A large group of the Cuban opposition conveyed its solidarity with Venezuelans who are facing what is effectively a coup d’état attempt by the government of Nicolás Maduro and its latest stratagems to establish authoritarianism in that country.
"The Venezuelan situation just seems to get worse and worse. The coup, camouflaged as a constituent assembly, reveals that el chavismo is going all out. Not leaving a single vestige of democracy is their pending task, even if they have to remove every obstacle standing in their way," lamented a statement issued by the Forum for Rights and Freedoms, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, and the Ladies in White, among other organizations.
In the text the signatories condemn that "Castroism is rehearsing and applying in Venezuela all its repressive technology "and that "the strategy to establish totalitarianism is designed in Havana, and the necessary agents are dispatched to achieve their objectives."
"The international community has reacted, but perhaps it does not realize that the coup calls for more energetic and immediate responses. Once totalitarianism is established, they atomize all of society and the struggle becomes very arduous. These regimes have shown that they only give in after having devastated their countries," they warn.
They also identify Raúl Castro, Nicolás Maduro, Diosdado Cabello and Alejandro Castro as "equally" responsible for the "disastrous situation in the sister nation."
In the group of Cuban dissidents’ view "it is important to mention, as various sources have already pointed out, the responsibility of other Castroist higher-ups, such as Ramiro Valdés, Major General Leonardo Andollo, and Colonel Víctor Gaute, the latter two identified as chiefs of the military and civilian missions, respectively. "
Those who endorsed the document stress that "both regimes must know that all their abuses and violations will have consequences."
"We express all our solidarity with our Venezuelan brothers, and call on them to close ranks with we Cubans who are facing the same enemies. We are waging a difficult and lopsided battle, but we shall prevail, without any doubt," they conclude.
The signatories of the statement are, in alphabetical order:
- Adrián Pérez, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Ailer González, Estado de Sats, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Ángel Moya, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Angel Santiesteban, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Antonio G. Rodiles, Estado de Sats, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Armando Abascal, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Asunción Carrillo, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Benito Fojaco, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Berta Soler, Ladies in White, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Carlos Amel Oliva, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- Carlos Oliva, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- Carlos Olivera, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Celestino Hernández, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Claudio Fuentes, Estado de Sats, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Egberto Escobedo, Association of Current and Former Political Prisoners, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Ernesto Borges, Party for Christian Democratic Unity
- Félix Llerena, Instituto Patmos, CubaDecide
- Félix Navarro, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy.
- Adrián Pérez, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Francisco Rangel, Organizer of the Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Gorki Águila, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Fariñas, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Hugo Damián Prieto, FACOZT, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Iván Hernández, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy, Cuban Independent Trade Union Association
- Jorge Luis García "Antúnez", OZT Civic Resistance Front, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- José Daniel Ferrer, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- José Raúl Rodríguez, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Juan Alberto de la Nuez, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Katherine Mojena, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- Leticia Ramos, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- María Cristina Labrada, Ladies in White, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Martha Beatriz Roque, Network of Social Communicators
- Orlando Rodríguez, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Ovidio Martin, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- Raúl Borge, Party for Christian Democratic Unity, Forum for Rights and Freedoms
- Roberto Arsenio López, College of Independent Cuban Pedagogues
- Rolando Ferrer, United Anti-Totalitarian Forum
- Rosa María Paya, CubaDecide
- Sayli Navarro Álvarez, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Yisabel María Marrero, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy
- Yriade Hernández, Patriotic Union of Cuba
- Zenén Daniel Cruz, Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham Party for Democracy