Dissidents Unite to Demand Change

Agenda para la Transicion ("Agenda for a Transition"), which is comprised of representatives from 32 opposition parties and dissident organizations within Cuba, released a statement yesterday stressing that there can only be "real change" on the island pursuant to democratic reforms, the unconditional release of political prisoners and the ratification of international human rights accords.

During a press conference in Havana, the opposition members said that Gen. Raul Castro's regime must "put an end to the permanent repression of society and the human rights movement."

They also asked that the regime ratify "without reservation" the human rights accords that it has signed, hold "free and plural elections" and respect the right of Cubans to display their "free business initiative."

The statement was read by Agenda spokesman Francisco Chaviano, a Cuban human rights activist and former mathematics professor, who served a 15 year prison term for his efforts to document the cases of people who have disappeared or died while trying to flee Cuba. He was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.