Cuban dissidents rally in Havana

[robcon]

Cuban dissidents rally in Havana
Some refuse to take part, saying it was sponsored by Miami exiles
Friday, May 20, 2005 Posted: 7:45 PM EDT (2345 GMT)

HAVANA, Cuba (CNN) -- In what organizers called an unprecedented event, dissidents from groups opposed to Fidel Castro's communist regime gathered publicly Friday and chanted "Down with Fidel."

"Freedom! Freedom!" the group of more than 100 delegates cheered in the yard of Felix Bonne, a veteran dissident, in a working-class section of Havana. Castro's regime would not allow the use of a theater or hotel for the assembly.

Participants included members of dissident groups that are sometimes at odds but share the goal of driving Castro from power.

"We think this is the first democratic assembly that has ever been held in Cuba," said organizer and former political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque of the rare public display of opposition.

Still, some opposition groups refused to take part, saying the event was backed by Miami-based exile groups that support violence.

A U.S. diplomat brought a videotaped message from U.S. President George Bush, who congratulated attendees on their courage and efforts to build democracy.

The two-day Assembly to Promote Civil Society started on the date that, until the 1959 Revolution that put Castro in power, was celebrated as Cuba's Independence Day.

A few dozen foreign observers attended, including James Cason, chief of mission of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. There were also representatives of the European Union and the Japanese, Polish, Czech, and Canadian embassies."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/05/20/cuba.rally/

[Robbien]

1. But the papers only talked about the two who refused entry

This story reports that out of a hundred people a few dozen were foreigners. But the media didn't talk about these few dozen foreigners when screaming about the two who were not admitted because of passport/visa discrepancies.

[robcon]

11. Not true, Robbien

"...Italy and Spain summoned the Cuban ambassadors in Rome and Madrid to explain the expulsions, which could hurt Havana's ties with the European Union that are already complicated by human rights concerns.

``This is not acceptable ... As such incidents occur even the best friends of Cuba would find it difficult to maintain their position,'' Amadeu Tardio, spokesman of the executive European Commission, told a news conference on Friday.

The EU must decide next month whether to continue its policy of seeking political dialogue with Castro or reimpose diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, which has ignored EU calls for the release of 61 jailed dissidents arrested in 2003..."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-cuba-dissidents.html?

[hector459]

2. I bet the "opposition" to the Miami crowd would not able to protest in

Miami.

[cire4]

3. Cuba allows opposition to convene...

THE WORLD
Cuba Allows Opposition to Convene
From Associated Press

HAVANA — More than 200 people opened a rare opposition assembly Friday in Cuba, uninterrupted by authorities who had expelled European lawmakers, journalists and others who had planned to attend.

Martha Beatriz Roque, the meeting's lead organizer and a former political prisoner, called it "a point of departure" for future work. Roque said it was the first such gathering in Fidel Castro's 46 years of communist rule.

"This is a really nice surprise…. I didn't think the government would allow it to happen," veteran activist Vladimiro Roca said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cuba21may21,1,7789888.story?coll=la-headlines-world

[LeighAnn]

4. Thousands Rally w/ Castro for the Arrest of Posada

That was last week, remember?

Well, it's good those dissidents are able to speak their piece. Maybe they'll stay there instead of coming back to Miami and engaging in BFEE antics.

[GirlinContempt]

5. "Castro's regime would not allow the use of a theater or hotel...

for the assembly."

And thats.... different... than most countries?

[Robbien]

6. At least they don't cage them up in Free Speech Zones

as some supposed Democratic countries do.

[GirlinContempt]

8. zing

true true

[IndianaGreen]

7. Imagine an emmissary from Osama coming to the US to congratulate

A U.S. diplomat brought a videotaped message from U.S. President George Bush, who congratulated attendees on their courage and efforts to build democracy.

Americans opposed to Bush, and to bring them a taped message from bin Laden!

America still wants Cuba as the whore it was before the Revolution, a place for wealthy Americans and horny sailors to wet their wicks.

[Vogon_Glory]

9. Poor Sods Have A Rubber Chicken Tied Around Their Necks

This pro-democracy rally is not off to an auspicious start. The poor sods have a rubber chicken tied around their necks--ostensible support from Gee Dubya Bush. Gee Dubya Bush may still be popular with the far right end of the Cuban exile community (Especially among former members of Cuba's kleptocracy), but I doubt that he has that many fans and well-wishers among the average island Cubans or even a lot of the exiles living in the USA.

I can understand why some dissidents have chosen to stay away. They aren't fools. They know that Gee Dubya's Duck Soup Posse is hardly a promoter of genuine democracy, and they're wisely choosing not to be associated with it.

And if one-party rule is to be condemned and put down in Cuba, shouldn't we Americans work to end one-party Republican rule North of the Florida Straits, too?

[robcon]

10. For the first time in 46 years, a mostly free opposition gathering

Cuban Dissidents Cheer And EU Simmers As Meet Ends
By REUTERS Published: May 21, 2005 Filed at 5:07 p.m. ET

HAVANA (Reuters) - "An unprecedented meeting of dissidents seeking political change in Communist Cuba wrapped up on Saturday with the election of a panel to direct the group.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro's government made no effort to stop the two-day event, but it did deport politicians and other observers from Europe who had arrived on tourist visas to attend the meeting.

Similar attempts by dissidents over the years to bring together the dozens of tiny and illegal organizations spread around the Caribbean island had been met with repression during the planning stages with the arrest of leaders.

Chants of "freedom" and "democracy now" rang out from the fruit-tree shaded backyard of a home on the outskirts of Havana where more than 100 delegates gathered to vote for a 36-member steering committee from a list of 75 candidates. The committee will then elect officers to lead the group, the Assembly to Promote Civil Society.

Neighbors appeared to pay little attention as they went about their chores and chatted on street corners.

"This is what we are all about, true democracy, and what we seek for our country," Martha Beatriz Roque, lead organizer of the event, said as 105 registered delegates lined up for a snack and to collect their ballots around noon.

Roque, an economist who has spent four of the last eight years in jail, was expected to be elected by the new steering committee later on Saturday to lead the organization that unites dozens of small dissident groups across Cuba.

A handful of American and European diplomats attended the meeting, but politicians and other observers who came from Europe for the event on tourist visas were detained by police and ejected from Cuba, as was an Italian reporter and five members of the Polish press.

"We find these expulsions very disturbing," one of two European diplomats observing the meeting on Saturday said, "though it is obviously very positive this event happened."...

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-cuba-dissidents.html?