Cuban reform hopes

Photo from Frontpage Magazine

So who is Raul Castro, the man that the media has crowned the Cuban Gorbachov? Well he is a little different from his predecessor, Fidel according to Frontpage Magazine’s Humberto Fontova;

The stories leaking out regarding the “Revolutionary justice” practiced in Raul’s front, though completely ignored by the foreign media throng, were causing a bit of grumbling in the Cuban press. Fidel requested that Raul please cut down on the firing squad bloodbaths, as it could hurt the image Fidel was so expertly crafting of their “humanistic rebellion,” with the eager help of  media dupes and acolytes.

Raul’s response is what caused Fidel’s sputtering to his assistant. “Got your message and will take immediate corrective measures,” Raul responded to his brother. “No more bloodbath. From now on we’ll start hanging the counter-revolutionaries.”

Charming fellow, eh? From Marc Masferrer at Uncommon Sense;

His Air Force carried out the Canimar River Massacre of July 6, 1980, when dozens were murdered. Many more unarmed civilians are believed to have suffered similar fate at the hand of special Air Force units dedicated to spotting and sinking rafts. Like countless others, on January 19, 1994, two young men -Iskander Maleras and Luis Angel Valverde- were killed by Cuban border guards stationed around the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo operating under Raúl’s direct orders to shoot. He rewarded their deed with medals and promotions.

I’ll grant, that may all be ancient history – 10 or 15 years ago, but how about last weekend? This also from Marc Masferrer, but on Babalu Blog;

 Julián Armando Soto, a gay rights activist in Havana, reports that Cuban police Saturday rounded up 34 homosexuals for “putting in danger” security for a Mass being said by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. At the time of the arrests, the detainees were either gathered in a park or in front of a movie theater.

So Human Rights Watch ought to be all over this right? However I don’t see anything about it on the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender page.

So while AFP ponders Cuba’s “uncertain post Fidel era“, it doesn’t appear that much will change.

Category: Foreign Policy