Cuban dissident calls on EU to support Varela Project

Havana, Cuba, Sep 22, 2010 / 16:01 pm

The coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, has called on the European Union to support the Varela Project amidst the Cuban government's indifference to the changes that the country's citizens are requesting.

The Varela Project calls for democratic changes in country’s laws through a referendum.

“Changes mean rights and these rights are missing in Cuba, where many are persecuted for promoting the rights of Cubans and are imprisoned for this cause,” Paya said in a letter to one of Spain’s European Parliament representatives, Carlos Iturgaiz.

Paya noted that the “Common European Position” states that “the objective of the European Union in its relations with Cuba is to support a process of transition towards pluralistic democracy and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as the recovery of and sustainable improvements in the quality of life of the Cuban people.”

However, he warned that the Cuban government is not initiating the changes that the people want, and thus he called on the EU to be consistent in its “common position” by supporting the Varela Project and other civic initiatives. “These are the initiatives that you should support, in order to be consistent in that common position and thus consistent in a common action,” he said.

“Most Cubans are not aware that the European Common Position supports their rights and the peaceful changes that Cubans themselves want and need and that we must bring about ourselves,” Paya said.