Wednesday, December 22, 2004

 

Bush Raises Human Rights Awareness in Cuba

Just not the way he intended:
More than 5,000 Cuban students have rallied outside the US mission in the capital, Havana, amid a row over US Christmas decorations.

Speakers at the protest organised by the government described US foreign policy as "fascist" and US diplomats in the capital as "subversive".

Cuba has objected to the US display, which refers to jailed dissidents, and hit back with images of abuse in Iraq.
...

After complaining to Mr Cason, Cuban officials set up a billboard including images of abused Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and a swastika.

The US diplomat said last week that any action taken by Cuba against US personnel or the US mission in Havana would not affect {the US} government's determination to draw attention to human rights.
(Source: BBC)

If the Bush Administration wants to "draw attention to human rights" in Cuba, shouldn't Bush start in Guantanamo Bay - say with the prison he established to deny suspects human rights? At least Castro doesn't (to our knowlege) treat his prisoners as badly as the US treats those held in "Gitmo."
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12/23/04 UPDATE:
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The BBC reports that Cuban artists have upped the ante:
Cuban cartoonists and art students have painted giant caricatures outside the US mission in Havana in the latest blow in a bizarre tit-for-tat spat.

A two-storey high cartoon depicted the top US diplomat in Cuba, James Cason, as a huge Father Christmas - whose sack contains bombs, not presents.

Maybe the Bush Administration should finish investigating its alleged Geneva Convention violations before criticizing another country's human rights abuses.
As it is, Bush just makes the phrase "human rights" sound like a joke rather than a reflection of grim reality.

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