Remarks by Adolfo Franco, Assistant Administrator
Remarks to the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy
August 5, 2004
Last year when we met, we mourned the arrest and imprisonment
of 75 peaceful civil society leaders, independent journalists,
and economists in a wave of repression by the Castro regime.
We asked ourselves whether these arrests signaled the end
of opposition in Cuba.
This year, I am happy to note what we all know: civil society
in Cuba is alive and well, and growing stronger. Far from
ending opposition to Castro’s rule, last year’s
repression emboldened the internal opposition and led to wide-spread
condemnation from around the world, including from some countries
and individuals which had previously expressed support for
Castro and his system.
Last year, we heard from the sister of Marta Beatriz Roque
Cabello. Her sad story of mistreatment and isolation mirrored
the stories of others, economists and journalists alike, imprisoned
in the wave of repression. In the aftermath of Castro’s
unacceptable action, a Canadian newspaper reported, “Cuba,
a country of 11.3 million people, now has more journalists
in jail than does China, a country with 100 times the population.”
But, in lashing out against peaceful human rights activists,
Castro roused the international community. Not only the United
States, but the European Union, the United Nations, the Organization
for American States, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
and free people everywhere are demanding the release of all
Cuban political prisoners.
President Bush has made clear to the world that the United
States utterly rejects Fidel Castro's dictatorial rule and
his abuse of fundamental human rights. The policy of the United
States Government is peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba.
And that clearly will not happen with Fidel Castro and his
henchmen running Cuba.
We don't know why Castro and his colleagues have begun to
release a few of the democratic activists they so unjustly
imprisoned. One thing is clear: Castro should get no credit
for releasing those who should never have been jailed in the
first place.
Marta Beatriz Roque, Manuel Vazquez Portal, the blind dissident
Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leyva, and several others who suffer
from heart disease, diabetes and other serious illnesses,
are now outside prison walls and have rejoined their neighbors
on that imprisoned island.
Instead of giving up their demand for greater rights for
their people, these heroic individuals have all returned to
their chosen mission and are calling for peaceful, democratic
change.
Cuba’s independent journalists continue to publish.
You can read their reports every day on CUBANET.
Cuba’s independent libraries are rebuilding their book
collections and expanding the range of services they offer.
The Cuban government harasses them, but independent librarians
continue to serve thousands of Cuban citizens every day, from
one end of the island to the other.
Marta Beatriz has refused to leave Cuba. Osvaldo Paya, who
launched Project Varela, and whom Castro has never dared imprison,
remains a beacon, a witness internationally as well as nationally
for the defense of liberty and the rights of the individual
conscience.
As Senator John McCain said in June of this year, “Dissent
in Cuba is alive and well. The pro-democracy movement has
survived the repression organized by Castro to crush it. It
has weathered the storm.”
The Cuban people are resilient. History shows they can be
very brave, resourceful, stubborn, and persistent. They yearn
for freedom, and they will eventually secure it.
The United States will offer increased moral and material
support.
In May of this year, Secretary of State Powell, gave to the
President the report of the Commission for Assistance to a
Free Cuba. The President established the Commission last October.
The Commission’s report spells out exactly what the
United States is doing and will do to hasten the transition
to democracy on the island and to respond to requests from
a future transition government to Cuba.
USAID actively participated in five working groups of the
Commission. I was privileged to chair the working group on
establishing democratic institutions, respect for human rights,
rule of law, and national justice and reconciliation.
I encourage all of you to read the report. You can download
it from the State
Department.
Since 1997, USAID has vigorously supported the development
of independent civil society in Cuba. We do this not with
cash payments to anyone on the island, but with over a million
books and newsletters, with more than ten thousand short-wave
radios, with office equipment, with food and medicine, and
with encouragement of international support.
In closing, I want to echo the words of USAID Administrator
Andrew Natsios in his March 11 remarks at the Institute of
Cuban and Cuban American Studies of the University of Miami.
He reminded Castro’s colleagues that the Cuban people
and the world community will hold them accountable for the
regime’s atrocities and human rights abuses long after
Fidel Castro disappears.
I am told that when Castro went to the city of Santa Clara
on July 26 of this year, there was a sign waiting for him
that someone had erected on one of the walls of the Santa
Clara cemetery. The sign said, “Fidel: Bienvenido. Estas
en tu Casa.”
It is time for all Cuban government officials and collaborators
to begin to show compassion and understanding not only for
those they have imprisoned, but for all those who call for
peaceful dialogue and democratic change.
The time has come. I congratulate you for your continuing
work to describe and understand the Cuban economy as a tool
for reforming broken institutions when the day comes for which
we all hope, for which the people of Cuba yearn: the day when
Cuba is free.
Thank you.
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