Cuba is in the news again and no one died or another funeral truck broke down.
The news today is that Raul Castro is cracking down on dissidents just days after his older brother was laid to rest.
Mourning in Castro’s Cuba is unique, as hundreds of dissidents will be happy to tell you!
Carlos Batista of the AFP reports that the government is not taking any chances:
Authorities across Cuba have cracked down on dissidents, arresting dozens, keeping others from marching in Havana, and detaining an American human rights lawyer, activists said Sunday.
In the first such anti-dissident operation since Fidel Castro’s death last month, President Raul Castro seemed to indicate the Americas’ only one-party communist state was in no mood for dissent.
A roundup in the country’s east snared dozens and derailed street protests planned to demand that political prisoners be freed.
“There was a joint operation at 6:00 am in Santiago and Palma Soriano. They searched four homes, and so far we have 42 reported arrests — 20 in Santiago, 12 in Palma and 10 in Havana,” Jose Daniel Ferrer told AFP by phone.
I guess that we will file this report in the “how is that hope and change working out” category?
Let’s review this movie. The President of the US stretched his hand, did the wave with Raul, made it easier for US investors to do business in Cuba and keeps talking about his legacy. On the other side, the dictator is still a dictator but a little richer now that US dollars have been deposited in the family account.
What kind of rating do we give this movie? How about “R” for repulsive?
Who knew? Who knew that being soft with a dictator would make him stronger? Who knew?
We discussed this on Monday's show:
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