14ymedio, Havana, 21 September 2018 — The United Antitotalitarian Forum (FANTU) together with the National Front of Civic Resistance “Orlando Zapata Tamayo” (FNRC-OZT) and the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) describe the referendum on constitutional reform as a “huge electoral and media fraud” in a joint statement that the three opposition organizations have launched to make clear their position in this debate.
The signatories affirm that the intention of “the Neo-Raulista dictatorship” is “to appear to change something that, in reality, does not change anything.”
They explain in their statement that there exists differences in the methodologies of the opposition and civil society contrary to the “totalitarianism of the military junta that misgoverns” the nation. These positions range from “total indifference, to voting No in the plebiscite (…) passing through publicly burning the Constitutional Project (…) or providing civic seminars to citizens” and they assert that all of these “should be respected.”
The three organizations believe that it is their “patriotic obligation” to find points of agreement to ensure that these differences are not taken advantage of by the “common enemy: Castroism,” that is why they are sending an invitation “to other pro-democratic opposition leaders or intellectual personalities and independent Cuban politicians, residents both in exile and internally” to join this initiative.
Aware of the damage to the movement caused by the lack of unity demonstrated during decades, the creators of the declaration summon all to look with understanding on their differences, but ask the “distinct anti-Castro actors” to defend their points of view focusing their criticisms on the Government and not on those who fight against it.
“As the Cuban patriots that we are and fighters for freedom and democracy, we are obliged not to give weapons to our enemies,” they demand.
In the document a “unifying phrase” is set forth as “the essence of this joint declaration” and says: “Cubans: do not let Castrismo become legitimate, do not act with indifference to the fraud of the new draft of the Constitution of the Republic, and take action to denounce it as the brazen farce that it is.”
They also propose “to the different civic players (inside and outside of Cuba)” that they maintain “a level of ethics with respect to their pronouncements regarding the different ways to fight against the Constitution project of the Republic of Cuba.”
Guillermo Coco Fariñas, José Daniel Ferrer and Jorge Luis García Antúnez put their signatures on the declaration, each representing their organizations, FANTU, UNPACU and FNRC-OZT, respectively.
Translated by Wilfredo Díaz Echevarria
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