Havana, Cuba, Aug 12, 2008 / 16:03 pm
The national coordinator of the Christian Life Movement, Oswaldo Paya, has called on Cubans exiles to show their solidarity with those who remain in the Cuba and to demand respect for human rights.
Paya lamented the “double punishment” of Cubans who have left the island nation and are then are neither recognized by the Cuban government or by their new country of residence as citizens of Cuba.
“The respect for the right of Cubans exiles to come to Cuba on the part of the governments of the countries where they live should not be conditioned on changes in Cuba, as that would be to double punishment of the same victim,” he said.
“But Cubans themselves who live outside Cuba should show solidarity with their fellow countrymen and demand all the rights for us Cubans who live here,” he told the Diario de las Americas in a reference to the desired right of Cubans to enter and leave the island freely without restrictions from the Communist government.