Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Democracy Promotion in the Americas

Fire of Liberty

US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has a wonderful Op/Ed in today's Washington Times calling for democratic reforms in Cuba. While the Cuban people will not be free until El Hefe is buried six feet under, the call for democratic reforms is still a start in the right direction. As with the Middle East, people in our own backyard also share the same desire to live in freedom and enjoy God's unalienable rights that all American's enjoy. It's refreshing to see members of Congress like Lehtinen, Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart , and Senator Mel Martinez picking up the megaphone for the people in Cuba and revealing the plight they endure under Castro. Just read what the brave Congresswoman wrote:
Yet, we continue to hear voices denouncing the embargo. Some call for more trade with this repressive regime. Others frolic with the idea that tourists enjoying the crystalline waters of Varadero Beach, building luxury resorts where Cubans are denied access, and flooding the island with dollars, will bring freedom and democracy to the Cuban people.

Not far from these pleasurable locales, men are dragged down the stairs of one of hundreds of Castro's notorious jails, thrown in squalid cells, beaten, and tortured. Women are raped, humiliated and beaten. Not far from the pristine beaches, the people of Cuba remain prisoners in their own island.

As for the future of Cuba, the children are forced from infancy to prepare for the defense of the country and its regime. Parents who follow their conscience and try to shape their children's values and education are considered enemies of the state and are arrested or persecuted. Those parents whose love for their children supersedes any individual concern for their safety are punished by the Castro regime and punished for violating Castro's laws.
Awesome. I just wish Senator Chris Dodd and his friends would wake up to these realities and campaign for the end of Cuba's national nightmare. Well, we can still wish can't we?

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