To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedomsCaptive Nations Week observed by the White House and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Rosa María Payá on Havana’s negative role in the region, and Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky on its origins On July 25, 2025, the Trump Administration proclaimed July 20 through July 26, 2025, as Captive Nations Week. The American Spectator pointed out that it was the 66th time since President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed it to “counter the emerging threat of communism and declare America’s resolve to defend the fundamental rights of free speech, religious liberty, and self-government.” On Monday, July 14, 2025 the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation held the Captive Nations Summit that brought together senior leaders, international experts, and dissidents from China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam to discuss the deadly, and enduring legacy of communism, and the lessons learned to resist the scourge of communism and Chinese and Russian imperialism. Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky provided a historic overview of the campaign to institute Captive Nations Week. This was followed by presentations made by Vi Kha Hoang, founder, Viet Toon; on continuing communist repression in Vietnam. Elfidar Iltebir, president of the Uyghur American Association, outlined the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party. Fulbright Scholar, and DPRK Escapee Eunsook Jang discussed life under North Korean communism. Bounleaung Kern Kataviravong, Vice President of the Union for Lao Nation, spoke on the communist regime in Laos. Rosa María Payá, Founder of Cuba Decide, and Commissioner Elect of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, gave the closing address pointing out the evils of Cuban communism for the Cuban people, and for the region. In the video above her presentation begins at 1:14:16. On May 2, 2025 the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and The Institute of World Politics hosted a conversation with Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky about the book she edited for her late father, Dr. Lev E. Dobriansky, Unyielding Resolve: Captive Nations and the Path to Freedom. The history of the Captive Nations movement and the enactment of the US law establishing Captive Nations Week are chronicled for the first time in this book. In his powerful first-person narrative, Dr. Lev E. Dobriansky describes the struggle against Moscow’s imperial rule over non-Russian peoples during and after the Soviet Union. Ambassador Dobriansky was joined in this conversation by Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation; Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; and John Suarez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba. |
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