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MANIFESTO FOR TRUTH AND HOPE
By Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia

Members of the Movement of Cuban Youth for Democracy (MCYD) write a letter to the president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, Mr. Miguel Madeira during the celebration of the World Festival for Youth and Students in Caracas, Venezuela. In this manifesto they denounce the injustice from which Cuban youth suffers, especially the new measure of “social menace,” which has resulted in the imprisonment of over 400 youths without committing a crime. The members of the MCYD expose the reality which they live day to day in contrast to the image which Fidel Castro portrays to the world. The Manifesto seeks to emphasize the similarities between young Cubans who seek democracy and Madeira, who lives in democracy, despite their ideological differences.

MANIFESTO FOR TRUTH AND HOPE

The Movement of Cuban Youth for Democracy

Guantánamo, Cuba, July 23, 2005.

Republic of Cuba

To: International Organizing Committee for the XVI World Festival of Youth and Students.

To: President of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, Mr. Miguel Madeira.

To: All the young students of the World.

There is one thing on which we agree profoundly Mr. Miguel Madeira. The difference between the rich and the poor makes unequal and unjust the dignified manner in which all men on earth should coexist. Love towards the human species and freedom are concepts of a supreme civilization that are necessary at the hour of joining efforts for the have-nots. We heard of you through a publication by the Cuban newspaper, Granma, in an interview provided to newspaper correspondents, and brought to light on June 16th. To begin with, your interview was published thanks to your anti-imperialist affinity and declarations favorable to the policies of the Cuban government, otherwise, the censure characteristic on the island would have been present and this communication would have been impossible.

Every populist revolution brings with it hidden yearnings, encouraged by the virtual fact of the palpability of an honorable life and superior perspectives to the errors of tendency and methods of previous governments. From here, the passion and the spirit of the people to second ideas and projects, we are speaking specifically on the case of Fidel Castro, and another imitator, Hugo Chavez. Selfish and premeditated are the intents of men to become masters of politics, since in order to serve their interests; they feign all forms or mechanisms to reach an objective. Many times forgetting the reason for which history placed them in the position of power and even worse, the duty that makes them responsible to their people.

We are part of the revolutionary process that was initiated in 1959 by the Cuban ruler Fidel Castro. We have lived all the stages of change that have lead to a profound and permanent crisis. The plight of the Cuban youth is very distanced from the precepts that you proclaim and defend in favor of the youth of the world.

In Cuba, nothing has changed after years of imprisonments, fratricide struggles, family divisions, exiles, executions, uprooting, transformations of values, and a long and pronounced etcetera of economic and moral miseries. In that sense, young Cubans have been the front of suffering and frustration of the era of broken promises. The lack of essential freedoms and the politic of terror implanted in the largest of the Antilles have brought with them a large number of young people serving sentences in the prisons of the Cuban regime.

It is disgraceful to know that the list of young people adjunct to this document is exactly of sons of our homeland, incarcerated because of their political beliefs and for writing the realities which the Cuban people are subject to and suffer. In addition to this, the index of alcoholism has no comparison; thousands of young people die attempting to abandon their homeland due to lack of perspectives and fleeing from that philosophy of fear; prostitution and tourism are symbols that work hand in hand.

Mr. Madeira, please pass on this letter, a grave reality, to the youth of the world. Truth and justice should inspire you as much as the convictions you have forged. The romantic and beautiful politic of exporting doctors and teachers to others who need them is necessary yet, at the same time, should not be denied to the Cuban population. Rooted in the massive popular consultations, which make profit surreptitiously with professional personnel, there exists a dire health situation in Cuba. Many doctors are lacking, medications are scarce, and personal care is inadequate and almost non-existent. It is impossible to consult a specialist in the interior regions of the island. Children fall asleep in classrooms and hunger sedates them. We understand that selling an image in order to lessen the pain of the unhappy in exchange for a vote, in parenthesis, is a moral crime against humanity according to Geneva.

Since the end of last year until now, 400 young Cubans have been imprisoned for the unjust and arbitrary offense of “social menace,”* in an oppressive wave dubbed “Operation Containment.” This statistic is well under the official figure registered in all prisons for the same offense. It is truly an infamous law against the juvenile sector of the Cuban population. Two activists from our organization, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta and Claro Sánchez Altarriba, suffer from the most brutal form of contempt and hate at the hands of Castro’s forces, whom repress and torture them mercilessly. Both have been unjustly sentenced to 20 years in prison simply for exercising their right to express freely what they believe. In addition, 95% of the Cuban population oscillates between the ages of 18 and 40. This contrast refutes the arguments utilized by those in power who intend to show the world a sort of paradise of high culture and social harmony: do not forget that Cuba ranks fourth in the world in amount of prisoners per capita as well as police forces per citizen.

Those who represent Cuba at the XVI World Festival of Youth and Students, Mr. Madeira, are not in reality the portrayal of the truth which concerns us, instead they represent only what the regime wants to show the world. In order to participate in said event, they go through a rigorous discriminatory selection process. Not belonging to the Communist Youth Organization (CYO) eliminates any possibility of participation. An alarming primitive conduct on the part of Cuban youth, a war verse, and a virus of hate implanted in the mind of children are the policies utilized by the Cuban government, which alienate us more and more from the doctrine of the civilization of love among human beings.

We infinitely believe that based on your affiliations and democratic values, which make you, Mr. Madeira, the president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, you will agree with us that peace, well being, liberty, security, and justice should be the rights and objectives of everyone.

The Movement of Cuban Youth for Democracy, in defense of truth and hope before you and all the students of the world, advocate respect for human dignity, for democracy, for equality, for a lawful state and for human rights. We defend a pluralistic society, the absence of discrimination, tolerance and solidarity. This is how we should be, Mr. Madeira, and our conduct should always be the same no matter which path we travel in life.

The Movement of Cuban Youth for Democracy

mcjduniversitariosinfrontera@yahoo.es

* Social Menace: Phrase used in Cuba that applies to those who, without committing a crime, are taken to prison before the hypothetical possibility that they may commit an infraction. It is also an argument used against human rights activists in Cuba to discredit the political condition that moves them and in doing so neutralizes their efforts.

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