First Successful Opposition Rally in Cuba!

Per an article posted by the Associated Press today,

HAVANA — With shouts of "Freedom" and the singing of the Cuban national anthem, more than 200 people on Friday opened a rare opposition assembly in communist Cuba, uninterrupted by authorities...

...Martha Beatriz Roque (search), the meeting's lead organizer and a former political prisoner who attempted a similar gathering nine years ago, called it "a point of departure" for future work.

"There will be a before and after for May 20 in Cuba," Roque said, claiming it was the first such gathering in Fidel Castro's (search) 46 years of communist rule. "This is a triumph for all the opposition."

"This is a really nice surprise," said the veteran activist Vladimiro Roca. "My predictions were not realized. I didn't think the government would allow it to happen."

Seated in rows of plastic chairs bought with donations from exile groups, the delegates cheered as organizers played an audiotaped message from President Bush;
"I have a message to those assembling today to protest in Cuba: As you struggled for the freedom of your country, the American people stand with you," Bush said in his traditional May 20 speech recognizing Cuban Independence Day. "Viva Bush" or "Long Live Bush," some delegates shouted in contrast with cries heard earlier in the meeting of "Abajo Fidel" or "Down with Fidel."