CUBAN ACTIVISTS REACHING OUT TO NAM PARTICIPANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 017126 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2016 TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU SUBJECT: CUBAN ACTIVISTS REACHING OUT TO NAM PARTICIPANTS REF: HAVANA 15674 Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Cuba's "Ladies in White" have started distributing a letter to nations that will participate in or observe Havana's September 11-16 meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. The letter calls on foreign governments to request the immediate, unconditional liberation of Cuba's peaceful political prisoners. Other human rights organizations, including Martha Beatriz Roque's Assembly to Promote Civil Society ("Asamblea"),are also reaching out to Europeans and Latin Americans. Roque told us August 30 that she had heard that the Government of Spain will send a high-level delegation. Dissident doctor Darsi Ferrer is planning to stage a demonstration in central Havana shortly before the (Sept. 15-16) summit, and the "Ladies in White" plan to hold a conspicuous protest march on September 16. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The "Ladies in White" - relatives of Cuban political prisoners - have started contacting Governments that will take part in or observe September's NAM meetings in Havana. In a one-page letter, the group calls for the release of all peaceful political prisoners, but makes a special appeal for the 60 who remain in prison following the 2003 crackdown, in which the GOC arrested, quickly tried and convicted 75 peaceful activists. The "Ladies" are also encouraging foreign governments to urge the GOC not to return to prison the twelve "75ers" currently out on conditional probation. Leading "Lady" Laura Pollan told us on August 24 that her group will hold a rare Saturday march September 16 through a Havana district popular with foreign visitors. (Note: It would be among the Ladies' highest-profile marches yet, and occur on the summit's final day, when many foreign visitors are likely to be in the area. End Note.) ¶3. (C) Pro-democracy activist Martha Beatriz Roque told us August 30 that she had heard from a Slovak diplomat that the Government of Spain is planning to dispatch a high-level delegation to the NAM, probably led by an undersecretary of state. Roque said she had heard elsewhere that the Government of Belgium might also send a delegation. Apart from Spain, Belgium and Russia, Roque said, all other European nations with missions in Havana are expected to send their Chiefs of Mission as observers. We're seeing the Spanish DCM on Friday and will double-check. ¶4. (C) Roque said that on the NAM sidelines, the Asamblea hopes to hold meetings with high-level Latin American delegations, "hopefully including Peru's foreign minister," to discuss Cuba's human rights situation. She added that the Asamblea will soon start visiting Western embassies in Havana - beginning with Slovakia's on August 31 - to request an official answer to the Asamblea's "Day After" transition plan. (The document, reported reftel, outlines the group's vision for the period between the fall of the current regime and the holding of free elections. It emphasizes social, political and economic restoration, envisions guaranteed liberties and calls for governmental decentralization.) ¶5. (C) Dissident doctor Darsi Ferrer, who issued a public appeal August 9 for Cubans to halt cooperation with the regime, told us August 24 that he plans to lead a group of 20 activists in a demonstration shortly before the start of the NAM meetings. Ferrer is pushing ahead with his campaign for a plebiscite on whether the Cuban people should accept the transfer of power to General Raul Castro. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The release of political prisoners is the issue on which the entire pro-democracy opposition agrees; ditto for ourselves and the Europeans. The NAM is a perfect venue to publicize the plight of political prisoners. PARMLY