a)                                                                    

 b)

a) David H. Wilkins, US Ambassador to Canada
b) Ernesto Senti Darias, Cuban Ambassador to Canada

On the pages of the Canadian newspaper National Post an interchange was published between the American and Cuban ambassadors to Canada, David H. Wilkins and Ernesto Senti Darias respectively. This prompted the editorial board of National Post to write the piece "Cuba: A full-blown prison state" reproduced below. This succinct editorial is one of the most clear and thoughtful expose of the “communist agitprop” use by Cuban regime.


Jose A Hernandez, MD
President, CubaResponde
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The Post editorial board on the real 

Cuba: A full-blown prison state

Posted: May 30, 2008, 11:38 AM by Marni Soupcoff
National Post Editorial

Earlier this month, we published an article by the U.S. ambassador to Canada, David H. Wilkins, announcing a new "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People," to be observed on May 21. In today's edition of the National Post, Cuba's ambassador to Canada responds. In his article, Ernesto Senti Darias argues that Washington has no lessons to offer Havana when it comes to humanitarian "solidarity," nor anything else. Throughout, the ambassador presents Cuba as a proud, benevolent regime while casting the United States as a cruel hegemon.
We chose to publish Ernesto Senti Darias's riposte because, having been attacked on these pages, the Cuban government deserved a chance to respond. But we also owe it to our readers to put that rebuttal in its proper context.

The fact is, the ambassador's rebuttal is a classic example of communist agitprop. Completely ignoring the litany of human rights abuses listed by Mr. Wilkins, the Cuban ambassador instead ticks off showpiece Cuban foreign aid stunts in other nations. This is a mainstay of communist public relations: The Soviets, too, tried to distract the world from repression and poverty back home by sending delegations overseas to provide token good works. In Venezuela and Iran, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are now following the same script.

Another Soviet trick — copied faithfully in the ambassador's article — is to nitpick about U.S. socioeconomic inequality and imperfections in America's electoral system. Even to the extent such criticism is valid, it is laughable coming, as it does here, from a nation where attacking the government in print can get you thrown in jail, free elections are non-existent and many Cubans have to moonlight as taxi drivers and escorts for tourists to make ends meet.

"The Cuban people chose their own destiny 50 years ago," the ambassador writes. "It is the decision to continue our own path without the interference of any foreign power." In fact, the "destiny" of the Cuban people under the Castros has been dictatorship, pure and simple. While most of Latin America has progressed gradually toward democracy, this country alone has remained a full-blown prison state. Let us not be deceived by any lectures on the subject of "solidarity" offered by Cuba's wardens.
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The Castros' island prison
May 21 : A Day Of Solidarity With The Cuban People

David H. Wilkins, National Post
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2008

There has been much talk in the media about the recent changes that have been announced in Cuba. Yes, Raul Castro has replaced his brother in some of his positions of authority -- but this is a process in which Cuba's citizens had no say. And yes, Cubans can now buy cell-phones and microwave ovens and stay in expensive hotels. But with the average monthly wage in Cuba at less then $20, these items are still largely out of reach and won't let Cubans do what citizens in other countries in the Americas are doing: seizing the opportunity provided by open societies and open markets.

The sad fact is that Cuba's citizens still live in a repressive state, as they have for almost half a century. Last December, Cuban authorities stormed a Catholic church, teargassed parishioners and dragged 18 worshipers out. A Catholic official called the episode "the worst attack against a church in 45 years." And just a few weeks ago, the "Ladies in White," who march peacefully each Sunday on behalf of freedom for their unjustly imprisoned loved ones, were beaten and dragged away from the "Plaza of the Revolution" when they sought to deliver a petition to their government asking for the release of political prisoners. Is this change?

As the U. S. ambassador to Canada I have long been impressed by Canada's commitment to promoting human rights abroad. For this reason, I would like to share with you what my country is doing to help advance human rights in Cuba.

Today, May 21, we will celebrate the courage and determination of the Cuban people as they seek their freedom and voice in establishing a democratic future for their country. On this day, in the United States and elsewhere, we will commemorate a Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People.

We will call for the release of all Cuban political prisoners and repeal of all measures that allow the Cuban government to arrest citizens for carrying out acts of peaceful dissent. Cubans need to know that they have international support in their struggle for freedom and human rights, as the people in central Europe once did.

So how will we know when an enduring process of democratic change is underway on the island? We will know there is a new Cuba when Cubans have the freedom to organize, assemble and speak their minds. We will know there is a new Cuba when a free and independent press has the power to operate without censors. We will know there is a new Cuba when the Cuban government allows Cubans to open their own businesses and improve the economic well-being of their families.

Above all, we will know there is at least a start toward a new Cuba when the regime releases its political prisoners and engages the Cuban people in an open and comprehensive dialogue about the future of their country.

Solidarity with the Cuban people means supporting their struggle to obtain all the freedoms enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as those in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Cuba recently signed the latter agreement, but when will the government's actions comport with its commitments? As any Cuban political prisoner can attest, the Cuban state hasn't implemented the provision that says: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Indeed, Cubans have been arrested and foreigners expelled for handing out copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself.

Today, the U. S. government joins in solidarity with the Cuban people, particularly the prisoners of conscience on the island who remain behind bars. - David H. Wilkins is the U. S. ambassador to Canada

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The true definition of 'solidarity'
Ernesto Senti Darias, National Post
Published: Friday, May 30, 2008


On May 21, the National Post published an article under the title "The Castros' island prison" by the U. S. ambassador to Canada, David H. Wilkins. A few hours later the same day, U. S. President George W. Bush made a speech announcing a "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People."

The Cuban people wonder what kind of "solidarity" President Bush is referring to.

Solidarity is what the free and sovereign Cuba offers to other nations worldwide as a modest but sensitive contribution to kill ignorance and diseases. Solidarity is the friendly hand the Cuban people tried to extend to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, which was refused by the same U. S. government that was responsible for the abandonment many suffered in spite of living in such a wealthy country. Solidarity means sharing with others the great attainments of an efficient Cuban health care system. Solidarity means sharing the light of literacy with other people in the remotest places of the world, reaching the homes of so many people in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and wherever else requested.

Is there any other kind of solidarity? It seems that for President Bush "solidarity" means the hypocritical position of speaking about changes in Cuba, freedom, democracy and respect for human rights in the way they are practised by the U. S. government in the illegally occupied Cuban territory of Guantanamo, which has been turned into a U. S. prison and a centre for torture; or, perhaps, the word refers to the double standard of the U. S. govern Trudeaupian ment regarding terrorism.

Denying basic rights such as education and health care to a large number of his fellow citizens; or claiming "democratic elections" while traditionally less than 50% of the U. S. population votes, might be yet another expression of President Bush's concept of solidarity. Not ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child might also be considered an expression of it.

Even the date chosen by President Bush was provocative. May 20, 1902, was the day when the independence achieved as a result of more than 30 years of long-standing struggle by the Cuban people against a colonial power was compromised by the U. S. government through the imposition of the Platt Amendment in the constitution of the newly born Cuban nation, an amendment that gave the U. S. government the right to military interventions in Cuba every time it deemed it suitable, and the right to establish military bases such as the one at Guantanamo Bay.

It is well known that Cuba's struggle for its true independence dates back to the 19th century, and was attained only on Jan. 1, 1959, the date that the Cuban people recognize and celebrate. This was the independence our national hero Jose Marti dreamed of, and which was turned into a reality by the revolution led by commander in chief Fidel Castro.

The Cuban people chose their own destiny 50 years ago; it is the decision to continue our own path without the interference of any foreign power.

The Cuban revolution is a true and transparent process where solidarity is a permanent commitment, but in a quite different way from the one President Bush is pretending to offer.

-Ernesto Senti Darias is the Cuban ambassador to Canada.

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