Havana, Cuba, May 12, 2010 / 20:07 pm
The director of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, challenged the Castro regime to publish the Varela Project and “to publicly commit itself to respecting the right spelled out in article 88 of the Constitution that allows citizens to exercise this legal initiative.”
According to the Cuban Constitution which is supposedly recognized by the Castro government, if citizens present a petition with 10,000 signatures calling for a referendum, it must be put to a vote. However, since 2002 the Varela Project has collected more than 25,000 signatures, but there has been no response from the government.
The Varela Project is calling for democratic changes in country’s laws through a referendum.
“Because the Varela Project flourished, the Cuban government imprisoned 75 Cubans in March of 2003. Dozens of them remain in prison. That is the truth even though many wish to hide it. It’s like denying the reason for being of these prisoners of conscience,” Paya said.