World turns its back on Cubans

The news was grim from Luxembourg on Monday:

Europe on Monday agreed to open a new dialogue with Cuba, seeking to forge a fresh relationship with the government in Havana after what it described as "the first, temporary transfer of power in 48 years."

Foreign ministers of the 27 European Union countries invited Cuban officials to meet in Brussels, despite reservations among Europe's former communist countries, led by the Czech Republic, which have taken a tough line on human rights.

In a statement, EU ministers urged the government in Havana to release all political prisoners and noted that the "political, economic and social system in Cuba remains essentially unchanged." But it also said that the transfer of power from President Fidel Castro during his lengthy illness to a collective leadership led by his brother Raúl "constitutes a new situation."

But it was much worse in Geneva:

The United Nations has dropped independent expert monitors of alleged human rights abuses in Cuba and Belarus, as part of a deal on new rules for the UN Human Rights council, officials said Tuesday.

"There is an agreement on a text which covers completely the institutional arrangements" for the functioning of the council, Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico told journalists.

"It is the beginning of a new era for the United Nations and a new culture in dealing with human rights."

And with that, heads were placed back into the sand.