Carter Silent On Castro's Crackdown
Dave Eberhart
Friday May 16, 2003
Jimmy Carter is the self-appointed globetrotter on behalf of human rights.
But when Carter friend Fidel Castro unleashed a brutal wave of repression recently, that included extradjudicial executions, Carter?s reaction was silence, followed by muted criticism, and finalized with a stinging criticism of . . . the United States.
On just about the one year anniversary of Carter?s historic trip to Cuba, his new amigo Fidel Castro rounded up 75 political dissidents and independent journalists and packed them off to jail for 28 years each.
Although formally accused of conspiring with U.S. diplomats to undermine the socialist state, the apparent crime of almost all was their championing the so-called ?Varela Project,? a petition calling for greater basic liberties ? and the absolute centerpiece of Carter?s controversial mission-impossible-without-portfolio to the communist island.
The Cuban president followed up by ordering the execution of three men accused of terrorism in an unsuccessful hijacking of a passenger ferry headed to the United States. The three summarily went before a firing squad April 11 without so much as a final farewell to family and loved ones.
On March 21 when word of the initial arrests and detentions of the Varela dissidents hit the world media big-time, Carter issued only an anemic press release:
?I am deeply concerned about reports of detentions of Cuban citizens known for supporting the Varela Project, promoting human rights, and practicing independent journalism. The international community supports their rights to the protections afforded by the Cuban constitution. I call on the Cuban government to respect those rights and to refrain from detaining or harassing citizens who are expressing their views peacefully.?
But Carter also seemed to place part of the onus of Castro?s human rights abuses on the shoulders of the U.S.:
?I also am troubled by the rising tension between the Cuban government and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. I urge my own government to work with the Cuban government to deflate those tensions and establish a relationship of mutual respect.?
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Didn't like Jimmy then, don't like him now. Joker in the deck? OK with me.
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