Tuesday, February 6, 2018

February 6, 2018 was Rosa María Payá Day in Miami-Dade County

Here is a partial breakdown, looking back over the past year, of why this is a well deserved honor.

Rosa María Payá (center) honored today by Miami-Dade County
February 6, 2018 was recognized by Miami-Dade County as Rosa María Payá Day. The 29-year old activist addressed the county commission asking for support for a plebiscite in Cuba. She also dedicated the honor granted her to persecuted activists Lia Villares, Luis Trapaga and her martyred father Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas.

Over the past 12 months alone Rosa has engaged in courageous acts of smart activism to expose the injustices of the Castro regime and the hypocrisy of powerful interests complicit with the dictatorship.

Last year on February 27, 2017 Rosa María Payá Acevedo delivered to the Ministry of Justice of the Castro regime an appeal for a judicial review into the events that caused the death of her father, Oswaldo Payá, and her friend Harold Cepero on July 22, 2012. Rosa María explained at the time:
"With this process, the last legal possibility of discussing the case in Cuba is exhausted. By law, one of these authorities must respond within 90 days. Consequently, we remain waiting, without prejudice to the allegations and with evidence that we will present in various international legal forums."
Rosa María returned to Cuba on July 17, 2017 to honor the legacy of Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero in the days leading up to the fifth anniversary of the attack that ended both their lives.

On July 22, 2017 Rosa María Payá Acevedo tweeted that CubaDecide was banned in Cuba, describing it as "the error with which Google joins censorship in Cuba." This led to a flurry of tweets about the question of censorship and Google in Cuba. Mary O'Grady of The Wall Street Journal tweeted "Google bows to Cuban censorship." 

Mary Anastasia O'Grady in her August 27, 2017 column in The Wall Street Journal titled "Google’s Broken Promise to Cubans" exposed the high tech companies hypocrisy and complicity with the Castro dictatorship, and referenced Rosa's tweets as the inspiration for the essay.

Rosa, and her mom Ofelia Acevedo Maura, on October 26, 2017 exposed the false claims made by the Castro regime that Cuba was opening to the diaspora. While trying to portray an opening on travel Cuban officials did not allow Cuban national Ofelia Acevedo to return to Cuba together with her daughter. They stopped Ofela at the airport in Havana and forced her to leave the country.

Sham municipal elections were held on November 26, 2017 and Rosa, along with CubaDecide, conducted a campaign to encourage Cubans to write "Plebiscite" on the ballots in protest.

On February 5, 2018 she appeared in the Mexican edition of Vogue with six other prominent political activists who had taken part in the Oslo Freedom Forum.

Rosa is also the president of a Latin American youth network. "Juventud LAC" that has launched a campaign to ask the incoming government of Chile not to invite Venezuelan strong man Nicolas Maduro or Cuban dictator Raul Castro to the transfer of power in Chile.
 It is fitting that Miami-Dade County, home to the Cuban exile, would recognize this courageous young woman.

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