On Wednesday, May 20, people around the globe will celebrate Cuba Solidarity Day. All during the month of May inside Cuba, peaceful demonstrations have been taking place by democratic opposition leaders who are wearing white bracelets with the word “CAMBIO” (“change”) inscribed and promoting the “Yo No Copero” (“I Will Not Cooperate”) campaign to speak out against the violation of human rights in Cuba.
Last week, I had the opportunity to view a new documentary film by Yesenia E. Alvarez Temoche, President of the Instituto Político para la Libertad in Peru, entitled “Cuba and the Elephants.” The film provides a harsh look at the realities of the Castro regime’s public policies and their impact on the Cuban people. Particularly jarring are the sad states of Cuban health care and education that had always been flaunted as the successes of the regime.
There is an increasing trend of opinion that opening up Cuba to trade is the right way to go. After all, decades of isolation have not worked and the regimes of the brothers Castro have found ways to coopt the embargo to extend their grip on power. In other countries like China, trade has certainly helped to bring at least some economic democracy to people in the country.
Still, we can only expect trade to work so far with a regime that has proven its brutality repeatedly over fifty years. The Associated Press recently reported that the European Union had seen no progress toward getting the Cuban government to improve its human rights record through a lifting of economic sanctions. This is a sobering realization, but one that can only demand continued resolve to figure out ways in which the Cuban people can achieve democracy.
Published Date: May 19, 2009