The International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) was created in September 2003 as "a response to the latest brutal crackdown by the Cuban government in the spring of that year against those pushing for democratic reforms, freedom of speech and adherence to international human rights agreements".

The ICDC includes prominent international political figures, diplomats and intellectuals from around the world who want to show political solidarity with fellow democracy activists in Cuba and channel economic support to Cuba’s democratic opposition.

On 17–19 September 2004 the group held a conference of former heads of state, current ministers and representatives from the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, leaders from international and regional organizations, intellectuals, academics, human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activists, members of non governmental organizations, and representatives of the Cuban opposition

Opposition to Fidel Castro

The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent....

.

The group is based in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 and headed by Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 playwright, writer and ex-President Václav Havel

Václav Havel

Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

 was a member of Charter 77

Charter 77

Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...

.

See also

• Politics of Cuba
  Politics of Cuba
  Cuba is constitutionally defined as a "socialist state guided by the principles of José Martí, and the political ideas of Marx, the father of communist states, Engels and Lenin." The present Constitution also ascribes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and...
  
  
• Cuba and democracy
• Foreign relations of Cuba
  Foreign relations of Cuba
  Cuba's once-ambitious foreign policy has been down sized as a result of economic hardship after the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner Cuba was comparatively isolated in the 1990s, but has since entered bilateral co-operation with several...
  
  
• Opposition to Fidel Castro
  Opposition to Fidel Castro
  The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent....
  
  
• Human rights in Cuba
  Human rights in Cuba
  Human Rights Watch is among international human rights organizations accusing the Cuban government of systematic human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial execution....