prisoners and dissidents, is founded on the frequent manifestations of sectors of the Cuban population that “reject cooperation with the regime,” stated Angel De Fana, president of Plantados, one of the groups promoting the campaign.

 

Currently, said DeFana, “numerous neighbors do not participate in the repugnant acts of repudiation” against dissidents because, he said, the population “does not have as much fear of Castro’s repression.”

 

De Fana indicated that the campaign does not seek to generate “subversive activities” in the island; instead it seeks to foment a civil disobedience movement to collapse the regime.

 

"to confront repression is to remove power from the regime” of Fidel Castro, underlined De Fana, who exhorted "that every Cuban seek, according to his reality and conditions, the way to deny cooperation to the dictatorship.”

 

The campaign, which crystallizes in the slogan “I do want change,” is articulated in six fundamental points: "I do not repudiate,” I do not assist” (the mass acts summoned by the regime), “I do not snitch” (I do not snitch on opposition members), “I do not follow” (form part of the Communist Party), “I do not cooperate,” and “I do not repress” (form part of the repressive apparatus).

 

Javier de Céspedes, president of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, also agreed that the call to action made by “Cuban prisoners and dissidents” has “extended to the neighborhoods.”

 

"Numerous neighbors have refused to participate in acts of repudiation and are against them,” he highlighted.

 

De Céspedes expressed his conviction that the final dismantlement of Castro’s regime will only be possible if the “citizenry” comprehends that “every totalitarian system” needs the cooperation of the population to “be able to stay in power.”

 

"As long as the people – emphasized De Céspedes- withdraw their cooperation with the dictatorship, it loses that pillar and collapses.”

 

Additionally, the president of the Cuban Democratic Directorate proposed the need for other “exile organizations” to participate in this “new phase of the struggle” which is “non-cooperation.”

 

The first phase will last for a year and its objective, explained De Céspedes, is that it “expands to more and more people,” that “the entire Cuban exile” join the campaign through the use of “these slogans.”

 

For Sylvia G. Iriondo, president of Mothers and Women Against Repression for Cuba (MAR), it is evident that the “independent civil society in Cuba has strengthened” and that, “increasingly” society is not willing to cooperate with the dictatorship.

 

The campaign, stated Iriondo, offers “support to the democratic opposition” on the island, to the “civil struggle,” and all those who “aspire that the Cuban people regain their sovereignty.”

 

Additionally, the three exile organizations have sent a letter to the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Emilio González, of Cuban origin, in which they request the investigation of “people who have participated in violations of human rights” on the island, said Iriondo.

 

The objective, according to the president of MAR, is not only to impede that these people “receive a visa to enter the United Status,” or in the case they are already on U.S. territory “they be deported.”

 

“We want to send a clear message,” warned Iriondo, “Violations and instigations in acts of repudiation will not remain unpunished, and will have consequences.” EFE

 

 

 

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