The statement made by Armando Valladares in Diario Las Americas, reprinted by CNA, are statements made on a personal basis and not on behalf of the Human Rights Foundation, of which Mr. Valladares is currently a member of its board of directors. HRF, which contains a broad spectrum of political opinions among its staff and directors, has no position whatsoever on the current presidential election or on any of the issues discussed by Mr. Valladares including abortion and same-sex marriage.

Please take note of the current article in CNA. Additionally, we should be grateful if you could publish either a clarification or CNA’s current article:

Washington DC, Oct 7, 2008 / 02:17 pm (CNA).- Armando Valladares, a leader in the human rights arena, has said that electing Barack Obama as the next U.S. President, would go against “the values, principles and ideals that have shaped this great nation,” because the Democrat candidate strongly supports abortion, promotes the adoption of children by gay couples and advocates to terrorists.

Valladares, Cuban and a former U.S. ambassador under the Reagan and George Bush Sr. administrations, published a Spanish-written article entitled “Obama Presidente” in the Journal of the Americas.

He wrote that what is happening with Obama, “reminds me of what happened to Fidel Castro and later what happened with Chavez. When our friends warned Venezuelans that the price of this ‘change,’” could cost their freedom, they accused us of empty threats. However, “we were right, but it is already too late.”

Valladares spent 22 years in a Cuban prison before moving to the United States, where he currently resides. According to him, Obama is governed by the Marxist belief that “the end justifies the means.”

The Latino leader said that if Obama wins the election, “more than ever, our society will be in great danger. One of his objectives is the dissolution of the family and its values. Obama supports marriage between same-sex partners. He wants to bring it to the Constitution. Obama is in favor of the adoption of children by gay couples. Rather than favoring prayer in schools, he advocates the distribution of condoms.”

The greatest concern of Valladares is Obama’s relationship with terrorists. “William ‘Bill’ Ayers was one of the founders of the leftist organization ‘The Weatherman.’ It was this group that put the bomb at the headquarters of the police department in New York back in 1970. Additionally, the bombings at the Capitol in Washington in 1971 and at the Pentagon in 1972 are among their other terrorist acts.”

“Obama and Ayers served together in the extreme leftist organization, Woods Fund Board, from 1999 to 2002. Ayers introduced his terrorist friends to Obama and organized parties at his house to raise money for Obama’s campaign to the Senate in Illinois. They appeared together many times in public lectures, panels. Ayers was a donor to the Obama campaign in 2001.”
According to Valladares, if Obama is elected, Ayers would have a place in his administration.

Mr. Valladares currently serves on the board of directors for the Human Rights Foundation, whose president Thor Halvorssen stressed to CNA that the organization does not make political endorsements, and that Valladares was speaking only in a personal capacity.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13993

Cordially,

Alek Boyd
Vice President of Program
Human Rights Foundation