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It is time for repression to cease in Cuba
By Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Democracia

Prominent international figures requesting an end to repression in Cuba. https://www.change.org/petitions/general-statement-it-is-time-for-repression-to-cease-in-cuba-2. @nytimesworld @rodnorland

Preamble: The occasion of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba provides an important opportunity to highlight the denial of freedom, democracy and basic human rights to the island's people. The Communist authorities released many political prisoners last year in a deal brokered by the Catholic Church, following which most freed dissidents were forced into exile. But the recent death of imprisoned dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza following a 51-day hunger strike and the March 18 detention of up to 70 dissidents, including the celebrated Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), provide a reminder that Cubans continue to face arbitrary arrest, inhumane prison conditions and the threat of exile simply for voicing dissent. The following statement has been endorsed by Nobel laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, three former Latin American Presidents - Luis Alberto Monge Alvarez, Costa Rica (1982 - 1986), Alfredo Cristiani, El Salvador (1989 - 1994), Armando Calderón Sol, El Salvador (1994 -1999), Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal, former Canadian Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, alongside such eminent dissidents, democracy advocates and human rights activists as Martin Palous, Director of Vaclav Havel Library, Prague; French philosopher and writer Andre Glucksmann; Roman Catholic writer and theologian Michael Novack; Dr Alaksandr Milinkievic, 2006 Sakharov Prize Laureate, Belarus; several leading Chinese dissidents and 14 Members of the Lithuanian Parliament. Please add your signature to endorse the following statement as a gesture of solidarity with the people of Cuba and one of the world's most resilient democracy movements: The world was reminded of the human cost of denial of fundamental freedoms in Cuba by the recent tragic deaths of imprisoned dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza, following a hunger strike, and Laura Inés Pollán Toledo, leader of the internationally-renowned Ladies in White. Over the past year, we also witnessed the deaths of human rights activists Orlando Zapata Tamayo, following a hunger strike protesting his unjust imprisonment for his ideas, and Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, who died as a result of a brutal beating by security forces. The fate of these nonviolent democracy advocates reiterates the moral imperative to demand freedom and justice for Cuba's people. We urge Cuba's government to use the occasion of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to restrain the government's security forces and quasi-civilian proxies from harassing dissidents. Such a gesture would help create a space for reflection and dialog that will allow Cuba's people to transcend intolerance and animosity through the recovery of civil liberties and the development of a full and vibrant democracy, without any further loss of human life. "You are not victims," Pope John Paul II told Cuba's people during his visit in 1998. "You are and must be the principal agents of your own personal and national history." It is time for repression to cease so that Cubans can exercise their freedoms in pursuit of that vision. Please sign this petition to ask His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to meet with Cuban dissidents and democratic groups as well as request the Cuban Government to restrain the government's security forces and quasi-civilian proxies from harassing dissidents. Several dignitaries, intellectuals, former presidents, leaders from civil society groups and democracy supporters like you already signed the petition. You have the opportunity to save lives in Cuba. SIGN & SHARE with your friends via social media.

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