WASHINGTON, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors and staff of theNational Endowment for Democracy (NED) were shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Cuban democracy advocate Oswaldo Paya, who died in a suspicious car accident in Cuba on Sunday, July 22. Paya was the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement and organizer of the Varela Project, a citizen petition movement for greater rights guarantees in Cuba, which led to a brutal crackdown on democracy activists in 2003.
"He was a seminal leader of the Cuban struggle for freedom and independence," said NED president Carl Gershman. "He worked to create a civic space for the Cuban people. He believed in working peacefully for change and in forgiveness and reconciliation. For a regime that believes in hatred and revenge, he was a threat."
His death follows the death last October of Laura Pollan, the leader of the Ladies in White, also under suspicious circumstances. "The demand by the Christian Liberation Movement that the government conduct a transparent investigation is essential, though suspicions will persist that Paya was a martyr for freedom and democracy," said Gershman.
When NED honored five Cuban activists, three of whom were in prison, with its 2009 Democracy Award, Paya sent a message, which was read to the assembled guests.
"Why are they imprisoned?" asked Paya, referring to the honorees and all Cuban prisoners of conscience. "For peacefully defending and promoting the rights of all Cubans; for fearlessly denouncing violations of these rights; and for writing and speaking the truth, which in Cuba is itself imprisoned."
Paya concluded, "If you wish to support our people, support with your voice and with your heart the path of peace and reconciliation that leads us unmistakably to freedom and to the rights that we Cubans want for ourselves."
In January 2012, Paya sent a video message to a memorial gathering honoring former Czech president Vaclav Havel, a longtime supporter of Paya. Paya spoke about how the example of Havel and the Velvet Revolution in 1989 had inspired him and others in Cuba to continue their struggle to gain power for the powerless and freedom for Cuba.
The National Endowment for Democracy extends its deepest sympathy to the Paya family and to the broader family of Cuban democratic activists.
SOURCE National Endowment for Democracy
