La Nueva Cuba has posted a copy of the new report by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, which was presented to President Bush this week.
I have just started reading it, and will reserve comment until digest some of the details.
Here's how it starts out:
Since the publication of the 2004 Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
(CAFC) report, there have been important changes both on and off the island that the
Commission has weighed in making this new set of recommendations. Today, we see in Cuba a more active civil society, one energized by a growing sense of what is possible. At the same time, there are clear signs the regime is using money provided by the Chavez government in Venezuela to reactivate its networks in the hemisphere to subvert democratic governments. The Castro regime’s international meddling is done at the expense of the needs of the Cuban people. There is a growing sense of frustration among ordinary Cubans with a dictatorship that asks them to sacrifice, but expends considerable resources in the far flung reaches of the hemisphere and beyond.
Cubans continue to be imprisoned for activities that Americans take for granted
each and every day: reading and viewing what they wish; accessing information from the outside world, including the Internet; meeting in their homes to discuss the future of their country; running a lending library; or conducting petition drives. Despite the savage campaign against them by the regime, the Cuban people are losing their fear and continue to risk life, limb, livelihood, and imprisonment in search of a better future for their families and their nation.
The Commission’s recommendations to hasten democratic change in Cuba reflect
recognition of the leadership and bravery of the Cuban people. They also reflect the
Commission’s view that the United States and other friends of democracy should
acknowledge and honor the courage of Cuban democracy activists by supporting their
efforts to recapture their sovereignty for their fellow Cubans.
(H/T to Ziva at Blog for Cuba, who notes one key omission from the report.)
Recent Comments