PROJECT EMILIA: Manifesto for Democracy in Cuba

Óscar Elías Biscet Presents Manifesto for Democracy in Cuba

Cuban opposition figure Oscar Elias Biscet on Wednesday presented a manifesto on which he intends to collect signatures to promote a move toward democracy on the Communist-ruled island. Accompanied by about a dozen dissidents, Biscet read the document at an appearance before international media where he demanded a “total change” in Cuba because “the people are tired of tyranny.” The initiative is called Proyecto Emilia, in remembrance of Emilia Teurbe Tolon, who embroidered the first Cuban flag in the mid-19th century. Biscet, a physician and veteran human rights activist, was among the “Group of 75” dissidents jailed amid a harsh crackdown in March 2003." - EFE & Latin American Herald, "Cuban Opposition Figure Promotes Democracy Manifesto"

Emilia Teurbe Tolón


PROJECT EMILIA

This project, imbued with a deep love of country, bears the name of one of the Cuban heroes who devoted the best of her fruitful life to the struggle for the independence and freedom of Cuba.
We refer to Emilia Teurbe Tolón, designated in 1950 by the Congress of the Republic of Cuba, to mark the centenary of our national flag, as the incarnation of the Woman of Cuba.

Emilia was the first Cuban woman banished from our country for political reasons. She also had the honor of working on the original Cuban flag that was designed by her husband and poet Miguel Teurbe Tolón, on the initiative of General Narciso Lopez. Born into a wealthy family in the city of Matanzas, she had the human sensitivity to donate her property to benefit the education of the poor.
Those of us who sign this document, inspired by her patriotic example, propose to carry out this project whose main objectives are: the conquest of fundamental human rights, democracy and freedom of the Cuban people.

We assume that Cuba's communist regime bases its legality in the 1976 Constitution, as amended in 2003. In article 69, the Constitution refers to the People's National Assembly as the organ of state power.

It also adds that the assembly represents and expresses the sovereign will of the people. To leave no doubt, Article 70 states that the National Assembly of People's Power is the only body with constituent and legislative authority in the Republic of Cuba.

Whereas: We have confirmed for years that the National Assembly of People's Power has transgressed to cede their sovereign rights and power the Council of State.

Whereas: We verified that the National Assembly of People's Power has complied passively and given legal force to all Decree-laws adopted by the Council of State.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has lost its sovereign power by accepting the mandate of the Council of State in convening extraordinary sessions.
Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has infringed on the freedom of our people by allowing the Council of State to declare as irrevocable in the National Constitution social, political, and ideological ideas contrary to the interests of the Cuban people.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has violated the respect for the views of minorities enshrined in the world's most advanced constitutions and granted extreme power to docile majorities.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power, violating the constitutional principle of the separation and independence of powers, has given the Council of State the power to issue guidelines and impose decisions on the Judiciary.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has ignored the popular will and limited civic freedom by subordinating it to the Local Assemblies of People's Power.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has stipulated that the Local Assemblies of People's Power are subordinated to the Council of State.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has stifled freedom of expression, association, speech and press to those not aligned with the policy and ideology of the state.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has given the government the power to strip Cubans born in our country of their citizenship .

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power, in not objecting to the measures of the Council of State that have sunk into misery and desperation our people, it has become complicit in this infamy.

Whereas: The National Assembly of People's Power has exalted one Party above the state and the nation.
Therefore: We declare that these laws, compiled in the 1976 Constitution, constitute an abuse of power that flagrantly violates the dignity of Cuban citizens.

Therefore: The 1976 Constitution, as amended in 2003, permanently institutionalizes the communist regime of Cuba.

Therefore: The National Assembly of People's Power has no validity whatsoever and ceases to be the expression of the will of the people by giving the Council of State all the prerogatives enshrined in the Cuban Constitution.

We consider that the current communist constitution violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Human Rights Covenants on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations.

We agree to declare illegitimate the Communist Constitution and the National Assembly of People's Power with its organs of state power.

We call on the Cuban people to subscribe to this project to take steps toward a sovereign, democratic, free and just Cuba.

We proclaim that the new democratic and free Parliament that emerges from these exigencies is declared in Constitutional Assembly; and ratify a constitution that respects the dignity of all Cubans.

We insist that the Constitution contain the bases for the democracy and freedom that so many of our compatriots from our wars of independence have fought and given their lives for.

We demand that the legal system of our country has as a base the democratic principles that prevail in other nations of the civilized world. These are: sovereignty of the people, government based on the consent of the governed, majority rule, minority rights, guarantee of basic human rights, free and fair elections, equality before the law, due process, constitutional limits on government, independent balance of powers, social , economic and political pluralism; as well as the values of tolerance, pragmatism, cooperation and compromise.

Unfortunately, we have seen through more years than we would like to recall how Cuba's communist regime has not conceded even one atom of freedom and has rigidly and arbitrarily resisted any changes that would ensure a decent life for our people.

Consequently, we have no alternative but to launch the non-violent political challenge to realize the freedom of our people. To do this, we ask the assistance and protection of God, and we ask the Creator to guide us in this just cause for the freedom and prosperity of the Cuban people.

VIVA CUBA LIBRE!

Given in Havana, Cuba, on January 9, 2013