A coalition of opposition movements within Cuba has come out with a strong statement against US President George Bush Jr's recently announced policy of tightening the embargo against their country. The US government, they say, `continues to misread the visible signs of effective policies [...] To think that Cuba doesn't attain democracy because not enough pressure has been exerted on it, is the same kind of nonsense that leads the government of Cuba to think that the opposition exists because of a lack of police pressure.'
These statements come from Arco Progresista, a coalition of groups which in the main identify themselves as social-democrats: Coordinadora Socialista Democrática, Coordinadora Socialdemócrata, Movimiento Cubano por la Democracia, Mujeres de Izquierda Democrática, Movimiento Juvenil Socialista Democrático, Partido del Pueblo, and Centro de Estudios del Socialismo Democrático. Determining the strength of their following is all but impossible.
Bush's words, says Arco Progresista, `weaken the fundamental premises of a possible and necessary relationship between the two countries; a relationship based on respect between states [...] The US seems unable to offer the only kind of help we need: to abstain from scripting the inevitable democratisation of Cuba, from substituting for those whose role it is to design it, and from underestimating the capabilities of the promoters of democratic change in Cuba.'
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