(10 Nov 1999) Spanish/Nat
An attempt by Cuban dissidents to march in a Havana Park on Wednesday ended violently when local Communist Party members beat up one of the would-be participants.
The march was one of various activities planned by the dissidents around next week's gathering in Cuba of heads of state from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Cuba's small and illegal opposition groups have no access to state media and are generally better-known by foreign correspondents and diplomats than the island's people at large.
The opposition's leaders are planning to use the presence of foreign leaders during the next Ibero-American summit to bring attention to their complaints about alleged human rights problems.
On Wednesday they tried to stage a march in Havana Park.
But their efforts were frustrated as a crowd of local communist party members attacked one of the marchers.
Both groups ended up clashing in the streets of Cuba's capital.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"We are supporting the summit that is going to take place in Havana. As revolutionaries we own the streets and here we are."
SUPER CAPTION: VOXPOP
Supporters of the revolution, alongside security officers, were in hand to draw attention away from the dissident's plight.
SOUNDBITE:(Spanish)
"We were told that there were subversive elements coming here to try to sabotage the summit so we came to show our support for Cuba"
SUPER CAPTION: VOXPOP
The Ninth Ibero-American summit is taking place in Havana from the 16th to the 18th of November.
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