Cuban opposition leaders ask for a national plebiscite

In this City of Havana, under temperatures of over 35· C, during a summer with a foreboding of uncertainty regarding the democracy dream, we, Joaquin Torres, President of the Havana Press Bureau, and Miguel Fernández Martínez, independent journalists, have been fortunate enough to have witnessed a momentous political happening.

The existence of Concilio Cubano (Cuban Council) is an undeniable fact in the political history of this nation. Since October of 1995, all the efforts and energies of the internal opposition have been directed towards closing ranks for a united front which will take us to democracy through political transition.

Useless have been the pressure, the harassment and the acts of repression against political and human right leaders and activists. Efforts towards a civil society continue through paths mapped out on a road with no return. The Cuban National Alliance now emerges from the context imposed by the new wave of repression unleashed against the dissidents and the internal opposition in an effort to unite all forces involved in the Cuban phenomenon.

The following are the textual declarations of the Cuban National Alliance, born June 22, 1997 out of the national political spectrum:

"This Alliance emerges mindful of our national identity, and in the course of the necessary and constant struggle in which the Cuban people are intelligently involved at the present time in order to rid themselves of a decadent and oppressive system which violates their rights, it emerges within the framework of the strategy of other existing opposition movements which do their utmost to unconditionally defend the following principles:

The sovereignty of the nation;

A government based upon the will of the people;

A government of the majority;

The rights of the minority;

Guarantee of basic human rights;

Free and lawful elections;

Equality in the law;

Due process of law;

Constitutional limits of the government;

Social, economic and political pluralism; and

Tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation and conservation values,

taking into account that all men are created equal, that their Creator gave them certain inalienable rights, among which are the rights to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, and that to guarantee these rights men institute governments whose legal powers emanate from the consent of those they govern.

Those inalienable rights include freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of economic rights, the freedom to assemble and the right to protection under the law.

It is not possible to live in a country where there is no sympathy for the misfortunes of its people.

Affirming the criteria pronounced in this document, which are the aspirations of our inner selves as well as our intention as the Alliance, we call on Your Excellency, Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, President of the National Assembly of the Popular Power of the Republic of Cuba, to notify all governmental circles represented by you, as well as the President of the Councils of State and the Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, to carry out a plebiscite in Cuba with the participation of everyone born in Cuba, whether living on the island or abroad.

The national referendum must be based on the following question:

Do you wish an amendment to the present constitution which will guarantee freedom of thought, freedom of association, pluralism and the election of rulers through direct, free and secret ballots within the framework of the representative democracy?

If the people of Cuba vote for the amendment to the present constitution introduced above, the Cuban government must respect the will of the Cubans; that is, amend the constitution and call for free and democratic elections within a period not exceeding twelve months.

This referendum must be supervised by the Organization of American States, the United Nations, the European Union, the Latin American Community, representatives of the Cuban Catholic Church and other religious denominations established in the country.

The purpose for requesting the presence of said representations is to provide this referendum with the guarantees required for this act.

In the City of Havana, Capital of the Republic of Cuba, this 22nd day of June, 1997."

The document is signed by Lic. Leonel Morejon Almagro, President of Naturpaz, founder of the Cuban Council and Honorary President of the Nationalist Action Party; Mr. Aguileo Cancio Chon, President of the Nationalist Action Party; Mrs. Cecilia Zamora Cabrera, President of the Independent Feminist Organization; Mrs. Nery Ortizas Campoalegre, President of the Mothers for Solidarity Movement; Lic. Zohiris Aguiar Callejas, President of the Popular Democratic Alliance (ADEPO); Mr. Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés, President of the Cuban Democratic-Liberal Party; Mr. Leonardo Reynoso Rodríguez, President of the Martí Youth Organization for Democracy; Mr. José Miranda Gata, President of the Máximo Gómez Cuban National Movement; Eng. José Pastor León García, President of the Martí Youth Organization for Democracy; Mr. Jesús Pez Gómez, Vice President of the Peace, Progress and Freedom Committee; Mr. Ibrahim Carrillo Fernández, Cuba Workers Union, and Professor Reinaldo Cosano Alen, President of the Cuban Democratic Coalition.

This information was provided from Havana by independent journalists Joaquín Torres Alvarez and Miguel Fernández Martínez.