Cuban 'moves political prisoners closer to their homes'

[demoleft]

Source: bbc

Cuba has begun transferring several of the country's 200 political prisoners to jails closer to their homes, according to relatives and campaigners.

Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said the relocation of dissidents had begun, while the Archbishop of Havana's office said so far six had been moved.

Officials agreed to relax the prison regime after talks with Church leaders.

There was no immediate official confirmation from the Cuban government.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10210925.stm

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extremely good.

[davidinalameda]

1. there are no "political prisoners" in Cuba

according to some posters on here

they'll be here soon enough accusing BBC of all sorts of nasty things for using such a phrase, no matter how true it may be

[demoleft]

2. ;) the vatican official radio calls them "political prisoners" anyway...

and for many posters here cuba is close to heaven and paradise, you know - so i'm sure they'll read the news giving it their own spin.
no problem.
i think about those prisoners (political ones, tout court) and i'm happy about the news.

the vatican radio article, in italian: http://www.radiovaticana.org/brasil/Articolo.asp?c=395278

[dotymed]

3. All nations have political prisoners.

Sad but true. America has many too.I do not know to whom you are referring, but while Cuba doesn't have all the answers, "unfettered capitalism" is the worse imaginable system for the huge majority. We must admit it and change it. Cuba has some great ideas, so does America. We have to plot a fair and just future for our children.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Mika]

5. Funny that some of the DUers you are calling out have actually been to Cuba.

I've been there many times. I support the Cuban people, and for all of their faults, the Castro brothers are Cubans too. Like it or not, revered Revolutionary national heroes.

So, I shouldn't believe my lying eyes? I should believe "experts" who know next to nothing about the place?

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[robcon]

7. I support the Cuban people, too.

And I denounce the totalitarian government created by the Castro brothers.

[demoleft]

9. agreed totally. n/t

[ronnie624]

12. I denounce the governments of large, powerful countries

who oppress people in smaller, more vulnerable countries, by violating their sovereignty for political and economic reasons through things like sanctions and embargoes and clandestine war.

You may not like the Cuban system, but you and your government do not have a right to change it, only the Cuban people do.

[RZM]

13. I hope you're speaking theoretically

Because when it comes to the 'right' to change the Cuban government, the Cuban people are a bit constrained at the moment. I certainly agree that as a sovereign nation the right to enact government change in Cuba SHOULD lie only with the Cuban people, but currently in Cuba that is not the case.

[ronnie624]

14. Presumably, rights are inalienable.

Your message is confusing. If you wish to make a case for the 'right' of the U.S. government to violate Cuban sovereignty, you'll need to be more precise.

[RZM]

16. Maybe you misunderstood me

And perhaps I was not as clear as I could have been. I certainly do not mean to imply that the US or any other government has the right to interfere in Cuba's internal affairs. What I was saying is that power in Cuba does not rest with the people -- currently it rests with the regime, which has authoritarian tendencies. The Cuban government is not the most repressive on earth, though it certainly is one of the more repressive governments in this hemisphere.

[Mika]

15. Surely you have something to back that up.

Before you post Pavlovian knee jerk "Kastro kontrols everything" mewlings, check this thread ....

Electoral Process Continues Smoothly Nationwide (Election season kickoff in Cuba)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x31936

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[RZM]

17. How about this . . .

Here's a link for you to check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indices_of_freedom

As you'll see here, Cuba scores very low -- in fact they are 'red' across the board, which represents the lowest ranking possible, putting Cuba with such illustrious company as Eritrea, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. Cuba is certainly not as bad as some of these other repressed countries but it's a damn sight from being a real, functioning democracy with genuine political pluralism and respect for individual freedom (at least according to organizations whose purpose is to monitor these very things). Just because the Cuban government is on the left does not make Cuba a 'free' place. I find it sad and baffling that for generations now Western leftists have often made excuses for repressive left-wing governments simply for the sake ideological solidarity.

[Mika]

18. Amazing response.

Just because the Cuban government is on the left does not make Cuba a 'free' place. I find it sad and baffling that for generations now Western leftists have often made excuses for repressive left-wing governments simply for the sake ideological solidarity

I've lived in Cuba. Worked there. Studied there. Including during an entire election season. I have no idea why you would make some absurd assumption about"Western leftists have often made excuses for repressive left-wing governments simply for the sake ideological solidarity" from my post.

As to the "organizations whose purpose is to monitor these very things" comment, you might like to know that none of these NGOs (AI, HRW, RsF, who claim to monitor Cuba), none of them have their own people in Cuba. They do good work elsewhere, but they currently employ Cubanet based in Miami (and ardent anti Castro "news" source on Cuba). Cubanet is funded by various RW groups like the IRI, NED, USAID, Freedom House, the Diaz Balart family, and several Richard Mellon Scaife foundations. They pay "independent journalists" to produce a product they call "reports" on Cuba. The aforementioned monitoring organizations simply ditto these Cubanet reports. The so called "independent journalists" are paid amounts that make them very wealthy by Cuban standards.

These "reports" are suspect. (Actually, self fulfilling propaganda. The worse it sounds, the more the US funding congress appropriates to these "dissident journalists" thru the very lucrative Miamicubano anti Castro industry, such as Cubanet, CANF, Cuba Transition Project, Casa Bacardi, etc etc. Then imagine some of this money and support finds its way into the campaign coffers of certain politicians who create the funding for Miami's biggest industries, like Cubanet, CANF, Cuba Transition Project, Casa Bacardi, etc etc.)

Very complicated. Anti Cuba disinformation is deep and wide. Check out DU's Latin America forum now and then. We cover this from time to time as more corruption breaks. :hi:

DU's Latin America forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=405

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[demoleft]

8. we've already discussed it, mika. and we settled that yours are the only eyes that see the truth.

so i won't go into that again. ;)

[Mika]

10. So that leaves us with DU's Cuba "experts", who've never been there and are simply detractors.

Of course, Cubanet "reports" dittoed by AI, RsF, HRW, fabricated by US (and Miami exile terrorist groups) paid operatives are all the expertise we need.

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[demoleft]

11. very typical. n/t

[Name removed]

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