Patriotic Union of Cuba Withdraws From MUAD

Patriotic Union of Cuba Withdraws From MUAD / 14ymedio, Havana

14ymedio, Havana, 29 June 2016 — The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU)
announced Tuesday its intention to withdraw from the Democratic Action
Roundtable (MUAD), a political association involving at least 42 groups
and social projects.

A statement signed by UNPACU's board of coordinators also explains that
the organization will not continue to be involved in the #Otro18
(Another 2018) campaign, because at this moment any involvement in
"training structures" can affect its "dynamic" and "effectiveness."

The text clarifies that the largest opposition organization in the
country will continue to enjoy "the best relationship and collaboration"
with MUAD, which was defined as a political association "under
construction." UNPACU says that it values the work of the coalition "in
favor of a democratic, just, prosperous and fraternal Cuba."

UNPACU made the decision public a few hours after its leader, Jose
Daniel Ferrer, presented the democratic project of his group in the
European Parliament, according to a press release from the Association
of Ibero-Americans for Freedom (AIL).

The UNPACU leader told 14ymedio unity exists and they are in agreement
with MUAD's actions and cooperation. "The problem is that our dynamic is
more active will act together to them, or they with us, when both sides
believe it necessary."

Also participating in the presentation to European Union
parliamentarians, entitled "Cementing civil society in Cuba," was Manuel
Cuesta Morua, spokesman for the Progressive Arc Party, an opposition
party and one of the most visible faces of MUAD.

Ferrer's visit to Brussels is part of an intensive travel itinerary that
has included several European and US cities, in response to the Cuban
government having issued the former political prisoner of the 2003 Black
Spring a special travel permit allowing him to leave the country "only
once." The permit was granted after intense pressure.

During his stay in Miami, Florida, Ferrer said in an interview that
estimated UNPACU's membership at more than 3,000 activists and
supporters, mainly in Santiago de Cuba and other eastern provinces.

Last week several members of MUAD participated in a meeting in Quintana
Roo, Mexico, sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the
Christian Democratic Organization of the Americas (CADO). The meeting
served to reaffirm the consensus projects and elect the members of its
Executive Secretariat.

Source: Patriotic Union of Cuba Withdraws From MUAD / 14ymedio, Havana –
Translating Cuba -
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