It may have been only a crack, a small crack in the door of oppressive leadership but a glimmer of hope may have come through it. Castro was concerned enough to ship journalists and observers out before they had a chance to report on the Assembly held yesterday in Havana. In today's world of electronic media, and stringers blogging online, the days of an "iron curtain" are dwindling.
"A reporter for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Francesco Battistini, was detained on his way to the meeting and put on a plane to Europe, the Italian foreign ministry said.Cuba expelled three Polish journalists Friday on a flight to Cancun, Mexico, a Polish diplomat said. They were among six Poles arrested at their Havana hotel Thursday night. The group, in Cuba to attend the dissidents' meeting, included a a photographer, a translator and an expert on Cuban politics.Two former Spanish senators were deported on Thursday, a day after arriving in Cuba for the meeting, and another legislator was expelled on Friday, officials said in Madrid.Police picked up Czech Sen. Karel Schwarzenberg and German Bundestag member Arnold Vaatz at their hotels on Thursday and drove them straight to the airport for flights home.
Unbelievable as it sounds, Mr. Serrano of the Bronx claims that the New York delegation understands Cuban politics better than Florida."If there was no Jeb Bush in Florida, and no strong Miami community, we would perhaps treat Cuba differently."
PLEASE! Is he kidding? There is a strong Cuban community in Florida precisely because there is a Castro in Havana. Castro may have liberated Cubans from the oppressive dictator Batista but he has replaced one reprehensible government with another. The miserable Cubans who were left behind, who chose to stay behind have been swindled out of a future.
"To encourage participants, the assembly has solicited and received expressions of support and solidarity from representatives of international organizations, including members of the European Parliament and members of the American Congress. Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 193, which, among other provisions, extends "support and solidarity to the organizers and participants of the historic meeting." The resolution, introduced by a Republican of Florida, Mario Diaz-Balart, passed by a vote of 392 to 22. The bill had more than 50 co-sponsors, including a Democrat from New York, Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx.New York was the best-represented state among the resolution's opponents, however, with six New York Democrats among the 22 nay votes. They included Charles Rangel of Harlem; Jose Serrano of the Bronx; Edolphus Towns of Brooklyn; Nydia Velazquez of Brooklyn, and Gregory Meeks of Queens, as well as Maurice Hinchey, whose district stretches from Poughkeepsie to Ithaca."
