Daniel Fermin
Repression of political dissent CUBA
To begin with, Cuba is still one of the Latin American countries facing repression from political dissent. In 2012 the Cuban government enforced political conformity using a severity of punishments that affected the lives of citizens and other people. During its first review, the government of Cuba denied all recommendations related to the treatment and service of detentions of political prisoners, the lack of protection of human rights defenders, and restrictions on freedom of expression, which in the U.S are determined unconstitutionals.
First, political prisoners remain held captive in Cuban prisons, following the respected human rights groups on the island. The following groups clarified
The Cuban government avoids taking action on big issues due to bribes from people who don't want to see any change in Cuba. The people who are bribing these officials are most likely conducting illegal activities . Refworld.org has Cuba ranked from a scale from 0-10 (0 being the worst) 4.5 amoung 186 other countries.
During the 1950’s, Cuba was on the brink of revolution. The nation, which had suffered numerous corrupt and oppressive governmental regimes, fell victim to yet another when Fulgencio Batista seized power under a military coup in March of 1952. A cry for a just Cuba, that was economically, politically, and socially free continued to echo throughout the island. In 1959, a group of radical revolutionaries, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, overthrew the Batista dictatorship and put in place the political and social structures that exist in Cuba to this day.
Also, there isevidence that access to medical care by prisone! rs is intentionally withheldfrom prisoners of conscience, and other prisoners that criticized the Cubangovernment. Amnesty International reports that suspected critics of thegovernment are being harassed with threats, eviction, loss of employment, andeven short-term incarceration. Even more disturbing is that these violationsare merely a fraction of the true number of human rights breaches that theCuban government is guilty of committing (“Amnesty International 2002Report”). But the human rights violations are not the only reason actionneeded to be taken towards Cuba.
Cuba’s government is a totalitarian-socialist regime from a communist state. Fidel Castro is Cuba’s leader by default, but many Cuban’s dislike Castro’s ruling and cannot wait till the end of Castro’s rein. Castro also has his own army, which help him keep everything in order in and around the country. Fidel’s army is also known for brutal attacks on its citizens. Cuba’s religion is 85% Roman Catholic and many take their religion seriously.
There are many domestic issues within Cuba, that is because we chose controversial countries that allowed for mass amounts of research. However issues such as human rights, brain drain, and censorship are the most prominent. First of all, human rights are constantly impeded in a repressive country like Cuba, especially the right of freedom of speech and expression. When Fidel Castro was in power, he denied people of their rights and if their opinions contrasted. This is still happening in today’s day and age where people are simply thrown in jail just for fighting for rights that should have been granted by the government. To make things worse, if the detainee later decided to stand up again to being treated wrongfully in their country, the
In the article, “Why Do We Still Have an Embargo of Cuba?” Patrick Haney explores the history of the embargo and the different factors which have maintained and tightened its restrictions over the past fifty years. The embargo consists of a ban on trade and commercial activity, a ban on travel, a policy on how Cuban exiles can enter the U.S., and media broadcasting to the island. These once-executive orders now codified into law by the Helms-Burton Act, have become a politically charged topic which wins and loses elections, spawned influential interest groups, and powerful political action committees.
The U.S. did not help their situation as they proceed to pressure and prevent other foreign nation from trade with them, resulting in Cuba to remain in isolation. This event not only hurt Cuba economically, but socially as well by depriving innocent people from access to the outside. However, the embargo was not meant to cause harm, instead it symbolizes a probable improvement in human rights. In 2016, the Human Right Watch, reported that Cuba was still, “repress dissent and discourage public criticism," resulting to be the primary reason the U.S. would consider lifting the embargo. The U.S. would like to see the Cuban government improve, in return, they would remove the ban on trade or commercial activities.
Jails will allow inmates that are women, have illnesses, are younger than 20, or older than 60 to be let loose. Prisoners charged with serious offenses such as murder or child sexual abuse will not be freed. Cuban jails have been, and still continue to be, overpopulated. Many people have been taken in for doing things that
Critics of the change in relations with Cuba, though, change that the Cuban government hasn't improved its treatment of dissidents and other anti-democratic actions, and now lack pressure from the United States to changes its
In Havana Real, Yoani Sanchez explains exactly how the power of the government in Cuba impacts the lives of Cuban citizens. She explains that the government has complete control over everything in Cuba;
Prisoners are being transported to a facility in cuba. This is happening because these people are thought to be way too dangerous. This is because there acts that got them to prison are some that suggest that they are terrorists. These people will not be released from prison as the only person of them who was freed from prison, just went back to terrorism. This is why terrorists in the U.S. prison are going to a lockdown facility in cuba.
Freedom of speech is limited for Cubans in a variety of ways which includes books, internet, newspapers, music, and movies. All of these examples are numerous censored ways that Castro had the society enclosed. Committing acts “aimed at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system” will imprison an individual up to twenty years (Durane). Cuba has the most restrictive laws against freedom of speech and press. The government conveys what all you hear on the radio, what materials an individual may purchase at the store and so forth.
Economic rights are an integral component of human rights and the Cuban embargo in many ways violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “It bears mentioning that even economic sanctions imposed multilaterally for "security" reasons must comply with legal standards that limit the degree to which they may harm the human rights of innocent people." (Coli, 2007, p. 267) Human rights are essential to humanity and the role to guarantee these rights is a fundamental role of Cuba. However, because the embargo remains in place for 55 years for the sake of promoting human rights, Coli (2007) argues the United States has a “special legal and moral obligation” (Coli, 2007, p. 199) to ensure the human rights of Cubans on the island are protected and the embargo does not cause any further
Prior to this assignment, I had no idea of the turmoil the government of Cuba had been in. In regards to the treatment of homosexuals, to citizens living in the United States, we cringe at the terms “fag” and “queer” as horrendous slurs that no one should ever use. However, the treatment of homosexuals in Cuba went much farther than that. “The government also heightened harassment of homosexuals, raiding several nightclubs known to have gay clientele and allegedly beating and detaining dozens of patrons.” (1) The treatment of those with a different sexual preference went far beyond what I could have ever
The Cuban people have been under the harsh dictatorship of both Felgenico Batista and Fidel Castro. They both had very strict policies and gave the Cuban people limited or no freedom at all. Batista and Castro were similar but yet different. One major difference that they had was that Batista was friendly with the United States and he had respect for American interest. On the other hand Fidel Castro hasn’t been as friendly with the United States, so the U.S has a trade embargo that restricts and American company to do business with Cuba and also U.S citizens are prohibited from traveling to Cuba unless for special circumstances.