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Varela Project

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The Varela Project (Proyecto Varela in Spanish) is a project that was started in 1998 by Oswaldo Payá of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) and named after Felix Varela, a Cuban religious leader.

Many members were imprisoned during the Black Spring in 2003.

The Varela Project citizens' initiative

The purpose of the Varela Project was to circulate a proposal of law advocating for democratic political reforms within Cuba, such as the establishment of freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom to start private businesses, and amnesty for political prisoners.

About 11,000 Cubans signed the reformist Varela Project citizens' initiative.[1] The U.S. State Department's 2005 report on Cuba in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (issued in 2006) stated that "activists reported increased harassment by State Security agents. Authorities arrested and detained Varela activists, confiscated signatures, fined and threatened activists and signers, and forced signers to rescind signatures. State Security impersonated canvassing volunteers and increasingly infiltrated the ranks of activists. In May and June, Oswaldo Paya reported State Security agents visited and pressured more than 50 Varela Project signatories to retract their signatures and denounce the Varela Project activists who had collected their signatures."[2]

The Cuban regime refused to consider the petition, and the Cuban National Assembly's Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee suspended its consideration, instead responding to the Varela Project with its own "counter-initiative" to enshrine "irrevocable socialism" in the Cuban Constitution.[1][3] The Cuban government officially claimed that 99% of all Cuban citizens (nearly 8.2 million people) endorsed the initiative in a three-day blitz.[1] The BBC noted that many Cubans felt pressured into signing the government's petition.[3][1] An extraordinary session of the National Assembly unanimously approved the amendment in June 2002.[1] The government closed schools, offices, and factory during the session, and nationally televised the speeches; no mention was made of the Varela Project citizens' initiative during the event.[1]

Support for Varela Project

The Varela Project movement enjoyed broad based support among expatriate Cuban-Americans and the United States Government.[4] Also, some of the Varela Project leaders were accused by the Cuban government of accepting foreign political support from James Cason of the United States State Department for political purposes, in contravention of Law 88. The dissidents, however, rejected the charges. In March 2003, the Cuban government arrested approximately 75 dissenters, who were tried and convicted of accepting funds from foreign sources for political purposes, and approximately one half of these arrested persons were associated with the Varela Project movement. This was met with widespread criticism internationally, and was perceived as a crackdown. Although the project was officially legally rejected on November 2002, the same Varela Project was brought again to the National Assembly on October 2004. Its promoters claimed that the National Assembly had not responded to the project. The Varela Project was again re-launched in Madrid on October 2008.

Cuban government's response to the Varela Project

The Cuban government dismissed the Varela Project and its petition. The Cuban government claimed that the project was part of a "counterrevolutionary" plot and "strategy of subversion against Cuba" orchestrated by the United States and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.[5][6]

The Cuban government subsequently arrested participants in the Varela Project, sentencing them to prison terms of between 6 to 27 years.[7]

Black Spring (March 2003)

Main article: Black Spring (Cuba)

In March 2003, Cuba arrested 75 human rights activists, including 25 members of the Varela Project, on a variety of charges; all were sentenced to prison in trials within twenty days of their arrest.[8]

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a Varela Project leader and one of the 75 activists arrested, reported serving 45 days in a punishment cell with no light or available water for protesting the suspension of correspondence and the delivery of food and medical supplies from his family. He did not receive food or water during the first 3 days of his confinement and slept on a cement floor. Authorities confiscated his Bible and prohibited any contact with other prisoners.[9]

Fabio Prieto Llorente, one of the 75 activists, reported he was held in a small cell with leaky walls and a cement slab for a bed. The cell was infested with rats, frogs, and insects.[9]

Yarai Reyes, wife of Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, another of the 75 activists, reported that prison authorities incited common prisoners to beat her husband.[9]

Barbara Rojo Arias, wife of Omar Ruiz Hernandez, an independent journalist and another the arrested activists, reported that her husband was denied access to required medications for his heart condition and stomach problems.[9]

Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a Varela Project political prisoner released in 2004, reported that prison officials regularly denied him adequate medical treatment during his 20-month incarceration.[9]

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, founder of the Lawton Center and an advocate of the non-violent philosophy espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., was forced to live on handouts from fellow prisoners because the prison did not permit his wife to bring in the meager rations of food and medicine allowed for other prisoners.

External commentary on the Varela Project

British Broadcasting Corporation

The organization reported having collected more than the requisite number of signatures but was voted down by the government; the government also responded with its own initiative. This initiative, for which the government claimed 99% voter approval, provided the constitution be amended to make permanent the socialist nature of Cuba's government. Fidel Castro said, "The revolutionary process of socialism cannot be reversed" and that "Cuba will never return to capitalism". A BBC reporter noted that many Cubans said they felt pressured into signing the government's petition.[3]

United States State Department statements

According to the United States State Department, "activists reported increased harassment by State Security agents. Authorities arrested and detained Varela activists, confiscated signatures, fined and threatened activists and signers, and forced signers to rescind signatures. State Security impersonated canvassing volunteers and increasingly infiltrated the ranks of activists. In May and June, Oswaldo Paya reported State Security agents visited and pressured more than 50 Varela Project signatories to retract their signatures and denounce the Varela Project activists who had collected their signatures."[2]

Per the State Department, the Cuban Penal Code includes the concept of "dangerousness," defined as the "special proclivity of a person to commit crimes, demonstrated by his conduct in manifest contradiction of socialist norms." If the police decide that a person exhibits signs of dangerousness, they may bring the offender before a court or subject him to therapy or political reeducation. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, this provision amounted to a subjective criterion used by the Government to justify violations of individual freedoms and due process for persons whose sole crime was to hold a view different from the official view.[9]

Oswaldo Payá, who had been a long-time opponent of the Cuban government, died in a car accident under controversial circumstances in July 2012, with family members claiming the government was responsible. Authorities also cracked down incarcerating 75 political prisoners with terms from 6 to 28 years, after being charged and convicted of "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State." Many of those arrested had no knowledge of the charges against them or access to attorneys until moments before a one-day trial, which was by a judge subordinate to the Communist Party.[9] The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern regarding the arrests and summary trials, as did many governments, international organizations, and public[9]

Amnesty International

Amnesty International, declared that all 75 jailed activists were "prisoners of conscience" and that their methods were non-violent, and their philosophy was democratic.[10]

International reaction

The Varela Project was lauded by some outside observers such as former US President Jimmy Carter, in a May 2002 speech in Havana, Cuba, and the European Union, which awarded Payá the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. They did not have a clue about the applicable Cuban Law. Other observers are skeptical:[11] Attempts to bring about democratic change in Cuba with the aid of US financing have long been criticized by pundits as "Dead on Arrival" when the initiatives reach Cuba, as there is widespread popular opposition in Cuba to US intervention in Cuban politics (as such, dissidents receiving money from US sources, especially from the CIA, are immediately discredited in Cuban politics). 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry called the initiative and its results "counterproductive".[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f David Altman, Direct Democracy Worldwide (Cambridge University Press), 2011), p. 112.
  2. ^ a b "Cuba: 2005". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. March 8, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c "Cuba backs permanent socialism". BBC News. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  5. ^ "Granma International Digital, Cuba English". Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  6. ^ "Rule of Law and Cuba". Archived from the original on 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  7. ^ "Rule of Law and Cuba". Archived from the original on 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  8. ^ NANCY SAN MARTIN. "Posted on Thu". Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Cuba". Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  10. ^ "Cuba: Massive crackdown on dissent". Amnesty International. 2 April 2003. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Kerry's weapon against Cuba: global pressure / Andres Oppenheimer / The Miami Herald - CubaNet News - Noticias de Cuba / Cuba News". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
  12. ^ Brooks, David (19 June 2004). "Kerry's Cruel Realism". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
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