Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas

Cuban political activist, leader of the political opposition to the Cuban government

Son of Alejandro Payá, small businessman and Iradia Sardiñas. His family emigrated to Cuba in the early twentieth century. His maternal grandparents were Cubans who took advantage of the opportunities of the time to successfully start a business.

Since childhood, his family and siblings were active in the Parish of El Salvador del Mundo in El Cerro. He attended the Champagnat School of the Marist Brothers of El Cerro until third grade in 1961. When the school closed, he began attending public school, attending catechism classes at his parish where he made his first communion and was later confirmed.

Between 1969 and 1972, at age 16, he completed Military Service on the Isle of Pines, where he completed his pre-university studies. After finishing his service, he became involved in parish life. He became a member of the Youth Group, a catechist and member of the parish council.

Upon his return to Havana in 1972, he enrolled at the University of Havana in the Bachelor of Physics program. Years later, he began working in carpentry and later as a teacher, managing to take the necessary subjects to complete a degree in telecommunications engineering. In the early 1980s, he began working in the public health sector as a specialist in biomedical equipment.

In 1986, he entered into civil and religious marriage with Ofelia Acevedo Maura, a civil engineer, with whom he had three children: Oswaldo José, Rosa María and Reynaldo Isaías.

Between 1981 and 1986, he worked in the Cuban Ecclesial Reflection (REC) process and in February 1986 was a delegate from the Cerro-Vedado Vicariate to the Cuban National Ecclesial Encounter (ENEC), where he presented the topic "Faith and Justice," defending the right of Cuban Catholics to practice their faith with absolute freedom.

Between 1986 and 1988, he founded the Christian Circle of Cuban Thought in the Parish of El Cerro and published "Pueblo de Dios." In 1988, the Archbishop of Havana, Jaime Ortega, suspended the publication and closed the "Christian Circle."

In 1987, he founded the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), an opposition group, in which he assumed the position of national coordinator. He subsequently joined the International Christian Democratic Union (IDC) and the Christian Democratic Organization of America (ODCA).

In 1990, he drafted the "Interim Program" which proposed a joint path for the so-called "peaceful transformation of Cuban society."

He also made a "Call for National Dialogue" and received support from the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (PDC), headquartered abroad, thereby initiating close collaboration that was consolidated over the years. The campaign was rejected by the Cuban population.

The creation of the "National Dialogue Committee," whose objective was to draft a program for transition to capitalism, in perfect harmony with the plan that George Bush established to annihilate the existence of the Cuban nation. This committee brought together about 110 members of the Cuban far right abroad, some of whom have extensive experience in international terrorism against the Cuban population.

Among these were Carlos Alberto Montaner, president of the Cuban Liberal Union, whose headquarters is located in Madrid. The goal of the organization he directs is to promote U.S. foreign policy against Cuba within European and Latin American administrations.

Also present was José Jesús Basulto León, director of the Brothers to the Rescue organization, which was formed by the CIA and participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961 and, among other things, attacked the Blanquita theater in Havana with a bazooka on August 24, 1962, while it was occupied.

The leader of the Christian Liberation Movement called on members of the Cuban American National Foundation, such as Joe García or Ramón Humberto Colás.

In April 2002, he did not hesitate to support members of the junta responsible for the coup d'état against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez through an open letter. In that email, he enthusiastically congratulated the authors of the coup d'état.

A few months later, in October 2002, the European Parliament awarded him the Andrei Sakharov Prize 2002 for his work in "defense of freedom of thought and human rights." Additionally, Czech President Vaclav Havel, with the support of the IDC in his resolution of November 30, 2002, sponsored by Cuba's PDC, advocated for his candidacy for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for his "peaceful efforts in favor of freedom and democracy in Cuba."

After receiving the Andrei Sakharov Prize, he began a tour through Europe and America that included interviews with José María Aznar, Vaclav Havel, Vicente Fox and other leaders from various countries, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. He also had exchanges with representatives of counterrevolutionary organizations and figures in Puerto Rico and Miami.

Finally, before returning to Cuba, he attended the "Madrid Forum 2003: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela," held at the Casa de América on January 29, 2003. There, as President of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), together with the President of the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (PDC), they both represented counterrevolutionary groups at a panel moderated by Gerardo Le Chevalier and complemented by the attendance of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, former President of Costa Rica.

Between 1996 and 1998, he drafted, together with other members of the MCL, the Varela Project, an initiative sponsored and financed from abroad by the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba (PDC) with the active participation of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, to promote a draft law advocating "political reforms" in Cuba, in favor of greater "individual freedoms" commissioned by CIA agent Carlos Alberto Montaner.

Payá died in an automobile accident when the driver of a rental tourist vehicle in which he was traveling lost control and crashed into a tree. Following the accident, the forensic medical report indicated that Oswaldo Payá died instantly as a result of head trauma from the strong impact received.

On July 22, 2012, the Hyundai Accent vehicle, license plate T31402 for tourist use, left the road and crashed into a tree on a stretch of the Las Tunas-Bayamo highway, in the locality of Las Gabinas, Granma province. In this accident, Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante died; while the foreign nationals Ángel Francisco Carromero Barrios and Jens Aron Modig, of Spanish and Swedish citizenship respectively, sustained minor injuries.