Direct support for dissidents in Cuba – a great idea that should be improved and decoupled from remittances

Two recent press-releases (copied below) highlight the value of continued support for dissident groups in Cuba. The first describes how a group of dissidents operating under the broader theme of “con la misma moneda” effectively staged a civil disobedience act by demanding to pay with Cuban Pesos at a restaurant in La Habana (for those unfamiliar with Cuba, Cuban’s cannot use their own currency at most retail outlets). The second, unrelated press release describes how CANF actively supports “Las Damas de Blanco” (a dissident group comprised of wives of political prisoners who frequently stage civil disobedience acts) with monthly financial support.

Clearly, regular civil disobedience across the island, focused on the continued trampling of basic rights, is a powerful tool to expose the regime’s abuses, intellectual dishonesty, and moral bankruptcy. It also clear that these groups need financial support from abroad in order to operate effectively. As one poster previously stated…it is “hard to think of organizing dissent when your belly is empty”. These people have demonstrated the courage and ability to organize such dissent, should be encouraged, and should be provided the means to do so.

Ideally, the US (and the expatriate community) would exclusively focus on funding organizations rather than individuals (a favorite during the Cold War still widely used today) as this would have several benefits as follows:

· would facilitate organizational growth, recruitment, and continuity – i.e., efforts continue even if key members are in prison
· organizations carry more weight and prestige, both inside and outside of Cuba
· the dissident movement would be free from any claims that members were dissidents for personal gain or operatives of a foreign entity/government
· would facilitate practically separating remittances from support for dissidents

Changing the focus to organizations from individuals should be relatively easy. Eliminating/reducing remittances would admittedly be difficult for Cuban-Americans to do. The question remains whether the long term goal is worth short-term sacrifice.

First press release

ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN HAVANA LAUNCH THE
THIRD PHASE OF “WITH THE SAME CURRENCY” CAMPAIGN
Havana, June 25, 2008. Yesterday, activists from different organizations carried out acts of civil
disobedience in the city, to launch the third phase of the “With the Same Currency” campaign. The
actions were carried out at the “Lava Dia” restaurant located on Malecón street between
Campanario and Manrique streets, Centro Habana municipality. Four couples of activists entered
the government-run establishment, ordered food and refused to pay in CUC (Cuban Convertible
Peso), demanding their right to pay with the national currency, the Cuban peso, the currency in
which Cuban workers are paid. The management of the restaurant called the police and Lazaro
Joaquín Alonso Román, Alfredo Montana Ramos, Yoriet Cabrera and Roberto de Jesus Guerra
Pérez were arrested. They were all taken to a nearby police station , where they were threatened
with being held until paying the amount owed to the restaurant in CUC. The activists refused to
comply and were finally set free at 1:00 am on Wednesday, June 25.
As of this writing, the whereabouts of Julio Beltrán Iglesias, another activist that refused to
surrender his video camera to the police after filming images of the civic protest, are unknown. Mr.
Beltrán threw the camera to the sea when the police tried to force him to surrender it. At 2 pm Juan
del Pilar Joerna, a human rights observer who was monitoring the event, was also arrested. He was
taken to the Zanja police station, where he was questioned, searched and detained for four hours.
“With these civil disobedience actions we are launching the third phase of the With the Same
Currency campaign”, stated a communiqué issued in Havana by the Federation of Latin American
Rural Women (FLAMUR in Spanish). “We have decided to claim our true national sovereignty,
which comes from the right of every Cuban to have control of their own lives, without interference
from government. Inspired by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Lech Walesa and
others who refused to comply with unjust laws to fight for the rights of their own people, we are
saying NO to the economic apartheid that we suffer in our own land as Cubans”
“These activists have not committed any crime. They did not refuse to pay, but rather just
demanded their right to pay with the currency in which salaries are paid. The government is the one
acting illegally, because on November 21, 2007, FLAMUR delivered 10,738 signatures to the
National Assembly in support of the With the Same Currency Campaign, according to the current
regime’s legislation. Today we have demonstrated that we are organized and committed to our
cause”, declared in Miami Magdelivia Hidalgo, FLAMUR’s International Representative.


Press release two

Las Damas de Blanco seguirán aceptando el dinero del exilio
Agence France Presse
LA HABANA
AP
Dolia Leal (izq.) Berta Soler y Laura Pollan en una marcha en La Habana.
Las Damas de Blanco, familiares de presos políticos cubanos, afirmaron el domingo que continuarán aceptando dinero de organizaciones del exilio anticastrista, tras acusar al gobierno de buscar "ahogarlas'' económicamente. "El gobierno no nos va a ahogar. Vamos a seguir recibiendo porque ese dinero de personas de buena voluntad del exilio cubano nos hace falta, no para comprar armas'', sino para cubrir necesidades de los presos y sus familias, dijo Berta Soler, activista de ese grupo creado para exigir la liberación de 75 opositores condenados en el 2003. Tras acudir a la misa dominical en una iglesia del barrio residencial de Miramar, Soler, con otras 50 Damas de Blanco y una docena de niños, marchó el Día de los Padres con gladiolos por la Quinta Avenida en reclamo por la libertad de los presos.
Soler precisó que la Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana (FNCA), del exilio anticastrista de Miami, les envía en promedio unos $50 cada 45 días por preso político --no detalló a cuántos en total--, y la organización "Plantados'' envía otros $50 cada mes. "Quieren asfixiarnos, porque no nos dan trabajo. Nos botan [despiden] y si uno va a solicitarlo no te lo dan'', afirmó Julia Núñez, otra de las activistas, esposa de Adolfo Fernández, que cumple una condena de 15 años. Cuba alega que esas mujeres y al resto de disidentes son "mercenarios'' de Washington y los acusa de recibir, a través de la misión diplomática de Estados Unidos en La Habana, dinero para acciones de "contrarrevolución'' proveniente de Washington como de organizaciones del exilio dirigidas, según La Habana, por "terroristas''.
"Si vamos a hablar de terrorismo, el primer terrorista es el gobierno cubano. No vamos a ponerle oídos a eso, pero hemos acordado que vamos a recibir dinero del que sabemos su procedencia, para no caer en lo que las autoridades quieren involucrarnos'', añadió Soler, cuyo esposo Angel Moya cumple sentencia de 20 años. La dirigente señaló que el gobierno está restringiendo los recursos que les envían las organizaciones del exilio, al "exigir'' que la persona que hace el envío tenga parentesco cercano. Las Damas de Blanco, Premio Sajarov del 2005 y al que el gobierno cubano considera "punta de lanza'' de Washington, niegan que reciban dinero del gobierno de Estados Unidos.