Cuba’s Opposition Leaders Ask Latin America to Ignore Succession in Cuba

A group of Cuban opposition leaders during a press conference in Miami after the announcement of the change of policy towards the island. (14ymedio)

14ymedio biggerEFE, via 14ymedio, 9 April 2018 — A group of 16 leaders of the internal opposition in Cuba urged the governments of the region, on Monday, to “ignore the Castro dictatorship” when Raúl Castro hands over power on 19 April, and asked the Organization of American States (OAS) “for concrete and firm actions to support the Cuban people.”

In an open letter addressed to the OAS and its member states, obtained by EFE, the opponents, among them Berta Soler, Guillermo Fariñas, Antonio Rodiles and Jorge Luis García “Antúnez,” ask the region to pay attention to the imminent departure of Castro from the Government.

The opponents warn that Castro’s successor will be “a finger-pointing puppet” and that his “relatives, henchmen and associates will redistribute economic positions and control to guarantee the dynasty indefinitely.”

With this in mind, they urge governments to take a “positive step, ignoring the Castro dictatorship and its dynastic succession and demanding the release of political prisoners.”

They also ask the region to “accept” the Cuban opposition as a legitimate political actor and to form a bloc of countries “that exert pressure through economic and political sanctions against the regime.”

Although the signatories highlight the work of OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, they point out that this organization must undertake “concrete and firm actions to support the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom and democracy.”

They say that Almagro’s work “has taken a favorable turn in comparison with previous periods, but the actions are weak even in the face of such a challenging scenario.”

“Convictions and actions with greater impact are needed,” the signatories wrote.

According to the opposition leaders, the fact that “the Castroist presence has exported its repressive technology to Venezuela” is scandalous and “the permissive positioning of the region is inexplicable.”

They stressed that “only” the government of US President Donald Trump, “has been consistent in its behavior to put an end to the regime’s absurd agenda of legitimization, promoted by former President (Barack) Obama (2009-2017).”

They stressed that Trump “has in his sights sanctions against the military power on the island and the companies that gravitate around the Castro family.”

On the other hand, they described as “inexplicable” the silence of Latin America about the interference of the “Cuban dictatorship” in the “democratic rupture” of Venezuela.

The letter is also signed by the opponents Antonio Ángel Moya, Félix Navarro, Eduardo Díaz Fleitas, Ailer González, Gorki Águila, María Cristina Labrada, Ángel Santiesteban, Raúl Borges, Juan Alberto de la Nuez, Benito Fojaco, Claudio Fuentes and Juan González Febles.

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