Press release of the “#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government” campaign regarding the mediation of the Catholic Church in the release of Cuban political prisoners.

The mediation of the Church

The recent dialogue between the high hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the Cuban government regarding the release of the political prisoners is a promising event. We are in favor of negotiations to achieve this goal which is the fundamental reason of being of our campaign.

We also celebrate the strengthening of the mediating capacity of the Church, as long as it does not assume the role of the parties it intends to mediate for. The negotiation is not between the Church and the government, but between the government and the pro-democracy sector of the Cuban population, which has been systematically repressed by the regime.

The willingness of the government to dialogue with the Church comes out of a specific context, which is impossible to conceal. This dialogue has arrived after the supreme sacrifice of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the hunger and thirst strike of Guillermo Fariñas, the marches of the Ladies in White and the Ladies in Support, the effective unity among the opposition, the exile, the Cuban civil society and the international community who joined for a fair demand the release of political prisoners and the respect of human rights in Cuba. Any release that presupposes the fracture of that unity on those factors goes against the interest of those who remain in prison.

Our commitment is with the 26 political prisoners for whom Guillermno Fariñas is carrying his hunger strike as well as with the victims of the Black Spring. But not only with them. Our goal is to not go back to the situation of Cuba in March 2003. The “#OZT: I Accuse the Cuban Government” campaign will last as long as there are political prisoners in Cuba and its citizens are denied the exercise of human rights.