» History / Year 2002

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December 17, 2002:
Orlando Gutiérrez joins with former Chilean president Patricio Aylwin, a delegation of Chilean Christian Democrats, and members of that country’s Solidarity Committee for Democracy in Cuba in a show of support for the internal opposition. The press conference features a telephone call from Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas during his brief stay in Strasbourg, France to receive the European Parliament’s Sakharov Freedom of Thought Prize.

November 2002:
Javier de Céspedes meets with European activists in the Czech Republic to inform them of the hardships faced by the opposition inside Cuba and to muster up international support for Cuba’s civic opposition.

September 10, 2002:
The Directorio participates in the second Conference of Democratic Communities in South Korea.

September 2002:
The Directorio compiles signatures from legislators and intellectuals from the Czech Republic, Spain, Cuba, and numerous other countries in support of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas’s 2003 Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

The Directorio joins the Christian Democratic Organization of America (ODCA).

August 2002:
In the University of Miami’s Casa Bacardí, Gabriel Andreescu presents the second Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award to Angel Moya Acosta, leader of the Independent Alternative Option Movement in Matanzas, Cuba.

Lorenzo de Toro, Vice-President of the Directorio, personally delivers humanitarian aid to Cuban opposition leaders, demonstrating to the world the feasibility and the imperative of directly supporting the internal dissident movement. A video of his trip depicting his meeting with Bertha Antúnez Pernet, president of the Pedro Luis Boitel National Civic Resistance Movement screens in Miami.

July 2002:
Without seeking permission from the Cuban government, Javier de Céspedes, President of the Directorio, travels to Cuba and meets with civil society leaders. There, he signs the Varela Project in the home of Oswaldo Payá’s home in Havana, Cuba. He also signs the Agreement for Democracy at the Cuban capitol building in a show of defiance to the island’s illegitimate government.

The Directorio invites Mart Laar, Prime Minister of Estonia during its transition to democracy, and Fredo Arias King, Mexican expert on democratic transitions for a series of workshops and conferences. Together, they share some of their expert insight on the subject as well as their projections for Cuba’s future.

May 25, 2002:
The Dominican Solidarity Committee for Democracy in Cuba is founded in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

May 19, 2002:
Thanks to the initiative taken by the northern sector of the Cuban exile community, representatives from the Directorio travel to West New York and Union City in New Jersey to receive proclamations honoring Cuban prisoners of conscience Juan Carlos González Leiva and Jorge Luis García Pérez- “Antúnez” in their names.

May 2002:
The Directorio organizes and stages “Cuba Today” during the centennial of the establishment of Cuba’s first republic at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami, FL. For three consecutive days, the exposition served to give voice to those who struggle in Cuba, relaying messages and information from the opposition to the world at large.

March 26, 2002:
Maritza Lugo, former prisoner of conscience and oppositionist leader, and Orlando Gutierrez of the Directorio participate in a press conference in the Chilean Congress on two main topics: the Cuban internal opposition and the need to support a UN resolution against Castro’s regime. Chilean legislators express their solidarity with this resolution and for the causes promoting human rights inside Cuba.

March 14, 2002:
The Directorio changes its name from the Cuban Revolutionary Democratic Directorate to the Cuban Democratic Directorate to better reflect its commitment to the triumph of the Cuban people through nonviolent civic resistance. To mark this rejuvenation and renewal of commitment, a new logo evocative of the Cuban flag makes its debut at a gathering of numerous Directorio members and sympathizers.

March-April 2002:
Janisset Rivero, Adjunct National Secretary of the Directorio, testifies on the violation of human rights in Cuba before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS in Washington, DC. The Human Rights Commission of the United Nations in Geneva also receives this testimony.

Directorio Democrático Cubano
P.O. Box 110235
Hialeah, Florida 33011
Tel. 305-220-2713
info@directorio.org

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