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Letter to President Obama from human rights activists in Cuba
By Activistas de Derechos Humanos en Cuba

Dear President Obama:

 

Your election is a tremendous symbol of how civic determination can usher in dramatic political and social change. As you assume and carry out your considerable duties as President, you pay homage to the millions of Americans who have fought for freedom, social justice, civil rights and human dignity.

 

In Cuba, there is a faith-based, multi-racial movement of men, women, youth and workers who in spite of terrible repression by the regime in power are carrying out a non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

 

Our movement articulates the desire for Change of thousands of Cubans who have braved repression, intimidation and overcame fear to sign their names on petitions for constitutional reform and academic freedom. Thousands more have refused to join State-sanctioned mob attacks on those of us seeking peaceful political change. We gain inspiration from the more than 1.4 million Cubans who boycotted the Regime-mandated one-party, one-candidate elections held in January-February 2008. Each day, in ways large and small, seen and unseen, the Cuban people are withdrawing their support for the ruling regime through acts of civil disobedience.

 

A great majority of Cubans, including many within the ranks of the Regime itself, desire profound democratic change in Cuba.

 

The shining example of the civil rights movement in the United States is a beacon of hope so that the full dignity for each Cuban can be restored. We want to determine our future through a democratic process.

 

We understand that your administration will reorient U.S. policy towards Cuba and the Castro Regime. We urge you against siding with commercialism before political liberalization in our island. Repression has increased considerably during the last year and militarization within the power apex of the Regime is a clear signal of their lack of will to commit to real changes. Today, several thousand political prisoners languish in horrible conditions in squalid jails. Their only crime was fighting for the same freedoms that Americans such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. gave their lives to achieve. Make no mistake, Mr. President, their struggle then, is our struggle now.

 

We urge you to consider a multilateral international strategy that will compel the Castro Regime to open up to its own people by releasing political prisoners, legalizing political parties, restoring the civil rights of the Cuban people and holding internationally-supervised free elections. Such a policy would reinforce and strengthen the work of many Cuban groups devoted to peaceful political change.

 

This movement for change seeks to profoundly and peacefully transform Cuba.

 

We urge you to not sacrifice the moral leadership of the United States to the temptations of commercial expediency. Your presidency is a tribute to all that can be accomplished when a cause is just and right. We are offering our lives to Cuba’s freedom movement and some day –we hope soon–look forward to having a democratically elected Cuban president greet you in Havana.

 

Do not forget us. Support us.

We too, have a dream.

 

 

1.      Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, Presidio Político Pedro Luis Boitel

2.      Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia, La Habana

3.      Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, Alianza Democrática Oriental, Guantánamo

4.      Idania Yánez Contreras, Coalición Central Opositora, Villa Clara

5.      Juan Carlos González Leiva, Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos, La Habana

6.      Iris Pérez Aguilera, Movimiento Feminista de Derecho Civiles Rosa Parks, Villa Clara

7.      Alejandro Tur Valladares, Jagua Press, Cienfuegos

8.      Ana Margarita Perdigón Brito, Presidio Político Pedro Luis Boitel, Sancti Spiritus

9.      Joaquín Cabezas de León, Movimiento Cubano Reflexión, Villa Clara

10.  Ricardo Pupo Sierra, Plantados hasta la Libertad y la Democracia, Cienfuegos

11.  Enyor Díaz Allen, Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia, Guantánamo

12.  Cristián Toranzo, Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia, Holguín

13.  Marta Díaz Rondón, Movimiento Feminista de Derecho Civiles Rosa Parks, Holguín

14.  Margarito Broche Espinosa, Consejo de Relatores de Derechos Humanos de Cuba, Villa Clara

15.  María de la Caridad Noa González, Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Familiar, Villa Clara

16.  Virgilio Mantilla Arango, Fundación Cubana de Derechos Humanos, Camagüey

17.  Yorledis Duvalón Gibert, Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia, Santiago de Cuba

 

 

 

 

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