Alea jacta est — The die is cast

Alea jacta est — The die is cast / Cuban Law Association, Wilfredo
Vallin Almeida
Cuban Law Association, Translator: Unstated, Wilfredo Vallin Almeida

Oswaldo Payá has died and, despite his death, his enemies don't hesitate
to throw dirt on his corpse and present him as a reprobate.

Whether his death is the result of an accident or of a machination, it's
clear for those of us who knew him, the class of person he was, and that
up to now his Varela Project has been the only one with the virtue of
having shaken the government to its foundations.

In the Republic of Cuba sovereignty resides in the people from whom
originates all the power of the State, says article three of the
Constitution in force in the country.

Faced with the almost twenty-five thousand signatures that Payá
presented, our government of 54 years felt itself in danger, because
these signatures represented a fraction of that sovereignty.

And now, again, that sovereignty is standing up to raise another
petition, also covered in article 63 of the Supreme Law, only on this
opportunity this new request is called the Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights of the United Nations.

The promoters of this campaign are demanding: given that the government
offered a first signature in this direction, it should ratify these
important documents of the international community and even the Optional
Protocols, because only in this way is the government going to offer a
serious manifestation of its will to change.

But what will happen if the organizers of this new campaign manage to
collect 100,000 signatures in support of their petition that the
government ratify these Pacts that they signed in 2008 in the city of
New York?

Will the government refuse to respond publicly before such a great
manifestation of the popular will?

Will it say that these signatures should be "authenticated by a notary"?

Will it adopt the position of Libya or Syria charging that the signers
are "paid from abroad" to destabilize the "socialist" government?

Will it persecute and imprison the activists of this new citizen request
like it did the 75, alleging a new media campaign against the Cuban
people by its "eternal" enemy?

Cuba is a member of the U.N. We suppose, therefore, that its government
is in agreement with with the universal principles and tenets of the
Organization and does not repress those who support these same criteria.
But in the current national reality, anything is possible.

The disenchantment of the nation is obvious as much as they want to hide
this reality; on the one hand the current leaders do not appear disposed
to any dialog with their opposition while the country collapses before
our eyes, and not only its buildings when it rains a little. On the
other hand, the promoters of this new popular motion appear disposed to
assume their civic responsibility to its ultimate consequences.

If I'm not mistaken in my views, then, for Cuba, Alea jacta est (the die
is cast).

Wilfredo Vallín Almeida

August 30 2012

http://translatingcuba.com/alea-jacta-est-the-die-is-cast-cuban-law-association-wilfredo-vallin-almeida/