2005 Steps to Freedom Report Released at IRI

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 7, 2006

Washington, D.C. -The Cuban Democratic Directorate (Directorio) released its 2005 Steps to Freedom report at the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Wednesday, December 6, 2006. The report provides a detailed account of dissident activity in Cuba.

This year’s report describes more than 3,300 acts of peaceful civic resistance, an 83 percent increase versus last year’s count of more than 1,800. The 2005 data shows that dissident activity in Cuba continues to drastically increase.

General Jose Quevedo, the highest ranking army officer ever to defect from Cuba, spoke at the event. In his first appearance in Washington, D.C. since coming to the U.S. three years ago, General Quevedo gave a lengthy and emotional speech, calling on his people to stop cooperating with the dictatorship, while also offering reassurances to his people about the future. He described an environment in Cuba that was ruled by corruption, cult of personality and ideological control. After meeting with senior policymakers in Washington, Quevedo said he felt compelled to reassure Cubans of the U.S.’s benign intentions towards the island. “The Cuban people can’t see what I see, and read what I read,” he said.

In concluding his speech, General Quevedo told of a dream he’d had, in which Havana’s famous lighthouse, El Morro, was covered in the tears of the Cuban people. “One day soon,” he said, “Cuba’s growing movement for democracy would be big enough to wipe all the tears away.” General Quevedo served more than 47 years in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, most notably as Cuba’s military envoy to the Soviet Union for nine years, and later as director of Cuba’s military academy.

IRI President Lorne Craner welcomed the report, “In the more than 10 years that I’ve worked with Directorio, this is the most hopeful and inspiring account I have seen of Cuba’s growing non-violent resistance movement.”

Directorio’s President, Javier Decespedes, and National Secretary, Dr. Orlando Gutierrez, echoed Craner’s sentiments. In the words of Gutierrez, “Cuba’s dissidents are now too many to arrest. Raul Castro cannot put thousands of people in jail.” Directorio predicted that the regime will continue to use military force to try to stay in power, but that won’t be enough to win legitimacy. “True legitimacy can only come from the ballot box,” said Gutierrez.

IRI began working to support a peaceful transition in Cuba in 1993. The first program distributed educational materials to activists inside Cuba, an effort that continues today. Since 1993, programs supporting the pro-freedom movement have been carried out in cooperation with IRI's partner, Directorio, based in Miami, Florida. Through this partnership, literature on lessons learned from recent democratic transitions in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Latin America is being provided to Cubans on the island. In addition, leaders, activists and the general public throughout Latin America and Europe generate valuable international support and solidarity for activists in Cuba. IRI's program assists in channeling this support to these activists and ensuring that the international community is aware of their courageous efforts.

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