Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-16-Speech-2-135"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041116.12.2-135"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, there is manoeuvring going on by governments and Members of Parliament which is difficult to understand, for two reasons: firstly, because it is not always open and because it often smells of complicity. Secondly, because the manoeuvring is not consistent with the constant, repeated and dramatic demands of those people who are fighting peacefully and suffering in Cuba.
They are shadowy manoeuvres and appear to show such a desire to betray our 2002 Sakharov Prize winner, that I am reminded of a poem by a great lady of Portuguese poetry, Sofia de Mello Breyner, who died a few weeks ago: ‘Tears for today’. ‘We will never cry enough when we see a creative gesture stopped. We will never cry enough when we see a person with the courage to fight destroyed by contempt, malice and other means we know of which are so cunning, so subtle and so expert that they are almost beyond description’.
When we talk about Cuba and the Cuban regime, we must always ask ourselves the question: what kind of Parliament is this? A Parliament of freedom or a Parliament of repression, a Parliament of the citizen or a Parliament of the tyrant? That is the question we must answer.
We are not talking on our own behalf, but on behalf of the actual people fighting and suffering for freedom and democracy. This is not a party-political issue; it is a fundamental political and human issue for the real people over in Cuba, where the pain is felt, who are watching us and listening to us: Bárbaro Sevilla García, 22 years old, executed; Lorenzo Copello Castillo, 30 years old, executed; Jorge Luis Martínez Izak, 40 years old, executed; Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, sentenced to 26 years in prison; Miguel Galbán Gutiérrez, sentenced to 26 years in prison; Jorge Vero Castañeda, sentenced to 20 years in prison; Pablo Pacheco Ávila, sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mr President, I do not have time now to read all the names of the dozens of victims of the tragic March of 2003, and their families, friends and colleagues. There are so many of them that I do not have time.
What is the significance of not having time to name them all? It means that this is not the time to change our European policy, but rather for Fidel Castro and the Cuban regime to change theirs. That is what is needed. Amnesty first, and then dialogue."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples