Cuba: Petitions and Apprehensions

Cuba: Petitions and Apprehensions
August 20, 2012
Dariela Aquique

HAVANA TIMES — For more than a half a century, we Cubans have suffered
from apprehension, as we have gone through an adverse social juncture in
which our civil rights have been constantly vetoed by the government.

Beyond the prohibitions themselves, the cardinal problem lies in that
most Cubans do not know (and seemingly don't care) whether they have any
legal standing. Constitutional rights (and the constitution itself in
fact) are things that the masses usually don't involve themselves.

This is because the discourse and government will are imposed. Here the
government is not a body subject to the population, rather the
population has been (and will continue to be, if there is no collective
consciousness) subjected entirely to the government.

Over the past period, a number of citizen initiatives have been
circulating online. These are letters concerning a variety of demands
and specific proposals directed to the government. These made me review
our history in this regard, since attempts like these have always been
made on the island.

Demands

The most well-known was the "Proyecto Varela" (Varela Project), which
was devised by government opponents in 1998. This was led by the late
Oswaldo Paya, who named the initiative in honor of Father Felix Varela.

This movement undoubtedly achieved international impact between 2002 and
2003. It was based on Article 88 of the 1976 Cuban Constitution, which
permits citizens to propose laws if at least 10,000 registered voters
sign a petition in favor of a proposal.

In 2002 the National Assembly rejected the request, although the
organization reported having obtained 11,200 signatures (more than the
number required to be considered). In 2004, Paya personally presented
14,000 additional signatures without the demand being acted upon.

By contrast, the reaction was swift as the Cuban government responded
through the Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee of the National
Assembly of Popular Power in Cuba. It proposed an amendment to the Cuban
Constitution to make the socialist character of Cuban state permanent.

That referendum was approved by 98.97 percent of the voters, which as
everyone knows was the result of pressure applied on citizens and most
people's unfamiliarity with the real reason for the amendment.

Law No. 88 on the Protection of National Independence and the Economy of
Cuba (better known as the "Gag Law") was passed to justify a series of
arrests and convictions against government critics, which occurred in
April 2003 in what came to be known as the "Primavera Negra de Cuba"
(Cuba's Black Spring).

The initiative concluded that way — the perfect ending — with the
government's response to the proposed political reforms. Seventy-five
prisoners of conscience were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 10 to
20 years after their having been subjected to summary trials.

The document, called the Demanda ciudadana por otra Cuba (Citizen's Call
for Another Cuba), is nothing more than another invention to promote a
project for advocating political reforms on the island in favor of
greater individual freedoms. They have also collected a good number of
signatures.

But more recently, there appeared another manifesto called the
Llamamiento urgente por una Cuba mejor y posible (Urgent Appeal for a
Better and Possible Cuba) organized by Ariel Hidalgo. The letter, in my
opinion, was ambitious and accurate. In it, according to colleague
Armando Chaguaceda: (link…) they combined principles and urgencies,
visions focused on the nation and on the people who live here, a
denunciation of violence and an uncompromising defense of a future
without exclusion or injustice (…)

The two latter documents have some things in common:

1 – they encouraged cyber-debate.

2 – they collected signatures from an ideologically wide range of people.

3 – they used certain terms too much ("we call for" and "we demand that
the Cuban government to immediately implement…")

4 – and the majority of signatures they collected were from Cubans in
the diaspora, with very low representation by residents on the island
(which was unfortunate).

I'm ready to sign any of those manifestos, or even all of them. However,
and though they seem on target to me, an aura of skepticism surrounds me
with respect to them.

Apprehensions and other causes

Could my skepticism come from the methods that we Cubans are using to
achieve change in Cuba?

1 – In none of these efforts are there signatures of even a quarter of
the Cuban population (those people both on and outside the country).

2 – The Cuban people have been programmed to only understand that any
display of disaffection with the political system can lead to them being
questioned, even to the point of experiencing serious problems – such as
seeing themselves at any time being accused of involvement in a crime
and subsequently jailed.

3 – These letters are circulated on the Internet, which is practically
inaccessible here in the country.

4 – Although a radical change is imminent in the country's politics,
people limit themselves to comments on corners and in hallways, but no
consciousness is being created about how they need to be advancing real
transformations in all spheres of the nation.

5 – The Machiavellian strategy of divide and conquer, implemented by the
government and its security agencies, has proven itself effective and
continues to sow paranoia and betrayal among the citizenry.

6 – While each and every one of these initiatives have been designed to
demand reforms and alternatives peacefully, calling for dialogue and
understanding with the country's leadership, it's clear that the other
side does not accept such dialogue. Their responses will be placid (this
is evidenced by the wave of repression unleashed on the island with all
opposition groups and the so-called cyber dissident movement).

What are we to do?

I don't know. I confess, right now I don't have the answer, not even a
proposal. I join with all efforts that are proposing change. I am (and I
want to make this clear) not calling for the use of violent methods.

But I remember my history classes, when studying the causes of the
outbreak of the War of Independence and the reasons given by Fidel
himself for starting the revolution. In both cases there was an
impossibility of dialogue and understanding with the ruling classes.

And I repeat, I am not calling for the use of force, but time will have
the last word – assuming this article doesn't cost me an accident with
some tree in my path.

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