DISSIDENT LEADERS PLAN TO UNIFY MOVEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000278 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2013 TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PINS SUBJECT: DISSIDENT LEADERS PLAN TO UNIFY MOVEMENT Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Dissident leaders Martha Beatriz Roque and Vladimiro Roca are spearheading an effort they call the "Minimum Agenda Project" (Agenda Minima),which they say is designed to unify dissident efforts towards achieving democratic change in Cuba. They are calling for a meeting on April 10, of 14 leading dissidents to launch the project (Roque and Roca plus Oswaldo Paya, Elizardo Sanchez, Antunez (Jorge Luis Garcia Perez),Felix Bonne, Francisco Chaviano, Rene Gomez Manzano, Idania Yanes, Guillermo Farinas, Bertha Soler, Robert de Miranda, Maria Antonia Hidalgo, and Hector Palacios). Reportedly, all but Paya have already signed on to the project. ¶2. (C) The Agenda Minima has two simple goals: 1) to unify all opposition groups in an effort to free all political prisoners and end harassment of the opposition in Cuba, and 2) create a joint plan to guarantee democratic change in the country. According to Vladimiro Roca, the idea was to reduce the agenda to the most basic demands that all in the opposition could agree upon. As the group listed above includes members of several parts of the Cuban Liberal Party movement, the Social Democratic movement (Roca),and the Christian Democratic movement (Paya),as well as others with their own agendas, this was seen as the only hope for advancing democracy in Cuba. In a conversation with COM, Roque emphasized that the goal of the project is to bring in participants from all sides of the opposition, including groups like FLAMUR and student organizations. ¶3. (C) Roque and Roca also undertook to move the process squarely into the open by visiting a number of the major hotels in Havana in search of a conference center in which to hold the April 10 meeting. According to Martha Beatriz, they were received politely, but told in each case that the hotel facilities were fully booked and nothing could be done. With the news that Cubans are now allowed to stay in hotels, the two are planning to book several rooms for the participants in a hotel, and then meet together in the coffee shop or some other such venue in lieu of using a formal conference center. ¶4. (C) As a corollary to the formation of a unified opposition organization, Roque and Roca also have approached USINT with a plan to channel USG foreign assistance resources more directly to organizations on the island. Part of the plan involves the formation of a board made up of prominent dissidents of all stripes that would review requests for funding to ensure that resources a directed broadly, transparently, and effectively. They promised to have one prototypical project ready for USINT review following the April 10 meeting. ¶5. (C) One major piece of the plan has yet to fall into place: the participation of Oswaldo Paya. Roque and Roca have not yet approached Paya, and recognize that getting him to join in will be difficult. Paya has traditionally resisted joining his organization with the others, citing the threat that the regime could then undermine or roll up the entire dissident movement. Nevertheless, Roque and Roca seem convinced they can persuade Paya to join in before April 10. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: We are supporting wholeheartedly this effort at unity. The Cuban dissident community is often rightly accused of being fractious. As noted above, they represent multiple currents within Cuban society that in a free system would likely be on opposite sides in political debates. However, they all can agree that Cuba will never achieve transition to a democracy in which such debates become normal until those who challenge the regime can come together and agree on a way forward. PARMLY