Event: Meeting Cuban opposition leader
Time: June 20, 2007  1 p.m.
Location: Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the President's Hall
Partners: Pontis Foundation (Slovakia)

Meeting Cuban Opposition Leader
 
On June 20, 2007 Eastern Europe Studies Centre together with Pontis Foundation (Slovakia) and the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University organized a discussion with the former Cuban liberal party president and political prisoner Mr. Osvaldo Alfonso Valdes.
 
The event was attended by Vilnius University students, professors, and media representatives. It revolved around the issues of democracy, human rights, the opposition to Castro's regime, and the future of Cuba after Castro.
 
Mr. Valdes started the meeting by saying that we are often misled by the international media's depiction of the official version of life in Cuba. The real situation is much worse.

The Regime in Cuba
 
The regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba, which has lasted 48 years, is similar to a monarchy. This became clear when, not having an heir, Castro tranferred his power to his brother, Raul. Raul,  according to Mr. Valdes, is less charismatic than his brother, which makes him feel insecure about his power. He thus reinforced repressions to secure his power.
 
According to Mr. Valdes the strength of regime lies in its dictator. Fidel Castro's charisma was important for creating and strengthening the Cuban regime, but his mass repressions and control were a greater source of power. Mr. Valdes said that Castro thoroughly studied the collapse of the USSR and observed the changes in the Eastern Europe to learn how to strengthen his regime.

The situation with the media in Cuba is deplorable. All of the media is strictly controlled, and journalists cannot write what they think if it opposes the Cuban regime. Today more than twenty journalist are imprisoned for criticising Castro. There are three main newspapers in Cuba: the Communist Party Newspaper, the Worker's Newspaper (which reprints what is written in Communist Party Newspaper), and the Youth Newspaper (which rests on the information provided by the former two newspapers). There are five TV channels in Cuba, all of which transmit the same broadcasts. There is also a cable television station. But it is possible to watch it only with self-made equipment or with equipment secretly transported from the U.S. Watching cable television is criminalized in Cuba on the charges of promoting the enemy's (usually the U.S.'s) policies. It is punishable by imprisonment.

Mr. Valdes called Castro's regime in Cuba a sociological phenomenon in which the dictator has absolute power and has not shared it with anyone since the very beginning. He said that Castro's main weapon is the military and other force structures. He said that Castro always knows what he wants, that he is a cunning manipulator, and that at the beginning he killed people on charge of being communist and today imprisions people who argue against communism.

Castro has special tactics to create confrontations between Cubans and Americans. Mr. Valdes said that that the main problems in Cuba are shortages of food and pharmaceuticals, which are not connected with U.S. sanctions. He said that "The idea that our country is against imperialism is Cuban propaganda, because in reality Cuba never was in a conflict with Americans". He said that the conflicts with the U.S. started once Castro joined the USSR and allowed Russians to put atomic weapons in Cuba.

A question was raised about the Human Development Index, accoding to which Cuba stands out in the region in health care and education. Mr. Valdes said that the index is being aggregated from official state data, which in Cuba's case does not reflect reality. He noted that proponents of human rights and representatives of the Red Cross are prohibited from entering the country.

The situation of opposition in Cuba
 
There are opposition parties and organizations, despite all the prohibitions and oppressions that they have to endure. In 2002 the opposition parties - social democrats, Christian democrats, and liberals - managed to present a united program for changing the political regime, despite their differences. The program emphasized the values of human rights, freedom of the press, and democratic reforms in the country. The project was based on the Cuban Constition that was in exisence in 2002.

The Cuban authorities reacted not only by changing the constitution, stating that socialism in Cuba is eternal, but also by a wave of harsh repressions. In April 2003 about 300 people, including Mr. Valdes, were imprisoned for peacefully expressing their opinions. Mr. Valdes said that  "We were imprisoned without a crime", and that similar sanctions were applied to journalists who critiqued the regime. He said that dissidents are being tortured and suffer violence while imprisoned, and that the issue of political imrisoment should be at the top of the agenda of every democratic country that interacts with the Cuban regime.

While talking about the Cuban youth and their organizations in Cuba, Mr. Valdes stressed that the youth is more engaged with opposition, and that new youth organizations, such as "Liberal Youth" and "For Cuban Democracy", have emerged.

The Future of Cuba

The participants also talked about possible democratic changes in Cuba due to the decline of Castro's health. Mr. Valdes thinks that the regime will become weaker and less popular once Castro is not there. He said: "Many believe that the regime will end after Castro's death. It is very difficult, however, to judge when this is going to happen”. He emphasized during the discussion that the possibility of revolution is really small, that the revolutionary mood has waned, and that the opposition evades organizing meetings and other actions so as not to provoke disorder in the country. He said that the opposition advocates gradual change of power and backs the democratic way for changes.

To answer the question what common Cuban citizen think about the regime, Mr. Valdes said that Cubans are definitely unsatisfied with the current regime. He said that this is proved by the huge Cuban community (about 2,000,000 strong) in Miami, where many are aiming to risk their lives. On the other hand, one has to admit that people are afraid to talk about the regime because any kind of criticism is forbidden. "People are afraid, but they want changes”, Mr. Valdes said.