Cuba Calls Witness Project “Subversive”

Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Rosa María Payá, and Marion Smith at a premiere of our mini-documentary on Oswaldo Payá in Miami on February 10.

Few things could prove our effectiveness better than being denounced by communist autocrats fearful of being exposed. Recently, thanks to efforts enabled by our generous supporters, the Cuban government paid us this honor.

On February 10, we premiered a nine-minute documentary — part of our Witness Project oral history series featuring men and women who experienced communism firsthand — to a packed house at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami.

The episode, since viewed thousands of time on YouTube, tells the story of Oswaldo Payá — the Cuban dissident slain by Castro agents in 2012 for his tireless promotion of democracy in Cuba — through the eyes of his daughter Rosa María Payá, who carries on her father’s fight today through Cuba Decide, a civic organization she founded calling for free elections in Cuba.

Soon afterwards, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) released a statement on its website denouncing — by name — the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) and other human rights and pro-democracy movements as subversive. “I guess they saw the video,” said VOC Executive Director Marion Smith.

The Cuban government’s condemnation helped boost our support. We translated the full statement and published it on our website. We shared it in an email blast sent out to our supporters, pointing out the absurdity of holding elections in a one-party state.

As Smith noted, “MINREX released its condemnation on the eve of Cuban ‘elections’ because the ‘revolution’ always needs an invented enemy. But in reality, the Cuban ‘elections’ on March 11 were a sham because only the Communist Party of Cuba was on the ballot. The Cuban regime is the real enemy of the Cuban people. The Cuban people deserve better.”

By educating people about communism and boosting dissident truth-telling, our Foundation gives hope to those still living under authoritarian regimes and helps foster the civic strength needed to bring about positive change.

Subversive indeed.