Moscow, April 3, 1996
Communism, being strategically wrecked in the last decade in Europe, is still withholding its positions in Asia and in one of the most long-suffering countries of Latin America - in Cuba. The cruel suppressing of civil liberties, repressions against dissidents, depressingly low life standards, absolute absence of civil rights and absolute power of communist elite - this is daily reality in Cuba. However, the fierce police regime would not be able to keep its power only by its own forces. Fidel Castro and his political environment are safeguarded by political and military support of other communist states; by economical support of some post-communist countries and, according to some sources, also by hidden support from side of several Western democracies. If Fidel Castro is being accepted on the highest level in Paris, and afterwards he goes to the UN General Assembly in New York - what could prevent the old Soviet friends of Fidel from supplying him modern arms, petrol, machines, other technics? The price of
such compromises, concessions or even simply corruption is freedom, life and dignity of Cuban citizens.
We came together in order to remind to our compatriots and moreover - to our government, that conniving at communist despotism in Cuba they encourage tyranny and cruelty, which our own country has been so much suffering from not a long time ago. Some of us felt in the past the gravity of Soviet regime's repressions. In that 70s and 80s - not yet a long time ago - many people in the West responsive to someone else's pain and someone else's suffering, came to our country to help at least by some way dissidents, families of political prisoners, to help our movement for freedom and human rights. Today Cuban dissidents need our support not less that we needed twenty years ago. Our duty is to help them.
Olga ANTONOVA, Radical Party;
Vitalij BOGDANOV, director of Human Rights News Agency "Express-Chronicle";
Valerij BORSCEV, member of the State Duma;
Aleksandr OGORODNIKOV, leader of Russian Christian Democratic Union, former political prisoner;
Aleksandr PODRABINEK, coordinator of Russian Cuban Committee, editor-in-chief of "Express Chronicle" human rights weekly, former political prisoner;
Aleksandr SEDOV, doctor of biology;
Nikolaj KHRAMOV, Radical Party.
---------------------------------------------------------
The present Declaration has been made public on the press conference of Russian Cuban Committee in Moscow on April 3, 1996.
