They call themselves “las Damas de Blanco” (“the Ladies in White”). They are a prominent group of courageous Cuban women, many of them wives of political prisoners. They have fought not just for the rights of the unjustly imprisoned but for the rights of all the Cuban people to have a voice in the way their country is governed. Their tactics are entirely peaceful: They take to the streets of Havana and Santiago de Cuba each Sunday and silently march in protest against human rights violations of the Castro regime …
Since the U.S. first enacted sanctions against Cuba in 1962, the island nation has been dependent on allies for support—from the U.S.S.R. to modern-day Venezuela. This outside aid has reduced the ability to press for meaningful reforms through sanctions on the Castro regime. Despite the recent emergence of a legal real estate market in Cuba, it is clear that the country is far from prepared to lift the heavy-handed policies that repress the Cuban people. Problems on the island still persist. In addition to the unjust imprisonment of Alan Gross, …
When was the last time you wondered if you would be able to feed your family? Fortunately, for the majority of Americans, that thought never occurs, or is rarely a problem. If mom can’t cook the meal, there is always the local grocery store, fast food joint, or sit-down restaurant. Not so in Cuba. Yoani Sanchez, a Cuban blogger and author, has dedicated herself to shedding light on the day-to-day trials and tribulations in Cuba. Her newest book, Havana Real, lifts the veil on everyday life in Havana, painting a …
As Muammar al-Qaddafi clings to power by ordering his troops to shoot on their Libyan compatriots, across the globe in the Caribbean one of his last remaining global buddies is doing his best to keep the lid on his own victims. Fidel Castro, presiding over the wreckage of what was once the thriving island of Cuba, stepped up repression today, the first anniversary of the hunger-strike death of a dissident leader, lest others take to the streets. Castro’s political police are imprisoning Cuban dissidents to prevent them from marking the …
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg recently went to Cuba at the bidding of that island’s dictator. The results weren’t pretty. The tone of the first two articles by our man in Havana makes clear that he was intent on presenting Fidel Castro as a charming old rogue, a bit of a cute killer. Then, suddenly, news happened. The octogenarian reprobate had five seconds of lucidity and uttered to his shocked interviewer: “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” The death-bed confession came in response to Goldberg’s question on whether the …
Do left-wing European journalists and politicians share the blame for the 50-year duration of the Castro dictatorship? Cuban human rights campaigner Armando Valladares seems to think so, and he makes a good case. Sure, the Castros and their goons—who beat up with truncheons and drag through the streets anyone who dares speak their minds in the “Socialist Paradise”—have ultimate responsibility for what they have wrought. But Valladares, who spent 20 years in Castro’s Gulag, has a point when he says that the support that Europe’s self-selected bien pensants have given …
President Barack Obama launched his Cuban policy with some carrots for Fidel Castro’s regime. In April, he moved to lift many of the restrictions which hamper Cuban Americans from visiting and communicating with their families, and to cut through obstacles preventing private telecommunications and satellite radio and television companies from providing services to Cuba. Only eight months after President Obama offered to lift the restrictions on private communications companies, the Cuban government arrested a 60-year-old social worker and contractor, Alan P. Gross, from the Washington-based firm Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), …
One year after taking office, President Obama has yet to usher in the new dawn in relations with Latin America he talked about during his campaign. It was a huge promise, given his predecessor’s visits to the region, free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama, the newly created Millennium Challenge Account directing more effective aid to countries there, the Merida Initiative for fighting drugs in Mexico, and the continuing success of the Clinton-era Plan Colombia. Thus far, the Administration’s involvement with the Americas has been more reactive than proactive, dominated …
In his latest reflection, Cuba’s Fidel Castro writes with an air of nostalgia about the presidency of John F. Kennedy and the travails of the Kennedy family: He [JFK] saw himself as the representative of a new generation of Americans confronting the old and dirty politics of men in the mold of Nixon and had defeated him with a feast of political talent. As for the Bay of Pigs, Castro applauds JFK for recognizing defeat.
On April 6, Ambassador Jeffrey S. Davidow, White House Advisor for the Summit of the Americas, said very plainly: “It would be unfortunate if the principal theme of [the Summit of the Americas] turned out to be Cuba. As I’ve told you, I think there are a lot of very important issues that warrant discussion, whether it’s the economic issue, social inclusion, the environment, public safety. We would prefer, obviously, to focus on what we have been preparing for, but there is no effort on our part to try to …
