|
Christmas in Havana
Our opinion: U.S. display
shines a light on cuba's jailed dissidents
Posted on Tue, Dec. 21,
2004 in The Miami Herald.
In the theater of the absurd that is totalitarian
Cuba, even the celebration of Christmas
can become a source of manipulation and
control. A holiday display at the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana includes a Santa Claus
in a sleigh, the words ''Feliz Navidad''
and the numerals ''75'' commemorating the
75 pro-democracy activists jailed last year.
Calling the U.S. display a great ''provocation,''
Cuba's regime erected giant billboards across
from it, featuring a red swastika, a ''fascists''
sign and pictures of abused Iraqi prisoners
at Abu Ghraib prison. Is this what Fidel
Castro thinks of Christmas? Or is the dictator
simply projecting?
There are big differences between the dueling
displays. The only reason that the regime
can exhibit those pictures is because of
the free press in the United States. In
Cuba, the regime jails independent journalists
who dare to expose the government's many
abuses, including 29 imprisoned for up to
28 years in last year's crackdown.
The dictator has refused to allow monitors
such as the International Red Cross into
Cuban prisons for decades. In fact, the
regime didn't have to go as far as Iraq
for photos of tortured prisoners. There
are plenty of examples in Cuba's prisons.
The reality is that the regime's denunciations
of U.S. decorations only call more attention
to jailed dissidents. Inside Cuba, the openly
displayed ''75'' defies regime propaganda.
By expressing solidarity with those so
unjustly jailed, the United States shines
a light on the lack of human rights for
Cuba's people. Ordinary Cubans don't have
to be told. They know who the ''75'' are
and how Cuban ''justice'' is twisted to
keep a dictator in power.
That's why the regime is so offended. Truth
is one of the biggest threats to a totalitarian
government. And the truth is that Castro
has abused Cuba's people for nearly 46 years.
Other diplomatic missions would do well
to treat Castro as the dictator he is.
|
