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MIAMI, Fla. (June 10, 2003) – In an effort to begin building
a bridge of reconciliation among Cubans, some are looking for tools
in distant places. The first stop: South Africa
“We should keep in mind that
although the Cuban situation is unique in many ways, it has similarities
with the experiences of others,” said
FIU Sociology professor Marifeli Pérez-Stable, who chaired
the task force that issued the report, Cuban National Reconciliation. “Over
the next eighteen months, I hope to present the community with
different points of view from which we might distill useful lessons
for the reconciliation of the Cuban nation.”
The first guest speaker in a series
of lectures on this topic will be Alex Boraine, who worked with
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
as the
deputy chairperson of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (1995-1998) and now serves as president of the International
Center for Transnational Justice in New York City.
As the author of numerous books on
reconciliation, forgiveness and human rights issues, Dr. Boraine
has been deeply involved
in South Africa's effort to deal with the history and effects
of apartheid.
He has also been engaged in assisting the process of transition
in several countries, including Northern Ireland and Bosnia.
Boraine’s lecture, Sourth Africa’s Democratic Transition:
The Challenge to Achiueve Justice. Lessons for Cuba and Others,
will serve as a springboard for a panel discussion moderated by
Pérez-Stable. Panelists include FIU professor Anthony
Maingot, Ricardo Bofill of the Committee for Human Rights, and
George F.
Knox, a Miami attorney.
The event, which is free and open
to the public, will take place on Thurs., June 19, 2003 at 7:30
p.m. in the FIU-University Park
Green Library, room 100. 11200 SW 8 St. in West Miami-Dade County.
The first phase of the reconciliation
project led by Pérez-Stable
involved a group of 26 experts – exiled Cubans as well as
individuals of other nationalities – who earlier this year
published the aforementioned 135-page report to answer the question:
What to do with the legacy of human rights violations in Cuba
once the transition is underway? The report points to four aspects
of
national reconciliation: individual, family, diaspora, and political.
Cuban National Reconciliation is available on the web in Spanish
and English at: http://memoria.fiu.edu.
Members of the public wishing to
attend the Boraine lecture and panel discussion, which is sponsored
by FIU’s Latin American
and Caribbean Center and the Cuban Research Institute, should
call 305.348.2894 to reserve a seat.
For more information, contact Marifeli
Perez-Stable at
marifeli.perez_stable@fiu.edu or 305.348.1296. |