To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
Civic March for Change in Cuba on November 15th, the Castro regime's response, and the opposition's political jiu-jitsu
Archipielago, a collective of non-violent activists in Cuba that advocate for a plural Cuba, petitioned the government in different parts of the island beginning on September 21, 2021 to permit Civic March for Change "calling for civil liberties, including the right to peaceful protest and an amnesty for imprisoned government opponents" on November 20, 2021. The protest would have a three hour duration, and involve laying flowers at the base of statues of Jose Marti and Calixto Garcia in different parts of the country.
Organizers referred to both the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the 2019 Cuban Constitution in demonstrating their right to carry out this nonviolent action. The United Nations "recognizes the importance of the rights to peaceful assembly and association" under Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Cuba is a signatory, and the dictatorship's own Constitution in Article 56 recognizes "the rights of assembly, demonstration, and association for legal and peaceful purposes are recognized by the State whenever they are exercised with respect to public order and in compliance with the precepts established by the law." The dictatorship uses this language to justify its continuing presence on the UN Human Rights Council, and other international bodies, but in practice it is unwilling to respect these fundamental freedoms.
The Cuban regime on October 8, 2021 announced it would "conduct annual military exercises on Nov. 18-19, leading up to a day of civilian defense preparedness on Nov. 20."
Protest organizers, recognizing that they did not want to carry out a peaceful march in a militarized environment, moved up the date from November 20th to November 15th, "and submitted a formal request addressed to Esteban Lazo, president of the National Assembly."
Letter dated September 20, 2021 requesting permission for November 20th march
The Castro regime responded on October 12 in a letter denying the request made by the civil society group Archipelago for the civil liberties protest in November. Havana claimed that "the protest was denied because it was an effort to overthrow the communist regime" and that they "have the open intention of changing the political system in Cuba.”
On the same day Archipiélago responded that "on November 15th our personal decision will be to march civilly and peacefully for our rights,” responding "to the Cuban Government’s decision to reject the Civil March for Change scheduled for that day, considering it 'illegal' and a 'provocation for regime change' on the island," reported 14ymedio on October 12th. The Archipiélago collective called the dictatorship out on its social media platforms:
“The regime’s response demonstrates, once again, that rights do not exist within the Cuban State, that they are unwilling to respect even their own Constitution and violate the human rights of the Cuban people."
The Cuban dictatorship is now recycling a video of Fidel Castro from the 1990s to attack playwright and actor Yunior García and other Archipelago organizers where the old tyrant argued "we are not going to give guarantees to the counterrevolution. What do they want, that we allow them to conspire openly, to openly betray the country, to play the game of the potential invaders of our country? We do not have to tolerate it, and we are not going to tolerate it.”
The Castro regime is expert in warfare, torture, and terrorism having carried out genocide in Ethiopia, purges in Angola, torturing Venezuelans, and training terrorists around the world for over half a century. It does not have the same expertise in shutting down nonviolent movements, and applying violent repression against nonviolent activists has repeatedly backfired.
Peaceful assembly and association are examples of exercising a nonviolent action. According to the Albert Einstein Institution "nonviolent action is a technique of sociopolitical action for applying power in a conflict without the use of physical violence."
Dictators point to the Albert Einstein Institution, and the writings of Gene Sharp, and claim that non-violent action automatically equates to regime change, but that is not true. It is the exercise of power, but to what end depends on those exercising it.
Rosa María Payá, from CubaDecide advocates for sanctions on Castro regime in Europe
However, in targeting and demonizing peaceful protesters, while imprisoning hundreds for peacefully protesting in July 2021, does call on civil society abroad, and the international community more broadly to hold the dictatorship accountable. Opposition movements that seek a democratic transition are calling for concrete, and nonviolent measures, such as those outlined by the Christian Liberation Movement to pressure the Castro regime to change. The Center for a Free Cuba has set up a site for naming and shaming regime oppressors, and requested that Magnitsky sanctions be applied against Miguel Diaz-Canel. Rosa María Payá, from CubaDecide participated in a press conference with European Parliament Members on October 12, 2021 where she called for the European Union to: 1. Suspend the agreement that gives money to the regime; 2. Punish repressors; and 3. Cooperate directly with Cuban civil society.
This is what nonviolent theorist Gene Sharp called political jiu-jitsu. Here is how he defined it in his 2013 book How Non-violent Struggle Works that is available online.
"Political jiu-jitsu is a process by which non- violent action deals with violent repression. Nonviolent discipline combined with persistence against violent repression causes the adversaries’ repression to be exposed in the worst possible light. This, in turn, may lead to shifts in opinion and then to shifts in power relationships favorable to the nonviolent group."
This is being done by different groups of activists independently, and not in a coordinated fashion, but the overall nonviolent strategic approach remains a challenge to the dictatorship. Non-violent activists will have to improve their tactics and strategies because although the regime is not as expert in non-violence as violence, it does study these tactics and seek options to neutralize them. They just have a much easier time dealing with violent opponents.
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