The LA Times calls for carrots for Cuba
Political and civil rights abuses committed by the Cuban government have continued unabated in the three years since Raul Castro took over from his older brother, Fidel. U.S. travel and trade bans, therefore, must be lifted.Although these conclusions — both included in the recent Human Rights Watch report, “New Castro, Same Cuba” — may seem incongruous, they are not. Rather, they illustrate that the economic pressure that failed to yield either regime change or human rights reforms over more than four decades of Fidel Castro’s rule is just as ineffective today as it has always been. Instead of continuing a failed policy, the Obama administration should craft a new one of incentives for Cuba to improve its human rights record.
You would think that the LA Times believes that Cuba’s horrible abuses are the responsibility of anyone other than the Communist Castros’ oppressive regime.
At least the LA Times recognizes that the US has made a move already
The Obama administration, to its credit, has relaxed travel restrictions on Cuban Americans, lifted limits on remittances and resumed limited negotiations on issues such as migration, but the engagement stopped there. Meanwhile, the Spanish government, which takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January, has indicated that it is seeking gestures from the Cuban government that would allow for normalization of relations with the EU.
The gesture the Cuban government made recently in return is that of waving a middle finger: as you may recall, blogger Yoani Sanchez was briefly kidnapped and subjected to a beating.
Which by the way, is very little compared to what the political prisoners that Marc Masferrer blogs about every week are going through in their captivity — Go read his blog, and also don’t miss this post from Yoani on the conditions in the Castros’ gulag.
How’s that for “gestures from the Cuban government”, LA Times?
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 pm
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December 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
It’s a mystery why the LA Times(and many other newspapers) continue to print this drivel. Their circulation numbers have crashed over the years and while one can examine online news as part of the reason for their crashing readership, the LA Times continues to alienate people with liberally biased and inaccurate articles. They almost seem intent on provoking outrage in hopes of having people read their newspaper. Many people I know who once subscribed to the LA Times have long since cancelled their subscriptions. This type of ‘journalism’ isn’t just restricted to the front page or the op-ed section. It even evidences itself every where in the paper, even in the sports section. The sooner they go out business the better.