PRESS RELEASE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR DEMOCRACY IN CUBA: HAVEL AND WALESA WILL ARRIVE IN BERLIN TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN CUBA

The following individuals have confirmed their participation: Václav Havel, Lech Walesa, the former President of Uruguay Luis Alberto Lacalle, the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg, Members of Parliament Markus Meckel, Arnold Vaatz and Jorge Moragas, the Vice-President of the European Parliament Edward McMillan-Scott as well as several others. Representatives of the leaders of the Democratic Opposition Oswaldo Payá Sardiòas and Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello will also attend the conference.

On Wednesday, April 25 at 12:45 a press conference will be held by Lech Walesa, Luis Alberto Lacalle, Markus Meckel and Arnold Vaatz.

Václav Havel wrote in an article about the activities of the ICDC, “I believe that every democratic government and every democrat should act today as if power in Cuba were going to be handed over tomorrow,” Miriam Leiva, a leading representative of the movement the Women in White, wrote in a letter, “We hope that this conference will help mobilize the support for the Cuban civil society throughout the entire world and to support the struggle for the release of political prisoners,” Madeline Albright, the former United States Secretary of State expressed her support in an article by saying, “The expression of solidarity is still essential for those who are persecuted throughout the whole world. Despite the fact that Cuba is a popular tourist destination, it is in its own way a post-modern gulag.”

The Berlin Conference will bring about a platform for dialogue and will look for a common approach from the EU, Latin America and the USA towards the situation in Cuba. Currently the fate of democracy in Cuba is unclear and the European Union is not united in its approach towards the current regime. The individual panel discussions will address the following themes:

What developments await the situation in Cuba? Who will play the main role in a possible transformation? What can the international actors do? How can the EU, Latin America and the USA find a common approach towards Cuba? What can the countries of the EU do and what are the results of their policies?

The conference is organized by the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and will be attended by representatives of European governments and the Cuban opposition as well as non-government organizations working in Cuba.

We ask that anyone interested in participating in the conference register with the ICDC Secretariat:

Marie Zahradníková
marie.zahradnikova@peopleinneed.cz
Tel: +420 226 200 462
Fax: +420 226 200 401

The program of the conference can be found in the attachment to the press release.

The International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, (ICDC) was founded by Václav Havel in 2003 and today its members include several prominent world intellectuals and politicians. The aim of this committee is to support initiatives leading to democracy in Cuba.