| Subject: |
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Yara Pt. 3 |
| Name: |
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Neri Martinez |
| Date Posted: |
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Aug 9, 05 - 5:43 PM |
| Email: |
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freecubanow@hotmail.com |
| Website |
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http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/ |
| Message: |
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As a people, we have the decision in our hands. Escapism has only brought pain and mourning to Cuban mothers and has not contributed to recovering the dignity and happiness of our brothers. The moment to undertake the task of forging our own future, without relegating it to others as has happened in the past, is now. If we wish to continue being Cuban and transcend this period in our history at the lowest cost possible, we have to look at ourselves on the mirror and assert: I AM THE CHANGE.
FREE CUBA FOUNDATION: the first decade
by cesar vasquez
The Free Cuba Foundation (FCF) turned 10 years old in 2004. Ten years - a decade - is a long time for any organization especially a student movement. FCF has lived up to its mission statement of speaking truth to power, and tirelessly exposing the past and ongoing systematic violation of human rights in Cuba, and the desire of Cubans for change. The mission statement outlined FCF's goal to:
Increase awareness throughout the world on the past and ongoing human rights violations of the totalitarian regime in Cuba, and the struggle of the internal democratic opposition to restore democracy and the rule of law to Cuba.
Furthermore FCF's mission statement outlined how the organization was going to implement it:
Compile and provide documentation of the crimes committed by the Cuban totalitarian regime.
Work to counter the network of regime supporters with accurate information on the nature of totalitarianism.
Educate new activists on human rights, strategic non-violence, communism, Cuban history, and politics.
Support, wherever possible, elements of the internal democratic opposition and independent civil society.
As victims of totalitarianism we share a bond with other captive peoples past and present who are our brothers and sisters in this struggle for freedom. Collaborating with them in areas of common concern is one of our priorities.
FCF has followed the path blazed by Cuba's internal democratic opposition in embracing the principles of strategic non-violence. Our commitment to nonviolent resistance has been expressed in both action and in statements published far and wide around the world. For example, when the Dalai Lama visited Florida International University FCF sent him an open letter in solidarity with the Tibetan nation.
On the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the Cuban delegation, representing a democratic and constitutional republic, wrote the first draft of the document) and on the eve of the Cuban dictatorship turning 40, FCF issued a call for justice published in The Miami Herald outlining specific injustices committed by the regime and called "on all people of goodwill to join our silent call for justice. Let others know of these travesties. We have embraced the principle of non-violence as our means, and we seek the truth as our ends."
In that same document, FCF called on others to join in a silent call for justice using petitions, silent vigils, and fasts "to raise the issue of justice for those who can no longer speak." At the time, FCF highlighted four instances where innocents had died at the hands of the Cuban government:
The slow motion murder of Sebastian Arcos Bergnes, human rights activist and the vice-president of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, by withholding medical assistance and allowing a cancer to spread and become terminal while he sat in a Cuban prison cell with violent criminals.
Joachim Løvschall, a 26 year old Dane studying Spanish at the University of Havana, was shot to death by Cuban state security agents while crossing a street in Havana.
Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, Carlos Costa, and Pablo Morales where blown out of the sky over the Florida Straits while searching for Cuban rafters in international waters. The Cuban pilots responsible for the shoot down were indicted in absentia by the United States.
On July 13, 1994 41 men, women, and children were murdered by agents of the Cuban government for attempting to exercise their right to leave Cuba. The Cuban government has not held a proper investigation nor brought those responsible to justice. The bodies of the victims have not been recovered and returned to their families.
One is reminded of Jose Marti's reflection that "Hacer es la major manera de decir" ["Deeds are the best way of expressing oneself"]. FCF has backed up its principles with actions ranging from gathering signatures for petitions to confronting Cuban gunboats and MiGs 10 miles off the coast of Cuba in an act of civil disobedience. These are some highlights from the past 10 years:
On July 13, 1995 FCF members traveled aboard one of the boats in the 13-boat flotilla led by La Democracia and entered Cuban waters to hold a religious service for the 41 Cubans murdered one year to the day after the "13 de Marzo" tugboat massacre. The Cuban government issued a statement denying th |
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