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Castro's
prisoners
The
Globe and Mail,
Canada, Monday, May 24, 2004.
Earlier this month in Havana, Fidel Castro
led hundreds of thousands of Cubans in a
demonstration against the "world tyranny"
of George W. Bush. Some protesters shouted
"Long live free Cuba! Fascist Bush!"
and brandished posters of the U.S. President
with a Hitler mustache. Others carried photos
of the Iraqi prisoners abused by U.S. jailers.
Just three days later, a Cuban court sentenced
dissidents Orlando Zapata, Raul Arencibia
and Virgilio Marante to three years in jail
for contempt of authority, disorderly conduct
and resisting arrest. Their crime? On Dec.
6, 2002, they gathered at a house in a Havana
suburb to study the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Not to plot an armed uprising
against Mr. Castro, mind, not even to plan
a demonstration against him, but to study
a declaration approved by every civilized
government in the world.
Such is the nature of the Castro regime,
which is so afraid of its people that it
is willing to throw them in prison for holding
a study session. The three men jailed last
week were only the latest of 75 who have
been put away for terms of up to 28 years
since Mr. Castro ordered a crackdown on
dissent in March, 2003.
The plight of Cuba's dissidents has been
all but ignored by the wider world amid
the furor over the war in Iraq and the campaign
against terrorism. When people think of
Cuba and prisoners, they dwell on the U.S.
base at Guantanamo Bay and the terrorist
suspects detained there, not the 75 jailed
by Mr. Castro. By lashing out at the "fascist
Bush," the Cuban dictator hopes to
conceal his repression at home. Sadly, it
seems to be working.
© Copyright
2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
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