by Vanessa Bauza
By Vanessa Bauzá HAVANA BUREAU

It's been a long week for Oswaldo Payá.

Most of his closest friends, who worked with him on the Varela Project, an ambitious, grassroots campaign for government reforms, are behind bars.

Payá, Cuba's foremost opposition leader, spent the past week consoling their families and pressing international diplomats in Havana to demand the dissidents'
release.

On a recent evening, Payá slumped into an armchair at his aunt's home and rubbed his eyes. The weariness drawn on his face belied a defiance unshaken by the
recent arrests of 76 independent journalists, opposition activists and Varela Project promoters.

Their fates may be uncertain, but the reform campaign will continue, Payá said.

"It's a tough blow, but the government has made a mistake," Payá said about the government's islandwide sweep. "This is a battle between power and spirit. The
Varela Project campaign will be reanimated."

Almost half of those arrested worked on the project, a petition drive calling for amnesty for Cuba's political prisoners, changes to the electoral system and freedom
of speech and assembly.

Boxes with 11,020 signatures supporting the project were delivered to the National Assembly last May. However, the government shelved the proposal calling it
"unconstitutional."

Payá said he still plans to present a new batch of signatures to the assembly when the time is right.

The government "cannot destroy a movement based in the citizenry," Payá said. "The only thing that will do is hasten its demise."

International human rights groups and journalism associations have condemned the roundup and the European Union called for the dissidents' immediate release.

Cuba's Conference of Catholic Bishops, generally mum on opposition activities, said it lamented "that in our country inappropriate methods are being used to
disqualify and arrest people for thinking and acting differently from the official ideology."

In Geneva, where the U.N. Human Rights Commission is currently meeting, a group of four Latin American countries presented what many are calling the most
mildly worded resolution on Cuba in years.

It does not criticize Cuba's human rights record, as past motions have done, or condemn the recent arrests. The resolution, which will be voted on next month,
simply asks Havana to allow a U.N. monitor to visit the island a proposal Cuban officials have roundly rejected.

Payá called the resolution "modest" in light of the crackdown, but said he supported any attempts by the international community to monitor the island's rights
situation.

The recent roundup was sparked by Cuba's claims that the dissidents were conspiring with the top U.S. diplomat in Havana to foment counterrevolution. Interests
Section chief James Cason has angered Fidel Castro by stepping up support of the dissident community, hosting opposition meetings and stating Cuba is "afraid of
human rights."

Formal charges against the dissidents have not been filed yet.

Gisela Delgado, wife of Varela Project organizer Hector Palacios, said a prison official told her Palacios could be tried for acts against the independence and
sovereignty of the island, a charge that could bring up to 20 years in jail.

Other wives who visited their jailed husbands at a state security detention center last week said they appeared tired but in good health.

"It's a very long road ahead and this is only the beginning," said Miriam Leiva, whose husband Oscar Espinosa Chepe frequently contributed economic analysis to
the exile-run station, Radio Marti.

Some have begun hiring lawyers, though they said it would be difficult to get a fair trial.

"The lawyer won't be able to do much," said Claudia Marquez Linares, the wife of Osvaldo Alfonso Valdes, who headed an illegal opposition party.

"I feel so impotent. It's as though the full weight of the law is against you. I never thought this repressive wave could happen. I didn't think it could all be dismantled
in a few days."

Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com