Varela Project

The Varela Project was a Cuban based dissident-led political reform movement active in Cuba in 2002 and 2003 led by by Oswaldo Payá (of the Christian Liberation Movement) and others. The Varela Project organization is most famous for circulating a citizens' proposal of law advocating for liberal democratic political reforms of the Cuban government, such as the establishment of freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom to start private businesses, and amnesty for political prisoners. The citizens' proposal relied on Article #88(h) in the constitution, adopted in 1976, which provides for citizens' proposals of law, prerequisite that the proposal be made by at least 10,000 citizens who are eligible to vote. [1] "Proyecto Varela" was named after Félix Varela, a Cuban religious leader.

The Varela Project movement enjoyed strong support from expatriate Cuban-Americans and the United States government. [2] Varela Project leaders were accused by the Cuban government of accepting foreign political support from James Cason of the United States State Department for political purposes, which is against Cuban law. In March of 2003, the Cuban government enforced a crackdown on political dissent, which is illegal in Cuba, resulting in approximately 75 dissenters being tried and convicted, approximately one half of which were associated with the Varela Project movement. This crackdown was met with widespread criticism internationally.

Initiative

The Varela Project citizens' initative called for the holding of a national referendum on civil liberties, including freedom of speech, an amnesty for political prisoners, support for private business, a new electoral law, and a general election.

The organization reported having collected 11,020 signatures, more than the requisite number for consideration by Cuban National Assembly. The Cuban National Assembly Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee tabled the Varela Project citizens' initative, and responded with its own contrary initiative. This initiative, for which the government claimed 99% voter approval, provided the constitution be amended to make permanent the socialist nature of Cuba's government. [3] A BBC reporter noted that many Cubans said they felt pressured into signing the government's petition. [4] According to the United States State Department, "activists reported increased harassment by State Security agents. Authorities arrested and detained Varela activists, confiscated signatures, fined and threatened activists and signers, and forced signers to rescind signatures. State Security impersonated canvassing volunteers and increasingly infiltrated the ranks of activists. In May and June, Oswaldo Paya reported State Security agents visited and pressured more than 50 Varela Project signatories to retract their signatures and denounce the Varela Project activists who had collected their signatures." [5]

Repression of the movement

The Cuban government portrayed the movement as being manipulated by the US government for the purposes of subverting Cuba. It maintains that the head of the US Special Interests section in Havana, James Cason, has given money, gifts and support to dissidents in Cuba associated with the Varela Project and that this justifies the crackdown.

The Foreign Minister of the Repúblic of Cuba, Felipe Pérez Roque stated on April 9, 2003 that "The Varela Project is part of a strategy of subversion against Cuba that has been conceived, financed, and directed from abroad with the active participation of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. It is part of the same subversive design and has no basis whatsoever in Cuban law. It is a crude manipulation of Cuba’s laws and Constitution." [6]

In March 2003, Cuba arrested 75 human rights activists, including 25 members of the Varela Project, on a variety of charges; all were sentenced to prison in trials within twenty days of their arrest. [7] The Cuban Ministry of Justice announced that, "On April 3, 4, 5 and 7 [2003], counterrevolutionaries recently detained for their known participation in mercenary activities and other acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state appeared in the Crimes against State Security courtrooms attached to the country’s provincial courts in a public hearing." The defendants were given sentences of 6 to 28 years. [8] Many of those arrested had no knowledge of the charges against them or access to attorneys until moments before a one-day trial, which was by a judge subordinate to the Communist Party. [9]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern regarding the arrests and summary trials, as did many governments, and international organizations. [10] Amnesty International, declared that all 75 jailed activists were "prisoners of conscience" and that their methods were non-violent, and their philosophy was democratic. [11]

The Cuban Penal Code includes the concept of "dangerousness," defined as the "special proclivity of a person to commit crimes, demonstrated by his conduct in manifest contradiction of socialist norms." If the police decide that a person exhibits signs of dangerousness, they may bring the offender before a court or subject him to therapy or political reeducation. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, this provision amounted to a subjective criterion used by the Government to justify violations of individual freedoms and due process for persons whose sole crime was to hold a view different from the official view. [12]

Status of members

• Oswaldo Payá, a long-time opponent of the Cuban government, remains free.

• Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a Varela Project leader and one of the 75 activists arrested in March 2003, reported serving 45 days in a punishment cell with no light or available water for protesting the suspension of correspondence and the delivery of food and medical supplies from his family. He did not receive food or water during the first 3 days of his confinement and slept on a cement floor. Authorities confiscated his Bible and prohibited any contact with other prisoners. Ferrer is serving a 25 year sentence for "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State." [13]

• Fabio Prieto Llorente, one of the 75 activists arrested in March 2003, reported he was held in a small cell with leaky walls and a cement slab for a bed. The cell was infested with rats, frogs, and insects. Prieto is serving a 20 year sentence for "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State." [14]

• Yarai Reyes, wife of Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, another of the 75 political prisoners arrested in March 2003, reported that prison authorities incited common prisoners to beat her husband. Hernandez is serving a 25 year sentence for "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State." [15]

• Barbara Rojo Arias, wife of Omar Ruiz Hernandez, an independent journalist and another of the 75 human rights activists arrested in March 2003, reported that her husband was denied access to required medications for his heart condition and stomach problems. Ruiz is serving an 18 year sentence for "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State." [16]

• Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a Varela Project political prisoner released in 2004, reported that prison officials regularly denied him adequate medical treatment during his 20-month incarceration. [17]

• Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, founder of the Lawton Center and an advocate of the non-violent philosophy espoused by Martin Luther King, Jr., was forced to live on handouts from fellow prisoners because the prison did not permit his wife to bring in the meager rations of food and medicine that are allowed other prisoners. As a result, he lost 60 pounds and is in poor health. [18]

Observer reaction

While the Varela Project was lauded by some outside observers such as former US President Jimmy Carter and the European Union, which awarded Payá the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, other observers have voiced skepticism. [19] 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry called the initiative and its results "counterproductive". [20]

External links

• "Proyecto Varela" - Official web site for the Varela Project.
• "Varela Project" - Cuban Democratic Directorate entry.
• "Analysis of the Proyecto Varela"
• "Washington's 'Cuban Dissidents'" - Article by left wing publication Zmag.
• Cuba Socialista - Photograph of Varela Project founder Oswaldo Payá at the home of the director of the U.S. Interests Section James Cason.