Early in June 1997, the Cuban Communist Party outlined the government's platform by releasing ``The Party of Unity, Democracy, and the Human Rights That We Defend.''

On June 27, 1997, four prominent Cuban human-rights activists distributed to foreign journalists in Havana an analysis of the platform, calling it ``The Homeland Belongs to Us All.'' Within three weeks Felix Bonne, Rene Gomez Manzano, Vladimiro Roca and Marta Beatriz Roque were arrested by Fidel Castro's political police. Despite Amnesty International's and others' efforts they remained in jail until secretly tried March 1 and, on March 15, were sentenced to 3 1/2 to 5 years in prison. (The government has also promulgated a new law threatening 20-year sentences for anyone supporting ``hostile'' policies.)

The Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play baseball in Havana today. Meantime, the ``Group of Four'' endures harsh punishment for writing ringing words of freedom. Here are excerpts of a Freedom House translation of the ``Homeland'' document -- words that warrant imprisonment in Cuba:

Man cannot live on history. There is also a need to be free, to be open. The Cuban government ignores the word opposition. Those of us who do not support the government are considered enemies, as the government seeks to give a new meaning to the word homeland, linking it with revolution, socialism and nation. The government ignores the fact that homeland, by definition, is the country in which one is born. We are convinced that the homeland belongs to us all.
I. Historical interpretation

Of the 1,080 words in ``The Party of Unity, Democracy, and the Human Rights That We Defend,'' more than 80 percent are dedicated to interpreting history to convince readers that there has been only one revolution in Cuba since 1868 and that the United States has been trying to seize Cuba since the 19th Century.

To strengthen those assertions, the name of [the father of Cuban independence] Jose Marti is invoked, in an old and absurd argument that the existence of a single political party is based on Marti's ideas.

Though the government wishes to portray the democratic republic as a series of interrupted failures and treasons, it must contend with the socio-economic achievements obtained between 1902 and 1958 that had placed our country among the three most advanced nations of Latin America, which speaks volumes for the industriousness of Cuban workers and the enterprising spirit of our business people.

Every year by a growing number of votes, the General Assembly of the United Nations demands that the so-called [U.S.] blockade be ended. What's unsaid is that the Cuban government is sanctioned by the United Nations for its systematic violations of human rights.

The October 1962 ``[Missile] Crisis'' is mentioned, while omitting the fact that the Cuban leadership urged Moscow to deliver the first strike. A nuclear attack against the United States would have meant a terrible catastrophe for all humanity. Cuba would have been swept from the map.
II. In unity's name

The party insists on unity but forgets that for unity to be real (and not a mere parody), consensus freely reached is necessary. In our country, there is no consensus.

The assertion that: ``Only the unity of revolutionaries can lead to the unity of the people'' is an example of what is known in logic as ``circular reasoning''; that which is sought to be demonstrated is taken as a starting premise.

The party, declaring itself the representative of the people, prepares a document that warns the people to support it. The people, subjected to the pressures of totalitarianism, attend [support meetings], and that is portrayed to the world as a plebiscite.

If, as its leaders assert, the citizenry supports the Communist Party, there is no reason not to hold internationally supervised free elections and to silence detractors.

In the name of unity and shared guilt for mistakes, we have seen many things that created chaos and instability. To cite a few: the attempt to drain the Cienaga de Zapata wetlands; the creation of an ``agricultural belt'' around Havana; the collectivization of agriculture; the genetic alteration of livestock, in particular of cattle; food rationing; the dismantling of the sugar industry and the attempts to alter cane varieties; disastrous investments such as the Paso Seco Dam, a monument to that which should not be undertaken.

Under the mantle of so-called Proletarian Internationalism, troops were sent off to kill and die in different countries, something that was never done under what they call the ``subjugated republic.''

We cannot accept that a government that has dedicated itself to dividing the country can speak in the name of unity.
III. The main objective

The philosophy of the government is not to serve the people but to be their dictator.

No longer is anyone fooled by the much-touted call to social justice. The wage rates combined with the stagnation of other economic factors makes the situation of the populace more difficult each day.

Something that is truly deserving of a triple-X rating is the meaning assigned to what is termed the Socialist Civil Society. The document's authors ignore the fact that a civil society is made up of elements outside the control of the state and, therefore, cannot be socialist or, what amounts to the same thing, ``Sovietist.''
IV. Plan for solving the crisis

The government states: ``Our country became covered with highways and roads, as well as with waterworks for productive uses. Milking machinery and aerial spraying, previously unknown technologies in rural communities, were put in place.''

However, reality confronts us with the fact that there are no means of transportation on the highways and roads and that there is insufficient water available to supply the major cities. In particular, there are heavily populated neighborhoods in the city of Havana where there are serious shortages of the precious liquid, and whole provinces -- Santiago de Cuba being the prime example -- are experiencing irrigation problems.

The cattle population has declined. In 1955 it reached a per-capita level of 0.82 heads per inhabitant; 40 years later it was 0.38. The milk that was distributed in the 1980s originated from trade with the former German Democratic Republic. As there are practically no cows left to milk, the automated milking machinery has been turned into scrap.

The old methods at least yielded reliable results and allowed the needs of the population to be met.

Allusions are made to the Special [Economic] Period and how the food-production program could have been successfully developed. This implies that this program is no longer viable. But no alternative is presented; not even the slightest suggestion is made that could put an end to the severe rationing that has lasted now 35 years -- a world record.

It will be more than difficult for Cuba to partake in the global economy without renouncing its totalitarian ways. The stagnation that has characterized the government's policies continues to increase the country's alienation from financial institutions, the assistance of multinational consortiums such as the European Union and even from the possibility of entering into bilateral agreements. It is not possible for Cuba to continue to pay short-term loans with interest rates of 17 or 18 percent.

What does the Communist Party offer the people? ``We will have only that which we are capable of creating.'' More than a promise, that seems a mournful threat.
v. Conclusions

When on Jan. 28 the U.S. government published its ``Plan in Support of a Transition [in Cuba],'' there was no response from the Cuban government. The document issued by the Communist Party is not an alternative, either. It offers nothing to the Cuban people.

It is no secret that Cuba had the worst performance in the region between '91 and '95, and that even though it is said that an economic recovery occurred in 1996, the populace never experienced it. Upon the termination of Soviet-bloc aid, the inefficiency of the system increased, and foreign commerce diminished.

Cuba needs a recovery based on high rates of sustainable growth.

The document does not offer the possibility of establishing a true constitutional state, nor an independent and impartial legal system that would protect the liberties and rights of the individual and the practice of political pluralism.
VI. Recommendations

The document states that economic liberalization is linked to the creation of joint ventures and other arrangements with foreign companies. But this is far less than what is needed. What is needed is a process of true economic liberalization, which would entail democratization.

The overseas Cuban community -- a million and a half people -- undoubtedly could contribute to a sustained economic recovery. Currently the financial assistance that [exiles] send to their relatives accounts for a substantial portion of the country's import-purchasing power. This is demonstrated by the fact that the government taxes the receipts.

Cubans have demonstrated what they are capable of accomplishing if given even a small degree of economic freedom. The self-employed -- whom the system has tried to drown because of what they represent politically -- manage to turn small businesses into models of efficiency. Cubans must be allowed to invest, just as foreigners.

The state is not at the service of the citizens. The laws do not respect the rights inherent upon human beings.

The government should resolve problems such as the right of Cubans freely to enter and leave the national territory and allowing the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights and its team into the country.

It is impossible to continue leading the nation to its ruin without expecting an uncontrolled awakening of the populace in search of a rightful space within a civil society with democratic institutions. That which no one desires could well occur. It is better to discuss solutions now, than to plunge our homeland into mourning tomorrow.
© 1999 The Miami Herald