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NEWS
Christmas in Havana
Our opinion: U.S. display shines a light on cuba's
jailed dissidents
Posted on Tue, Dec. 21, 2004 in The Miami Herald.
In the theater of the absurd that is totalitarian Cuba, even the
celebration of Christmas can become a source of manipulation and
control. A holiday display at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana
includes a Santa Claus in a sleigh, the words ''Feliz Navidad'' and the
numerals ''75'' commemorating the 75 pro-democracy activists jailed last
year.
Calling the U.S. display a great ''provocation,'' Cuba's regime erected
giant billboards across from it, featuring a red swastika, a
''fascists'' sign and pictures of abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib
prison. Is this what Fidel Castro thinks of Christmas? Or is the
dictator simply projecting?
There are big differences between the dueling displays. The only reason
that the regime can exhibit those pictures is because of the free press
in the United States. In Cuba, the regime jails independent journalists
who dare to expose the government's many abuses, including 29 imprisoned
for up to 28 years in last year's crackdown.
The dictator has refused to allow monitors such as the International Red
Cross into Cuban prisons for decades. In fact, the regime didn't have to
go as far as Iraq for photos of tortured prisoners. There are plenty of
examples in Cuba's prisons.
The reality is that the regime's denunciations of U.S. decorations only
call more attention to jailed dissidents. Inside Cuba, the openly
displayed ''75'' defies regime propaganda.
By expressing solidarity with those so unjustly jailed, the United
States shines a light on the lack of human rights for Cuba's people.
Ordinary Cubans don't have to be told. They know who the ''75'' are and
how Cuban ''justice'' is twisted to keep a dictator in power.
That's why the regime is so offended. Truth is one of the biggest
threats to a totalitarian government. And the truth is that Castro has
abused Cuba's people for nearly 46 years. Other diplomatic missions
would do well to treat Castro as the dictator he is.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/10464243.htm?1c
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