For forty years, Fidel Castro has held total power in Cuba. He commands the largest army in Latin America relative to the size of the country. He controls a police force that acts beyond the margin of political and moral boundaries. He has such complete control of the economy that with the exception of a few marginal positions, all the jobs on the Island are assigned by the state. He controls all the newspapers, television stations, radios, universities, and the books that are published.
Many would say from a realistic point of view that there is nothing that can be done in Cuba except resign ourselves to this reality; others, with a bit of cynicism would have us accommodate ourselves to the few openings that the regime permits.
But fortunately power has complexities that defy the simple logic of adding up arms, money and the media.
During the dark nights of dictatorship, when hope appears to be exhausted, at times one man raises his voice to demand before powers that seem invincible, a space for liberty and political decency. And before an army he stands up and says that he will never use a weapon and that he rejects all violence. And to the police, he opens his home, his life because he has nothing to hide and does not form part of a ring or conspiracy. And to the political powers he says that he wants to act within the rules: a movement for free elections like the one that brought down Marcos in the Philippines; a plebiscite permitted by the dictator's own constitution as in Chile; a roundtable negotiation as in Poland.
And that person or group of people offer the country a plan that is not constructed on grand theories and words, that does not promise a revolution or to build a heaven on Earth, but rather an initiative that demands simple, old ideas for which the rest of the world have been fighting for centuries: respect for human rights; a democracy founded on tolerance; a life where people can coexist without fear, hate or rancor.
Fidel Castro must understand that even the most powerful dictator encounters an insurmountable dignity in certain people like Osvaldo Payá and members of the Varela Project, who embodies more than anyone the virtues that have made liberty possible throughout the ages.
We, who are here tonight, pledge our solidarity with Osvaldo Payá and the members of the Varela Project. But, above all, we want to say to them - thank you. Thank you because in a world that grows more dehumanized every day, you remind us that politics is not only about power but also about ideals and dreams as well as a display of courage that is moving because it is simple, clean and eloquent.
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