The Cuban Movement of Military Conscientious Objectors called not to act against the civilian population and to “define itself” on the side of the people in the face of a possible scenario of protests.
MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban Movement of Military Conscientious Objectors (MOC), headed by retired Brigadier General Rafael del Pino, issued a statement addressed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) in which it urges its members to refuse to comply with orders of repression against the civilian population and to “define themselves” on the side of the people in a context of growing social and economic crisis on the Island.
The document, titled “It’s time for definitions” and published by Cuba Siglo 21maintains that national sovereignty has been “usurped” by a power elite linked to the military-business conglomerate GAESAwhich he describes as an “oligarchy” that controls strategic sectors of the economy and acts to the detriment of the interests of the nation.
According to the MOC, the Cuban military swore to defend the sovereignty of the country and not a specific economic or political group.” “When the people take to the streets again and are ordered to massacre defenseless citizens, turn their weapons against those who give those orders and those who are willing to obey them. They are the ones who do not represent us and have usurped national sovereignty,” the text states, calling on officers not to become an instrument of repression against possible popular demonstrations.
The statement warns that, if orders are issued to “massacre defenseless citizens,” those who issue and execute them would be acting as usurpers of sovereignty and, consequently, would be considered responsible for crimes against the very people they claim to serve. In that sense, the movement affirms that those who attack the population “as mercenaries at the service of the GAESA oligarchy” will be seen as “traitors to the country, its sovereignty and its independence.”
The statement also refers to a scenario of foreign intervention in the event of violent repression against civil protests. In this context, the MOC affirms that, if international forces acted to protect the population, the movement “would reach out to them,” establishing a historical analogy with the 1898 US intervention in Cuba.
The text concludes with a direct call to the members of the FAR and the MININT to take a clear position in the face of a possible situation of social outbreak: “The time for definitions has arrived,” he states, insisting that the duty of the military is to stand on the side of the nation and not of those who have turned armed institutions into guarantors of an economic and political power alien to the popular will.
