Castro proved especially adept at using the embargo to garner sympathy abroad, while at the same time exploiting it as a pretext to repress legitimate efforts to reform Cuba from within, dismissing them as US-driven and -funded initiatives.
In December , President Barack Obama began a long-overdue shift in US policy, announcing that the US would normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease restrictions on travel and commerce, calling on Congress to consider lifting the embargo. Nevertheless, the Orwellian laws that allowed their imprisonment — and the imprisonment of thousands before them — remain on the books, and the Cuban government continues to repress individuals and groups who criticize the government or call for basic human rights.
Arbitrary arrests and short-term detention routinely prevent human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others from gathering or moving freely. Detention is often used pre-emptively to prevent people from participating in peaceful marches or political meetings. The two governments restored diplomatic relations in July Obama gave a nationally televised address and joint press conference with Castro in which he urged the Cuban government to lift restrictions on political freedoms and reiterated his call for the US Congress to end the economic embargo of the island.
The Impact of Abortion Prosecutions in Ecuador. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Join our movement today. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. In , by far the bloodiest year of the revolution, up to people were executed. News consumers may or may not agree with such national security arguments — but, in order to make up their minds, they at least need to hear them. The Washington Post does give Castro some credit.
Health and education are presented as if they were somehow separate from human rights. Editorial line plays a big role. The upshot is that viewers get an exaggerated sense of the weight dissidents carry on the island. One might also consider how the US embargo, which remains in place despite having been eased by Obama, has hardly been mentioned during these past weeks. It costs lives. In reality, this supposed concern for human rights is, in large part, a political game.
But there should be no pick-and-mix approach: advances and violations of human rights should be reported regardless of who is responsible. By approaching this issue selectively, rather than universally, the Western media cast aspersions on their own integrity. They also come off as no less Orwellian than the Cuba under Fidel Castro they so ridicule.
As the former leader turns 90, he is seen as both a totalitarian dictator and an anti-imperialistic humanitarian. As Obama prepares to visit, questions remain over whether the embargo will be lifted and the future of Guantanamo Bay. When Castro installed a socialist economy and a one-party political system, many fellow revolutionaries felt betrayed. Cubans fought to form a government that would answer to the Cuban people, rather than foreign interests.
Many poor Cubans revered Castro for implementing policies that promoted equity and minimized discrimination, including major reforms in land, agriculture, education and housing.
Others fled because of fear and persecution. The U. They deny U. Additional embargo policies restrict Americans from traveling or sending money to Cuba — though there are loopholes enabling U. Treasury-licensed food and medical supply sales to Cuba. The year-old embargo inhibits the fledgling Cuban private sector and makes it harder to obtain the goods they need. Many people in the U. But the president of the United States cannot do that unilaterally.
Lifting the embargo would require Congress to either certify that Cuba has become sufficiently democratic according to the Libertad Act or pass a new bill overturning it. The Cuban government has a history of political repression and fiscal mismanagement, both of which harm the economy.
For example, it tightly controls who may obtain state-issued licenses to start their own businesses. It bans independent labor unions , which would protect workers from exploitation.
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