The Cuban activist Rosa María Payá, commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), made an urgent call to governments, politicians, and influencers around the world to join the international effort for the freedom of Cuba, during an interview with Martí Noticias at the "United for a Free Cuba" demonstration held last Sunday at Bayfront Park in Miami.
The event, organized by the Cuban Resistance Assembly (ARC) and the Support and Call Committee, gathered the Cuban exile community at the FPL Solar Amphitheater in the park and was broadcast live to the island via Radio Martí and TV Martí, and additionally replicated in churches within Cuba and in countries such as Uruguay, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Mexico.
"I hope that more and more governments around the world, more and more politicians, and more and more influencers join forces with the most important ally the Cuban people have at this moment, which is the government of the United States, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio," declared Payá.
The activist described the struggle for Cuba's freedom as an existential battle: "It is an international effort, but it is also an existential battle, a battle for the souls of Cubans, and it is a deeply Cuban struggle, where Cubans both inside and outside are the protagonists."
The demonstration on Sunday was the second major mobilization of the Cuban exile community in less than a month in South Florida, following the Free Cuba Rally held on March 24 at Milander Park, Hialeah, and came just days after the Cuban regime rejected Washington's ultimatum to release high-profile political prisoners such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo as a condition for ongoing diplomatic negotiations.
The Cuban ambassador to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, declared on April 23 that "internal matters regarding detainees are not part of the negotiating table," in response to the deadline set by the United States.
In addressing the Cuban people on the island, Payá pointed out that it is precisely the Cubans who resist under extreme conditions who give him hope: "It is those mothers who do not know what their children will eat tomorrow and go out with empty buckets to block a street. It is those young people in Morón who went out to shout for freedom, a freedom I have never experienced."
Payá referred to the protests that took place in Morón, Ciego de Ávila on March 13, when hundreds of people took to the streets with pots and pans and cries of "Freedom!" amidst blackouts lasting over 20 hours and food shortages, and were met with repression, resulting in at least one injury and internet outages.
The activist, who in March co-led the signing of the Liberation Agreement in Miami alongside Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, a three-phase transition plan that includes the release of political prisoners, economic stabilization, and internationally monitored free elections, also expressed gratitude to the antennas of Radio Martí for keeping the communication channel open with the island.
"We are in this together. We are one nation, both inside and outside the island, and as such, we are taking action. Freedom is on its way, change is coming, but it depends on each of us how quickly it arrives," concluded Payá.
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