11/10/2013
The former Prime Minister of Spain and president of FAES Foundation, José María Aznar, sent a letter to the President of the Centrist Democrat International, Pier Ferdinando Casini, and to the members of its Executive Committee to ask them to address the “need to clear up satisfactorily the circumstances of the deaths of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero in Cuba” during the meeting that was held on Friday 11th in Budapest. Aznar claimed on his missive that, “it is not only a legitimate demand or their families, but also a moral and political imperative for those of us who want to foster the cause of freedom in Cuba with solidarity toward its democrats”.
For that reason, the former Spanish Prime Minister asked the CDI to support, "in the most appropriate way, an investigation of the facts and their perpetrators, without the conditioning of the Cuban official procedures”. Additionally, he reminded that Payá “was not just another member of the CDI”, but a moral reference for those us who believe that all people and all countries have the right to enjoy the great values that drive societies forward: democracy, the Rule of Law, respect for human rights and freedom”.
The letter sent by José María Aznar is reproduced below:
“Mr President, dear friends,
First of all, I would like to wish you a great success in the Executive Committee that the CDI will be holding on 11th October. I hope that this meeting can be used to strengthen the links, values and ideas shared by our great centre-right parties.
Furthermore, I would like to submit to your consideration whether this meeting could be used to address a very important issue: the need to clear up satisfactorily the circumstances in which the death of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero, two great defenders of freedom, took place. It is not only a legitimate demand of their families, but also a moral and political imperative for those of us who want to foster the cause of freedom in Cuba with solidarity toward its democrats. This need should move the CDI to support, in the most appropriate way, an investigation of the facts and their perpetrators, without the conditioning of the Cuban official procedures.
The CDI has always recalled the testimony of devotion, sacrifice and defence of freedom that Oswaldo Payá represented. This effort was recognized, among others, by the European Parliament through the award of the Sakharov Prize for the defence of Human Rights. Oswaldo Payá was not just another member of the CDI. With his exemplary peaceful resistance he was able to find, through the Varela Project, a place of encounter and hope for all Cubans inside and outside the island. He thus became a moral reference for those us who believe that all people and all countries have the right to enjoy the values that drive societies forward: democracy, the Rule of Law, respect for human rights and freedom. Those are the values that distinguish the CDI and that we are committed to forever consolidate and support”.