Testimony Denouncing Cuba's Recent Repression of Dissidents
J. Curtis Struble, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Remarks to Subcommittee on
Western Hemisphere Affairs, House International Relations Committee Washington, DC April 16, 2003
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this Subcommittee today to discuss the Cuban government s harsh crackdown
against Cuban citizens seeking a peaceful transition to democracy on the island. We are witnessing the most serious act
of political repression in the hemisphere in decades. We greatly appreciate the House of Representatives overwhelming
bipartisan support for the freedom-loving Cuban people, as exemplified most recently in passage of House Resolution 179.
I m sure that if the Cuban people could speak freely they would extend to you and your colleagues their thanks for this
symbol of support for their aspirations to regain their human rights.
Since March 19, the Cuban government has carried out its most significant act of political repression in decades,
arresting over 100 opposition and independent civil society members. Dissidents were imprisoned for writing
counter-revolutionary articles, running independent libraries, and belonging to illegal groups of independent
journalists.
Poet and journalist Raul Rivero was one of many arrested. Fifty-seven year-old Rivero was sentenced to 20 years for
mercenary activities and other acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the Cuban state. Following
sentencing, his wife lamented to the press, This is so arbitrary for a man whose only crime was to write what he thinks.
What they found on him was a tape recorder, not a grenade.
The Cuban regime has already sentenced more than 75 such peaceful members of Cuba s civil society to lengthy prison
terms in secret, summary trials. Castro has long tried to argue that there is no authentic opposition, only that created
by the U.S. Government working through the United States Interests Section (USINT) in Havana. The regime has sought to
blame us for its actions, saying that USINT support for the opposition "provoked" the Cuban regime and crossed "red
lines." In fact, USINT's outreach activities are a logical and incremental progression of our contacts with Cuba's
growing civil society. Castro s argument asserts arbitrary boundaries that place absurd limitations on the activities of
diplomatic personnel.
The real reason that the Cuban security apparatus acted now is because the homegrown opposition is losing its fear of
the regime and growing in strength and credibility. Oswaldo Payá's insistence on peaceful change and his use of the
right of petition won him support at home and abroad; backing for Project Varela grew exponentially in 2002, and Varela
organizers constitute a nationwide political operation. Other civil society groups, such as the "Asamblea" and "Todos
Unidos" seek to create nationwide organizations with political reform agendas. The Catholic Church in Cuba spoke out in
late February, denouncing the "vengeful state" and attacking the Cuban Government s political, economic, and educational
policies. The regime recognized that there was a nascent independent civil society taking shape, and moved to crush it.
The scope and nature of the repression reveals this intent. Payá was not arrested, but his subordinates throughout Cuba
were. Prominent independent journalists have been sentenced. Cuba s most prominent independent labor leader, Pedro Pablo
Alvares, was given 25 years. The "Asamblea" was left leaderless with the detention and sentencing of Marta Beatriz Roque
to 20 years imprisonment. Oscar Elias Biscet, an Afro-Cuban Catholic who advocates peaceful resistance to the regime,
received 25 years. This repression goes well beyond the 1996 dismantlement of the "Concilio Cubano" structure. The
intimidation factor clearly increased as the regime announced the draconian sentences of up to 28 years. Yet Payá --
whose international stature provides him protection - has called upon all people of good will to let their voices be
heard and denounce the repression. Moreover, five other leading human rights activists still at liberty courageously
released a communiqué denouncing the Cuban Government s actions.
The Cuban government hoped that world attention would be distracted by the war in Iraq. However, numerous human rights
organizations, governments, and media outlets have expressed their condemnation of the repression. You will have noted
the Secretary s very strong statement on the arrests of these prisoners of conscience, which followed two earlier
Department statements on this act of repression.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights raised the arrests with the Cuban Foreign Minister. The EU denounced the
detentions and termed those sentenced "prisoners of conscience." A number of governments in this hemisphere, including
Mexico, Canada, Chile, and Nicaragua, have also condemned these acts. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
issued a statement calling for a halt to the wave of repression. A similar statement by the UN Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expressed concern over this serious infringement of rights.
The Cuban decision to initiate this crackdown just as the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights (UNCHR) was getting underway in Geneva underscores the Castro regime s complete disregard for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. However, this is nothing new. The Government of Cuba has yet to accept a visit from the Personal
Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights -- a visit called for in last year s UNCHR Cuba resolution.
We are hopeful that the international community will once again condemn the human rights situation in Cuba by adopting a
2003 UNCHR Cuba resolution, again calling on the Government of Cuba to accept a visit by the High Commissioner s
Personal Representative for Cuba.
For our part, we continue to execute the President's policy of encouraging a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in
Cuba. Our work with truly independent Cuban civil society helped us move toward that goal. Castro's repression will not
change our focus or diminish our energy. The President outlined a flexible and innovative new policy in 2002, his
Initiative for a New Cuba. This Initiative presents the Cuban regime with a challenge to undertake political and
economic reforms. Should such reforms be enacted, the Administration is prepared to work with Congress to change the
embargo and the travel restrictions. Unfortunately, Castro's reaction was the most sweeping repression of peaceful
dissent in Cuba in decades. Our dedication to helping the Cuban people remains undiminished.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to end my testimony with a question, one that admittedly I can t answer. Perhaps the
representatives of the Cuban Interests Section, who I suspect are here today witnessing and ironically participating in
the democratic process that the Castro regime denies to its own people, can answer it.
What is the Castro regime afraid of? Perhaps it is the fear of its own demise? Or fear of its international isolation?
Or perhaps fear of facing and admitting to its own failures? Or fear of the realization that as with all bankrupt
dictatorships, the Cuban regime is sliding into historical irrelevance?
This is a question that ultimately I cannot answer. However, there is one thing that I am sure of, Mr. Chairman. The
Cuban people have lost their fear of the repressive apparatus that is the Cuban regime. They are not afraid, and they
will continue their work. And the United States will stand with them, working toward a common goal: a rapid, peaceful
transition to a democratic and free Cuba.
[End]
Released on April 16, 2003