President Bush in videoconference with democratic activists in Cuba

It may be very advantageous if the American presidential candidates also hold videoconferences with democratic activists in Cuba

On May 6 President George W. Bush held a videoconference with Cuban dissidents in the island. According to a report, in Spanish, from OCB (Office of Cuba Broadcasting) the conversation dealt with the issue of Cuban political prisoners and their need for additional help in order to promote change in the island.
The Cuban government, according to an AP report, dismissed the videoconferencia as "a show to bolster the image of a dead man who cannot be resurrected."
The island officials also engaged in a media campaign aimed at discrediting the USA and the members of the internal democratic opposition that participated in the conference with President Bush (see article from Cuban independent journalist Miguel Iturria Savón in CubaResponde "Denigrar es un placer" - Spanish).
It is clear that a goal of the Cuban government is to equate the internal democratic movement with a hopeless cadaver. If they succeed it would indeed be a heavy blow to those attempting to foster democracy in Cuba. It seems to me that an affective strategy to combat this disinformation campaign is for the American presidential candidates to hold videoconferences with these dissidents in Cuba who risk their personal safety so the dream of a democratic Cuba never becomes "dead man who cannot be resurrected."

Jose A Hernandez, MD
President, CubaResponde

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