Measure backing Cuban dissent clears major hurdle in Senate

May 23, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A key Senate panel today approved a measure backing Cuban dissidents' efforts to win free elections and democracy through the communist nation's constitution.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, by a unanimous voice vote, approved a resolution by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson supporting the Varela Project - and its dissident petition drive seeking a constitutionally sanctioned referendum on freedom of speech, eletoral reform and amnesty for political prisoners.

Some 11,000 Cubans signed the historic petition that was the work of a group named for Padre Felix Varela, a 19th century Cuban priest who advocated for the island's independence from Spain.

Thursday's vote was significant for a number of reasons, including that Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut - a stron proponent of lifting the U.S. embargo against Cuba - didn't block consideration of Nelson's initiative backing Cuban dissent.

"Today's vote sends a strong signal that many of my colleagues in the United States Senate will support dissident efforts to free the Cuban people from suffering and oppression," Nelson said. "The Varela Project is important because the Cuban people are standing up and asking for freedom of speech, free elections and other civil liberties.

"These are basic rights to which everyone is entitled," said Nelson, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services panels. The full Senate will take up the resolution in early June.

###