Cuba Civil Society Open Forum meets for the 7th time

Havana/Some twenty activists, political leaders, intellectuals and artists participated in a new meeting of Cuban Civil Society Open Forum last Friday morning. At the meeting they discussed the need to take into account in future discussions the organization of the parallel forums at the recent Summit of the Americas.

The discussion touched on points such as the lack of transparency on the part of the State in the administration of public funds, the participation of independent candidates in elections and the current state of Cuban society.

An intense discussion developed around several initiatives, such as “Citizen Hour” inscribed within the Constitutional Consensus project, which seeks to promote a new elections law, as well as a new law of associations and political parties. Also discussed was a proposal to create five working groups on the issues of human rights, democracy and governability, civil society, communications, and the private sector.

Finally, it was agreed to send a letter to the European Union, the US government and the Cuban government expressing the deep concerns of the participants with the systematic repression against human rights activists and against the citizenry in general, which contrasts with the context in which they are promoting understanding and dialog.

Among the participants were the artist Tania Bruguera and the writer Victor Manuel Dominguez. The attorney Laritza Diversent and opposition member Manuel Cuesta Morua also spoke at the event, along the analyst Pedro Campos and the Baptist minister Mario Felix Lleonart, among others.