Varela Project

From Free net encyclopedia

The Varela Project was a citizen's initiative undertaken by Oswaldo Payá (of the Christian Liberation Movement) and others in Cuba. It relied on provisions in the Cuban constitution, adopted in 1976, which provides for citizen initiatives on a petition of 10,000 signatures. "Proyecto Varela" was named after Félix Varela, a Cuban religious leader. Their proposed legislation (if it had been accepted by the government, and approved by popular vote) would have established freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom to start private businesses, and amnesty for political prisoners. The organization reported having collected more than the requisite number of signatures but was rebuffed by the government, which responded with its own initiative. This initiative, for which the government claimed 99% voter approval, provided the constitution be amended to make permanent the socialist nature of Cuba's government. [1]

Oswaldo Payá, a long-time opponent of the Cuban government, remains free, but the resulting crackdown by the authorities has resulted in the incarceration of 75 political prisoners with terms of up to 28 years, after being charged and convicted of accepting payments from the head of the US interests office in Havana.

While the Varela Project was lauded by some outside observers such as former US President Jimmy Carter and the European Union, which awarded Payá the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, other observers are skeptical. [2] 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry called the initiative and its results "counterproductive". [3]

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