Committees for the Defense of the Revolution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Spanish: Comités de Defensa de la Revolución), or CDR, is a network of committees across Cuba. The organizations are designed to put medical, educational or other campaigns into national effect, and to report "counter-revolutionary" activity.<ref name="Thomas">Hugh Thomas : Cuba, the pursuit of freedom p.996</ref>

Local CDR members elect the president and vice-president of their chapter and discussion in CDR meetings are generally free, and debates are lively.

The CDR system was formed on September 28, 1960, following the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista during the Cuban Revolution. The slogan of the CDR is, "¡En cada barrio, Revolución!" ("In every neighborhood, Revolution!") It claims a membership of 7.6 million.

The CDR officials have the duty to know the activities of each person in their respective blocks. There is an individual file kept on each block resident, some of which reveal the internal dynamics of households. [1]

Other responsibilities include arranging festivals, administrating voluntary community projects and organizing mass rallies. The CDRs are organized on a geographical basis and act as a center for many who do not work in farms or factories, hence the commitees have a large proportion of female membership.<ref name="Thomas"/> The commitees have been cited by certain Human rights groups as being involved in activity described in Cuba as "acts of repudiation". These acts are alleged to include abuse, intimidation and sometimes physical assault against those deemed "counter-revolutionary".<ref>Amnesty International report 2006</ref>