Tag: Castro

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Good Riddance to Fidel

Fidel Castro violated human rights in almost every way imaginable. He was a key sponsor of international terrorism. His secret police had informants on every block. He imprisoned an extraordinary numbers of people, some of whom are guilty of nothing more than disagreeing with his policies or simply seeking to leave.  Cuba has the distinction of incarcerating some of the world’s longest-serving political prisoners. He imprisoned homosexuals and transsexuals merely for their sexual preferences. His administration of the island nation was an economic and human rights disaster.

Of most importance to the United States was his alliance with the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.  When Washington sought to overthrow his oppressive regime, which followed Moscow’s philosophical leanings and tyrannical practices, he urged the U.S.S.R. to launch a nuclear strike against America.

President Obama’s odd response to the dictator’s death failed to mention his horrendous human rights record or his hatred for the United States:

“At this time of Fidel Castro’s passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans – in Cuba and in the United States – with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him. For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends – bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba. Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro’s family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.”

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“Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades…Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve… Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty…”

Mr. Obama’s refusal to acknowledge Fidel’s atrocities has been a consistent in his policy towards Cuba. Just one example: Before the U.S. President’s trip to the island, Newsweek  noted: “…his administration has looked to rewrite the history of the Castros’ worst crimes. An example of this was in 2014, when the Obama administration commuted the double life sentence of Gerardo Hernández. Hernández had been in jail for conspiracy to commit murder through his actions related to the 1996 downing of aircraft owned by the anti-Castro nonprofit ‘Brothers to the Rescue.’ Brothers to Rescue is a Miami based organization, formed by Cuban exiles, which advocates against the Castro dictatorship…The objective of the Castro Regime was to destroy relief organization while at the same time taking attention away from a crackdown on a national opposition gathering in Cuba…Hernández was set free by the Obama administration and was returned to Cuba the same day his sentence was commuted. Two days later, on December 19 2014, Obama sought to rewrite the history of the incident, stating in a press conference that “[i]t was a tragic circumstance that ended up collapsing talks that had begun to take place.”

Obama’s opening of relations with Havana without gaining any substantial concessions in human rights, at a time when Russian naval vessels are returning to Cuba, was a betrayal of American principles and national security concerns. No condolences need be sent to Castro’s family or supporters.  The world in general, and the Cuban and American people in particular, gain from the loss of this icon of tyranny.

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Obama’s Failed Cuba Policy

It has been a year since the White House’s opening of relations with Cuba. Mr. Obama’s policy may soon be broadened, as the President considers travelling to the island nation in the near future.

A review of the results indicate that the move was a significant error. Havana, Instead of responding to the White House’s embrace with a less belligerent foreign policy and enhanced human rights at home, has doubled down on the worst aspects of the Castro family regime.

It didn’t take long for Cuba to rebuke Obama’s bid for friendship. Foreign Policy noted:

“Indeed, no sooner had Castro met with Obama than he took to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly to unleash a typical jeremiad against the United States, chockfull of hoary Cold War rhetoric denouncing the embargo, demanding reparations (to the tune of $1 trillion) for the embargo, ordering the return of the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, and calling for Puerto Rican independence (which Puerto Ricans do not even want.)”

The Washington Post  has reported: President Raúl Castro’s regime… “seems to have done little beyond reopening its Washington embassy…Mr. Castro’s son-in-law, an army general, still controls the dollar-earning tourist industry, the Internet largely remains unavailable to ordinary Cubans, and, most important, dissidents remain subject to arbitrary arrest and detention — including several snatched off the streets for daring to approach Pope Francis during his recent visit.”

According to information from The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, originally shared with the Panama Post, “General Leopoldo Cintra Frías, head of the Cuban Armed Forces…is leading a group of Cuban military personnel … in support of Syria’s dictator Assad and, in Cold War fashion, the Russian contingent…two Russian-made planes arriving in Syria carrying approximately 300 Cuban soldiers. They further detail that the Cuban soldiers will man Russian tanks that have been provided to Syrian head-of-state Bashar al-Assad. Their duty will be to fight Islamic State forces and others who threaten Assad’s grip on power.”

The Castro family regime has not limited its aggressive and disturbing foreign policy moves to areas far from the Western Hemisphere. Capitol Hill Cubans outlined several examples that indicate Havana is continuing its threatening practices, which have included arms deals with North Korea and South American terrorists:

“- Russian intelligence ship, Yantar, targeted a U.S. nuclear missile submarine base and underwater transit routes off the eastern seaboard, as it headed for safe-harbor in Cuba. Throughout the year, the Castro regime has continued to host and harbor Russian spy ships tasked with monitoring sensitive U.S. defense networks

“- As Russia restores military-industrial cooperation with Cuba, it may soon reopen the Lourdes signal intelligence center near Havana, announced a senior member of the State Duma Security Committee.
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“- “We intend to continue cooperation in supplying the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces with modern weapons and military hardware,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting in Moscow with Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas.

“- A Russian spy ship, The Viktor Leonov, returned to the Port of Havana during a visit by European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. Her visit to Cuba also ‘coincided’ with a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“- A Russian spy ship docked in central Havana on the eve of a visit to Cuba by the first U.S. delegation for “normalization” talks. The Viktor Leonov, an armed intelligence-gathering vessel that monitors US communications, arrived at a passenger cruise terminal in full public view for what a Russian embassy official called a “friendly” three-day stay.”

Internally, Cuba a remains as repressive as ever. The Heritage Foundation reports:

“Cuba is further than ever from becoming a democracy where people enjoy normal civil liberties; it is in fact closer to becoming what China specialist have identified as a rival model, a ‘resilient authoritarian regime’… the Castro regime thumbed its nose at the world by arresting between 150-200 dissidents on Human Rights Day…regime-organized mobs have blocked a brave group of middle-aged women known as the Ladies in White from marching after church service. These women are always insulted, often beaten and occasionally arrested.”

“Meanwhile, Castro has put family members in charge of a corrupt regime that can now expect to have durability after the two Castro brothers pass from the scene. Castro’s son-in-law, Gen. Luis Alberto Rodriguez, controls an estimated 90 percent of the Cuban economy through the holding company he leads, GAESA. As Bloomberg put it recently about would-be foreign investors, “wait until they learn all roads lead to Raul Castro’s son-in-law.”

“The island’s defenseless dissidents have bitterly denounced what they term Obama’s betrayal of their movement.”

The Wall Street Journal ‘s Bret Stephens reports that, since Obama’s opening to Havana last year, 8,000 cubans have been arrested for political reasons.

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Cuba continues to repress dissidents, hosts Russian military

It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand the White House‘s reopening of relations with Cuba.

In addition to the renewed presence of Russian naval and intelligence facilities on the island nation and continued repression of the island’s population, the Castro regime has refused to make any significant concessions to the U.S., and indeed, has pressed baseless financial claims against America. There has been no progress on any restitution of private assets nationalized during the Cuban Revolution.

An example of the bizarre nature of President Obama’s relations with the Castro regime was seen on September 30, when a political dissident who was recently released, according to Cuban Exile Quarter attempted to escape into the U.S. embassy.  Carlos Manuel Figueroa was returned to Cuban authorities, who reportedly beat him. According to Cuban Exile Quarter, “The human rights situation in Cuba has been steadily deteriorating during the Obama administration with rising levels of violence and the extrajudicial execution of opposition leaders since 2009.  Equally concerning is the claim made by Ivan Hernandez Carrillo over twitter that Carlos Manuel Figueroa is a U.S. citizen of Cuban origin.  The claim made by the Obama administration that human rights would be a priority with the new policy on Cuba would be laughable, if it were not so tragic.”

Human Rights Watch  reports “The Cuban government continues to repress dissent and discourage public criticism. While in recent years it has relied less on long-term prison sentences to punish its critics, short-term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other critics have increased dramatically. Other repressive tactics employed by the government include beatings, public acts of shaming, and the termination of employment.”

This occurs despite the December 2014 announcement by President Obama that the United States would normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease restrictions on travel and commerce with the island in exchange for several concessions by the Cuban government.

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Security officers virtually never present arrest orders to justify the detention of critics and threaten them with criminal sentences if they continue to participate in “counterrevolutionary” activities. In some cases, detainees are released after receiving official warnings, which prosecutors can then use in subsequent criminal trials to show a pattern of delinquent behavior. Dissidents said these warnings aim to discourage them from participating in activities seen as critical of the government.

Detention is often used preemptively to prevent individuals from participating in peaceful marches or meetings to discuss politics. In the days leading up to the summit meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), for example, which took place in Havana on January 28 and 29, 2014, at least 40 people were arbitrarily detained, and 5 held under house arrest until the conference had ended…

Members of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)—a group founded by the wives, mothers, and daughters of political prisoners and which the government considers illegal—are routinely detained before or after they attend Sunday mass…Even after the conditional release of dozens of political prisoners in December 2014, dozens more remain in Cuban prisons according to local human rights groups. These groups estimate that there are more political prisoners whose cases they cannot document because the government prevents independent national or international human rights groups from accessing its prisons…Cubans who criticize the government continue to face the threat of criminal prosecution. They do not benefit from due process guarantees, such as the right to fair and public hearings by a competent and impartial tribunal. In practice, courts are “subordinated” to the executive and legislative branches, denying meaningful judicial independence…The government controls all media outlets in Cuba and tightly restricts access to outside information, severely limiting the right to freedom of expression. Only a very small fraction of Cubans are able to read independent websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to, the Internet…A May 2013 government decree directed at expanding Internet access stipulates that the Internet cannot be used for activities that undermine “public security, the integrity, the economy, independence, and national security” of Cuba—broadly worded conditions that could be used against government critics.”

The Menges Hemispheric Security Symposium held in October concluded: “The powerful, fact-based and analytically rigorous interventions by …world-class authorities underscore a reality lost on most Americans:  The stakes regarding developments in Cuba and Venezuela – and, indeed, in much of the Western Hemisphere – could not be higher for the United States.  The Castro brothers’ regime is a metastasizing cancer in our region, as is its client in Venezuela.  President Obama’s much-ballyhooed rapprochement with the former is national security fraud.  His administration’s ongoing efforts to achieve a similar outcome with the latter would greatly compound that act of malfeasance.”

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Obama’s unexplained Cuban policy

The New York Analysis has released its report on the President’s move Where a doctor can offer the best advice, sildenafil pills secretworldchronicle.com many men count on Ultimate X. The minerals present in this ingredient are not like minerals found in other health supplements as they are available at one-tenth price of its branded counterparts. generic viagra in canada Impotence is an outcome of dearth on line cialis secretworldchronicle.com in blood flow towards the penis making it hard to erect. Under the strict supervision of IVF speviagra generika t and embryologist the process is conducted in any IVF clinic in London have shown that only 5% of couples who adopted a child were able to conceive later, proving the fact that their health is most important part of fibromyalgia treatments. to normalize relations with Cuba.  The report can be accessed below.

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Obama’s Unjustified Cuban Policy

Mr. Obama has engaged in yet another radical departure in U.S. foreign policy with his opening of relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961.

Two vital questions remain unanswered.

Why has the White House chosen this peculiar point in time to engage with Havana, and

what benefit does the U.S., other than public relations praise from several Latin America leaders, stand to gain from the move?

The President is, once again, using Executive Authority rather than consultation with Congress in this matter, resulting in both those questions remaining insufficiently answered.

Mr. Obama’s penchant for ignoring long-standing and unresolved issues in dealing with nations at odds with America was again on display as he maintained, in a well-publicized recent quote about his stance on Cuban-U.S. relations, “The United States will not be imprisoned by the past — we’re looking to the future. I’m not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born… The Cold War has been over for a long time.” The Cold War remark is rather strange, in light of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, dramatic arms buildup, threatening actions towards Europe, and nuclear patrols off U.S. coastlines.

There have been debates concerning a softening of relations with Havana for years.  However, the Castro leadership’s continued intransigence in refusing to provide basic human rights to its people, support of terrorism, and continuing military threats to other nations including the United States prevented any progress.  Those factors have not improved, and, in terms of its willingness to allow Moscow to use Cuba as a military base for actions compromising the national security of the United States, their actions have in fact recently worsened.

Under the terms of the new relationship, Cuba will be removed from the list of states sponsoring terrorism, despite the fact that it continues to do so. Example includes continuing support for Basque terrorists and sheltering Joanne Chesimard and Charles Hill, who murdered U.S. police officers, and Guillermo Morales,  an explosives expert/bomb maker for the FALN (Fuerzas Armadas Liberacion Nacional), an extremist organization advocating for Puerto Rican independence through acts of violence. The group, active in the 1970s and early 1980s, is credited with committing more than 100 bombings that caused several deaths, multiple injuries, and millions of dollars in damage.

The two nations will exchange embassies, and engage in some prisoner exchanges. Some restrictions on commerce will be eased, but the embargo will not be completely removed unless Congress approves. The move would allow U.S. residents to send funds to family members in Cuba, and ends most travel restrictions. This should substantially assist Havana’s economy. There is no substantial benefit to the U.S. economy, or a resolution of the confiscation of American property by the Castro regime.

There is no indication that Havana will ease its extreme suppression of human rights on the island following the normalization of relations. Indeed, even during the discussions leading to the new relationship, Cuba imprisoned 140 additional people for political reasons. Freedom House noted that “In 2014, the Cuban government increased its systematic use of short-term “preventive” detentions—along with harassment, beatings, and ‘acts of repudiation’—to intimidate the political opposition, isolate dissidents from the rest of the population, and maintain political control of all public spaces. A record number of politically motivated detentions were recorded in 2014, and crackdowns on activists continued. For example, an attempted performance that addressed social and political issues, orchestrated by artist Tania Bruguera, was met with harsh repression in December.” Freedom House also reported that “Cuba is the only country in the Americas that consistently makes Freedom House’s list of the Worst of the Worst: the World’s Most Repressive Societies for widespread abuses of political rights and civil liberties.”

Considering that the United States is receiving no substantive financial incentive from Obama’s initiative, and human rights considerations are essentially ignored, why has the White House chosen to aid the Castro regime at a time when Havana is assisting Moscow’s expanding military presence in Latin America?
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Last July, The Guardian reported that “Russia has quietly reached an agreement with Cuba to reopen a Soviet-era spy base on America’s doorstep, …The deal to reopen the signals intelligence facility in Lourdes, south of Havana.”

The move is part of a larger Russian effort to expand militarily throughout Latin America. The authoritative Jamestown Foundation  has reported:

“Nobody should think that Moscow’s aggressive campaign to restore its former status as a global great power or its fundamentally anti-American policy is currently confined to Ukraine. Indeed, while the invasion, occupation and annexation of Crimea—not to mention the threats to eastern Ukraine—continue, Moscow is also seeking to expand its military, political and economic footprint in Latin America. Russia seeks to establish permanent bases in the Western Hemisphere to challenge the U.S.  With Brazil, Moscow is trying to generate interest in joint development of combat aircraft and surface-to-air missile systems. If successful, this would mark a step toward creating a group of industrialized countries that employ Russian designs and design bureaus for creating their own military hardware, thereby making the Russian defense sector more secure, pervasive and particularly significant in high-tech areas. Meanwhile, Moscow will sell entire weapons systems to less-developed countries endowed with cash, as it has done with Venezuela he United States’ policies as well as to try to peel away US allies from Washington’s influence. … But arms sales hardly exhaust Russia’s repertoire here. Perhaps the most significant move was revealed on February 26 by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu when he described a global plan of potential bases for the Russian Navy. These targets for bases also include countries in Asia like the Seychelles Islands and Singapore (RIA Novosti, February 26). In Latin America, Russia is seeking bases in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all of whom are Moscow’s allies. Yet, significantly, two of these states—Cuba and Venezuela—could face a change of leadership or even regime in the near future. These proposed naval bases represent an effort to undermine the US and its allies in Latin America (ITAR-TASS March 5; lignet.com, March 18). Indeed, the Russian military is also seeking equatorial bases for refueling its Long-Range Aircraft, suggesting combat missions for them in the vicinity of either Latin America or North America (ITAR-TASS, March 5). Nicaraguan media reports, meanwhile, pointed to the expansionist logic behind Russia’s bases and Moscow’s desire to challenge the United States in its “backyard.” These reports also noted that the Barack Obama Administration has done little or nothing to counter the expansion of Russian and Chinese influence into Latin America (La Prensa, March 3, 4).”

Moscow has helped create and foster anti-U.S. activities in Latin America that go far beyond the usual verbal expressions of disdain for the United States.

As previously reported in the New York Analysis of Policy & Government  “With the assistance of China, Russia, and Iran, a number of Latin American and Caribbean nations are developing a new, hostile military structure. The Strategy Center’s study on the Advance of Radical Populist Doctrine in Latin America describes how Venezuela has utilized its vast income from oil sales to develop an anti-U.S. movement in the western hemisphere. Entitled ALBA (also known as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) it was initially formed by the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in 2004 and includes Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Dominica, Ecuador, Antigua & Barbuda, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.

“The organization espouses an overtly anti-capitalist agenda.

“According to a Bolivian diplomatic document reviewed by the New York Analysis of Policy & Government, the organization seeks to develop a number of cooperative economic initiatives, and most importantly, a “new military doctrine.”  This alliance is clearly anti-U.S….

“Gen. John Kelly, in charge of the U.S. Southern Command which has responsibility for Latin American security matters, is deeply worried that the slashed American defense budget has been deeply detrimental to our interests in Latin America and is ‘significantly degrading our ability to defend the southern approaches to the United States.”

Clearly, America gains very little from normalizing relations with Cuba. The White House has failed to explain its motive for doing so, other than the President’s dislike for continuing policies that predate his administration.

Providing unreciprocated concessions to a regime that continues to violate human rights, supports terrorism, and has recently welcomed military threats against America onto its soil renders both the existence and timing of Mr. Obama’s actions deeply troubling.

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Washington’s “Thaw” with Cuba doesn’t soften Havana

The recent alleged “thaw” in relations with Cuba, when seen in the light of history, appears to be a bad idea.

Most do not realize that the U.S. originally supported Castro’s 1959 overthrow of President Batista. However, in 1960, Fidel Castro nationalized private companies and private land, as well as taxing U.S. products so heavily they became impractical for purchase. In essence, Castro imposed an embargo on himself through these actions, and President Eisenhower responded by restricting all trade except for food and medical supplies. Rather than seek a compromise, Castro substituted trade with Russia for trade with the U.S., leading to Washington’s severing of all diplomatic relations with Havana.

The U.S. subsequently attempted to undue its original support for Castro through unsuccessful support for counter-revolutionaries (the botched “Bay of Pigs” incident) and incompetent attempts to destroy or humiliate Castro.

In 1962, the Soviet built missile bases on Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.  The potential catastrophe was averted by a deal in which the Cuban-based missiles were withdrawn in return for American missiles being removed from Turkey.

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Despite that humanitarian gesture, and those, including the most recent, the Castro regime has never softened its vehement hatred towards the U.S. Rather than greet President Obama’s recent softening of Washington’s stance, President Raul Castro declared a “victory” for the Cuban revolution, stating that “We won the war” and promised to continue on the path of “prosperous and sustainable Communism.”

To make matters worse, almost immediately after Mr. Obama’s announcement, Russia’s deputy prime minister Dimitry Rogozin, who has significant responsibility for Moscow’s weapons programs, visited the island, which sent a fairly hostile message to the U.S.

This places the U.S. back to square one in its dealings with Cuba. Washington’s original  support for the Castro revolution was betrayed, and the nation eventually became a forward military base for Moscow, after which relations were severed. Now, following a substantial softening of Washington’s stance, Havana has again opened itself up to being a forward military base for America’s international adversary.