Oscar Elias Biscet and Oswaldo P ayá Sardiñas: Brothers in Thought
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Oscar Elias Biscet and Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas
Brothers in Thought
By Neri Martinez
Oscar Elias Biscet and Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas are two examples of great
activists arising from a national civic movement that seeks a
democratic Cuba where human rights are respected. They both share a
common framework of values grounded in Christianity, strategic
non-violent struggle, and the power of speaking truth to power. Oscar
is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in a dank and dark
underground cell far from his home and family. Oswaldo has had his
home assaulted and death threats painted onto the walls and door of
his home. The regime at various points underestimated these men and
the power of non-violent resistance. A partial history of their
actions speak for themselves:
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
· In 1999 Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet led dozens of members of the
opposition on a 40-day prayer fast -- one day for each of Castro's 40
years in power at the time opening and ending each day with a prayer
and the reading of a psalm. This 40-day prayer fast was duplicated
throughout Cuba and led to the participation of thousands of Cubans
throughout all of Cuba.
· Dr. Biscet organized teach ins on non-violent resistance, civil
disobedience, and the writings and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr. Creating new activists, educating them in the
philosophy and practices of nonviolent resistance, and leading them by
example in challenging the regime.
· Biscet was arrested Nov. 3, 1999, after holding a news conference to
announce the activities for human rights day, displaying three upside
down flags, an international sign of distress, just as 20 foreign
leaders gathered in Havana for the Ibero-American summit. Fidel Castro
had denounced Biscet as a ''little crazy man'' but instead of ignoring
him Castro had Biscet arrested to prevent him from leading a
demonstration Biscet had organized for December 10 to mark the
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and protest
the death penalty in Cuba. Despite his arrest the only scheduled
street protests known to have taken place in Havana on December 10,
1999 had been organized by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.
· Upon his release from a maximum security prison in Holguín province
on October 31, 2002 he organized a press conference to denounce prison
conditions demanding that the International Red Cross be allowed
access to Cuba's prisons (something that the United States has given
to Al Qaeda prisoners in Guantanamo but Castro still denies all Cuban
prisoners.)
· On December 6, 2002 Oscar Elias Biscet was re-detained with 16 other
dissidents after they attempted to meet at a home in Havana to discuss
human rights. When police prevented them from entering the home, Oscar
Elias Biscet and the others sat down in the street in protest chanting
"long live human rights" and "freedom for political prisoners." The
group was arrested, though most of them were released shortly
afterwards, but Biscet remained in custody.
· Despite the fact that he was already in detention during the
crackdown, Oscar Elias Biscet was tried together with a number of
dissidents who were arrested in March 2003. He was sentenced under
article 91 of the Penal Code to 25 years in prison.
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas
· In 1988 Oswaldo founds the Christian Liberation Movement ("MCL") In
1990 State Security detained, interrogated and threatened Payá with
prison if he continues his civil defiance.
· Payá calls for a national dialogue and collects signatures to make
this call for dialogue legal under Cuban law. On June 11, 1991 a mob,
organized by the dictatorship, attacks his home ending the signature
gathering process. The front of his home is vandalized with messages
such as: "Payá, CIA Agent", "worm", "long live Fidel", and "down with
Payá." He had to move his family to his in-laws.
· In 1995, Payá is one of five organizers of the Cuban Council
(Concilio Cubano). State Security detains him and orders him to
discourage the meeting. Concilio had requested permission (as is
required by law) to be able to meet. The regime's response was a
massive nationwide crackdown and the shoot down of two Brothers to the
Rescue planes in international airspace.
· In 1999, along with other opposition leaders, Oswaldo drafts the
manifesto titled All Together ("Todos Unidos"). In March of 2001,
"Todos Unidos" summons dozens of opposition groups to collect the
10,000 signatures necessary to make the Varela Project a Bill of Law.
· In May of 2002 representatives of "Todos Unidos," headed by Oswaldo
Payá, deliver 11,020 signatures of voters to the office of the
National Assembly of Popular Power making the Varela Project a bill of
law under the Cuban Constitution.
· In December of 2002 Payá wins the European Union's Sakharov Award,
and the day before he is granted an exit visa by Castro to receive his
award his house is trashed and death threats are left on the door of
his home by State Security. He travels the world addressing the
European Parliament, meeting with Vaclav Havel, Pope John Paul II,
Vicente Fox, and others before returning to Cuba in early 2003.
· On March 18, 2003 the regime engages in a massive nationwide
crackdown leading to long term prison sentences ranging from eight
years to 28 years in prison totaling over 1,400 years when added up
together for 75 activists. Over 40 of the 75 are activists who have
worked on Project Varela.
· In October of 2003 Payá and members of Todos Unidos deliver more
than 14,000 new signatures supporting the Varela Project.
The history of Biscet's actions is one of training new activists and
protesting not just in private homes but also on the streets of
Havana. In addition he has succeeded in organizing activities that
have had a nationwide network of activists supporting and duplicating
his projects. The network he formed with the forty day fast started at
Tamarindo 34 made possible other initiatives such as the Varela
Project. Payá on the other hand has used aspects of Cuba's socialist
legality to expose the lawlessness of a regime that does not even
respect its own rules. He could still be imprisoned or suffer an
"accident" but it will expose the regime's hypocrisy, and its failure
to follow its own laws.
Both Payá and Biscet have been influenced by Gandhi and more so by the
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Payá in his address to the European
Parliament upon receiving the Sahkarov Award declared, "The first
victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we
say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my
brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by
fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose
yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together'." Oscar Elias
Biscet in a letter smuggled from inside a Cuban prison on June 1, 2003
writes: "I feel kidnapped only for defending the right to life and the
right of all Cubans to live in freedom. Remember I will never betray a
just cause: that of defending human rights. ... What inspires me is
alive: God and the great teachers of nonviolence, present today more
than ever. As Martin Luther King said: "If a nation is capable of
finding amongst its ranks of people 5% willing to go voluntarily to
prison for a cause they consider just, then no obstacle will stand in
their way." Their actions and words demonstrate that Martin Luther
King Jr.'s dream is deeply shared by not just Americans but by Cubans
as well.
The Free Cuba Foundation celebrate the courage and example set by both
Oscar Elias Biscet and Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas because we share their
principles: speaking the truth in order to empower defenders of human
rights in challenging an unjust system using non-violent means. We
invite you on January 28, 2004 to join us in remembering the values of
the great teachers and activists of non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr. and how they are being pursued today in Cuba.
Neri Ann Martinez,
Coordinator
Free Cuba Foundation
http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/