Puente Democrático

Speech by Glanis Changachirere, Institute for Young Women Development, Zimbabwe: On the Occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 7th World Assembly, October 14th, 2012 in Lima, Peru.

Essential human rights principles say that for citizens ‘everything which is not forbidden is allowed’ while for the government ‘everything which is not allowed is forbidden’. But authoritarian states manage to turn these principles upside down both in law and it practice.

Immediately one can listen to the optimistic readings on political changes in Cuba, as if ignoring the repressive regime's skill to hold in power for more than half a century. However, so long as first generation human rights are considered a crime, nothing will change in that country and those who are being released can be sent back to prison anytime.

For a month, Cuba has detained a USAID contractor for passing out laptops. It's time for the U.S. to send over a whole lot more.

This document seeks to study the UPR corresponding to the Cuban regime, which took place during the fourth working session of the UPR Working Group, in the period February 2nd-13th 2009, and its corresponding context. The focus is comparative between two regions of the world: Latin American governments and European governments.

Let me say upfront, unequivocally: what occurred on June 28, 2009, in Honduras was a coup and should be condemned for the violation of constitutional, democratic rule that it is. And unlike the street coups that removed Presidents Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Bolivia) or Lucio Gutiérrez (Ecuador), this one was positively 1970s-style retrograde: the marching of military officers into President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales’ residence, his forced removal (or kidnapping as he called it) at gun point, his being placed by military brass on a plane to be flown out of the country, and the swearing in of a new president, Roberto Micheletti—the speaker of the Honduran Congress.

Committed diplomacy is a problematic concept. Even though its exact definition is elusive, it is a practice that is backed by sufficient historical evidence to be recognized internationally. However, that does not subtract from the fact that the acts of diplomats committed to human rights beyond their call of duty are a scarce minority.

As a sort of contemporary slaves, we, the Cuban people in the middle of the 21st century, do not only depend on government permissions to leave or to return to our country, but we are also constantly confronted with the violation of our right to free movement, as the permissions are granted arbitrarily, they are delayed or refused, causing a deep grief within thousands of innocent families, who, paralyzed by their fear, are unable to claim for the respect of their basic rights.

Kirchnerism has exploited the issue of human rights politically, and lacks the most minimal concern for the subject. Cristina's trip to Cuba leaves no doubt about it, especially when, to top it off, she was received by the elderly dictator Fidel Castro, and had the delicateness of considering that event “a distinction for the entire Argentinean people”.

The Rio Group is a Latin American mechanism of political articulation and diplomatic negotiation which was created in 1986 and currently consists of 23 member countries. The Rio Group decided to incorporate the Cuban dictatorship as a full-fledged member during the presidential summit of Mercosur.

Political transitions are highly uncertain events. For example, in 1988, the conventional wisdom was that communist rule in Eastern Europe was entrenched and would last into the indefinite future. The right question to ask about Cuba is not what will happen but rather what could happen. The latter question implies more than one possible future scenario. In this article, I construct and discuss alternative futures in Cuba after Fidel Castro passes away. The possibility of a transition to democracy in Cuba depends mainly on three causal factors.