Thread: Coddling Cuba - Washington Post

Coddling Cuba

Why do the members of Congress rushing to befriend the Castros ignore the island's pro-democracy movement?

Thursday, April 9, 2009; A16

HALF A DOZEN members of the Congressional Black Caucus spent hours huddling with Fidel and Raúl Castro in Havana this week as part of a swelling campaign to normalize relations with Cuba. "It is time to open dialogue and discussion," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) told a news conference in Washington after their return. "Cubans do want dialogue. They do want talks." Funny, then, that in five days on the island the Congress members found no time for dialogue with Afro-Cuban dissident Jorge Luis GarcÃ*a Pérez.

Mr. GarcÃ*a, better known as "Antúnez," is a renowned advocate of human rights who has often been singled out for harsh treatment because of his color. "The authorities in my country," he has said, "have never tolerated that a black person [could dare to] oppose the regime." His wife, Iris, is a founder of the Rosa Parks Women's Civil Rights Movement, named after an American hero whom Afro-Cubans try to emulate. The couple have been on a hunger strike since Feb. 17, to demand justice for an imprisoned family member. They are part of a substantial and steadily growing civil movement advocating democratic change in Cuba -- one that U.S. advocates of detente with the Castros appear determined to ignore.

In addition to the Black Caucus, the congressional campaign is led by longtime advocates for the Latin American left such as Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), by farm state representatives eager to increase the $400 million in food the United States already exports annually to Cuba, and by Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Lugar dispatched staff members to Cuba this year to report on the prospects for improved relations; they also didn't meet with anyone from the democratic opposition. They did propose lifting all restrictions on travel to Cuba by Americans -- something that could give Cuba's state-run tourism industry a $1 billion annual boost -- and Mr. Lugar is now co-sponsoring legislation that would do just that.

The congressional pressure, and that by leftist Latin American presidents who have been streaming to Cuba in recent months, is very likely to undermine President Obama, who has promised that "liberty" would be at the center of his Cuba policy. Mr. Obama is expected to announce a relaxation on travel and gifts to family members by Cuban Americans before next week's Summit of the Americas, and he has said he is open to dialogue with the regime. But he has also said that the lifting of what remains of the U.S. trade embargo should be linked to steps by Cuba toward democratic change.

That is a sensible and forward-looking strategy, especially given the age and failing health of the Castros. But, for the moment, the brothers show no sign of offering such change -- in fact they have recently moved to foreclose the possibility, by purging two younger and relatively liberal-minded ministers. Fifty-four of the 75 leading democracy and human rights activists jailed six years ago last month are still imprisoned, along with hundreds of other political detainees. As long as Congress is moving to unilaterally dismantle U.S. leverage -- and shunning Cuba's democratic opposition -- the regime will have no incentive to compromise.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03769.html

While dialog may be a good idea, the outflow of US dollars and tourists spending dollars in Cuba is not a good idea. And while the majority of Cubans may be eager to embrace western ideas, if they do anything against a Communist government, they will be squished like bugs.

In the case of the opening with China and Russia the people leading them Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were both strong proponenents of American principals who were not averse to using military strength to protect and project American interests. In this case the overture is coming from the left and from people who are friendly towards the rhetoric of Castro. If there is an opening to Castro's Cuba which I think is inevitable it should be led by people who are not his friends in the American legislature.

Originally Posted by Richard

In the case of the opening with China and Russia the people leading them Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were both strong proponenents of American principals who were not averse to using military strength to protect and project American interests. In this case the overture is coming from the left and from people who are friendly towards the rhetoric of Castro. If there is an opening to Castro's Cuba which I think is inevitable it should be led by people who are not his friends in the American legislature.

I 100% support lifting the trade embargo against Cuba, a little country 90 miles from Florida. The Cubans are very smart capable people who would make great friends and terrific allies.

But I agree 100% that the people to lead this restoration of normalized diplomatic relations with Cuba would not be Commie Friends in the American legislature.

It should be handled by our State Department and the trade shouldn't be "Free Trade" either. Itt should be old fashioned protected trade that protects the vital interests of both countries.

April 10, 2009
Useful Idiots Caucus
By Mona Charen

Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus traveled to Cuba last week and were delighted with their reception. They met with Raul Castro for four hours (including dinner). Three lucky members of the delegation were even entertained by Fidel at his home. As the Miami Herald reported, the representatives found Castro, to be "very engaging, very energetic ... very talkative.'' Imagine. The dictator known for his five-hour speeches. Who could have guessed?

Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., was impressed that Castro knew her name and her district. "He looked right into my eyes," she gushed, "and he said, 'How can we help you? How can we help President Obama?'"

"This is the dawning of a new day,'' exclaimed Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. "In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor."

Funny how easy it is to survive when you don't hold elections. And when all of your opponents wind up in prison or dead. And when even those who dare to whisper a word of dissent to your absolute rule find themselves harassed, beaten, humiliated, and imprisoned. According to the Black Book of Communism, more than 100,000 Cubans have served time for political offenses in Cuba's equivalent of the Gulag Archipelago since Castro came to power in 1959. Among those particularly singled out for persecution were human rights activists, homosexuals, and religious believers.

Members of the CBC paid lip service to the notion that they opposed the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba because "it hasn't worked." But the tenor of their comments betrays other motivations. They are genuinely Castrophilic.

In finest useful idiot fashion, Rush said this of 77-year-old Raul Castro, who has served Fidel throughout the 50-year totalitarian siege of the island: "I think that what really surprised me, but also endeared me to him," he told the L.A. Times, "was his keen sense of humor, his sense of history and his basic human qualities. I intend to do everything that I can when we get back to the States to make sure that normalization with our relationship with Cuba is given proper consideration both within the House of Representatives and the neighborhoods of America."

Here's the Black Book of Communism again on treatment of prisoners in Cuba: "The violence of the prison regime affected both political prisoners and common criminals. Violence began with the interrogations conducted by the Departamento Tecnico de Investigaciones (DTI). The DTI used solitary confinement and played on the phobias of the detainees: one woman who was afraid of insects was locked in a cell infested with cockroaches. The DTI also used physical violence. Prisoners were forced to climb a staircase wearing shoes filled with lead and were then thrown back down the stairs. Psychological torture was also used, often observed by a medical team. ... The children of detainees were banned from higher education, and spouses were often fired from their jobs."

The U.S. Department of State reported in February 2009 about continuing appalling conditions in Cuba's prisons: "Health conditions and hygiene at prisons were very poor. Many prisoners, such as Tomas Ramos Rodriguez, released in June after serving 17 years, said that cell floors had standing pools of water contaminated with sewage. There were several reports that toilets were essentially wooden platforms above an open sewer, with no process for treating the waste. Family members reported widespread serious disease and illnesses among political prisoners, for which the prison staff sometimes withheld treatment. Digestive disorders, dengue fever, and outbreaks of skin diseases caused by contaminated water were frequent."

The CBC didn't ask to visit political prisoners. Perhaps they might have made time to see the brave Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) who have gathered -- or attempted to gather -- every year since 2003 to draw attention to their imprisoned spouses. In 2003, 75 pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested, summarily tried, and sentenced to long prison terms. Their wives and other supporters have been dressing in white and marching in Havana to call attention to their plight. In 2005, the Damas de Blanco were awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. The Castro regime (the first name isn't so important) has responded by ransacking the women's homes, forcibly removing them from public busses as they made their way to Havana, and detaining them.

Cubans who dare to oppose the regime pay a terrible price. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who led this delegation and has been a Castro apologist for decades, should be deeply ashamed. So should they all.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl ... aucus.html