Posted on Mon, Mar. 07, 2005

Speak truth to tyranny

OUR OPINION: SUPPORT CUBA'S EMBATTLED AND COURAGEOUS DISSIDENT MOVEMENT

Cuba's embattled dissident movement is back in action -- after suffering a vicious crackdown only two years ago. In March 2003, Cuba's dictatorship began rounding up dozens of activists who increasingly had pushed for democratic changes. By mid-April 2003, 75 dissidents had been subjected to summary trials and sentenced to prison terms averaging 19 years. Cuba's dissident movement was fractured and paralyzed.

Today, however, Cuban dissidents are speaking out -- three of them even testified before Congress last week. These activists command international press attention, criticize the one-party state and are organizing political events -- actions deemed ''illegal'' by Cuba's totalitarian legal system. In true democratic form, these activists are disagreeing among themselves.

Our hearts and support are with these courageous men and women who speak truth in the face of tyranny, risking imprisonment or worse. Martha Beatriz Roque, René Gómez and Félix Bonne, the three who spoke to U.S. House panels via telephone, were members of the Group of Four who were imprisoned for nearly three years after releasing their critique of the regime, The Homeland Belongs to Us All, in 1997. Ms. Roque was jailed again in the 2003 crackdown, sentenced to 20 years and released under supervision last year because of her poor health. None of this stopped her from telling U.S. lawmakers that she supported tough U.S. policies against Cuba or from organizing a meeting of dissident groups on May 20, Cuba's independence day.

We fiercely defend her and every Cuban's right to express their ideas and promote their vision for Cuba's future. We also urge the international community, particularly in the Americas, to redouble pressure on the regime to release political prisoners. Free nations mustn't acquiesce to the dictator's attempts to snuff out dissent.