March 07, 2006
Are they NUTS?
A special U.N. rights envoy expressed alarm on Tuesday at allegations of ill treatment in Cuban jails, but said that a U.S. economic embargo was hampering attempts to improve Cuba's respect for political rights.
"The extreme tension between Cuba and the United States has created a climate which is far from conducive to the development of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," French magistrate Christine Chanet said."
That comes from the esteemed U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
As Dr. Sanity might say: "Are they NUTS?"
Posted by GM Roper at March 7, 2006 04:52 PM | TrackBackYes.
Posted by Assistant Village Idiot at March 7, 2006 05:49 PM
Well being for once able to be a Canadian without feeling the need to issue an apology at the same time, I think the the US policy on Cuba is about as close to senseless as it is possible to get. Castro does not explain Chavez or the latest Bolivian 'man of the people' . There are HUGE problems in South America, and they are not personality based.
We can debate the pros and cons of 'engagement' but instead let's just ask one question, and leave it at that.
If there were NO Cuban community in Florida, would the US policy vis-a-vis Castro's Regime be the same ?
Well OK TWO questions --- If there were a 'free' election in Cuba today, would Castro win ?
For the record the answers according to that crystal ball I keep for just such emergencies, are:
A. No.
B. Yes.
I expect the Castro Regime will impode when he is finally gone, but that will result from the 'personality cult' he engendered, not from the pent up demand for more ' liberal' economics from the vast majority of Cubans. My guess is that even now after all those hard years, 'La Revolution' is still popular in the streets.
Posted by dougf at March 7, 2006 05:50 PM
dougf, I disagree with your answers.
Our policy with Castro was established before the mass exodus to the U.S. by Cubans. It didn't take long for us to realize that we blew it by backing Castro's revolution. Of course, relations with Cuba came closer to "improving" when our worst president ever invited Castro to throw open his jails and mental institutions and send those folks over here. It also "improved" when our most degenerate president ever sent an assault team into the Miami home of Elian Gonzales, whose mother died trying to take him to freedom, and when that president and his horrible Attorney General returned the child to Castro's paradise. Other than those anomalies, I feel that our position with Cuba and Castro is based on moral convictions rather than politics.
Castro might win a national election. But., if it is such a sure thing, why doesn't he try? Of course, who in their right mind would oppose a ruthless murdering dictator--except the U.S. (See Hussein.) An honest campaign would reveal the real failings of Castro and his system, which was propped up for years by the USSR.
I see some similarities in Cuba and the former East Germany, where people were brainwashed in the schools and taught to be dependent on the government for everything. Those people in that part of Germany never knew freedom and they were the children of the government. So, they still typically vote for more government rather than more freedom--and, that won't change until generations of new Germans (and Cubans in the other case) can learn about and enjoy the benefits of democracy and capitalism.
Of course, I don't proclaim to be an expert. I just have informed opinions.
Posted by Woody at March 7, 2006 06:50 PM
