 In what organizers called an unprecedented event, dissidents from groups opposed to Fidel Castro's communist regime gathered publicly Friday and chanted "Down with Fidel."
"Freedom! Freedom!" the group of more than 100 delegates cheered in the yard of Felix Bonne, a veteran dissident, in a working-class section of Havana. Castro's regime would not allow the use of a theater or hotel for the assembly. Participants included members of dissident groups that are sometimes at odds but share the goal of driving Castro from power. "We think this is the first democratic assembly that has ever been held in Cuba," said organizer and former political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque of the rare public display of opposition. . . . A U.S. diplomat brought a videotaped message from U.S. President George Bush, who congratulated attendees on their courage and efforts to build democracy. . . .
All the world over, so easy to see/people everywhere just wanna be free . . . |