I confess that I'm going through one of the most difficult tests of my struggle [on behalf of Cuba's freedom].
                      Although my conscience is at ease because I do what I do out of love for my people, my heart is in pain because
                      of the brutal manner in which the truth is shamelessly adulterated.

                      I recently heard part of the radio show Round Table [WAQI-AM (710) Radio Mambí] and felt embarrassed. The
                      viciousness with which Armando Pérez Roura and his co-host mercilessly insult me and others leaves no room for
                      a hoped-for conciliation and forces me to lay down a challenge.

                      I've meditated long and hard about why we lost Cuba to a ruffian, why we exiles are mired in a sea of
                      misunderstanding though we're the victims of a tyranny, and why we could lose the Cuba of the future if we don't
                      discard the old attitudes and forge a new stance -- uniting Cubans of all generations -- for the salvation of Cuba.

                      As I hear statements that wound Cubans, I think of how easy it is to poison the souls of good people by distorting
                      the truth, hurling insults and spewing hatred.

                      Like judges on a high dais, Pérez Roura and company implacably condemn the mote they see in someone else's
                      eye, certain that people have overlooked the beams in their eyes. To them, everyone else is wicked. They utter
                      no conciliatory words, nothing that isn't filled with verbal violence. Thus, José Basulto, of Brothers to the Rescue,
                      is wicked and so am I -- because we think on our own, differently from them, and have taken steps not to fall into
                      Fidel Castro's trap.

                      But the list of the wicked does not end with us. The Directorio Democrático Cubano and the Cuban American
                      National Foundation are wicked; so is the Junta Patriótica and even Cuba's political prisoners. Oswaldo Payá and
                      Elizardo Sánchez are wicked, and so are the other Cuban dissidents. Wicked are Carlos Alberto Montaner, the
                      Catholic Church and the Mexican people. Spiritual leaders are wicked, and even the Varela Room at the Ermita de
                      la Caridad is wicked.

                      For Pérez Roura and company, the search for the truth is no longer important, and democracy is a one-way
                      street. They're not interested in persuading others, not as long as they have the power to defeat them. They
                      censure coarsely if someone points out their inconsistencies. When someone deviates from their narrow vision,
                      they destructively brand him ''traitor'' and start the machinery of slander that has ostracized so many people who
                      might have benefited Cuba.

                      Others and I know this well, because for years we have been suffering this abuse in silence. An implacable
                      campaign has been waged against us with the clear objective of executing us -- using a microphone as the
                      weapon -- before the eyes of the people whom we dearly love.

                      Very well, Pérez Roura. Everyone's patience has a limit, and mine has run out. You have tightened the screw so
                      hard that you have stripped the thread, despite my many efforts to dissuade you from your zealotry.

                      I challenge you to be consistent with your recriminations against us, with your demands for ''steadfastness'' and
                      bellicosity. You have accused us of being ''pansies'' and ''softies.'' Well, let's you and I grab a rifle and board a
                      boat for Cuba, and let's give an example to the world not only of leadership but also of consistency with our
                      avowals. If you don't have a rifle, I'll buy you one. If you don't have a boat, use mine, the Democracia, whose
                      southbound sailings you have so often mocked.

                      However, because my purpose is not to humiliate you but to appeal to your conscience, I instead offer you an
                      olive branch: Out of love for Cuba and the respect we owe to the enslaved nation's children, let us commit
                      ourselves to sit down at the table of brotherhood and send Cuba the message that will make it smile proudly,
                      despite its tragedy -- the news that its children have grown out of their differences and found a formula to work
                      toward its liberation.

                      Do you remember how often I knocked at your door to discuss the ill feelings that your attitudes produced? Yet
                      you thought that my desire not to expose our wounds to our adversary was a sign of weakness on my part.

                      There are two ways for people to stand out: by destroying others, or by surpassing others' virtues. I urge you to
                      abandon the first formula. You have talent to spare and a passion for Cuba. You can shine -- without plunging into
                      darkness the other Cubans who fight for their homeland with dignity.

                      Cuba needs many arms as well as many hearts. Here are mine. Please tell Cuba whether, once again, it can count
                      on yours.
 

                      Ramón Saúl Sánchez is president of Democracia Movement. His commentary is excerpted from his March 15 radio talk on
                      WWFE-AM (670) La Poderosa.