What about the human rights issue?

What about the human rights issue?
There are some serious human rights issues to be considered here… but if this was a genuine U.S. and Cuban-American concern, it would engage Cuba diplomatically and commercially, and it would discourage the right-wing terrorism aimed at the island. This is clearly just an excuse to continue hostilities against Cuba, as is the recent proposal by Helms and Lieberman (!) to send $100 million to anti-Castro interests on the island.

According to the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/americas/cuba.html) most of the problems involve laws against "the rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and of the press." These are not issues that I take likely. Like most Americans, I tend to take my freedom of speech for granted, but I hope to see positive changes in Cuba. Since most Cubans have now had access to an education (which they would've never been allowed under U.S. influence) they will have lots to contribute to the global dialogue. But sadly and realistically, these changes will not begin until the U.S. threat is removed.

I recommend that anyone who wants to see beyond the haze of reasons and excuses for the longest and meanest embargo in history (reasons which have changed conveniently through the years) start by comparing the Human Rights Watch report on Cuba to the same organization's report on the U.S. (http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/usa/index.html). It seems that we have a lot more human rights issues to worry about here in the U.S. (such as racism) yet we invoke this absurd moral superiority to hide the fact that a few, wealthy & white (though not very wise or humane) are directing foreign policy.

This moronic policy tends to lump all Cubans into pro/against Castro segments, and doesn't allow us to learn a thing from the past 40 years. This resembles our tradition of lumping all communism together. There are many in Cuba who are part of the political regime and would voice opposing opinions if not for Cuban laws aimed at protecting the island from traditional U.S. hostilities. These hostilities have a long history deeply felt in Cuba.

The human rights issue is worsened by the embargo and traditional U.S. arrogance in thinking it has the right to dominate the island. However well this arrogance is disguised in right-wing Cuban-American rhetoric, it doesn't belong in this millennium.

And just how concerned were we with the human rights situation in Cuba before Castro? The fact is that nobody worried about human rights abuses in Cuba until it could be used as a propaganda tool to excuse U.S. actions.