Oswaldo Payá

Our Mission: To Spread HopeHavana , March 13, 2007- On the morning of March 9, 2007, Cuban State Security detained Ernesto Martini Fonseca, a member of the Coordinating Council of the Christian Liberation Movement, after he dropped one of his daughters off at school.

The Security members drove him to a secret house, where he was subject to more than seven hours of pressure and threats from various officials to abandon his activities with our movement.
The threats against him and his family, and against Oswaldo Payá, were specifically directed towards paralyzing the proposed resolution
entitled, “The Need for the Cuban Government to Liberate the Peaceful Political Prisoners,” which the Movement had drafted and sent to
members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.During the past few months, several members of the Christian
Liberation Movement have been detained and besieged by repressive
state officials. We have reported how this siege includes systematic
persecution, disturbance and interference in all aspects of our
lives, and the lives of our families, including our children. We
have warned that the threats against us and our families are very
grave.

Fortunately, we plan to make public all the details of Martini’s
detention and of the threats against him and the Movement.

The prisoners of the “Cuban Spring” are now facing the fourth year of
their unjust prison sentences and we will not stop calling upon all
Cubans and the international community to demand the liberation of
these Cubans, who are in prison for peacefully exercising and
defending human rights.

While the Cuban people continue to suffer from many limitations and
violation of their rights, as well as poverty and instability, they
are denied the right to a better future and remain subject to
uncertainty, more oppression and misinformation. Today, more than
ever, the Cuban people need and desire a peaceful alternative that
opens a new horizon of reconciliation, opportunities, peace and
liberty for all. For that reason, the demand for the Varela Project
Referendum is stronger than ever; it is the bridge that already
thousands of Cubans have begun to construct. Only by referring to
Cuban laws, and by guaranteeing the rights for everyone, as stated by
the Varela Project, can Cubans achieve all the necessary changes for
their society. To deny these changes would signify the continuation
of the exclusion and the silencing of the majority of people in Cuba
who live in poverty and the continuation of the privileges and power
held by a small minority. This is the essence of the contradiction
of the system and all Cubans know this.

The most closed repression and the greatest intolerance against our
Movement is precisely in reaction to the Cuban-ness, transparency,
justice, and citizen support for the spirit, demands and basic
proposals of the Varela Project and the Program for All Cubans.
Instead of persecuting us, they should be making these proposals
public and give the people the opportunity to decide their own
sovereign future.

Those around the world who adapt to the sentence of continuity in
Cuba, of a regime that is closed to its people or who prepare to take
advantage of the Cuban people’s disadvantage, only contribute to
hopelessness and more suffering in Cuba. We are NOT asking nor do we
want isolation, nor do we want anyone who is not Cuban to define or
lead the changes of our country, because this is the responsibility
of the Cuban people, but we call upon other nations to express moral
support for the people of Cuba in their aspiration to have the right
to their rights.

We do not hold any feelings of hatred, but the threats and repression
are not going to paralyze us. I hope that arrogance does not prevail
in the minds and hearts of those with power, as this would only drag
the Cuban people towards greater sufferings.

We are victims, not only of repression, but also of slander,
misinformation and the silence of many. But there is something we
will not stop proclaiming: We are NOT asking for our own power or
privileges, nor threatening the life or dignity of any Cuban, we are
not assaulting anyone; what we are doing is quite clear, we are
demanding that the right of all Cubans be respected and proposing
changes towards a more free, just, and humane society in which no one
is excluded. We will NOT abandon this mission, in the face of any
repression, danger or adversity.

Uncertainty, fear, overwhelming propaganda, and the instability of
daily life can paralyze the will and create despair for many people.

IF we raise our heads with faith and determination, we see that we
can peacefully accomplish the changes we need, where all Cubans win
and no one loses. All the brothers of the Christian Liberation
Movement, wherever we are, will continue planting the seed of hope,
and will continue working and struggling peacefully for this better
future for all, which is already upon us.

Oswaldo José Payá Sardinas
Ernesto Martini Fonseca
On Behalf of the Christian Liberation Movement

Publicado: 15 Marzo 2007 en Artículos Oswaldo Payá y M.C.Liberación, English and other languages, Proyecto Varela.
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