Eyeing transition, Cuban dissidents call for unity

HAVANA, June 21 (Reuters) A coalition of moderate Cuban dissidents called today for the country's opposition groups to unite and come up with a common proposal for a transition to democracy on the Communist island.

With Cuban leader Fidel Castro temporarily sidelined from office while he recovers from health problems, the dissidents said they saw a window of opportunity to join forces and push for a constructive dialogue with the government.

''First, it's absolutely fundamental for us to decide how we're going to arrive at a democracy,'' Manuel Cuesta Morua, a leading social-democrat dissident, said at a news conference with foreign media in a run-down building in central Havana.

''The challenge is to build a consensus from all the different proposals that already exist,'' he said.

Cuesta Morua is a founding member of the Alliance for Dialogue and Reconciliation, a coalition of moderate dissident groups that is leading a push for unity among the country's political opposition, which is small, fragmented, riven by rivalries and frequently infiltrated by government operatives.

Almost a dozen opposition groups, which are outlawed but often tolerated in Cuba, a one-party state ruled by Fidel Castro since a 1959 revolution, have drawn up proposals for political change over the last decade.

The coalition hopes to gather those groups in the coming months to find common ground to lobby for a gradual shift toward democracy.

''Today more than ever it's apparent just how divided we are,'' said Fernando Sanchez, president of the opposition Democratic Solidarity Party. ''It's time to try to come up with a single alternative for change that is backed by all the opposition,'' he added.

Castro was forced to hand over power temporarily to his younger brother, Raul Castro, in July last year when he had intestinal surgery. In his absence, the Cuban government has insisted there will be no change to the political system.

There have been calls for unity among Cuban dissidents before. But those efforts failed, derailed by rivalries and differing political visions.

When Cuesta Morua and Sanchez founded their coalition in April, some dissidents distanced themselves from the initiative, saying unity did not necessarily require a formal pact.

Some of those dissidents were scheduled to meet with foreign media later today at the residence of the head of the US Interest Sections in Havana, Michael Parmly.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, another opposition group, estimates that about 280 Cuban dissidents are in prison for political reasons.

The Cuban government denies there are political prisoners on the island and says the jailed dissidents are ''mercenaries'' on the payroll of its longtime ideological foe the United States. Washington has enforced an economic embargo on Cuba for 45 years.

REUTERS RKM BST0112