Jinn of Current Events

A magnificent letter to the editors of major international newspapers, from three people who know what it means to be freed from a communist dictatorship: Vaclav Havel, Former President of the Czech Republic; Arpad Göncz, Former President of Hungary; and Lech Walesa, Former President of Poland.

Sir — Earlier this year, Fidel Castro's regime imprisoned 75 representatives of the Cuban opposition. More than 40 co-ordinators of the Varela project — which draws on the current Cuban constitution and calls for the holding of a referendum on the freedom of speech and assembly, the release of political prisoners, free enterprise and free elections — and more than 20 journalists, together with other representatives of various pro-democracy movements, were sentenced in mock trials to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years, merely for daring to express an opinion other than the official one.

Yet the voice of free-thinking Cubans is growing louder, and that is precisely what Castro and his government are justifiably worried about. Despite the omnipresent secret police and government propaganda, thousands of Cubans have already demonstrated their courage by signing project Varela. The regime's response to project Varela, and similar initiatives, is at best disregard and at worst persecution.

The latest wave of confrontations, accompanied by anti-European diatribes from the Cuban political leadership, is an expression of weakness and desperation. The regime is running short of breath, just as the party rulers in the Iron Curtain countries did at the end of the 1980s.

Internal opposition is growing in strength; even the police raids in March failed to bring it to its knees. The times are changing, the revolution is ageing with its leaders, the regime is nervous. Castro knows only too well that there will come a day when his revolution will perish with himself.

No one knows exactly what will happen then, but it is clear in Brussels, Washington, Mexico, among the exiles as well as Cuban residents themselves, that freedom, democracy and prosperity in Cuba depend on support for Cuban dissidents, and that such support will increase the chances of Cuba's peaceful transition to democracy.

Today, it is the responsibility of the democratic world to support representatives of the Cuban opposition, irrespective of how long the Cuban Stalinists manage to cling to power. The Cuban opposition must enjoy the same international support as political dissidents did in divided Europe.

It cannot be claimed that the American embargo of Cuba has brought about the desired result. Neither can this be said of the European policy, which has so far been considerably more forthcoming towards the Cuban regime.

It is time to put aside transatlantic disputes about the embargo of Cuba and to concentrate on direct support for Cuban dissidents, prisoners of conscience and their families.

Europe ought to make it unambiguously clear that Castro is a dictator, and that for democratic countries a dictatorship cannot become a partner until it commences a process of political liberalisation.

At the same time, European countries should establish a "Cuban Democracy Fund" to support the emergence of a civil society in Cuba. Such a fund would be ready for instant use in the case of political changes on the island.

Europe's peaceful transitions from dictatorship to democracy, first in Spain and later in the East, have been an inspiration for the Cuban opposition, so Europe should not hesitate now. Its own history obliges it to act.

 

BBC News: The UK has made spam a criminal offence to try to [fight] the flood of unsolicited messages. Under the new law, to take effect December 11, spammers could be fined GBP 5,000 (about USD 8,000) in a magistrates court or an unlimited penalty from a jury. According to legislation recently adopted in Italy, punishment for spammers are fines up to 90,000 euros (about USD 80,000) and a maximum prison term of three years. EU legislation banning unwanted e-mail is due to come into force on October 31st.

If governments offered bounties and monetary compensation to victims of spam who track down the spammers, there wouldn't be many of those around... 

Telegraph: The French government has told an airline that it is not to ferry [about 1,400] British troops to Basra, a ban that will be seen as reflecting Paris's opposition to the occupation [liberation] of Iraq. How much lower can they go? 

The Guardian: The BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan was left isolated at the Hutton inquiry yesterday when he was forced to retract key elements of his controversial Today programme report while the corporation's head of news denounced his journalistic standards. More importantly, it is now clear that the lies of both the BBC and Gilligan are responsible for Kelly's suicide.