[Marxism] Cuba dissidents face internal divisions

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Washington says "jump" and the journalists working for
the U.S. media say, "How high?". Today Washington put
out a statement about the dissidents convicted in 2003:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/35843
And the journalists dutifully publish long articles on
the them. The articles, read carefully, DO however shed
some light on the situation, so they are important.

They give readers an idea of the numerous differences
among the various opposition elements currently active
in Cuba, but only some of them. There are still others
like Menoyo who aren't discussed here.

Specifically mentioned is Marta Beatriz Roque who has
gone to jail twice. Eight years ago she was jailed for
open collaboration with Washington, and served her term.
You can read the Cuban government's explanation of that:
http://www.granma.cu/documento/ingles/012-i.html She was
released early for health reasons after being convicted
again of collaboration with the U.S. in her 2003 trial.

Interestingly, both Beatriz Roque and Paya were spoken
about by Fidel Castro as he began the long speech he's
still giving (now into hour three as this is written).

You can listen to the speech live by clicking on the
Real Audio link in the upper left corner, though the
speech is actually given in Windows Media Player:
http://www.radiorebelde.com.cu/


Walter Lippmann, CubaNews
http://www.walterlippmann.com
========================================================

KANSAS CITY STAR
Posted on Thu, Mar. 17, 2005    

Cuba dissidents face internal divisions

VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press

HAVANA - Two years after a government crackdown crippled
Cuba's political opposition, competing projects for
democratic reform on the communist-run island are
generating deep mistrust and bickering in opposition ranks.

Rivalry between projects by well-known activist Oswaldo
Paya and former political prisoner Martha Beatriz Roque is
also sharpening disagreements over what role the United
States should play in promoting change on the island.

Roque, who is planning an opposition congress for the
spring, says the National Dialogue, Paya's new endeavor to
organize citizens into small groups to discuss a future
Cuba, doesn't go nearly far enough. And unlike Paya, she
thinks it is perfectly all right to seek assistance from
the U.S. government.

Paya refuses to participate in Roque's congress, which aims
to bring opponents from both on and off the island to a
huge gathering May 20. He says he doesn't trust the
organizers because they have tried to sabotage his own
efforts.

Veteran activist Vladimiro Roca said the differences come
from a culture that has grown divisive under a controlling
government. Paya and Roque have clashed on a personal level
for a long time, said Roca, who nonetheless expressed
optimism that the dissident movement would work through
these latest challenges.

"I think the opposition has gained quite a bit of
experience and knowledge," said Roca, who went to prison in
1997 to serve a five-year sentence for his political
activities. "We are not as far along as we were in March
2003, but we are back in motion."

Before the crackdown, opposition groups were attracting
new followers and launching initiatives such as the Varela
Project, a democracy drive led by Paya seeking civil
liberties such as freedom of speech and the right to
business ownership.

But when the government rounded up 75 activists beginning
on March 18, 2003, and sentenced them to prison terms
ranging from six to 28 years, the movement was "paralyzed,"
Roca said.

Some leaders such as Roca, Paya and Elizardo Sanchez, a
human rights advocate, were spared. But many who worked
with them, along with well-known activists such as poet
Raul Rivero and Roque, an economist, were arrested.

Roca said the opposition didn't begin to recover for at
least a year. A major, unexpected force was the "Ladies in
White" - a group of political prisoners' wives fighting for
their husbands' release who have held public protests
practically unheard of in Cuba.

The release for medical reasons of 14 of the original 75
prisoners, including Rivero and Roque, opened a new page in
the movement, though most of the 14 - Roque being a notable
exception - have been quiet since their release.

While some play down the bickering, saying such divisions
are natural in any movement, others say it's creating deep
fissures.

"There are more personal differences than political ones,
and that tends to poison things," said Manuel Cuesta Morua,
spokesman for the dissident group Arco Progresista, which
has said it will not participate in the congress. "It has
really damaged the opposition."

The setting is clouded by suspicions over whether some in
the opposition ranks are government infiltrators. At the
2003 crackdown trials, state security agents who posed as
dissidents revealed their true identities and testified
against activists.

"After 15 years in the opposition, you begin to sniff them
out," said Roque, whose conviction was clinched by
testimony from a trusted assistant who turned out to be an
undercover agent.

Another division revolves around U.S. involvement in the
Cuban opposition. U.S. policies aimed at choking Fidel
Castro's government have separated dissidents into two
camps: those who embrace American assistance, and those who
don't.

In Washington, Adam Ereli, the deputy State Department
spokesman said the United States seeks a rapid and peaceful
transition to democracy in Cuba, and supports all Cubans
who seek this outcome.

"The Cuban people deserve a government committed to
democracy and the full observance of human rights," said
Ereli.

Roque and two other dissidents recently addressed a U.S.
congressional committee by telephone, praising the policies
of President Bush while sharply criticizing Castro.

The call, made from inside the offices of the American
mission in Havana, was an audacious move that could land
the three - Roque, Felix Bonne and Rene Gomez - back behind
bars.

Roque doesn't rule out the possibility, saying that
organizing the dissident congress could also lead to
prison. "I leave the house with my toothbrush inside my
purse, just in case," she said.

Philip Brenner, a professor of international relations at
American University in Washington, said dissidents working
with the U.S. government take unnecessary risks that
undermine their credibility.

"They are seen (among the Cuban people) as being
unpatriotic. They go too far," he said.

"The people who are not aligned to the United States
understand the limits of dissent in Cuba," he said, and are
working gradually to create space for civil society.



.


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