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Posted on Tue, Mar. 26, 2002 in
The Miami Herald
Promoters of reforms in Cuba report harassment
HAVANA - (AP) -- Promoters within Cuba of a national referendum calling for
political reforms complained Monday that some participants have been detained
and harassed during their drive to gather signatures.
''The authorities, through these illegal acts, want to impede the
presentation of the petition for the referendum,'' activist Oswaldo Payá
Sardiñas, a leading promoter of the so-called Varela Project, wrote in a
communiqué sent to international news organizations.
In some cases, Payá wrote, authorities have seized lists of
signatures and affidavits certifying their authenticity.
He provided no details about the alleged detentions.
Dissidents have said that they have collected the 10,000 signatures needed
to force a referendum on overhauling Cuba's socialist government but they are
still checking the signatures before delivering the petition to the National
Assembly.
The Varela Project appears to be the first signature-gathering effort to get
this far under the government of Fidel Castro, in power for 43 years.
''Change at all levels is a vital necessity for Cuba and the Varela Project
is one way to obtain change peacefully,'' Payá said.
The referendum would ask voters whether guarantees are needed to assure the
rights of free speech and association and whether they an amnesty for
political prisoners. It would also call for new electoral laws and more
opportunities for Cubans to run their own private businesses.
Castro's government has not commented publicly on the effort.
The project is named for Father Félix Varela, a Roman Catholic priest
who fought for the emancipation of slaves on the Caribbean island.
The referendum was first mentioned by the Christian Liberation Movement, a
group that Payá heads, shortly after Pope John Paul II's visit here in
January 1998.
Cuban asylum-seekers find Spain harsh
60-day stay allowed, but no aid
By Julienne Gage. Special to The Herald.
MADRID - ''In Havana, they say that Spain is Cuba with more food and
economic opportunities,'' says Dalie Céspedis, one of more than 500
Cubans who have recently sought asylum in the Spanish capital. "Now I
wonder if it's true.''
Coming in search of new livelihoods, the Cubans are part of the biggest
influx of asylum-seekers from the communist island ever to hit Spain. And while
they have been granted a 60-day humanitarian'' permit that allows them to stay,
the document does not guarantee shelter, food or employment.
Now the Cubans are finding it hard to make ends meet in a country where
refugees are increasingly unwelcome, in large measure because of their growing
number.
''There's little freedom or economic security in Cuba,'' said Céspedis,
shivering under his thin nylon jacket on a cold, windy day. "But at least I
had education, food, health care and family. I thought Spain would be the land
of democracy and freedom. It's cold sleeping on the streets. I haven't had a
good meal in two days.''
261 IN A WEEK
Spanish authorities say 261 Cuban asylum-seekers entered the country between
March 7 and 14, the largest single group in one week. In January, 140 Cubans
arrived in Madrid. Smaller groups had been trickling in for several month before
that, and more came in February. Most arrived on flights from Havana to Moscow,
which stop over in Madrid.
In 1999, only 178 Cubans petitioned for political asylum in Spain, but last
year the number grew to 3,000. Since the Spanish government contends that these
Cubans are economic immigrants without proof of political persecution, they
cannot seek political asylum.
In response to the influx, the Spanish government has decided last week to
require Cubans traveling from Havana to Moscow and other international
destinations to have transit visas in order to go through Barajas International
Airport.
Without such visas, which often become the instrument that allows visitors
to seek refuge in the country instead of merely ing through, the possibility
of visiting Spain is virtually foreclosed for most Cubans.
BLEAK PROSPECTS
The result is that few if any Cubans will be arriving in Spain to seek
political refuge -- at least, not directly from Havana. But for the last few
hundred who made it in, the immediate prospects are bleak.
''In Cuba we're not dying of hunger, but we came here searching for better
prosperity,'' says Céspedis, who lived on the streets during his first
weeks in Spain. "We'd never left Cuba, so we were totally misinformed about
the opportunities here.''
The government maintains that the Cubans will have to legalize their status
like all other immigrants, but the process is cumbersome and the outcome
uncertain.
In the past, Cubans could request Spanish residency and work papers, offered
occasionally under immigration amnesties, but the growing number of Cuban
applications has led to the imposition of the transit visa policy.
The last mass amnesty for immigrants was held in July 2001. On Jan. 14 this
year, the government signed a strict agreement that allocates work permit quotas
to specified countries. Potential immigrants must apply from their country of
origin.
SHUT OUT
Because the Cuban government does not allow its citizens to emigrate for
employment, average Cubans are shut out of the process.
Many Cubans who have sought asylum abroad contend that if they return home,
they could be blacklisted for state-run jobs. The alternative is to stay and
find employment without work permits.
In theory, recipients may ask for an extension on their humanitarian visas,
but Fernando Oliván, the immigration representative for the Association
of Lawyers of Madrid, said he is almost certain the Cubans will be denied.
Even if the results are positive, the process could take a year.
''Spanish law is basically driving these Cubans into a situation of
illegality,'' he said.
Aside from the Cubans, an estimated 250,000 immigrants to Spain who failed
to obtain legalization in the last amnesty arrived before the restrictions were
tightened in January.
Recent immigrants from Cuba spend their mornings at Madrid's Cuban Center
seeking information on how to find jobs, apartments and legal help because
humanitarian status does not grant them a work permit.
New arrivals complain that Spain's Cuban community is not united.
Says Henry Garbey, a Cuban doctor, who has sought assistance: "People
will help you out for a few days but then nobody wants to be burdened.'' | 
