The Catholic Church in Cuba, led by Cardinal Jaime Ortega, has been a severe disappointment this year, mostly because of the fine print in the agreement it negotiated with Spain and the Castro dictatorship for the release of 52 prisoners of conscience. Forty-one of the prisoners, plus a handful of others not covered by the original deal, have been released, but except in one case, their "freedom" was conditioned on their agreeing to take exile overseas.
Many prisoners, including some of the 11 still in jail because of their refusal to accept exile, have reported that Ortega himself has called them in prison to see if they were willing to leave Cuba in exchange for their release.
As the prisoner episode reveals, the church in Cuba has been more of an advocate or lobbyist for the regime, than for the Cuban people, who have been enslaved and tortured and impoverished by the Castros for almost 52 years.
A recently released Wikileaks cable suggests Ortega may have been taking his cue from his superiors at the Vatican, and that the church's moral ambiguity on the question of Cuba extends to other issues involving the island.
In one cable, prior to President Barack Obama's visit to the Vatican in June 2009, an American diplomat wrote the president:
The Church is the only major institution in Cuba that is independent from the government. The Vatican hopes for a transition to democracy in Cuba, but is not at the forefront of that battle because it is more concerned about protecting its small space for operations in Cuba. The Vatican opposes the U.S. embargo, which it believes hurts poor Cubans disproportionately. It welcomed your decision to remove limits on family visitation and remittances. Vatican officials believe that exchanging the five Cuban spies imprisoned in the U.S. for political prisoners in Cuba is worth discussing, and have urged the U.S. to grant visas to the wives of the spies to allow them to visit.
TheRealCuba.com describes another cable:
Cables from U.S. diplomats, made public by WikiLeaks, reveal that the Vatican "is concerned" about the possibility of a bloodbath in Cuba, but instead of asking the Castro brothers to stop their oppression and respect the human rights of Cuban citizens that have been violated for the last 51 years, the Vatican thinks that what needs to be done is put an end to the U.S. embargo.
The Vatican's point person on Cuba, Monsignor Angelo Accattino told U.S. diplomats that Cuba's economic and social situations are becoming so bad that people could react violently. If that happens, he added, some in and outside of Cuba could blame the U.S. for having contributed to the situation. The U.S. should not allow itself to be held hostage by domestic politics to maintain the current "counterproductive policy."
In other words, if the people revolt after 51 years of oppression, the U.S. needs to worry if the Castro brothers, or some useful idiots outside the island, blame them for whatever happens. Incredible!
Instead of demanding the regime take Cuba on path towards freedom, democracy and respect for human rights, the church chooses not to be "at the forefront of that battle because it is more concerned about protecting its small space for operations in Cuba." More concerned for its own well-being, that is, than that of the Cuban people.
Instead of demanding that the unjustly jailed prisoners of conscience be released without conditions, the church suggests they might be released if the U.S. paroles five properly tried and convicted Cuban spies — some of whom were complicit in the murder of American citizens by the Cuban military while flying over the Straits of Florida.
Instead of demanding that the Castro regime, in power for almost 52 years, take steps to improve the lives of the Cuban people, it apes the regime's propaganda and blames the so-called American "embargo" for all of Cuba's woes.
And in a conclusion that reveals an ignorance of history and an adherence to moral equivalency that has run amok, the church believe it will be America's fault, not the Castros', if upheaval in Cuba results in a bloodbath.
Indeed, incredible!
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