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First, I'm going to list a brief biography from Wikipedia:
1987 - founds the Christian Liberation Movement. calls for national reform and makes the Proclamation of the MCL.
1990 - The political police detain and threaten him with many years in prison if he continues to carry out his civil and peaceful struggle.
1992 attempts to run as a delegate for the National Assembly of Peoples Power but is completely rejected by the authorities.
1990 He drafts the Transition Program.
1995 He participates as one of the five organizers of the Cuban Council. He is detained by the police.
1996-1997 He drafts the Varela Project together with other members of the MCL.
1999 He participates in the drafting of the “All United” manifesto and proposes the first assembly of the opposition, which took place under intense repression.
1999 He receives the Homo Homini Award from the Czech foundation “People in Need” for his contribution to the defense of human rights.
2002 More than 11 thousand signatures backing the Varela Project are presented to the National Assembly of People’s Power in Cuba. The Dutch NGO Pax Christi hands in to the Vice President of the European Parliament, Alejo Vidal Quadras, close to 4,000 signatures that were collected in a dozen European countries in support of the “Varela Project” In October he receives the Andrei Sakharov Prize for human rights that is awarded by the European Parliament
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This is a statement by Paya about repression in Cuba
"Agustín Cervantes García, one of the leaders of the Varela Project in Santiago de Cuba , was sentenced to two years in prison in a trial of which he was not informed until the moment when police escorted him into the courtroom. To understand how the Cuban government, its courts and its repressive security forces could so blatantly violateall basic citizens’ rights, one needs only to know the context and sequence of events.
1. In December 2008, Cuban State Security forces enter the apartment of Minervo Chil Siret, a leader of the Varela Project in the province of Cienfuegos , while he was away from home, stealing lists of several thousand citizens who had signed the Varela Project and were awaiting verification.
2. In September 2009, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, coordinator of the Varela Project, visited various provinces in the country, including Santiago de Cuba, to continue promoting the Varela Project and meeting with various representatives, including Agustín Cervantes. State Security forces followed and harassed them.
This time, as per usual, the government reacted against the report condemning the repression of victims with more repression, and tried to silence the victims through more lies and more terror. On September 28, Varela Project organizer Augustín Cervantes was detained in Contramestre, Santiago de Cuba . He had already been detained and harassed before, and they had even sent an agent who tried to kill him.
We have warned about this general repression against citizens, who have only used their constitutional right to present legal initiatives. Everything indicates that the Varela Project is a recognized and preferred way for citizens to demand changes and rights that the people want, and which is denied to them by this Government. This is why the Varela Project campaign will continue, until we achieve these rights for all Cubans. Signed Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas - Coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement and of the Project Varela Havana , September 29, 2009"
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This is what the head of the Cuban national Assembly has to say about the Varela Project (from a USA today column):
"Alarcon said there is no provision in the Cuban constitution that permits people to petition a vote on a constitutional amendment. Backers of the petition drive are attempting to merge — and misinterpret — several unrelated articles of Cuba's governing document"
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Cuba's Constitution:
"ARTICLE 5. The Communist Party of Cuba, a follower of Martí’s ideas and of Marxism-Leninism, and the organized vanguard of the Cuban nation, is the highest leading force of society and of the state, which organizes and guides the common effort toward the goals of the construction of socialism and the progress toward a communist society"
"ARTICLE 62. None of the freedoms which are recognized for citizens can be exercised contrary to what is established in the Constitution and by law, or contrary to the existence and objectives of the socialist state, or contrary to the decision of the Cuban people to build socialism and communism. Violations of this principle can be punished by law."
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My comment: This constitution was written by communists, and it refers to "the law" quite often. In other words, it's a fairly toothless constitution because it pretty much gives the state the ability to write a law which can strip away rights - and the Constitution is thus silenced. Notice how they say the Communist Party reigns supreme, then they follow it up with clauses which say anybody who opposes the Constitution can be punished by law. So they are free to write laws to punish people who oppose the Constitution - which of course they use to persecute people who do want change to a different economic system.
I could not find articles which contradict what Alarcon is saying. They wrote a fairly airtight constitution which pretty much gives them a free hand to do whatever they want, and jail anybody who opposes them. As a constitution, this is a piece of legal trash, it enshrines the right of a small group of oligarchs to rule the country as they see fit. For those of you who complain about Honduras' constitution, I suggest you first read this piece of trash they use in Cuba, and focus where the problems are more acute.
It appears, given this text, and the reality of the government's behavior, that Cubans who want to kick the Communists out will have to either force a Constitutional convention, or give up. How they force a Constitutional convention is up to them.
I am increasingly cynical when I see so much pro-Cuba posting by people who then turn and attack Honduras and Colombia. They are all flawed societies and governments, and merit criticism as a group.
All of us should be honest enough to scatter our criticism in all directions, and not allow ourselves to become lackeys of the state, or of institutions which control our statements because they control our wallets, or our lives. We need to learn to be free men and women, and never allow them to silence us, or direct our thoughts.
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