Cuba is an authoritarian one-party state. In his capacity as chief of state, head of government, commander in chief and First Secretary of the communist party, Fidel Castro personally controls a country that lacks the freedoms of speech, press and peaceful assembly as well as an independent legal system. Since Castro temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raúl Castro, no liberalisation has taken place in any area of society, and fear holds the Cuban citizens in a firm grip.

In spite of the repression, several well-known initiatives are taking place in Cuba; The Varela project, the Todos Cubanos programme, and the "White Ladies", who were awarded the the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, for their continous effort to gather every Sunday after mass for a silent protest for their sons and husbands that are inprisoned for having though and spoken against the government openly. Even though the outer world has gained greater knowledge of these movements, the Cuban regime has continued its harassments and arrests of dissidents.

Read more about the democracy movement in Cuba on KIC´s special web site:
www.liberacion.nu