A Balanced View of Cuba

[durutti]

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=20&ItemID=6197

Excerpt:

"Cuban society is not the dictatorship you hear about in the media here; people do speak up and criticize, and there is no torture or disappearance of dissidents. There is some suppression of the organized opposition. This repression is because of the fear and the reality of the U.S. commitment to overthrow the Cuban revolution and return Cuba to a neocolonial status. We need to understand the context for Cuban government behavior without necessarily supporting it. The U.S. government does support much of the opposition in Cuba, for example, the 75 Cuban dissidents who were arrested and imprisoned in 2003. If Cuba openly financed opposition to capitalism in the U.S., or intervened in the U.S. elections, think how people in the U.S. receiving money from the Cuban government would be treated. Also, the U.S. is a clear threat to Cuba; Cuba is not to the United States, meaning that Cuban fears and actions are more justifiable than the United States actions would be.

"Nonetheless, there is only a limited role for worker control in Cuban enterprises, and the state-owned media is limited in its criticisms of the government. Because daily life is difficult and time-consuming in Cuba, participation and activism in public life have declined. Cynicism and dissatisfaction have grown, particularly among the young. The Special Period has been particularly hard for women as it has meant that maintenance of the family and family responsibilities take more time, e.g., the decline in public transportation, and there is less income available. The burden of this time and money squeeze has mainly fallen on women so they have less time than before for participation at the workplace, in the community and in the women’s federation.

"However, the Cuban revolution, the concept of socialism and Fidel Castro and the Communist Party are seen as legitimate by the majority of the population, and the overwhelming majority would fight in support of the revolution if the U.S. invaded. During our trip, we heard from many different Cubans that they and the revolution will persevere even with the most recent May, 2004 tightening of the blockade. This includes the reduced possibilities of U.S. travel to Cuba for educational purposes as well as by Cuban Americans, the increased funding by the U.S. government of groups who are actively trying to overthrow the Cuban government and of anti-Cuban propaganda, and other measures aimed at isolating Cuba and hurting the Cuban economy by reducing their access to foreign exchange."

[MadamImAdam]

1. When did Cuba stop locking up dissidents?

Is this a new trend for Cuba?