Cuban dictator Raúl Castro has hinted he might be willing to release political prisoners in exchange for the release of five Cuban spies jailed in the United States, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a radio interview.
Bertone this past week was the first foreign official to meet with the newly coronated dictator. Bertone, the Vatican's No. 2 official, failed to demand the Castro release prisoners unconditionally, but he did take back to Rome some false hopes that Castro is a man of compassion and some soft and fuzzy feelings about the Cuban butcher boy.
“First and foremost we discussed the question of the permanence of values in Cuban society," Bertone said. "President Raul is also concerned about the loss of values ... above all in the world of young people. He must guide the nation towards a new chapter in its social, political and religious history. Therefore, we have shared concerns regarding the values and formation of young people. The government intends to focus on educating young people in fundamental values through the country’s well known institutes of higher learning and universities, the Church can effectively contribute to this educational goal."
Who in the hell briefed Bertone about Castro in preparation for their meeting?
Obviously, someone who knows nothing about Castro's 55-year public record.
As for the suggested prisoner exchange, it is a non-starter. The release of political prisoners is always welcome, but what the cardinal and the dictator are suggesting is that the prisoners are nothing more than commodities, to be bartered in negotiations over something else. Just as objectionable is the suggestion by a supposed man of God that the journalists, librarians, human rights activists and other dissidents in the Cuban gulag are no better than five foreign agents sent to spy on a foreign country.
Instead, any negotiations about diplomatic relations or relaxed sanctions, must first be preceded by the release of all political prisoners, without conditions and without any promises of anything in return. If the church really cares about the prisoners, it would take that stance. Otherwise, it should stay out of the way.
Men like Oscar Elias Biscet and Normando Hernandez Gonzalez never should have been jailed, so any rewards for the dictatorship for finally doing the right thing, are unacceptable.
Only when all Cuban political prisoners are free can the real talks begin.
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