Cuban Civil Society Open Forum Holds Third Meeting
La Habana/The Cuban Civil Society Open Forum held its third meeting this Wednesday with 25 people attending, among them activists, opponents and members of civic groups. The first point on the agenda was the approval of a document titled “Ethical Path for Cuban Civil Society,” which lays out the basic principles that should be supported. Also under discussion were internal organizational issues relative to the inclusion and representation of the participants.
A motion of solidarity with Venezuela (see below) was passed during the day and important agreements were made with regards to the attendance of Cuban civil society at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, to be held this coming April 10-11. Finally, those present were invited to make proposals about the elements and improvements that should be included in the next Elections Act, announced last Monday in an official note after the Tenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
On this occasion there were new faces around the table, while other activists weren’t present as they were participating events abroad or for other reasons. As has already been seen, a characteristic of the Open Forum is that discussion are of a frank character, marked by precise arguments and a thorough knowledge of the national reality.
Among those attending (see below), the idea prevailed that Open Forum is emerging as a good opportunity for civil society to find new points of consensus, but without the intention of becoming a political coalition. The horizontality in which everyone keeps their own individual personality is one of the most notable strengths of this organization, which resists being considered a group to which people belong, because it prefers to define itself as a place where people participate.
The participants confirmed that the Open Forum is “without hierarchies, or party discipline, but moved by a common denominator, love of Cuba and the stubborn will to seek solutions to the problems of the country.”
Motion of Solidarity with Venezuela
The independent Cuban Civil Society Open Forum meeting in Havana on 25 February 2015, has a approved a motion of solidarity with Venezuelan civil society and opposition victims of the repression unleashed by the government of that nation.
We emphasize our support for the former member of the National Assembly María Corina Machado; opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has already served a year in prison; and Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, elected by the popular will, recently imprisoned.
Attendees
- José Díaz Silva (UNPACU)
- José Daniel Ferrer García (UNPACU)
- José Conrado Rodríguez (Diócesis de Cienfuegos)
- José A. Fornaris (Asociación por la Libertad de Prensa)
- Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (FANTU)
- Fernando Palacio Nogar (Partido Solidaridad Liberal Cubano)
- Félix Navarro Rodríguez (Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel)
- Ernesto García Pérez(Unión Social Comunitaria Cubana)
- Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz (CCDHRN)
- Eliécer Lázaro Ávila Cicilia (Somos +)
- Eduardo Díaz Fleitas (UNPACU)
- Dagoberto Valdés Hernández (Director de Convivencia)
- Belkis Cantillo (CXD) Ciudadanas por la Democracia)
- Karina Gálvez Chiu (Proyecto Convivencia)
- Laritza Diversent Cámbara (Cubalex)
- Lázaro Báez (Movimiento ONR)
- Librado Linares García (Movimiento Cubano Reflexión)
- Mario Félix Lleonart (Instituto Patmos)
- Miriam Celaya González (Periodista Independiente)
- Pedro Campos Santos (Boletín SPD)
- Reinaldo Escobar Casas (periodista)
- René Gómez Manzano (Corriente Agramontista de Abogados Independientes)
- Saúl Raúl Quiala Velázquez (PSC-Fundación Sucesores)
- Yoaxis Macheco Suárez (Instituto Patmos)
- Yusmila Reyna Ferrera (Periodista independiente)