The Guardian
Giles Tremlett Tuesday October 7, 2003
Cuban dissidents were awaiting reaction from Fidel Castro yesterday after their latest attempt to force a widening of political debate.
Oswaldo Payá, a dissident leader, delivered a petition to parliament in Havana demanding a referendum on human and democratic rights.
The petition, the second of its kind to be presented in the past two years, carried the signatures, names and addresses of more than 14,000 Cubans.
Mr Payá, a devout Christian backed by Cuba’s Catholic church, says that under the terms of the country’s constitution a referendum is compulsory.
