CANF CONCLUDES SUCCESSFUL FIRST DAY OF PARTICIPATION IN CDI (IDC) CUBA AND DEMOCRACY SEMINAR  

Jorge Mas Santos, Chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, began the first day of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) Seminar on Cuba in Rome, Italy, with an impassioned speech that was interrupted numerous times by enthusiastic applause.  The audience included dozens of European parliamentarians, representatives of various dissident groups, and international human rights organizations.

Mas Santos moderated a panel that focused on the critical role of Cuba’s dissident movement in precipitating democratic change and the role of the international community and Cuban exiles in supporting those efforts. 

“Though the Cuban regime has gone to great lengths to create a divide, we are “un solo pueblo,” “one nation,” those in Cuba and those in exile are joined by inexorable ties that are stronger than the forces of repression, that neither time nor distance have been able to extinguish.  That relationship, those ties, are what will enable us to look towards Cuba’s future with hope and allow us to use our combined talents and resources to build a nation that is free, inclusive, and spiritually and economically prosperous,” said Mas Santos.

The Chairman of the CANF also spoke about the critical role the Catholic Church can play in a transition to democracy in Cuba. 

“As was the case in Eastern Europe, the battle for freedom may not have been won without the support of the world’s democracies and of institutions such as the Catholic Church.  It is this same support that we ask for the people of Cuba.  I believe the Church can play a vital role in facilitating peaceful, democratic change in Cuba as well as in spiritually preparing the Cuban people for the difficulties of transition,” concluded Mas Santos.

The seminar is scheduled to reconvene tomorrow at 9:00am.

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