Free Cuba Foundation Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Cuba 44th session of the UPR Working Group, October - November 2023

 Free Cuba Foundation Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of Cuba
44th session of the UPR Working Group, October - November 2023

 

Introduction
1. The Cuban government does not recognize the legality of independent reporting on the
socio-economic challenges facing the island. Activists protesting the deteriorating
housing situation in Cuba have been punished.
2. The government does not provide data on the number of homeless Cubans on the
island.
3. The right of access to adequate housing, food, and healthcare. These are the most
basic rights needed to guarantee a decent and dignified life and are increasingly
being eroded in Cuba.

Demanding adequate housing in Cuba is a punishable offense.
4. Cuban human rights defender Silverio Portal Contreras was sentenced to four years in
prison for alleged crimes of "public disorder" and "contempt" after leading several public
protests demanding decent housing for all Cubans. He was detained on June 20, 2016
in Havana and the court document states that "the behavior of the accused is particularly
offensive because it took place in a touristic area." (1) The document further describes
the accused as having “bad social and moral behavior” and mentions that he fails to
participate in pro-government activities.
5. According to Silverio’s wife, before his arrest he had campaigned against the collapse of
dilapidated buildings in Havana. Silverio was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by
Amnesty International on August 26, 2019. (2) He was beaten by prison officials in mid-
May 2020 and lost sight in one eye, and spent 2 years and 9 months unjustly
imprisoned. (3) He suffered a stroke during his imprisonment and is now in fragile health.(4)
6. Government officials, who jailed Silverio, did not heed his warnings regarding dilapidated
buildings. On January 27, 2020 three school girls died when a balcony collapsed on
them in Old Havana. María Karla Fuentes and Lisnavy Valdés Rodríguez, both 12
years old, and Rocío García Nápoles, 11 years old were killed. (5)
7. Although buildings housing Cubans are in disrepair and collapsing the Cuban
government is in the midst of a construction boom, for luxury tourist hotels. (6),(7)
8. Cuban policy makers decided not to invest in Cuba's maintenance of their power plants
in favor of plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into building luxury hotels across the
country that profit GAESA, the Cuban military conglomerate run by the Cuban military.
Funds used for some of the more high profile hotel construction projects could have met
the needs for the upkeep of Cuba's national electric grid, and power plants.(8)
 

Recommendations

• Respect and recognize the right to freedom of expression and association.
• Recognize independent civil society organizations.
•  Ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
•  Ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
•  Prioritize public housing for homeless Cubans over building luxury hotels.

 

Endnotes
(1) Amnesty International "Cuba: Panorama de los presos y presas de conciencia bajo el
gobierno del presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel" Agosto 27, 2019 Index Number: AMR
25/0936/2019
https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/amr25/0936/2019/es/
(2) CubaBrief: Amnesty International names five new prisoners of conscience August 27, 2019
https://www.cubacenter.org/archives/2019/8/27/cubabrief-amnesty-international-names-fivenew-
prisoners-of-conscience
(3) Marti Noticias "Preso político Silverio Portal pierde visión de un ojo tras golpiza, informa su
esposa" May 27, 2020
https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/a/preso-pol%C3%ADtico-silverio-portal-pierdevisi%
C3%B3n-de-un-ojo-tras-golpiza-informa-su-esposa/265886.html
(4) Diario de Cuba "Silverio Portal tras salir de prisión: Conmigo hubo 'una discriminación racial
y abuso de poder'" December 4, 2020
https://diariodecuba.com/derechos-humanos/1607076252_26969.html
(5) On Cuba "Three girls die in Old Havana due to collapse of a balcony" January 28, 2020
https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/three-girls-die-in-old-havana-due-to-collapse-of-a-balcony/
(6) Associated Press "Cuban economic boom a boon to the military" by Andrea Rodriguez
September 9, 2016
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/special/2016/09/10/cuban-economic-boom-boon-tomilitary/
25477886007/
(7) NPR "Cuba hopes if it builds new hotels, tourists will come, after a long COVID shutdown"
May 24, 2022 https://www.npr.org/2022/05/22/1100587966/tourists-are-returning-to-cuba-butis-
it-enough-for-the-islands-economy
(8) 14ymedio "‘There Is No Money’ to Repair Thermoelectric Plants in Cuba, But There is
Money to Invest in Luxury Hotels" August 27, 2022
https://translatingcuba.com/there-is-no-money-to-repair-thermoelectric-plants-in-cuba-but-thereis-
money-to-invest-in-luxury-hotels/

Free Cuba Foundation at 30: A call for renewal

 “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.” - Mohandas Gandhi

 

On August 26, 1993, thirty years ago next week, two Cuban-American students from Florida International University organized a five-hour candlelight vigil  in front of the Mexican Consulate that mobilized hundreds to protest Mexico's deportation to Cuba of eight Cuban refugees who survived when their boat sank off the Mexican coast the previous week. When we look back thirty years and see Cuban refugees being mistreated in the Bahamas ten years ago, and being deported today by the United States back to the dictatorship that still rules in Cuba, it is natural to ask, "What have we accomplished?" Are we not in the same situation as we were three decades ago?

The answer is found in Gandhi's epigram at the top of this blog entry and in the words of the great English poet T.S. Eliott: "If we take the widest and wisest view of a Cause, there is no such thing as a Lost Cause, because there is no such thing as a Gained Cause. We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than in the expectation that it will triumph."

The Free Cuba Foundation has consistently and independently advocated for nonviolent resistance against injustice and oppression. We have continuously advocated for victims of the dictatorship seeking justice, while also advocating for freedom and national reconciliation. We have remained true to our mission statement.

 

What the future may hold is uncertain because we are free to decide and nothing is written in stone.

However, the past 30 years have demonstrated that young Cubans, Cuban-Americans,Cuban-Spaniards, Peruvians, and other people of good will have not acquired the "amnesia of Coca Cola" as some on the island describe the forgetfulness of some who leave for freedom and forget their friends and family back home.

These student leaders moved on after graduating and were replaced by new ones.

Augusto Monge, FCF Chairman 1993 -1994

John Suarez, FCF Chairman 1995

Jose Raul Carro, FCF Chairman 1996

 Xavier Utset, FCF Chairman 1997-1998

Susana Mendiola, FCF Chairwoman 1998-1999

Helen Castro, FCF Chairwoman 1999-2000

Neri Ann Martinez, FCF Chairwoman 2001-2004

Michel Betancourt, FCF Chairman 2004 -2005

Pedro Ross, FCF Chairman 2006-2008

Susana Navajas, FCF Chairwoman 2008- 2009

Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr., FCF Co-Chair 2009-2010

Julio Menache, FCF Co-Chair 2009 - 2010

Kristan Patton, FCF Chairman 2011 - 2013

Their testimony is evidence that the struggle continues because new generations have sought to carry the torch for the cause of freedom in Cuba over the past sixty four years and continue to do so today.

We will continue to denounce the crimes being committed by the dictatorship in Cuba while at the same time letting the world know of brave activists who have sacrificed everything in the cause of Cuba's freedom.We will make use of this milestone to reflect on what has been done well. What needs to be improved and what needs to be done in the future to achieve the goal of a free Cuba where human rights and dignity are both recognized and respected.

Over the past 10 years, the Free Cuba Foundation has kept its pledge. Rey Anthony, a representative of the Free Cuba Foundation in 2015 led protests against President Obama's thaw with the Castro military dictatorship. 

FCF members published a statement in Huffington Post in 2015 that declared "Not in our name"  in opposition to the Obama Administration's rapprochement with General Raul Castro. 

FCF leaders in 2016 took part in an international conference were Cuban opposition leaders both in and out of the island called for a commission against impunity, and two years later presented a report for the universal periodic review of Cuba in 2018.

FCF's Augusto Monge attended international gathering in Puerto Rico in 2015

Our advisor throughout twenty eight of these years was Martin L. Tracey. We are grateful for his steadfast and courageous support over this time, and mourn his passing in 2021.

This is an open call to Florida International University students interested in carrying on this tradition, and to past members to join us on August 26th at 6:00pm via Zoom to celebrate this anniversary. To take part please e-mail frcbfndtn@gmail.com.

 

 

10 years ago FCF screened Andy Garcia's "The Lost City" at FIU: Join our 2021 virtual screeing

 Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a Cuban family is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive authoritarian regime of Batista to the oppressive Marxist regime of Fidel Castro.

Ten years ago, Magnolia pictures gave approval for the Free Cuba Foundation to show "The Lost City," Andy Garcia's 2005 exploration of Cuba in the turbulent 1950s. 

 

The screening took place on July 6, 2011 at 8:00pm at Florida International University at Graham Center 283A at what was then called the University Park campus . We co-hosted the event with FIU Students for a Free Tibet, and we thank them for their solidarity.

 

The film stars Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Millie Perkins and Ines Sastre.  Millie Perkins starred as Anne Frank in the original film adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959.

 

Helen Castro and Mitsu Vastey at 2011 screening

 

Now a decade later the movie is available online, and in this time of COVID-19 we are inviting FCF members past, and present and all interested parties to join us in a virtual viewing of this important film directed by Andy Garcia on March 29 at 8pm.

 

Our community is experiencing the new film Plantados, on the plight of Cuban political prisoners in the first years of the Communist Revolution, and The Lost City is the film that provides the back story to the Cuba that existed before 1959, and how Castro and his revolutionaries destroyed it. 

Below is the The Lost City trailer.

Interview with Andy Garcia about The Lost City at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival below:




Additional information will be posted shortly.

FCF Coordinator debates "Have Obama's Cuba gains unravelled?" on TRT World's The Newsmakers

"There are genuinely few times that I can say I debated an unapologetic supporter of the Castro regime. This is one of them." - John Suarez

FCF's John Suarez debates Robert Miller of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign

On Monday October 9, 2017 The Newsmakers, the "flagship current affairs programme, featuring in-depth reports and interviews with the drivers of the biggest stories of the week" for TRT World taped a program on the ongoing diplomatic crisis in Cuba. The two guests were John Suarez, of the Free Cuba Foundation and Robert Miller, of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign. The Cuba Solidarity Campaign's unapologetic claims that Cuba is a democracy are even more troubling when one takes into account that Jeremy Corbyn is a long time member. Following the debate John shared the following observation: "There are genuinely few times that I can say I debated an unapologetic supporter of the Castro regime. This is one of them."

Please share with friends and encourage them to comment. Mr. Miller claims that a majority of Americans and Cuban Americans favor the former Obama Administration's Cuba policy.

FCF co-founder addresses attack on U.S. diplomats in Cuba in The Miami Herald

 "The types of injuries suffered by diplomats since November 2016 are new but Cuba’s outlaw behavior towards them is not." - John Suarez

Letter to the Editor published today in the Miami Herald on page 16A

CUBA LIES

The Miami Herald’s September 19, 2017 editorial “Unless Cuba comes clean about the embassy attacks on U.S. diplomats, it will put renewed ties at risk” offers an overview of the “strange case” of American diplomats and their dependents harmed in Cuba.

But three points should be considered.

First, Raul Castro lies, and there are two recent examples. Castro on March 21, 2016 in the joint press conference with President Obama said that there were no political prisoners in Cuba, and if any were identified they would be released immediately.  A list of current Cuban political prisoners was provided, but they were not freed. In July 2013, Cuban officials were caught trying to smuggle war planes, missiles and technology related to ballistic missile programs hidden under 220,000 bags of sugar to North Korea and lied about it. This was in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Second, Obama did not achieve an end to the Cold War with Cuba. On Jan. 2, 2017 Cuban troops marched in a parade over which Castro presided chanting that they would repeatedly shoot the first African American President in the head so many times that they would make a “hat of lead to the head.” Considering that American diplomats in Havana were already suffering brain trauma since November 2016 perhaps this should be looked at in a new light.

Third, the statement by the Cuban embassy in Washington on September 19, 2017 that "Cuba strictly observes its obligations to protect foreign diplomats on its soil" is not true. There is a decades old pattern of hostility. 

The types of injuries suffered by diplomats since November 2016 are new but Cuba’s outlaw behavior towards them is not.

- John Suarez

 Coordinator

 Free Cuba Foundation

 Miami

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article174764336.html

Silent vigil for justice today at FIU for Brothers to the Rescue martyrs

Carlos, Pablo, Mario, and Armando remembered today.

Silent vigil at Florida International University on February 24, 2017

Vigil was hosted by the Free Cuba Foundation today at the main fountain at Florida International University (FIU) between 3:21pm and 3:27pm the times that two Brothers to the Rescue planes were destroyed by air-to-air missiles fired by Cuban MiGs as three small civilian planes flew through international airspace searching for rafters.  Three U.S. citizens and a resident were killed. The third plane made it back and bore witness for those who did not return.

Family members and friends of Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario De La Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr. where in attendance today along with members of the university community. This event is a tradition that started at FIU one week after the February 24,1996 shoot down.

The purpose of the vigil is to continue the demand for justice while remembering and sharing the facts with new generations of students at Florida International University. A fact sheet was distributed after the vigil to passersby to explain the purpose behind the demonstration.

Cuban American repudiation of Obama Cuba policy cost Hillary Clinton Florida

Trying to get the facts out on the 2016 Cuban American vote in Florida

Miriam de la Peña talks with Donald Trump about Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown 

On September 17, 2016 the Free Cuba Foundation published a blog that stated "Obama's Cuba policy to be judged by Cuban Americans at the ballot box." This was because a day earlier Donald Trump who had been lukewarmly supporting President Obama's Cuba policy vowed to roll it back. This change was reflected in a dramatic improvement in his polling numbers. On October 25, 2016 the Republican presidential nominee hosted a breakfast with a small group of Cuban American leaders and listened to their concerns. Later that same day he received a formal and public endorsement of the Brigade 2506 Bay of Pigs Association in Little Havana. Trump’s support among Cuban-American voters in Florida was at 52 percent, up from 33 percent in September, prior to the change on Cuba policy, according to Andres Oppenheimer days before the election. On the eve of the Presidential election the New York businessman tweeted the following pledge:

Today in Florida, I pledged to stand with the people of Cuba and Venezuela in their fight against oppression- cont: https://t.co/8eELqk2wUw

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2016

On election day the Pew Research Center placed the percentage of Cuban Americans voting for Donald Trump at 54% and that is asserted by some to be a conservative estimate.

Let us do the math if as some claim 570,878 Cuban Americans voted in the 2016 election and Mr. Trump saw a 21 point shift in support that correlates with his announced change in Cuba policy this translated to 119,884 additional votes. A total of  308,274 Cuban Americans voted for Mr. Donald Trump. Now Mauricio Claver-Carone makes the case that the actual percentage maybe above 60%.

Not only does that overall number increase to 342,527 but also the number of Cuban Americans that switched their vote in favor of the New York businessman after he rejected Obama's Cuba policy is also higher at 154,137 votes.

Considering that President Elect Trump's margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in Florida was just 119,970 votes and the argument is not just that Cuban Americans were critical to the New York businessman's victory but that the dramatic increase in support was linked to U.S. Cuba policy and its rejection by a large number of Cuban American voters according to exit polls. At the low range the shift in that vote alone, possibly Cuba policy single issue voters, was at a minimum 86 votes short of providing the margin for taking Florida or at the higher end exceeded it by 34,167 votes.

If the Florida International University Cuba Poll were accurate and a majority of voting Cuban Americans supported Obama's Cuba policy then President Elect Trump would not have seen a 19 point surge in support when he promised to rollback President Obama's Cuba policy. Furthermore in South Florida one would not have seen all the well financed anti-embargo candidates running for Federal office defeated by crushing margins, even in majority Democrat districts.

There are those now who claim that the Cuban American vote was not a decisive factor in Trump's victory in Florida. They are wrong. This is not a matter of opinion but of the course of events over the past seven months and the math explained above. 

The Latino Decisions poll used by those making this claim is problematic for a number of reasons such as: it being sponsored by the National Council of La Raza that has a vested interest in pushing a particular narrative, it is a push poll with questions that provide information that would negatively impact the Latino vote for Republicans and finally no questions were asked about Obama's Cuba policy and how it would impact the vote. They could have also asked some of the following questions:

Would you be more or less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton after learning that she pressed President Obama to normalize relations with the Castro dictatorship and remove economic sanctions with no regards to the human rights situation in Cuba? 

Would you be more or less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton after learning that not only did President Bill Clinton shake hands with Fidel Castro in 2000 and open up cash and carry trade with Cuba a few months later but also met with and warmly received Raul Castro in 2015 in New York City? 

Would you be more or less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton after learning that the Cuba policy she lobbied for in the Obama Administration approved deals that led to discrimination against Cuban Americans because of their national origin denying them equal treatment because American companies Carnival and American Airlines wanted to bend over backwards to Cuban government demands?

If Latino Decisions had asked these question and as it did with their push poll questions informing on Republican hostility to President Obama's executive orders on immigration then the depth of Cuban American outrage could have been reflected in the polling and so many would not have been surprised on election day.

Welcoming Cuba Internet Freedom Conference, and Denouncing Google Complicity with Castro

Free Cuba Foundation Welcomes Cuba Internet Freedom Conference in Miami, Warns of Limitations, and Google Complicity with the Castro Regime 

 

MIAMI, Sept. 13, 2016 /Free Cuba Foundation/ --The Free Cuba Foundation welcomes the Cuba Internet Freedom Conference and its reminder that the United Nations has declared Internet access a basic Human right. Nevertheless, it is important to recall that the Internet is not a panacea:

 "We must not mistake the Internet which is a tool, for a strategy to achieve democratic change in Cuba; even so, we must demand that it the Internet be uncensored and Independent of state control. Although Google has demonstrated the technical capability of its Loon project which claims to offer balloon powered Internet for everyone, it refuses to do so where it counts most. Instead of a disrupter Google seeks to act in complicity with the Castro regime."

"Google is choosing to stand with the oppressor rather then with the oppressed, in clear violation of their "Don't Be Evil" code of conduct, partnering with an octogenarian Socialist Dictatorship instead of in favor of millions of Cuban youth; is not only wrong but a terrible business decision."  - said Augusto Monge of the Free Cuba Foundation and elected member of the Coordinating Council of the Congress of the Cuban National Conference.

The emphasis on Internet technology by pro-democracy activists should not overlook the role that companies such as Yahoo and Google have played in China to censor information and target dissidents for the dictatorship there in order to conduct business. These practices are now being carried out in Cuba by Google. 

This is why it was so important that participants at the Second Cuban National Gathering in Puerto Rico representing activists from inside and outside of Cuba on August 16, 2016, unanimously voted and agreed on the following point:

"DENOUNCED THE INDIFFERENCE OF THE COMPANY GOOGLE IN VIOLATION OF ITS OWN CODE OF CORPORATE CONDUCT AND DEMANDED THAT IT ESTABLISH A CORRECT POLICY TO PROVIDE WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE WITH NO CENSORSHIP AND WITHOUT DEPENDENCE ON THE REGIME IN BENEFIT OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE."

The Obama administration's Cuba policy that focuses on credits, micro-enterprises, travel, and internet will not lead to a democratic opening in Cuba, not in the short, medium, or long term. Instead, it will serve as a distraction that will prolong the life of the dictatorship in Cuba and the Castro regime's power and influence abroad.

Free Cuba Foundation on twitter: @freecubafndtn Free Cuba Foundation Blog: http://freecubafoundation.blogspot.com/

 

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/free-cuba-foundation-welcomes-cuba-internet-freedom-conference-in-miami-warns-of-limitations-and-google-complicity-with-the-castro-regime-300326816.html

SOURCE Free Cuba Foundation

Second Cuban National Gathering concludes in Puerto Rico

Augusto Monge, representing the Free Cuba Foundation, participated in the Second Cuban National Gathering in Puerto Rico and he sent us the agreements reached at this historic meeting.

SECOND CUBAN NATIONAL GATHERING AGREEMENTSIn the Second Meeting we ratified the "Agreement for Democracy" which was incorporated as an essential part of the Declaration of San Juan approved on August 15, 2015 at the First National Cuban Gathering considering that it contains the elements necessary to build "The New Republic of Cuba" that we all want and for which we struggle. Said agreement arose in 1998, was signed by most of the Cuban opposition in Cuba and in exile, and received international support.

During the Second National Cuban Gathering fundamental principles were agreed upon for the New Republic of Cuba and complementary points from a summary of the papers presented were reaffirmed. Prior to a new republic the following steps should include: 1) the establishment of a Commission against Impunity, 2) audit - with a retroactive nature - of the management of companies present in Cuba in order that the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) are respected, and 3) measures to ensure transparency and integrity and combat corruption in public administration and electoral processes.

Likewise, the creation of a Cuban National Congress was approved to form a common political-civic action front against the Castro dictatorship with the goal of re-establishing in the country the trampled rights, freedom and democracy in the face of action. The Congress will have a Coordinating Board composed of a section in Cuba and in exile that is empowered to create working committees.

 
Participants of the Second Cuban National Gathering also:

    1.) Registered their deep concern for the health of our brother in the struggle, Guillermo Fariñas, 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought of the European Parliament. August 14th was proclaimed the Day of Nonviolence in Cuba in honor of his sacrifice and that of other activists who have risked their lives using the hunger strike as a tool for nonviolent struggle.

    2.) They agreed to pay special attention to the ruthless systematic repression exercised by the Cuban regime against members of the democratic peaceful opposition and also address concerns of the political prisoners and those who suffer religious persecution. For the treatment of our women, condemned in a special way, the repression against the Ladies in White and other women's organizations.

    3.) Denounced the repressive exercise of power as a root cause of all forms of violence and other abuses that affect Cuban society, and requested the support of governments, international institutions and all people of good will who defend human rights.

    4.) Denounced the indifference of the company Google in violation of its code of corporate conduct and demanded that it establish a correct policy to provide wireless internet service with no censorship and without dependence on the regime in benefit of the Cuban people.

    5.) Solicited the government of the United States to seek an agreement to connect an internet cable to Cuba (from the US or any other country) and, if necessary, to finance it with the frozen funds of the Republic of Cuba by the United States.

    6.) Expressed support for the Venezuelan people and the Table of Democratic Unity (MUD in Spanish), whose representatives accompanied us, in their struggle for human rights. They demanded the immediate release of Leopoldo Lopez and all political prisoners, and supported the demand that the recall referendum to be held this year as the current constitution stipulates.

    7.) Stressing that observers who supported us in this activity, expressed their solidarity with the Chinese and Tibetan people in their struggle against communist oppression and with the people of Ukraine, condemning the Russian invasion, demanding the return of the illegally annexed territories of Crimea  and the early release of prisoners of war.

    8.) Deeply thanked the tremendous efforts and negotiations made by United Cubans of Puerto Rico and the generosity of donors and the practical leadership of Guillermo Toledo and the support lent by his family.

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, on August 14, 2016.

 Full list of signers

Free Cuba Foundation members take part in Cuban Resistance Assembly #TodosMarchamos March

In solidarity with Cuba's democratic resistance to the Castro regime

Free Cuba Foundation members at #TodosMarchamos event today

 Free Cuba Foundation has taken the lead in protesting the Obama administration's policy and Hillary Clinton's vow to lift the embargo and continue down the same path.

Therefore, as a member organization in the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance coalition, we joined with people of good will today, Sunday March 20, 2016 at 11:00am to show our solidarity with Cubans struggling for freedom in Cuba.

Marching for Cuba's freedom

We marched from the Bay of Pigs Memorial on South West 8th Street and 13th Avenue to the Casa del Preso on 13th Street and 13th Avenue. We listened to Donato Poveda give a powerful rendition of the song Plantados and dedicate it to Cuban political prisoners.

A time for choosing for a free Cuba

Don't mourn, organize!

Time to mobilize and make ourselves heard

In ten days the President of the United States will be hosted by dictator Raul Castro when he visits Cuba. This will serve as "a capstone" for President Obama's Cuba policy that since 2009 has extended a hand of friendship to the Castro regime while simultaneously withdrawing it from the Cuban democratic opposition.

We have two options mourn this betrayal of American values or identify other young Cubans who agree with us and mobilize with public protests to demonstrate our displeasure while at the same time highlighting the plight of Cubans on the island and the need to support human rights and the democratic opposition there.

Free Cuba Foundation has taken the lead in protesting the Obama administration's policy and Hillary Clinton's vow to lift the embargo and continue down the same path.

Therefore, as a member organization in the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance coalition, we call on people of good will to join us on Sunday March 20, 2016 at 11:00am to show our solidarity with Cubans struggling for freedom in Cuba. 

What: March in Support of Cuban Civil Society

When: March 20, 2016 at 11:00am
Where: Intersection of SW 13th Avenue and SW 8th Street
Gathering at the Brigade 2506 Monument and walking to the Casa del Preso Político cubano

FCF Letter Mobilizing for Brothers to the Rescue Vigil Published in The Miami Herald

Over the past 20 years the Free Cuba Foundation has observed the Brothers to the Rescue shoot down with a silent vigil for justice. Let us continue this tradition in the defense of memory, truth and justice which is necessary for reconciliation.

 

Letter published February 22, 2016 8:55 PM

The Miami Herald

Brothers to the Rescue memorial

Twenty years ago this week, four Brothers to the Rescue fliers were shot down and killed on the orders of Fidel Castro while they flew two civilian planes through international airspace in a search and rescue mission for Cuban rafters.
Killed were Mario de la Peña, 24; Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, both 30, and Armando Alejandre Jr., 45, all of Miami-Dade.

What drove them to risk their lives on board small civilian planes flying through the Florida Straits? The knowledge that somewhere as many as 100,000 Cubans have died trying to flee Cuba.

The monied interests are pushing a message in the media that young Cuban-Americans don’t care about what has gone on in the past or that human rights continue to be systematically violated today while at the same time pushing a business agenda with the Castro regime.

If you want to counter this false narrative, then there’s something that you can do. On Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m., join us at the main fountain at FIU to join hands in a moment of silence for these four heroes that will begin at 3:21 p.m.

Rey Anthony (age 20)
Student Advocate,
Free Cuba Foundation
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article61878752.html

Free Cubans Protest Failed Obama-Kerry Cuba Policy

Standing up for freedom

The Free Cuba Foundation protested the Obama administration’s failed Cuba policy on Friday, August 14, 2015 starting at 6:00pm on the sidewalk in front of La Carreta Restaurant located on 8650 Bird Rd along with members of the South Florida community.

We conducted a burma shave style protest using a series of signs to get our message across along with the images of some of the Cuban and Venezuelan victims killed by the Castro regime on Obama's watch. The above animated GIF recreates it. The protest ended with a silent prayer vigil for victims of Castroism and for a free Cuba that was followed by members of the community singing the Cuban national anthem.

The Free Cuba Foundation is a student movement founded at Florida International University in 1993 that since 2009 has been a member of the Assembly of the Resistance, a coalition of more than 50 organizations inside and outside of Cuba.

Want a Free Cuba? Sign the Agreement

Add your name here to The Agreement for Democracy if you want to see a free, sovereign and democratic Cuba. The Free Cuba Foundation is a 1998 signatory of The Agreement.


The Agreement for Democracy, known as “El Acuerdo” emerged from within Cuba and exile in 1998.  It was signed that year by a broad ideological spectrum of the Cuban opposition to the dictatorship and reaffirmed in Lubin, Poland in 2007, with international support during a ceremony commemorating the massacre of polish workers in that city by the pro-soviet regime 25 years earlier.

The Agreement for Democracy is a unitary document that expresses and explains what units Cuba’s pro-democracy movement and details the steps that should be taken for the re-establishment of a multiparty representative democracy within a genuine Rule of Law. Some of the original signatories of El Acuerdo have passed away.  Many more have since signed it, and continue doing so.  As recently as January, 2015, hundreds of pro-democracy activists within Cuba added their names to El Acuerdo.

We, Cubans conscious of the need for transcendental change in the political, social and economic structures of our country, gather, beyond our diverse strategies for liberation, to affirm before our people and the international community the essential postulates that substantiate the democratic alternative to the despotism which currently prevails in our homeland.

We affirm that the Cuban nation is one, within the national territory and in diaspora. We believe that all Cubans have the right to be equal before the law and the nation, with full dignity that cannot be subject to any discrimination. We likewise understand that the present regime has shown itself incapable of assuring liberty and justice and of promoting well-being and human solidarity in our homeland. Due to this, from this point forward, we establish, through a great national consensus and as a clear alternative to the current oppression, this:

Agreement for Democracy in Cuba

We recognize as the fundamental principle of the new Republic that Cuba is one and independent, whose sovereignty resides in the people and functions through the effective exercise of representative multi-party democracy, which is the government of the majority with absolute respect for the minority.

All governments must respect the sovereignty of the people, therefore, at the end of the current tyrannical regime, the provisional or transition government shall be obligated to return sovereignty to the people by way of the following measures:

1. Guarantee the people’s participation in the decisions of the nation through the exercise of universal, direct, and secret voting to elect its representatives, and the right to seek public office.
2. Immediately issue a general amnesty for the liberation of all political prisoners, including those who have been sentenced for fictitious common crimes, and cancel the pending political cases against Cubans in exile, so as to facilitate their return to the homeland and their reintegration into the national society.
3. Organize an independent, impartial, and professional judiciary.
4. Recognize and protect the freedom of expression, of the press, of association, of assembly, of peaceful demonstration, profession, and religion.
5. Protect the Cuban people from arbitrary expulsion from their homes as well as against all forms of detention, search, confiscation or arbitrary aggression, and from violation of their correspondence, documents and other communications, and defend all Cubans’ rights to privacy and honor.
6. Immediately legalize all political parties and other organizations and activities of civil society.
7. Refer to the Constitution of 1940, when applicable, during the transition period and convoke free elections with the supervision of international organizations within a time period not greater than one year, for a Constituent Congress which will establish a Constitution and which, during its existence, shall have authority to legislate as well as to oversee the executive. Having thus achieved democratic legitimacy, it shall call general elections in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
8. Recognize and protect the freedom of economic activity; the right to private property; the right to unionize, to bargain collectively and to strike; the Cuban people’s right to genuine participation in their economic development; access to public health and education, and initiate the reestablishment of civic values in education.
9. Take immediate steps to protect Cuba’s environmental security and protect and rescue the national patrimony.
10. Propitiate and guarantee the professionalism and political neutrality of the Armed Forces and create forces of public order whose rules of conduct shall adjust to the principles of this Agreement.

Cuba shall resurrect from its own ashes, but it is the sacred obligation of all Cubans – both within the oppressed island and in diaspora – to place our hands on the plough without looking backwards but rather into the deepest part of our hearts, to convert those ashes into fertile seeds of love and creation. Now, as 100 years ago, our national aspiration remains the construction of a Republic based on the formula of triumphant love:

WITH ALL AND FOR THE GOOD FOR ALL

Signed February 20, 1998. Reaffirmed: August, 31, 2007.
La Habana, Cuba.
Lubin, Poland.
Miami, Florida.

FCF founder Gus Monge assaulted by agents of the Castro regime in Panama

Standing up for a free Cuba in Panama
 

Auugusto Monge in Panama City on April 9, 2015

Augusto Monge, "Gus"to his friends was brutally assaulted today in Panama City at Porra Park while joining with 20 other exile and internal opposition activists in laying flowers at a bust of Jose Marti in that public park. The videos of what took place are circulating around the world in the run up to the Summit of the Americas in Panama.


Gus is a founding member of the Free Cuba Foundation and was chairman from 1993 to 1994. In 1994 Gus participated in the first Summit of the Americas and also spoke on the steps of the U.S. Capitol that same year.

Gus Monge speaks on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in 1994

 On July 13, 1995 he participated in a flotilla to pay his respects to the 37 men, women and children massacred a year earlier by the Castro regime. Following the February 24, 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot down Gus took part in the flotilla to pay his respects for the four men who had been killed.

Flotilla in March of 1996

On the twentieth anniversary of the "13 de Marzo"tugboat massacre Gus gathered at FIU to remember the 37 victims of the Castro regime. Following the December 17, 2014 Cuba policy announcement by the White House Gus Monge joined together with different generations of FCF activists at Jose Marti park on December 20, 2014 to protest the policy changes.

Gus Monge standing on the far right with other FCF members on July 13, 2014

 On January 31, 2015 Gus was one of fifteen former Free Cuba Foundation officers who signed a letter titled Not In Our Name that was published in The Huffington Post. On February 24, 2015 Gus took part in the silent vigil at Florida International University in memory of the four members of Brothers to the Rescue killed nineteen years earlier.

Vigil for Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 2015

The Free Cuba Foundation denounces the brutal assault on Cuba resistance activists in Panama City today and joins the call for an investigation into what happened and holding responsible those who initiated the attack.