American locked up for handing out legal items in workers’ paradise

We all remember how in recent months, the Raoul Castro government in Cuba made a big deal out of legalizing cell phones and laptops for Cuban citizens. Well, the Washington Post reports that an American citizen was arrested for handing out laptops and cellphones, normally priced right out of the budget of an average Cuban family;

The contractor, who has not been identified, works for Bethesda-based Development Alternatives. The company said in a statement that it was awarded a government contract last year to help USAID “support the rule of law and human rights, political competition and consensus building” in Cuba.

Consular officers with the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, the capital, are seeking access to the contractor, who was arrested Dec. 5. The charges have not been made public. Under Cuban law, however, a Cuban citizen or a foreign visitor can be arrested for nearly anything under the claim of “dangerousness.”

So much for access to electronics for Cubans. Since the items were free, the Cuban government wasn’t able to make any money on the deal.

But the really disgusting part of the whole story is in the comments section of the Post. It rivals a Democratic Underground thread in their hypocrisy. With no evidence to support it, the Washington Post’s readership accuses the contract employee of being CIA, they accuse the US of “meddling” in Cuban politics – anything to avoid facing the facts that the guy was handing out legal items to Cuban citizens.

Speaking of Democratic Underground, they’re absolutely giddy about it. I guess it’s some kind of Hillary plot to make Obama look bad (like he needs help in that regard).

So I’ve come to the logical conclusion that Liberals call themselves “progressives” these days because there is nothing liberal about them when it comes to human rights.

Alberto de la Cruz at Babalu Blog (my first stop for Cuban perspective) writes;

The fact is that the Cuban regime may not have enough hotel rooms to handle all the American tourists if the travel ban were lifted, but they certainly do have enough jail cells to hold any that stray off the Potemkin village.

Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Foreign Policy