| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"pedro martori" |
| Date: |
29 Dec 2004 12:37:34 AM |
| Object: |
Castro frees a few, fools no one |
Castro frees a few, fools no one
From the Tuesday, December 28, 2004 issue:
http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/288666818410641.htm
The Cuban prison doors that slammed shut on 75 political dissidents and =
independent journalists 20 months ago have opened for a handful released =
without explanation by Fidel Castro's government.=20
Does this nod to international pressure signal anything more than =
tactical expediency by the Western Hemisphere's longest-running =
dictatorship?=20
The short answer: No.=20
Those released, including Cuba's most prominent independent journalist, =
the poet Raul Rivero, were given only temporary paroles, reportedly for =
set periods up to a year. That means they can be arrested again and =
jailed at any time at Castro's whim. Moreover, this still leaves at =
least 60 dissidents, including 20 or more independent journalists, who =
should never have been imprisoned in the first place, languishing as =
political prisoners serving sentences of up to 20 years or more.=20
This transparent parody of a political thaw misleads no one. Castro, as =
always, manipulates events to serve his own interests. Those interests =
begin and end, as they have for 45 years now, with retaining his =
absolute power and keeping communist Cuba's tattered "revolution" in =
place in perpetuity.=20
A decade ago, there was still a forlorn hope that the aging Castro and =
his shabby regime would recognize history's winds of change and =
liberalize Cuba. After all, the end of Soviet subsidies forced Castro to =
legalize the American dollar as a parallel currency and invite foreign =
investment in his ramshackle economy. But reform never went any further =
than that.=20
The independent political groups that emerged for a time in the =
mid-1990s pleading for a dialogue on Cuba's future were soon suppressed. =
The limited, small-scale entrepreneurship allowed beginning in the 1990s =
is now withering under new government restrictions.=20
Supposedly, Cuba's parallel dollar economy is being shut down in =
retaliation for the Bush administration's move to diminish the flow of =
dollar remittances to Cuba from Cuban Americans. The real reason is that =
even the tightly constrained economic liberalization permitted by =
Castro's government was eroding Cuba's revolutionary ethic.=20
Whenever Castro has had to choose between easing the poverty of his =
people and maintaining his power, he chooses to retain his unchecked =
dictatorship.=20
Releasing Rivero and a few of his fellow political prisoners was =
intended to improve Havana's strained relations with Spain and the =
European Union, important investors in Cuba's tourism sector. That at =
least shows that international pressure can diminish political =
repression in Cuba at the margins. What remains unchanged, sadly, is =
Cuba's deplorable overall record on human rights.=20
-- The San Diego Union-Tribune
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Distributed by
Chachi Novellas-Bengochea
Delray Beach, Florida U.S.A.
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ForFreedomandJustice/
"...one nation UNDER GOD" "IN GOD WE TRUST"
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.823 / Virus Database: 561 - Release Date: 12/27/2004
.
|
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| User: "pedro martori" |
|
| Title: http://www.culcubalter.or...Re Castro frees a few, fools no one |
29 Dec 2004 02:15:05 AM |
|
|
http://www.culcubalter.org/
Castro frees a few, fools no one
From the Tuesday, December 28, 2004 issue:
http://www.sedaliademocrat.com/288666818410641.htm
The Cuban prison doors that slammed shut on 75 political dissidents and =
independent journalists 20 months ago have opened for a handful released =
without explanation by Fidel Castro's government.=20
Does this nod to international pressure signal anything more than =
tactical expediency by the Western Hemisphere's longest-running =
dictatorship?=20
The short answer: No.=20
Those released, including Cuba's most prominent independent journalist, =
the poet Raul Rivero, were given only temporary paroles, reportedly for =
set periods up to a year. That means they can be arrested again and =
jailed at any time at Castro's whim. Moreover, this still leaves at =
least 60 dissidents, including 20 or more independent journalists, who =
should never have been imprisoned in the first place, languishing as =
political prisoners serving sentences of up to 20 years or more.=20
This transparent parody of a political thaw misleads no one. Castro, as =
always, manipulates events to serve his own interests. Those interests =
begin and end, as they have for 45 years now, with retaining his =
absolute power and keeping communist Cuba's tattered "revolution" in =
place in perpetuity.=20
A decade ago, there was still a forlorn hope that the aging Castro and =
his shabby regime would recognize history's winds of change and =
liberalize Cuba. After all, the end of Soviet subsidies forced Castro to =
legalize the American dollar as a parallel currency and invite foreign =
investment in his ramshackle economy. But reform never went any further =
than that.=20
The independent political groups that emerged for a time in the =
mid-1990s pleading for a dialogue on Cuba's future were soon suppressed. =
The limited, small-scale entrepreneurship allowed beginning in the 1990s =
is now withering under new government restrictions.=20
Supposedly, Cuba's parallel dollar economy is being shut down in =
retaliation for the Bush administration's move to diminish the flow of =
dollar remittances to Cuba from Cuban Americans. The real reason is that =
even the tightly constrained economic liberalization permitted by =
Castro's government was eroding Cuba's revolutionary ethic.=20
Whenever Castro has had to choose between easing the poverty of his =
people and maintaining his power, he chooses to retain his unchecked =
dictatorship.=20
Releasing Rivero and a few of his fellow political prisoners was =
intended to improve Havana's strained relations with Spain and the =
European Union, important investors in Cuba's tourism sector. That at =
least shows that international pressure can diminish political =
repression in Cuba at the margins. What remains unchanged, sadly, is =
Cuba's deplorable overall record on human rights.=20
-- The San Diego Union-Tribune
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Distributed by
Chachi Novellas-Bengochea
Delray Beach, Florida U.S.A.
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ForFreedomandJustice/
"...one nation UNDER GOD" "IN GOD WE TRUST"
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.823 / Virus Database: 561 - Release Date: 12/27/2004
.
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