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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (67795)	7/8/2015 2:23:51 PM
From: Greg or e	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

"Here are some ideas for the next time you visit the beautiful island of Cuba!" Sorry bud, but I will not be supporting the Totalitarian Communist Government of Cuba by spending money there. You went there for a cheap Vacation without regard for damage you were inflicting on the people by funding their tormentors. Now you are pretending that you are doing Missionary work. What a liar! That's how you roll....

To: Solon who wrote (67795)	7/8/2015 7:28:27 PM
From: Greg or e	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

Here are some facts for the next time you visit the beautiful island of Cuba! Cuba's human rights record is terrible, no matter what you think of the embargo <img src="https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5aw-c5ctaGEqb2OuA1MEiROXEtI=/0x0:3000x2000/234x156/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44355584/141889661.0.jpg" alt=""/> Joe Raedle/Getty Images The cruel, ridiculous failure of America's embargo of Cuba combined with the oft-malign role US foreign policy has played elsewhere in Latin America sometimes leads critics of American foreign policy to romanticize the Cuban regime. That's a mistake. Despite the serious flaws of the embargo, anti-Castro activists are right to say that the regime is a major abuser of human rights. According to Freedom House, Cuba has the most restrictive press censorship in the Western Hemisphere and is the only country rated "not free" in the Americas. All official media is owned by the state and controlled by the government. Dissident bloggers are regularly arrested. According to Amnesty International, protestors are regularly arrested and detained without trial. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba says there were over 6,000 arbitrary detentions of human rights activists in 2013. Once in jail, detainees face harsh conditions. "Prisoners often slept on concrete bunks without a mattress," according to the State Department's human rights report on Cuba, "with some reports of more than one person sharing a narrow bunk. Where available, mattresses were thin and often infested with vermin and insects." In addition to a lack of free press and free speech, the Cuban government became infamous in the post-revolutionary decades for its persecution of gay and lesbian citizens. In the 1960s and 1970s, there was widespread firing and mass imprisonment or institutionalization (under the guise of mental health) of gay and lesbian Cubans. The repression was so severe that Fidel Castro himself semi-apologized for it in 2010. From 1986 to 1994 the government forcibly confined all HIV-positive Cubans in quarantine. Finally, the Cuban government gives its population no opportunity whatsoever to vote in fair elections and help shape their government.

To: Solon who wrote (67795)	7/9/2015 1:40:03 AM
From: Greg or e	Respond to of 69300

JustinT-- "There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime."

To: Solon who wrote (67795)	7/9/2015 2:38:14 AM
From: Greg or e	Respond to of 69300

While Obama Cozies Up to Castro, Cubans Suffer "Castroism has won." Days after President Obama announced a new "American engagement" in Cuba, the Communist Castro regime continued its reign of terror on Cuban dissidents arresting over 80 of them just because they want basic freedom and human rights. According to Jeff Jacoby of The Boston Globe, at least 60 members of an all-female activist group were arrested and beaten because they marched for their husbands and fathers who are prisoners in the Castros' jails. Another activist who chanted, "Long live freedom," had his nose shattered by security forces. The government of Cuba actively targets these dissidents, while Obama believes that "discussions" should take care of the political unrest. Obama has said, "Nobody expects Cuba to be transformed overnight." He insists that "engagement" with Cuba and its people will be enough to inject America's values of freedom and liberty into the culture of the Communist country. But so far, little has changed. Jacoby notes a Washington Post report that quotes a local Baptist pastor who was excited for the renewed relationship between the U.S. and Cuba and believed it would lead to less violence against dissidents. "We know that what is happening is precisely the opposite," he said. What the Obama administration is doing, Jacoby states, is "bestowing tremendous gifts on Cuba's rulers" in the form of "diplomatic legitimation, a public-relations triumph, an influx of hard currency, and expanded influence in Washington." All for the low, low price of nothing in return from the Castro regime. The Cuban government simply continues on in its totalitarianism. Last year, one Cuban dissident, Yoanni Sanchez, said, "Castroism has won." These words prove true as Cuban citizens are continually locked up in droves for desiring the freedom that America promises through words but not deeds.