We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.
Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. ....***
Cuban officials could not be reached for comment, but they have long denounced U.S. government-funded programs as violations of Cuban sovereignty.
Some of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 were charged with accepting cash and other support from the U.S. government.
Cuban authorities track the aid closely, sometimes infiltrating the U.S.-funded programs in an effort to monitor, disrupt and control opposition activities, activists on the island say.
The debate over U.S. efforts in Cuba is intensifying in Washington and Havana as officials solicit proposals for up to $29 million in projects envisioned by the President's Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba.
Since the passage in 1996 of the Helms-Burton Act, the vast majority of funding to support political change in Cuba has been managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has distributed more than $35 million in funds related to Cuba since then.
Projects vary
The USAID assistance has primarily gone to U.S.-based groups for projects ranging from producing and sending pro-democracy literature to Cuba to providing computers, fax machines and other equipment to Cuba's dissident journalists.
USAID officials say their policy prohibits the agency and its grant recipients from sending cash to individuals or groups on the island.
But the decision to prohibit cash payments to the Cuban opposition does not apply to the NED, which describes itself as a private, nonprofit group but is funded largely by the U.S. Congress.***