Committees for the Defense of the Revolution

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"Long Live Socialism" CDR billboard in countryside on the way from Havana to Pinar del Rio.

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.^[1]

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. According to Maida Donate-Armada of the Cuban American National council, "Citizens must be careful of their actions and of what they say, as they are being constantly monitored."^[2]^CANC[›]

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.^[1] 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 believed to include abuse, intimidation and sometimes physical assault against those deemed "counter-revolutionary". ^[3]

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^ CANC: Maida Donate-Armada is a board member of the Cuban American National Council,^[4] a group based in Miami, Florida and sponsored by the American government and private interest groups including Bacardi and the Altria Group^[5]