International and Cuban opposition leaders unite to support Agreement for Democracy in Cuba
MIAMI, Oct. 22, 2019 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Freedom Tower will be the site of the event Path Toward Change in Cuba on Friday, Oct. 25. An organizing committee of the Cuban opposition and exile community together with the Organization of American States is spearheading this important gathering that will convene top international institutions and leaders in support of the Agreement for Democracy in Cuba, a pact signed in 1998 in Havana, ratified in 2007 and again in 2015, and now supported by more than 120 pro-democracy organizations in Cuba and in exile, dedicated to promoting liberty and democracy in Cuba. Some of the confirmed attendees include Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), former congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Rosa María Payá, Executive Director of Fundación para la Democracia Panamericana and promoter of the Cuba Decide campaign.
The program will start at 5 p.m. with the participation by the Pichy Boys and Lena Burke, among other artists, followed by the signing of the Agreement and ceremony featuring remarks by Sec. Almagro and Carlos Trujillo, U.S. Ambassador to the OAS, among other distinguished speakers. The presentations will be in Spanish and the event is open and free to the public who registers at www.pasosdecambio.com.
“The opposition on and off the Island aims for the same goal as the Cuban people – the goal of changing the system. We are held together by this goal and by the claims we ratified in the Agreement for Democracy,” said Payá.
“This event is crucial. We must ratify a transition track toward democracy, and come together in order to achieve the international isolation of such a criminal and illegitimate regime,” added Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, spokesperson of Directorio Democrático.
“The Cuban tyranny is the source and coordinator of narco-terrorism in our hemisphere. In addition, day after day they keep on increasing the totalitarian repression upon the Cuban people. The Agreement for Democracy brings together the whole of the Cuban opposition, both in Cuba and in Diaspora, in a unifying document that expresses the aspirations of Cubans to live in freedom and under the rule of law. It is time for the international community to recognize that the Cuban people do exist and deserve to be free,” said Lincoln Díaz-Balart, former U.S. Congressman and representative of Instituto La Rosa Blanca.
“The Cuban people are tired of oppression and misery. We Cubans want to live in freedom with justice, prosperity and well-being”, said Jose Daniel Ferrer leader of UNPACU from Santiago de Cuba, briefly before being arrested.
“Our main goals with this event are to recognize the opposition and the Cuban people as valid interlocutors of the political system, denounce the illegitimate power that has been in control since Oct. 10, and refuses to acknowledge the dictatorship on the island for the past 60 years, and finally, rally support for the Agreement for Democracy and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), two documents that can facilitate change and peace in Cuba,” added Sec. Almagro.
WHAT: Path Toward Change in Cuba
WHEN: Friday, Oct. 25, 5 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: MDC’s Freedom Tower
600 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL 33132
For more information, please visit www.pasosdecambio.com
# # #
Pasos de Cambio Media Contact: Stephany Contreras, Communications and Media Advisor info@pasosdecambio.com 786-679-2123