CUBAN DISSIDENTS have never had a Lech Walesa or a Václav Havel. Nor is there a pro-democracy force on the island comparable to Solidarity or Charter 77. But that might be changing.

Last Friday and Saturday saw the inaugural meeting of Marta Beatriz Roque’s Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba. About 200 Cubans attended the two-day event, which took place in a dirt-filled garden outside Félix Bonne’s Havana home. Cheers (in Spanish) of “Down with Fidel!” and “Freedom! Freedom!” reportedly rang out, as participants marked Cuba’s original Independence Day (May 20).