Cubans Expect Thaw to Lead to Improvements For All The People

Cubans Expect Thaw to Lead to Improvements For All The People / 14ymedio
Posted on July 21, 2015

14ymedio, 20 June 2015 – This Monday, a group of protestors outside the
new Cuban embassy in Washington accompanied the speech by Cuban Foreign
Minister Bruno Rodriguez with shouts of "Cuba sí, Castro No"; "Freedom
for Cuba"; "Democracy." While some chanted, "Viva Cuba," others
responded, "Freedom."

At some points "Castro sí" was also hears. "Never in this country would
I have imagines I would hear something like this," said a Cuban who came
to renew his passport in the consulate.

"I'm here to support the human and civil rights of the Cuban people who
have not had free elections for more than 60 years," said Laura
Martinez, a Cuban-American, 26, gathered outside the building that,
since 1977, housed the Cuban Interests Section in the United States.
"Although I support the reestablishment of relations between Cuba and
the United States, I want the human, civil and political rights of the
Cuban people to be respected and we are demanding that right now," she
added.

The activist Rosa Maria Paya believes that "this is only the beginning
of diplomatic relations that so far has meant the conversation between
two elites, of people who were not there and don't represent the Cuban
people, because the Cuban people never elected them."

"We are expecting that, at least in their discourse, those people who
approach Cuba converse not only with the elites in power, but that they
also support the right of Cubans to decide, of legislation conducive to
[exiles'] visit to the island, and the extension of immunity from
violence to those who demonstrate [against the regime] inside and
outside of the island," she adds.'

The writer Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo stressed the importance of the
resumption of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana also
resulting in greater freedom for independent journalists. He asks for "a
more inclusive future," in which "the chokehold that the regime keeps on
civil society is loosened."

Source: Cubans Expect Thaw to Lead to Improvements For All The People /
14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubans-expect-thaw-to-lead-to-improvements-for-all-the-people-14ymedio/