2009 Democracy Award Will Honor Cuban Dissidents on June 24
Five honorees represent a new and diverse generation of democratic activists
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will honor the courage and determination of five Cuban democracy activists with the presentation of its annual Democracy Award at a Capitol Hill ceremony and reception on Wednesday, June 24, 2009.
“The five brave Cubans we honor this year represent the future of their country,” said NED Chairman Richard Gephardt. “All of them have endured significant personal hardship for nothing more than standing up for basic rights and freedoms. With this award, we hope to express our solidarity with their struggle, and let them know that we share their dream of a free and democratic Cuba. “
The honorees are Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, (aka “Antunez”), Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, Librado Linares Garcia, Ivan Hernandez Carillo, and Iris Tamara Perez Aguilar. All five are relatively young, in their 30s and 40s, three are Afro-Cuban, one is a Christian Democrat and another is a Social Democrat, one is a trade unionist and another is a women’s leader. All of them espouse the philosophy of non-violent resistance and activism and, together, the five represent a broad spectrum of opinion and activism. Garcia, Linares and Carillo are in prison; Antunez was released in 2007 after 17 years in Cuban jails. Antunez and Aguilar are living under virtual house arrest since beginning a hunger strike in March of this year.
The award presentation and reception will take place in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., and will be preceded by a panel discussion examining the prospects for democracy in Cuba, which will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the same room.
The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, nonprofit, bipartisan foundation created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world. It is active in more than 90 countries, supporting grassroots, democratic initiatives. More information about NED and the Democracy Award can be found at www.ned.org.
2009 Democracy Award Honorees
Jorge Luis Garcia Perez (“Antunez”) — A 43-year old leader of Cuba’s civic resistance movement who served more than 17 years in prison, having been released in 2007. During that period, his fellow inmates nicknamed him “the black diamond” because of his courage and unbreakable spirit. In “A Word from the Opposition” in the January, 2009 issue of the Journal of Democracy, Antunez highlighted the Movement’s adherence to the principles of non-violent resistance as set forth by Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. He is married to Iris Tamara Perez Aguilar, another honoree.
Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia is a youth activist and member of the Christian Liberation Movement who was instrumental in gathering hundreds of signatures and mobilizing people in poor, marginal neighborhoods in support of the Varela Project. Garcia organized meetings with neighbors throughout the eastern provinces, turning them into informal town hall meetings where grievances were expressed and the desire for change articulated. He received one of the highest prison sentences of the group of dissidents arrested on March 18, 2003. He has been a leader of the resistance of political prisoners against the abuses of the regime from within prison walls.
Librado Linares Garcia is a young intellectual and founder of the Cuban Reflection Movement. Linares organized independent libraries, soup kitchens for the poor, workshops among various dissident groups, as well as forums and conferences for citizens living in the central region of Cuba. He developed a comprehensive multi-tiered strategy of resistance against the regime, aimed at organizing and mobilizing Cuban civil society through nonviolent means. One of the pro-democracy leaders arrested on March 18, 2003, Linares has been suffering a progressive loss of eyesight during his imprisonment.
Ivan Hernandez Carrillo was an independent labor activist prior to his imprisonment in March, 2003. In his mid-30s and black, Carillo is widely regarded as one of the key youth leaders of the civic opposition. He is from Matanzas province, which, together with Villa Clara province, forms the geographical core of the Cuban resistance. Carillo has continued the resistance struggle during his incarceration.
Iris Tamara Perez Aguilera is founder and President of the Rosa Parks Women’s Movement, whose objectives are to struggle against human rights violations. Born in 1975 in Sancti Spiritus province in central Cuba, she entered the opposition movement in 1999, when her brother, Mario Perez Aguilera, was imprisoned at Nieves Morejon prison. Ms. Aguilera is married to Jorge Luis Garcia Perez (“Antunez”).
Source: National Endowment for Democracy
