On 30 November 2016, Dr Eduardo Cardet, national coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), was arrested on his return home from a trip to Miami, USA, where he expressed his opinion regarding Cuba’s situation after the death of Fidel Castro. Dr Cardet remains in detention. The Cuban regime is prose­cuting Dr Cardet for violent resistance in connection to the arrest. Amnesty International has already officially considered Cardet a prisoner of conscience.

The MCL is a social-political movement with concrete proposals as to the way towards democracy on the island. The last initiative promoted within Cuba by the MCL — One Cuban, one vote — encourages an electoral law guaranteeing the right of all Cubans to elect and to be elected, freely and fairly. MCL members continue to face constant repression, from the Primavera Negra (Black Spring) crackdown of 2003 until the death, in strange circumstances, of its founder and Sa­kharov Prize laureate, Oswaldo Payá, in 2012. The arrest and possible imprisonment of Dr Eduardo Cardet is yet another sign that MCL remains a key actor for the island’s peaceful transition process.

Arrests having political motivations, such as that of Dr Eduardo Cardet, are incompatible with peaceful coexistence in Cuban society. These actions do not favour a climate of dialogue within the framework of the intended cooperation agreement between the European Union and Cuba.

The EPP demands:

1. Calling on the Cuban regime to release Eduardo Cardet immediately and unconditionally;
2. Calling on the Cuban regime and the Cuban authorities to guarantee and take responsi­bility for his well-being: namely, that he be provided with any medical care that he may require, and that his family be given the possibility of regular visits in the prison;
3. Calling on the authorities to stop the harassment and intimidation of members of the MCL.