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NEWS
Dissidents ask
Raul Castro to release prisoners, reduce tensions
Havana, Dec 3 (EFE).- Cuban dissidents are closely and cautiously
following the political process under way in this communist country in
the hopes that Acting President and Defense Minister Raul Castro will
take steps to free political prisoners and reduce tensions with the
opposition.
The absence of President Fidel Castro at the huge military parade in
this capital on Saturday and the forcefulness of the message Raul
delivered in his speech for the occasion - extending a hand to the
United States and emphasizing the role on the island of the armed forces
- several opposition leaders said, confirm that the country has entered
a new phase that could bring political change to Cuba.
Manuel Cuesta Morua, the leader of the moderate Arco Progresista
opposition group, said that Fidel's absence from the parade - which was
held, in part, as a belated 80th birthday celebration for the communist
icon - "is the political confirmation of the succession of his brother
Raul, (who gave) a speech fully (reflecting his status as) head of
state."
"December 2 (was) D-Day, the tipping point of this new phase," Cuesta
told Efe.
He said that his judgment was that Fidel - who has been going through a
lengthy and open-ended recovery from emergency intestinal surgery on
July 31 - "will not return to power, but will maintain himself as a
reserve symbol of the Revolution."
Raul's speech "could mean more difficult times for the Cuban
opposition," Cuesta Morua said, adding that the defense minister "should
think in terms of national security for Cuba and take steps to make the
government's conduct toward the opposition more flexible."
"There's no sense in trying to neutralize and destroy the opposition. It
makes more sense to reduce the repression and take steps toward freeing
the political prisoners to then seek a pact for a peaceful transition
within Cuba," he said.
Former political prisoner Oscar Espinosa Chepe said that "what (Raul's
speech) yesterday confirmed was that there's a new era in Cuba. It seems
to me that the era of Fidel Castro is over."
Raul's speech was a "hopeful" one, Chepe said, given the acting Cuban
leader's proposal to engage in dialogue with Washington on the level of
mutual respect, but it "is insufficient ... (and) will make it difficult
for Europe and the United States to be able to have fruitful
conversations with the Cuban government if it doesn't take concrete
steps like freeing the political prisoners."
Washington "also should take steps," he said, not to block visits of
Cuban-Americans to the island because "that would help the transition at
a time like this ... (and) both parties should lower the level of the
rhetoric, which doesn't help at all."
Miriam Leyva of the Ladies in White, a group of imprisoned dissidents'
wives and other relatives, said that the "new phase" opened in Cuba
required economic changes and the release of the political prisoners.
"We have great possibilities for the future if the authorities in power
fulfill (their duty) to the people. The people are exhausted," Leyva
said, adding that if the necessary changes are not made, the government
"would have to respond with repression and would go down in history as a
bloody dictatorship, and I don't think anybody wants that to happen."
Vladimiro Roca, of Todos Unidos, agreed that "another phase" had begun
in Cuba, saying that "up to now, Raul's statements have been much more
positive than those Fidel Castro had made, ... (but) we have to await
the facts. Words are just talk."
Meanwhile, after Raul's Saturday speech, the U.S. government said that
it would maintain its policy toward Cuba and that any dialogue regarding
political change on the communist-ruled island must take place among
Cubans.
"The dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban regime
and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island," State
Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus told reporters on Saturday.
The U.S. government statement came in reaction to Raul's remarks that
Cuba was ready to "resolve at the negotiation table the prolonged
dispute between the United States and Cuba."
However, Hironimus added that, as the U.S. government has repeatedly
said, "any deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends on that
dialogue (among Cubans) and the Cuban regime's willingness to take
concrete steps toward a political opening and a transition to democracy"
on the island.
Upon being asked by Efe about whether the U.S. statement signaled a
rejection of the offer for dialogue extended by Havana, the State
Department spokeswoman said that "our policy has been clear ... It is
the Cuban government that must make changes."
Since he provisionally turned over authority to Raul and team of top
government officials, Fidel has not appeared in public while he has been
convalescing.
Several videotapes have been released of him sitting in a chair, lying
in bed and doing very light exercise, all in all looking like a man who
is - perhaps - slowly on the mend from a major health crisis. However,
during the entire time, the precise nature of his illness has remained a
"state secret." EFE jlp/bp
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