Cuba cracks down, rounds up dissidents before freeing most

Cuba this week rounded up and detained more than 30 dissidents after accusing the United States of "instigating" opposition to the Communist regime, a top rights activist told AFP Saturday.

[Marie in Miami Fl]

The Cuba Goverment feel no embarrassment at all...for the imprisonment of Free-Mind cubans. In Cuba you must be a Communist or you are torture,lay-off from work and detain. And do not mention the acts of violence in front of your home by well trained civilians esbirros of Castro. I am happy that they did celebrate ..fourth of July.......without any FEAR.

[LigerOmniPropper Max]

Cuba cracks down, rounds up dissidents before freeing most
AFP
Published: Saturday July 5, 2008
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Cuba this week rounded up and detained more than 30 dissidents after accusing the United States of "instigating" opposition to the Communist regime, a top rights activist told AFP Saturday.
As many as 35 people were arrested and around 70 targeted in all, but most have now been freed, economist Martha Beatriz Roque of the rights group Agenda for the Transition said.
The regime's roundup was aimed at halting a meeting of pro-democracy advocates and clamping down on the dissidents' plan to mark the US Independence Day holiday on July 4th, she said.
"Almost all the people arrested have now been freed," she said.
Those who were not detained received warnings from the government, were placed under house arrest or barred from traveling to the capital, Havana, she said.
"The objective of the operation was to prevent a meeting of the Agenda group scheduled for Thursday, and to bar them from participating in the celebration of the United States' Fourth of July holiday," Roque said.
The Agenda meeting was cancelled and the July 4th party went ahead without incident at the home of Michael Parmly, the US diplomat and chief of mission at the US Interests Section (USIS) in Havana, Roque said.
Cuba's communist government has accused the USIS of serving as a "headquarters" for opposition groups, which are banned in Cuba, and says the US funnels money, communications and other forms of support to regime opponents via the Interests Section.
Wednesday, the government of President Raul Castro issued a statement saying acts of dissidence in the streets would not be tolerated and denounced "an escalation" of what it called "warped" opposition that was "instigated" by the US Interests Section.

[LigerOmniPropper Max]

The brief arrests came just days after the European Union decided to formally lift sanctions against Cuba imposed following a 2003 dissident crackdown in the Americas' only one-party communist state.
Raul Castro has made no nod to political pluralism, and his economic reforms have been quite limited.
Since officially becoming president in February to succeed his ailing brother Fidel, Raul Castro has allowed Cubans to buy computers, own mobile telephones, rent cars and spend nights in hotels previously only accessible to foreigners -- if they can afford such luxuries.
In his latest reform move, he announced last month that the government was scrapping salary caps long meant to underscore egalitarianism but which his administration says hurt productivity.
He also has implemented reforms that give farmers better pay and more flexibility to buy farming equipment, a move designed to lessen the impact of the world food crisis.
The younger Castro brother, 77, also has commuted 30 death sentences, released some political prisoners, and signed human rights accords.
In addition, television has fewer taboos and Granma, the venerable Communist Party mouthpiece, even has taken to publishing grievances from residents.
A change on decades-old travel restrictions would be the most momentous to date by his government.
The Spanish daily El Pais cited an unnamed government official in a report in April as saying Raul Castro would give a green light soon to migration reform, simplifying exit and entry permits and ending the requirement for people to get permission to leave the country.
In an economically stressed country of more than 11 million people, such a policy change would test Cuba's stability, as the nearby United States grants automatic residency and working rights to all Cubans who reach US soil after fleeing their homeland.
Mandatory permits and a passport add hundreds of dollars in travel costs in a country where most workers make about 17 dollars a month. Many critics see the regulations as just short of an effective travel ban for Cuban nationals.
Late last month ailing longtime leader Fidel Castro, 81, strongly denied rumors that he is the leader of a faction of hardline Communists disgruntled about reforms introduced in Cuba since his brother Raul succeeded him.

[CanaYo]

if there would of been a bunch of people celebrating the 4th of July in Quebec city Canada, i would of personally kick their butt back to the frikkin border.. Yankee go home.
Why would a Cuban celebrate the 4th of july...? they don't have enough things to celebrate ?
I am totally against arresting the dissidents and Cuba should be liberated from the Castro regime, but having a bunch of nut cases celebrating the 4th of july in Cuba is insulting for the pride of Cuba.
Even if the Cuban americans don't agree, the USA is the most hated country in the world, there is NOTHING to celebrate for outside of the USA. Let the gringos celebrate their own shit. As to me, I give them the finger salute.

[LigerOmniPropper Max]

The USA is the most envied country in the world. People hold a grudge because the whole world wants to move here & they cannot.
The US & Cuba Share a common history. Both were colonies, both had slavery, both had a war of independence, they both helped each other in times of need.
The greatest insult to Cuba's pride has been castro's revolution. Professionals, teachers, Drs, Lawyers prostitute themselves with tourist for a trinket. What greater humiliation!
Celebrating July 4, is symbolic. It's a symbol of the desire to be free from the present oppression. It's also a symbol of solidarity and brotherhood towards America. Prior to Castro the US & Cuba were the best of friends! Like brothers.
I remember many Americans that visited us at our homes back then, & when we left Cuba & came here, We continued our friendship to this day!
I've been to Canada on many occasions. I like Canada, But I don't see the same warm relationship between Canada & the US, that we had in Cuba BC.

[CanaYo]

LigerOmniPropperMax wrote:

The USA is the most envied country in the world. People hold a grudge because the whole world wants to move here & they cannot.
.

maybe in 1980-90 this was true, but not anymore since Bush came to power. As to moving to the USA, If a Canadian want to move over there, he just has to do it, As long as he has a job and no criminal record, there are no problems at all.
As to Cuba, if someone want to move over there and start a large farm, chicken or beef, he can't and I don't have a damn clue as to why the Castro are thinking this way.. they let the land fill up with weed....Communism suck, socialism is OK.

[Marie in Miami Fl]

CanaYo wrote:

if there would of been a bunch of people celebrating the 4th of July in Quebec city Canada, i would of personally kick their butt back to the frikkin border.. Yankee go home.
Why would a Cuban celebrate the 4th of july...? they don't have enough things to celebrate ?
I am totally against arresting the dissidents and Cuba should be liberated from the Castro regime, but having a bunch of nut cases celebrating the 4th of july in Cuba is insulting for the pride of Cuba.
Even if the Cuban americans don't agree, the USA is the most hated country in the world, there is NOTHING to celebrate for outside of the USA. Let the gringos celebrate their own shit. As to me, I give them the finger salute.

CanaYO and you tell me why NOT??? Here in America all Nationalities celebrate thier Independence day and many americans joing the Celebration, husbands, friends, etc. The Free Cubans(oppositors) Celebrate with the Americans in Cuba. It was their choice and free will to do it...of course anything that have to do with USA is an Insult to Communist Cuba...Well this time they didn't give a Fu###..OK? Do you know that the Gov. had a concert in Habana the 4th of July and they did play american music in remembrance of USA Independence..UHHH Hipocrites!!

[LIGER OMNI PRIME]

CanaYo wrote:

<quoted text>
maybe in 1980-90 this was true, but not anymore since Bush came to power. As to moving to the USA, If a Canadian want to move over there, he just has to do it, As long as he has a job and no criminal record, there are no problems at all.
As to Cuba, if someone want to move over there and start a large farm, chicken or beef, he can't and I don't have a damn clue as to why the Castro are thinking this way.. they let the land fill up with weed....Communism suck, socialism is OK.

Communism suck, socialism is OK.
The same dog with a different collar.

[Marie in Miami Fl]

LIGER OMNI PRIME wrote:

<quoted text>
Communism suck, socialism is OK.
The same dog with a different collar.

Yes they are the reformists of Sociaty with Promises never accomplished..and the bad experiences from people force to leave their country in ruins. Thanks to Communsim and Socialism. La Gran Estafa.

[WE JUST DONT CARE]

CanaYo wrote:

if there would of been a bunch of people celebrating the 4th of July in Quebec city Canada, i would of personally kick their butt back to the frikkin border.. Yankee go home.
Why would a Cuban celebrate the 4th of july...? they don't have enough things to celebrate ?
I am totally against arresting the dissidents and Cuba should be liberated from the Castro regime, but having a bunch of nut cases celebrating the 4th of july in Cuba is insulting for the pride of Cuba.
Even if the Cuban americans don't agree, the USA is the most hated country in the world, there is NOTHING to celebrate for outside of the USA. Let the gringos celebrate their own shit. As to me, I give them the finger salute.

You got problems my friend!
What does the celebration of the independence of a country,in this case the USA,has to do with it's government?.It would be like if shouldn't celebrate Cuba's independence day,just becaue I'm an anticominist!

[WE JUST DONT CARE]

Countries under Socialism governments,like the ones in Europe(Sweden,Norway,Spain etc,etc) works because they respect freedom,private property,an open economy etc.Com munist has never worked at any country!Communism has tried to assosiate their name to Socialism for their advanage,but Socialism has nothing to do with Communism!
It depends on your definition of socialism. If you mean it as the redistribution of wealth in order to provide for collective social security, Sweden would be at the top of the list. It has the highest per capita tax rate in Europe, and since taxes are the primary mechanism for redistributing wealth, this is evidence that Sweden is the most socialist country. Sweden also spends more per capita on social services (health care, education, etc) than most countries in Europe, but there a few outliers like Norway that have oil money that offsets the need for high taxes that spend more per capita.

[WE JUST DONT CARE]

CanaYo wrote:

<quoted text>
maybe in 1980-90 this was true, but not anymore since Bush came to power. As to moving to the USA, If a Canadian want to move over there, he just has to do it, As long as he has a job and no criminal record, there are no problems at all.
As to Cuba, if someone want to move over there and start a large farm, chicken or beef, he can't and I don't have a damn clue as to why the Castro are thinking this way.. they let the land fill up with weed....Communism suck, socialism is OK.

You got problems my friend!
What does the celebration of the independence of a country,in this case the USA,has to do with it's government?.It would be like if I shouldn't celebrate Cuba's independence day,just because I happen to be an anticommunist! Communism sucks ..I agree!

[Marie in Miami Fl]

Socialism and Communism to me are very much alike both are systems of production foruse based on public ownership of the means od production and centralizad planning. Socialism grows directly out of capitalism;it is the first form of the new society. Communism is a further development or Higher stage of Socialism. It must not be assumed, from the distinction between socialism and communism, that the political parties that call themselves Communist advocate communism, while those who call themselves Socialist advocate Socialism. That is not the case. Since the inmmediate succesor to capitalism can only be socialism, the Communist parties,-like the Socialist parties, have as their goal the establishment of Socialism. There are two kinds of Private Property the one for enjoyment(clothing,furniture. etc) and the one for production . In Socialism the second is taken away from you to the State.

[WE JUST DONT CARE]

The word Socialism has been used by the most diverse political philosophies .For example the Nazi used it and called themselves'National Socialist,so did the Communist who called Socialism the early stage of Communism!European Parliamentar Socialism like the ones in Swizerland,Sweden etc is quite different from Communist Socialism or Nazi Socialism!European Parlamentary Socialism works that is a fact,but I personally prefer Capitalism!

[LigerOmniPropper Max]

WE JUST DONT CARE wrote:

The word Socialism has been used by the most diverse political philosophies .For example the Nazi used it and called themselves'National Socialist,so did the Communist who called Socialism the early stage of Communism!European Parliamentar Socialism like the ones in Swizerland,Sweden etc is quite different from Communist Socialism or Nazi Socialism!European Parlamentary Socialism works that is a fact,but I personally prefer Capitalism!

I'm with you. Under capitalism you are in charge of your destiny & get compensated for your efforts.

Under any kind of socialism you have parasites
feeding off the efforts of the hard workers.

Besides it gets murky between the commies & nazies
calling themselves socialist.

[Marie in Miami Fl]

WE JUST DONT CARE wrote:

The word Socialism has been used by the most diverse political philosophies .For example the Nazi used it and called themselves'National Socialist,so did the Communist who called Socialism the early stage of Communism!European Parliamentar Socialism like the ones in Swizerland,Sweden etc is quite different from Communist Socialism or Nazi Socialism!European Parlamentary Socialism works that is a fact,but I personally prefer Capitalism!

Yes my friend. me too. For us cubans either form of Socialism or Communism can no confuse us. We know the "final event"...Goverment control ..resulting in loosing your freedom. "Not ask what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" J.F. Kennedy

[Marie in Miami Fl]

La perfeccion y la honestidad no siempre existe en el humano y ninguna forma de gobierno en la tierra; pero es mas llevadera cuando hay Libertad para argumentarla..hasta las Cortes Supremas. Yo creo que hasta los vagos viven mejor..ya que no son "forzados" a trabajar en una sociedad libre.

[CanaYo]

I guess that my definition of socialism is the one that I see every day in Quebec: free school, free health care , almost free kindergarten, cheap electricity , welfare assistance $, etc.......in short , a society where the government take half of your pay check and distribute it in the form of social services.
(so it's not exactly free). It's really not communism, we own our stuff. As "wejustdon'tcare" said, Quebec would be more like Sweeden. The other provinces of Canada are not that way, they don't have all these free social things.. but they get to pay less income tax but then , people have to buy insurances for everything... We are quite far away from the pure capitalism of the USA. and closer to Cuba in regards to the social services. Marie, socialism is really not communism. We have free speech and we bitch about our government every day in the newspaper and on TV, a LOT more than in the USA. It is very easy to kick a politician OUT of business in Quebec... Too much socialism is not good neither, as too much of everything.
As to Cuba celebrating the 4th of july, I didn't knew that it was such an important event for Cuba and anyway , in Quebec we celebrate the French Canadian day, St-Patrick (Irish) day ,the Caribbean day, the German Oktoberfest week, name them we have them all , so , Cubans can celebrate whatever they want to, good for them...... I retract my statement.

[Curious George]

CanaYo wrote:

I guess that my definition of socialism is the one that I see every day in Quebec: free school, free health care , almost free kindergarten, cheap electricity , welfare assistance $, etc.......in short , a society where the government take half of your pay check and distribute it in the form of social services.
(so it's not exactly free). It's really not communism, we own our stuff. As "wejustdon'tcare" said, Quebec would be more like Sweeden. The other provinces of Canada are not that way, they don't have all these free social things.. but they get to pay less income tax but then , people have to buy insurances for everything... We are quite far away from the pure capitalism of the USA. and closer to Cuba in regards to the social services. Marie, socialism is really not communism. We have free speech and we bitch about our government every day in the newspaper and on TV, a LOT more than in the USA. It is very easy to kick a politician OUT of business in Quebec... Too much socialism is not good neither, as too much of everything.
As to Cuba celebrating the 4th of july, I didn't knew that it was such an important event for Cuba and anyway , in Quebec we celebrate the French Canadian day, St-Patrick (Irish) day ,the Caribbean day, the German Oktoberfest week, name them we have them all , so , Cubans can celebrate whatever they want to, good for them...... I retract my statement.

Thanks for been a man enough for retracting your statement about the 4th of July,although I don't think the 4th of July to be a very important day in Cuba, it was not before Castro and I don't believe it is today.But I believe that to celebrate any country independence to be good!Cubans has always admire the USA and Spain above any other countries! Even today after almost 50 years under Castro,they still do admire the USA.This is very easy to notice for any one that has ever visit Cuba!.I believe in something in between European Socialism and Capitalism! Too much Capitalism is as bad as to much Socialism,but I believe that freedom and private property is a must!If you give everything free to people they just won't appreciate it and waste it or take too much advantage of it.Unfortunately that's the way we humans beings are!

[Curious George]

Curious George wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks for been a man enough for retracting your statement about the 4th of July,although I don't think the 4th of July to be a very important day in Cuba, it was not before Castro and I don't believe it is today.But I believe that to celebrate any country independence to be good!Cubans has always admire the USA and Spain above any other countries! Even today after almost 50 years under Castro,they still do admire the USA.This is very easy to notice for any one that has ever visit Cuba!.I believe in something in between European Socialism and Capitalism! Too much Capitalism is as bad as to much Socialism,but I believe that freedom and private property is a must!If you give everything free to people they just won't appreciate it and waste it or take too much advantage of it.Unfortunately that's the way we humans beings are!

Well said!Vote McCain!He will know how to made that balance to happen!!