The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba
The political opposition to the Castro regime has just designed a new government through the so-called Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), which will be chaired by José Daniel Ferrer García, the visible head of the dissident movement inside the island since the death of Oswaldo Payá in July 2012. This correspondent has been informed in this way by Elena Larrinaga de Luis, head of International Relations for the new Council, who, from the innovative Cuba Humanista platform (an inclusive and transversal project, born in February of this year to give a voice to dissidents who are silenced by the authorities), has been sending proposals for economic and educational reform on the island itself, which have even borne fruit in the European Parliament. "The Cuban government's responsibility is to its citizens, for the national good", says Larrinaga de Luis.
According to Larrinaga de Luis, we are talking about a long and relentless struggle in silence over the last few months, with the response of the Office of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (letter signed by Josep Borrell Fontelles) being not only positive, but empathetic with these proposals, in the sense that it recently suggested to the Cuban authorities to take into account the liberation of the economic and educational sectors, a cornerstone of European development and essential for the wellbeing of the Cuban people. "The Castro government's willingness to move forward is nil. Its time is up and it knows it. The situation points to imminent multi-organ failure. Spain had the opportunity to make a peaceful transition from Franco's dictatorship to a democracy, and it has been our inspirational model to follow".
For Larrinaga de Luis, the European Parliament Resolution in defence of Cuban dissidence, approved in recent days and voted against by the Social Democrats, leaves no room for doubt that these covert proposals have counted on the alleged connivance of Josep Borrell.
Indeed, the House has shown its strong condemnation of the alleged systematic violations of human and labour rights committed by the Castro dictatorship, an argument put forward by Larrinaga de Luis through the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) for years. The pillars of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement must be respected, and in this sense, Josep Borrell has endorsed them. "The country is made by all of us, and we want the Cuban authorities to participate in this Council, so as not to relegate Cuba to an abstractionism. There are people in the government who do not want to mortgage themselves with decisions taken by their superiors. They already have the strength to understand that the future belongs to them", says Larrinaga de Luis. Cuban military conscientious objectors (MOC) have launched a missive in which they show their support for Daniel Ferrer and the San Isidro Movement and denounce the existence of a leadership that besieges and arbitrarily detains its citizens.
In the same vein, Larrinaga de Luis wanted to make it clear that the office of the High Commissioner has approved aid and subsidies to official bodies on the island that were not contemplated in the objectives of the aforementioned Agreement, such as the Federation of Cuban Women, the political arm of the PCC and executor of the repudiation rallies and repression against the Ladies in White and human rights activists, or the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Havana and the University of Las Villas, which has expelled more than 25 people including students and professors for "ideological diversionism".
Elena Larrinaga, who is responsible for international relations in the new Council, pointed out that the leaking of e-mails, in agreement with the Cuban government, by some members of the PSOE delegation to the European Parliament, "is a reprehensible act, which leaves these officials, who belong and owe their duty to the Union, in a bad light". However, there are coercive elements within the Cuban system that have shown their full agreement to the change. "We have openly and clearly demonstrated that our procedure is that of peaceful struggle, with the argumentation of facts and verified evidence; for this reason, open communication has always been maintained with Cuban institutions".
For Larrinaga de Luis, Cuba has no supplies of any kind and the discourse of "throwing the blame on the American giant" has also come to an end. There is a connection between the Cuban government and an alleged crime of misappropriation of funds. The European Parliament's speech on aid granted to organisations with democratic structures is already far from reality.
Carmen Chamorro García, ICIP/ACPE Executive Officer and SEI Diploma in International Relations
