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CUBA: NEWLY FORMED DISSIDENT COALITION COMPETES WITH VARELA PROJECT SUPPORTERS FOR CONTROL OF INTERNAL OPPOSITION.

Article Excerpt
The international press began reporting in late October on the emergence of a new dissident umbrella organization in Cuba. The Associated Press called it "a kind of opposition parliament." It not only opposes the government, but also opposes rival organizations it considers too moderate.

Organizers held a news conference in Havana to announce that the new Asamblea para Promover la Sociedad Civil en Cuba comprised 321 dissident organizations, but they declined to say how many people belonged to those organizations. Among the groups said to make up the Asamblea are independent press, human rights, and library organizations.

The Asamblea is, in Cuban terms, conservative and opposes what it considers futile leftist reformism. Its emergence underscores the factionalism among dissident groups competing for international approval.

The Asamblea leaders are three prominent dissidents who recently served prison terms for their activities: Marta Beatriz Roque, Rene Gomez Manzano, and Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses.

Coalition tries to marginalize reformers

The dissident movement is divided on how radical the changes should be in the post-Castro era. Although Roque said the Asamblea was open to anyone, it soon became clear that those considered too moderate were not welcome. The Asamblea opposes Oswaldo Paya, leader of the Varela Project referendum movement (see NotiCen, 2002-05-23), and neither he nor other leaders of the project have been asked to join.

Asamblea leaders believe no meaningful change can come about by adjusting the constitutional structures as...

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