Earlier today in a courageous speech where Rosa María Payá highlighted crimes of the Cuban dictatorship, called for the rights of the Cuban people to live in democracy, she also made the case for expelling Cuba from the UN Human Rights Council in a two minute statement. The dictatorship’s spokesman, Cuban Ambassador Juan Antonio Quintanilla, then maligned the Cuban human rights defender. The video with Spanish subtitles provided by CubaDecide contains her statement, and dictatorship’s response.

Take action and join Rosa María Payá’s call to expel the Cuban dictatorship from the UN Human Rights Council by signing the petition, Expel Cuba from the UN Human Rights Council. Below is her statement in both English and Spanish.

More mass protests broke out initially in Santiago de Cuba province on March 17, 2024, and despite mass mobilization of repressive forces, the existing new draconian penal code, and a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of disaffected Cubans, protests spread to four others ( Artemisa, Granma, Holguin, and Matanzas ).

There are good and courageous people in Cuba who are risking everything for a better tomorrow. Four of these people are Ramón Jesús Velázquez Toranzo, his wife Bárbara María González Cruz, his son René Ramón Velázquez González and his niece Lorena Velázquez Hechavarría who traveled to the Sanctuary of El Cobre, and on March 8th made public a video, and statement inviting Cubans to come together, and reflect on finding solutions to the problems they face as a people. This is a nonviolent action that is reminiscent of Kingian nonviolence, but profoundly Cuban. Ramón Jesús Velázquez Toranzo, his wife Bárbara María González Cruz until last week were U.S. residents. Ramón Jesus Velásquez Toranzo, a former prisoner of conscience, with his family are risking all for a better Cuba tomorrow.