Havana, Cuba, Dec 16, 2010 / 15:49 pm
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas is cautioning the European Union to not be fooled by the country's Communist government.
Cuba denied Farinas a visa to travel to France last week, preventing him from receiving the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience.
Farinas expressed his hope that the EU would not be fooled by the deception of “a cruel and savage Communist regime,” as he spoke in a recently recorded message.
Cuba is at a crucial historical moment, he said, and the world must be attentive to the continual protests expressing the frustration people feel over the government’s excessive power. “God forbid an unnecessary civil war take place among Cubans because of the refusal to accept that the socialism of the State has failed as a political model,” he said, adding that the country must peacefully transition to democracy.