10/09/2013
_ “The EU cannot have a normal relationship with Cuba without respect for human rights, political pluralism, and freedom”
_ He claimed that the “moral duty” with the cause of the Cuban dissidents “is not rhetorical; it must have political effects and should guide our actions”
_ “We owe a commitment to those who have given their lives for freedom in Cuba, a commitment to preserve their memory and to preserve their legacy”
_ “Oswaldo Payá was a democrat and a humanist; his enemies are defined by the antithesis of those two words”
_ He made a call to the Cuban democrats not to “let themselves be carried away by discouragement” because “we are going to continue standing by them”
The former prime minister of Spain and president of FAES Foundation, José María Aznar, has spoken today during the homage paid to the late Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá by the European People’s Party in the headquarters of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. There he claimed that “the spirit and the foundations on which the European Union's ‘common position’ toward Cuba relies upon, must live on”. The EU cannot have a normal relationship or cooperate with Cuba without an effective and verifiable respect of human rights, political pluralism and freedom”, he said.
Aznar praised the figure of Payá in his address. Payá was the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement and the promoter of the ‘Varela Project’ for openness and democracy in Cuba. “Oswaldo Payá was a democrat and a humanist and that’s the only thing he asked for: humanity and democracy. His enemies are defined by the antithesis of those two words”, said Aznar, who has reminded that Payá exercised a “critical leadership” and that a “sense of orphanage has settled amongst thousands of Cubans”. “I would like to ask all of them not to let themselves be carried away by discouragement, not to lose hope, and keep working harder, if that is possible. Because we are going to continue standing by their side. Always”, he said.
Aznar also stated that “we, that enjoy freedom, owe an unambiguous commitment to the preservation of memory, and the duration of the legacy of those who gave their lives for the freedom in Cuba and who today are represented by the figure of Oswaldo.” That “moral duty” is not rhetorical but a duty that must have real effects, political effects. It binds us. And it must lead our actions”. He added.
Full Speech Secretaría de Estado de Cooperación Internacional y para Iberoamérica