MIAMI.- Convened by the Cuban Resistance Assembly (ARC), exiles from the island and human rights activists of different nationalities met this Wednesday at the Casa del Preso headquarters in Miami, in order to express their support for the demonstrations that have taken place in the streets of Cuba and reiterate his call to a paro national.
Luis Infante, president of the organization hosting the event, said that it is necessary for the protests in Cuba “have an international impact.” “At all times the cries of ‘Patria y Vida’, homeland and freedom, of a people who live captive on the island have been heard,” he remarked.
Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, national coordinator of the ARC, highlighted the “spiritual union” between “the thousands of Cubans who are asking for freedom and a change of government” and the Cubans in exile.
“We are here to promote the national strike and the cessation of international resources to the regime. We do not want a change like that of Nicaragua where Ortega continues, we want a truly free Cuba”, he emphasized.
March for the freedom of Cuba
The event also served as a platform for the official announcement of a march that will take place on Sunday, March 24. “All lovers of freedom are invited to this march that will leave from the Los Mártires monument on Calle Ocho and 13th Avenue to the Casa del Preso, on 13th Avenue and 11th Street,” he explained.
The walk will begin at 10:00 am and its main purpose, according to Gutiérrez-Boronat, “is to show all those Cubans who have taken to the streets to demand freedom that exile has always been with them because we are one people.”
From the island, some Cubans residing in different locations sent video messages that were shown during the meeting, in which they reaffirmed their support for a national strike as a continuation of the 17M protests.
New song National strike
At the meeting, a new song by Cuban rapper Funky was also presented, titled ‘Paro Nacional’, in which the singer calls for “take us to the Malecón”, an emblematic promenade approximately 8 kilometers long located in Havana.
The artist, who was at the event at the Casa del Preso, maintained that music is “my weapon, my way of saying things to dictators,” while sending a message to the Cuban protesters: “If they are in the street, so do we.”
Cuba without communism
Gutiérrez-Boronat added that “the ARC has a commitment to all those who fight and it is to end communism in Cuba, it has to be out of power, and the same goes for the Castro family. “We are getting closer to that freedom after 65 years.”
After what he stated: “We don’t want anything with communism, we want a new government, a democratic government.”
Other voices
For his part, former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez ‘Antúnez’ asserted that “we are not here calling the people of Cuba to the streets, because the people are already in the streets,” and similarly highlighted the “need” for a national strike.
“I dare to assure you that what we saw in recent days, with Cubans in various locations, is of greater magnitude than what happened on July 11,” said the activist who was in prison for 17 years.
In turn, ARC director Sylvia Iriondo reported that “it has been a long journey,” and that “throughout this exile we have had important moments, we have been excited about an immediate return, but there have been betrayals that have destroyed the possibility of return.”
To which he added: “But this Cuban exile has never given up nor has he stopped standing in solidarity with our people on the island.”
