Cuban dissidents ask pop stars to help raise awareness of prisoners

Havana, Cuba, Sep 18, 2009 / 19:22 pm

The leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, has called on the pop stars who will be appearing at a concert entitled “Peace Without Borders” on Saturday in Havana’s Revolution Square to perform the song “Todos Cubanos” (We’re All Cubans) and dedicate it to the release of all political prisoners in the country.
 
Paya recalled that Cuban prisons are filled with people like Regis Iglesias Ramirez, who will turn 40 on Saturday and has spent the last six and a half years in prison “for fighting for the rights of Cubans, for reconciliation and for peace.”
 
Iglesias “was 33 on the day he was detained outside my home and then sentenced to 18 years in prison in a summary trial without any rights and that was fixed ahead of time. Regis was and is the spokesman of the Christian Liberation Movement and one of the leaders of the Varela Project which through legal means calls for the recognition of rights, including the right of freedom of expression, and thus the right to sing for all Cubans both inside and outside Cuba, in Cuba,” Paya explained.
 
The lyrics were written by Oswaldo Paya and the music is by his brother Carlos, who represents the Christian Liberation Movement in Europe.
 
The song can be heard at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce0czNF3Fis