Inevitably, Rosa María Payá is identified as the daughter of Oswaldo Payá. That is how it should be. He was one of the greatest democracy champions of our time (murdered by the Cuban regime in 2012). But Rosa María is a formidable democracy leader in her own right. Her father would be very pleased.
She and I have recorded a podcast, a Q&A, here.
Rosa María, born in 1989, is the founder of “Cuba Decides.” (I have rendered the name of the organization in English.) She is poised, sharp, delightful, and brave. On our podcast, we discuss a number of key issues, starting with political prisoners.
Carlos Michael Morales is on hunger strike. He decided he was either going to win his release, through that strike, or die. He is sick of being imprisoned and tortured. He is an independent journalist. A heroic person.
So is José Daniel Ferrer, a veteran democracy campaigner. He worked with Oswaldo Payá. He is in an isolation cell. Rosa María says that months go by without any word on Ferrer — whether he is dead or alive. When international pressure builds, his wife or daughter is permitted to stand at the door of his cell, to confirm that he is still alive.
José Barrios is dead. He died, in prison, last November, at 37.
How many political prisoners are there? At least 1,100, says Rosa María. That is the approximate number determined by civic organizations. But there are thousands of others, especially young people, imprisoned on the charge of “pre-criminal social dangerousness.” In other words, you haven’t committed a crime yet. But you may be disposed that way.
(I thought of this earlier this year when reading a report from Meduza, the Russian news organization in exile. “At the request of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry, the Health Ministry has drafted a bill that would grant law enforcement access to confidential medical records if patients are deemed ‘prone to committing socially dangerous acts.’”)
The alliance between Havana and Moscow is long-standing, of course. It has intensified in recent years, as Rosa María says. Thousands of Cubans are fighting alongside Russians in Ukraine. Some of these young men, says Rosa María, were coaxed to the region on the promise of construction jobs.
Kremlin propaganda outlets, such as RT, are banned in the EU. But, as Rosa María points out, the Kremlin gets around this ban thanks to its Cuban friends — who broadcast the propaganda through their own outlets, which are not banned.
Havana’s alliance with Beijing is less well-known than its alliance with Moscow, but it is strong, and growing stronger. Of interest is a report by Warren P. Strobel of the Wall Street Journal, published on July 2: “Satellite Images Show Expansion of Suspected Chinese Spy Bases in Cuba.” That report is subheaded, “Analysts identified four electronic eavesdropping stations, including a previously unreported site near a U.S. naval base.”
The name of Oswaldo Payá is virtually synonymous with “democracy.” Last year, I wrote an essay on democracy, citing Payá and his work (and the Chinese democrats and many others). The impetus for my essay was this: All around me, people bad-mouth democracy, misunderstanding it or outright hostile to it.
On our podcast, Rosa María Payá says, “It is not only the strategy of the Cuban regime, but also the strategy of the Chinese Communist Party, and of Tehran, and of Putin: to try to discredit democracy.” Obviously, democracies have imperfections, says Rosa María. But, within a democracy, people have a chance to correct or mitigate those imperfections.
At the end of our conversation, I tell her what I usually do: that I look forward to being with her in a free Cuba, perhaps standing in front of a monument to her father. (Rosa María is such a monument herself — a living one.)
Again, our podcast is here.
When we stopped Zooming, stopped recording, Rosa María said, “You know, I never got around to saying what I think we should do.” I invited her to send me a written statement. Here it is:
Despite hunger, repression, exodus, and Russian ships, the Cuban people continue to rebel against oppression. Protests are multiplying throughout the national territory. We Cubans know that to overcome the crisis, we must overcome the dictatorship. We are prepared. The vast majority of civic organizations and the opposition on the island and in exile are committed to an Agreement for Democracy that contains the fundamental steps of the transition process we aspire to.
Our movement, Cuba Decides, is a national and global initiative that provides a pathway to the transition. It involves holding a binding plebiscite to change the system and return decision-making power to the Cuban people for the first time in over 65 years. Cubans are ready, we have the courage, and we have a plan — one that includes addressing the difficult economic and social situation that Castroism will leave behind.
We know that dictatorships respond only to pressure, and we are applying it through all peaceful means at our disposal. At the same time, to ensure that the dictators give in to the will of the citizens and leave, international support is necessary. Western democracies must be willing to affect the interests of the ruling group in Cuba and pressure them towards democratic change. Just as they did to end apartheid in South Africa over 30 years ago, today they must stand with the Cuban people to tear down the Berlin Wall of the Americas, which is the dictatorship in Havana.