National Elections of the Republican Party of Cuba

By Maria Antonia Hidalgo Mir

Photos from the elections.

Guáimaro, Camagüey, Cuba. (HOLGUINPRESS) - Maria Antonia Hidalgo Mir, Director of Elections for the Eastern Region, who served as President of the Election Board for the May 28, 2011 elections to choose the President, Executive Director, and Vice Executive Director of the PRC, reported by telephone that the elections had concluded with complete success thanks to security measures and meticulous organization by those in charge of the event, despite the number of officials involved and all known opposition members and street activists who managed to evade surveillance and make their presence known.

Photos from the elections.

Of the five candidates, Mr. Ibrahim Bosch López, who served as Executive Director and is one of the founders, was elected President; Mr. Vladimir Calderón Frías, who served as Director for the Havana City province, was elected Executive Director; and Ms. Magdelivia Hidalgo González, who was the Director of Women's Affairs within the National Board of Directors, was elected Vice Executive Director. Further documented information about them will be provided later.

IB. VC. MH.

Photos from the elections.

The following are the introductory remarks to the elections by Mr. Ibrahim Bosch López.

Respected members of the Republican Party of Cuba.

Brothers, without populist phrases or rhetoric, we have arrived here after a great organizational work under conditions of illegality and without resources; the greatest merit belongs to the enthusiasm and interest of the ordinary opposition members, who embraced the idea of being part of this redemptive project.

From the organization's founding, we undertook the task of promoting it and democratically creating structures at the municipal level. After establishing a certain number of municipalities in various provinces, we moved on to creating provincial structures, elected by municipal leaders. Today, we are here electing the Vice Executive Director, the Executive Director, and the President by provincial leaders. This follows the founding members' renunciation of their rights and the transition to a leadership democratically elected from the grassroots, thus culminating the process of transitioning from a linear organization to a pyramidal structure, which concludes today.

The above sounds easy, but it has taken us 7 years and 9 months. It was founded on September 1, 2003. Obviously, we've already explained the circumstances, but it has been worth it. Today, we have the only political party that first sought its members to discover the leaders that these members have chosen. As the saying goes, we didn't establish ourselves as chieftains and then seek out the tribe. And something truly interesting: we haven't been tainted by the very things the opposition is so often criticized for, which we won't even mention. Furthermore, we are clear about who our enemy is and haven't wasted time on pointless controversies.

Today, the Republican Party of Cuba completes its founding. We will begin to implement our initiatives for seizing power, always alongside civil society. Our organization is grassroots and inclusive; we are not an elitist party. I assure you that we will stand with this people, weary of having their rights violated, conquering democracy, creating a state of law, and building a great nation, a republic based on the law, as we deserve, leaving behind this era of plunder and communist despotism we are currently experiencing.

As I have mentioned before, what we are doing now is like putting a Christian cross in hell; with these elections we have sown the seed of democracy in the heart of tyranny.

I thank all those who have had the courage to overcome the hardships, to sacrifice themselves anonymously without remuneration, only with the certainty of the success we will have and to accompany us to this point; without their participation this winning team that we have today would not have been possible, this is the first step, we must continue forward and place the torch of freedom in the José Martí Civic Square of Havana.

Never so certain that we will triumph. May God bless our people. Thank you.

Chief Executive

Republican Party of Cuba

Ibrahim Bosch López

Note: These words were read by Mr. Rafael Ferro Salas, director of the PRC in the province of Pinar del Rio.