GIVE ME LIBERTY: EXAMINING THE LEGACY OF OSWALDO PAYÁ

Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo Payá and his Daring Quest for a Free Cuba, a new biography from Simon and Schuster [simonandschuster.com], examines the life of Oswaldo Payá, a dissident who dared to defy Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and inspired Cubans to fight for democracy. Founder of the Christian Liberation Movement, Payá devoted his career to opposing Cuba’s one-party rule and fighting for freedom of speech and other core political rights. Payá is best known for his work challenging the Cuban government with the Varela Project, a citizen petition demanding free speech, free elections, freedom for political prisoners and other reforms. Thousands of Cubans signed the petition, an extraordinary protest against the dictatorship. The regime responded by refusing to consider the petition and jailing Payá’s followers. In 2012, Payá was killed in a suspicious car wreck, which many believe was orchestrated by the regime. Ten years later, Payá’s life and work remain influential within the Cuban pro-democracy movement. Join us for a conversation with The Washington Post’s David E. Hoffman, author of Give Me Liberty, and Cuban democracy activist and daughter of Oswaldo Payá, Rosa María Payá Acevedo, examining the life and work of Oswaldo Payá and how his legacy informs and inspires an new generation of Cuban democratic activists. The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED makes more than 2,000 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 100 countries. Learn more at https://www.ned.org/ Follow NED: Facebook -   / national.endowment.for.democracy   Twitter -   / nedemocracy   Instagram -   / nedemocracy   LinkedIn -   / national-endowment-for-democracy