Declaration of “Convivencia” Magazine on the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations Between Cuba and the U.S.

Declaration of "Convivencia" Magazine on the Restoration of Diplomatic
Relations Between Cuba and the U.S.
Posted on December 31, 2014

Convivencia (Coeixistence) magazine salutes the reestablishment of
diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba and the United States
of America.

We hope that this climate of dialogue and negotiation is also
established between the Government of the Republic of Cuba and
independent Cuban civil society, with a respect for unity in diversity,
the right to self-determination and the exercise of citizen sovereignty.

Convivencia magazine is glad for the release of political prisoners, and
believes that all political prisoners must be released, including those
who are on parole in Cuba.

In the same way, all repression for political reasons must cease. The
Cuban Government should ratify the United Nations Human Rights Covenants
and the conventions of the International Labor Organization, as they
claim the four points of consensus identified by a growing and
significant group of Cuban civil society.

Convivencia magazine is grateful for the mediation by his Holiness Pope
Francis in the restoration of diplomatic relations between the Republic
of Cuba and the United States of America.

Likewise, we hope that the Church can continue to offer its service of
mediation in an achievable and necessary dialogue between the Cuban
Government and independent civil society in Cuba, with the consequent
recognition of the latter as valid interlocutor.

Convivencia magazine believes that the restoration of diplomatic
relations between the Republic of Cuba and the United States of America
removes a serious obstacle so that the fundamental dispute can be
clearly seen as being between the Cuban Government and its citizens, not
between Cuba and the United States. Thus can it be understood that the
most important thing for our people is inclusion, civil and political,
economic, social and cultural freedoms and the exercise of an ever more
participatory democracy in Cuba.

Convivencia magazine hopes that this historic event and the lifting of
all blockades, especially the one that the Cuban government uses against
the initiative and entrepreneurial nature of its citizens, will create
the necessary conditions so that the Cuban people are the principal
actors of their own history, and so lead the nation — including all our
compatriots on the Island and in the Diaspora — towards a future of
peace, freedom, progress and social justice.

The Editorial Board

Translated by: Hombre de Paz, with some assistance from Alicia Barraqué
Ellison

18 December 2014

Source: Declaration of "Convivencia" Magazine on the Restoration of
Diplomatic Relations Between Cuba and the U.S. | Translating Cuba -
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