Cuba to see campaign for constitutional reform

Agence France-Presse February 19, 2014 10:31pm

Cuba to see campaign for constitutional reform

A campaign aimed at bringing about constitutional reform in Cuba will
soon be launched with the support of domestic and international
opposition groups, a prominent dissident announced Wednesday.

The campaign will aim to gather the 10,000 signatures necessary under
Cuban law to file a reform bid in the one-party state's national assembly.

"It is more important to change the nature of power than to change those
exercising power," dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua told reporters as he
presented the campaign, titled "Roadmap: toward constitutional change."

Manuel Cuesta said the bid would bring together several Cuba opposition
groups and actively launch in May with events in Cuba, the US states of
Florida and New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Spain.

In May 2002, the Christian Liberation Movement headed by the now
deceased political activist Oswaldo Paya tabled a similar initiative in
parliament that was backed by more than 10,000 signatures.

In response, lawmakers adopted a constitutional reform stating that the
socialist nature of the Cuban regime was "irrevocable."

The previous reform attempt "stems from another era, today we think that
the conditions are better for citizens to support an initiative of this
kind," Manuel Cuesta said.

Cuba considers dissidents "mercenaries" in Washington's pay.

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Source: Cuba to see campaign for constitutional reform | GlobalPost -
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140219/cuba-see-campaign-constitutional-reform-0