Urgent Action for Keilylli de la Mora Valle: Young woman's life in immediate danger please let others know of her plight & ask Castro to free her now.

Please let the Castro regime know that you are concerned about her safety and want proof of life.

Life in danger: Keilylli de la Mora Valle

Keilylli de la Mora Valle is a courageous woman speaking out for human rights in a six decade old communist dictatorship. The Castro regime has tried to break her spirit, but having failed using the usual tactics of fear, harassment and imprisonment they are heightening the stakes interning her in a psychiatric facility, and are now alleging that she tried to take her own life. She is 27 years old.

On July 2, 2020 at 8:36am Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia posted a video of Raúl González alerting that Keilylli had been transferred to a Gustavo Aldereguia Hospital, that she had allegedly attempted suicide, and he warned that this could be a manipulation by the dictatorship and that this was an extremely serious situation.

T @jdanielferrer Very serious! Cienfuegos, #Cuba They say in the Gustavo Aldereguia Hospital that political prisoner Keilillí de la Mora Valle attempted suicide. Raúl González alerts about possible maneuver against this young fighter of Citizen Consensus, #UNPACU & @CUBADECIDE https://t.co/2xKVJ93o8W

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) July 3, 2020

We call on the international community generally, and the International Committee of the Red Cross specifically to request permission to meet with her and ascertain in what condition she is presently in.

On June 1, 2020 the Cuban opposition activist Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia posted a video of the young activist that shows a clear eyed and brave activist facing defiantly the prison time that she was facing. She retweeted the video and told Jose Daniel, "Be assured brother while they repress me more, the stronger I become." While in prison she was able to secretly record the poor conditions there, smuggle it out but was beaten up, punished and threatened with a longer prison sentence.

MT @jdanielferrer #Cuba Cienfuegos #UNPACU @Unpacuoficial & @CUBADECIDE activist Keilillí de la Mora Valle received notification from the Tribunal that they ratified the year and a half prison sentence they recently imposed on her for her opposition activism. https://t.co/bFzgCaA2FP

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) July 3, 2020

Keilylli de la Mora Valle is a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba and has been active on Twitter since March 2019 and describe herself as a free and independent Cuban who is 100% Anti-Castro.

A day later the UNPACU tweeted a copy of the documents showing that her appeal had been denied and she would be starting her unjust prison sentence.

T @UNPACUoficial #Cuba Sentenced to one & a half years in prison Keilylli de la Mora Valle, #UNPACU activist & #CubaDecide promoter. False charges made against her are: propagation of epidemic, disobedience, contempt & resistance. #NoMorePoliticalPrisoners #ChangeSystem https://t.co/YCRxZdY8hX

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) July 3, 2020

Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo tweeted on July 2nd that the "young 27-year-old political prisoner, has been subjected to cruel treatment, is on her 2nd hunger strike & now police say she 'attempted suicide' but no one has seen her. Danger increases every minute she remains in the hands of the regime." Rosa Maria is absolutely right, and her original tweet in Spanish is embedded below.

#Cuba joven prisionera política de 27años ha sido sometida a tratos crueles, está en su 2da huelga d hambre y ahora la policía dice que "atentó contra su vida" pero nadie la ha visto. El peligro aunmenta cada minuto que pasa en manos del régimen#FreeKeilyhttps://t.co/Av8Dk9raWq

— Rosa María Payá A. (@RosaMariaPaya) July 2, 2020

The news that she has been sent to a psychiatric facility fills knowledgeable Cuban watchers with dread. The Castro regime has a long track record of using psychiatry as a political weapon and these institutions have also had a record of neglect in which patients have died from exposure.

The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba published in 1991 by Freedom House and Of Human Rights documented the interrelationship between Cuban psychiatry and the Cuban State Security apparatus to target dissidents.

The Psychiatric Hospital in Havana run by Eduardo Bernabe Ordaz Ducunge for forty years used the tools of psychiatry to torture dissidents and human rights defenders.

Three of 26 patients who died of exposure in 2010 in Cuba

 In January 2010 pictures smuggled out of Havana's Psychiatric Hospital revealed that patients were dying of exposure to the elements, and had suffered greatly through their time there. Claudia Cadelo, now exiled out of Cuba, wrote in 2010 her reaction to seeing this photos:

When I opened the little folder called “Mazorra” a series of monstrosities hit me in the face and I couldn’t stop looking at the cruel graphic testimony. A friend who is a doctor visited and while he analyzed images I didn’t have the courage to look at, expressions like, “Holy Virgin Mary, Blessed God, What in God’s name is this?” issued from his outraged throat, mixed with obscure pathologies and the names of diseases both treatable and curable. Enormous livers, tubercular lungs, and wormy intestines are the proof, Senora Arlin, of the sacredness of life in Cuba. Meanwhile The Roundtable throws a fit because the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo has unmasked a crumbling public health system, and they try to cover up the disgrace of seeing soldiers dragging and beating a group of women dressed in white with flowers in their hands. I ask myself, Gentlemen Journalists, when will they explain to Cubans the reasons why twenty-six mentally incapacitated people died in inhumane conditions during their confinement in Mazorra?

The dictatorship was forced to acknowledge what had happened thanks to the still unknown whistleblower and courageous independent journalists who made the images public and The New York Times reported on January 15, 2020 that "26 patients at a mental hospital died during a cold snap this week, the government said Friday. A Health Ministry communiqué blamed “prolonged low temperatures that fell to 38 degrees." This is the institution that Eduardo Bernabe Ordaz Ducunge shaped over 40 years, and that PAHO celebrated with an award. This episode was quickly forgotten, and the mantra of Cuba's "great" health care system continued to be repeated in the press.

Amnesty International had also raised concerns in their report Psychiatry: A Human Rights Perspective in 1995 of what they saw on their only visit:

In Cuba, there have been allegations in recent years that not only the criminally insane but also political prisoners have been sent to forensic wards of state psychiatric institutions where they are kept in unhygienic and dangerous conditions and where they are exposed to ill-treatment either at the hands of staff or fellow inmates. In 1988 Amnesty International visited the Havana Psychiatric (Mazorra) Hospital in Havana. The delegation was permitted to visit one of the forensic wards - the Sala Carbó Serviá. However, the existence of a second forensic ward, the Sala Castellanos, was denied by a hospital official. It was this ward which was alleged to present harsh conditions and to be used for the punishment of prisoners.

Amnesty International reported that prisoner of conscience Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was sent to Mazorra on November 29, 1999 to Mazorra. He was sent to there by State Security agents and forced to undergo psychiatric examinations on several occasions.

Amnesty also reported how on December 4, 1998 Cuban dissident Milagros Cruz Cano, who is blind, was detained by State Security agents while waiting for a bus. She was initially held at the Maria Luisa police station in Havana where she was: "beaten by police officers which resulted in a swollen cheek and a bruise and scab below her eye. She was then transferred to Mazorra psychiatric hospital in Havana where she was held in an isolated cell called Córdoba. The conditions of detention were said to be degrading as she was held in a cell with iron bars which other patients and guards could see into and where she had to carry out all personal hygiene. She was released on December 14, 1998 without charge."

Observers need to take into account that in addition to negligence and indifference to human suffering that led to a situation in which more than 40 patients died of malnutrition and exposure to cold in a tropical country that this psychiatric hospital was also employed in the mistreatment and torture of Cuban dissidents and human rights activists. Officials need to know that they will be held accountable for her safety.

MT @anabelkisfg We hold @raulcastroruz & @DiazCanelB responsible for the physical & psychological integrity of @Keilylli, UNPACU member political prisoner admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Gustavo Aldereguia hospital in Cienfuegos. #Cuba #FreeKeilylli https://t.co/0QFwgo4WGr

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) July 3, 2020

The Cuban government has not permitted a visit by the Red Cross to their prisons since 1989. By comparison the United States has permitted over a 100 inspections at the prison on the US Guantanamo Naval Base since 2001. What is the Castro regime hiding in its prisons?

Will they allow independent international observers to visit with this young woman, and ascertain her mental and physical status?  The international community is beginning to pay attention on her plight. Below is a tweet from the OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro from July 2nd.

MT @Almagro_OEA2015 We demand that regime of #Cuba provide information on Keilylli de la Mora Valle, a political prisoner on the island, & that they stop the abuses & systematic violations of her rights & that of all prisoners of conscience on the island. https://t.co/ubNfoyf1EK https://t.co/EDufGjJqLU

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) July 3, 2020

Good day for freedom in the Americas: OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro re-elected

The re-election of OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro today to the Organization of American States for a second five year term is good news for the Americas and especially Cubans and 
Venezuelans who wish to live in freedom. 

Congratulations Secretary General Almagro. #AlmagroYouStayInTheOAS 

#OASassembly Re-elects @Almagro_OEA2015 as Secretary General and @NestorMendezOAS as Assistant Secretary General of the #OAS

📰 https://t.co/rN2PulGgRF
📸 https://t.co/ZSApRuc9OX
📹 https://t.co/SDxiLPPJGR pic.twitter.com/VBCJSRaBoq

— OAS (@OAS_official) March 20, 2020

Secretary Almagro understands the reality in Venezuela, and is campaigning against the Maduro regime being a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

The OAS Secretary General also understands the debt owed by the rest of the Americas to the Cuba, and the reality that exists under the Castro dictatorship on the island today.

We welcome his continued solidarity with these two peoples seeking to be free.

Will Canada stand up for democracy in the upcoming OAS elections?

Fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.

Almagro                       Espinosa                            De Zala

 Will Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allow a Chavista candidate, or a political opportunist with ties to Chavismo, become the next Secretary General of the Organization of American States? Conventional opinion expressed in The Washington Diplomat claims that the current OAS secretary general Luis Almagro has the backing of Canada, but in recent years the traditional view has often been proven wrong

Carlos E. Ponce, Senior Lecturer, Columbia University, Senior Fellow, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and former Freedom House Latin American director has written an important opinion piece in El Tiempo Latino that outlines the high stakes in the upcoming vote for the next OAS Secretary General, and the role played by Canada.

"A new election approaches to re-elect or elect a new secretary general for the Organization of American States (OAS). The competition is between the re-election of the current Secretary General Luis Almagro and two candidates who could put the very existence of the organization at risk. Those two candidates are the former Minister of Defense, and a highly trusted person to the former Ecuadorian dictator Rafael Correa, the Ecuadorian María Fernanda Espinosa; and the ambassador of Peru to the United States, Hugo De Zela."

Ponce than provides an analysis of what the institutional outcome would be if either Espinosa or De Zela is elected to the post.

"Mrs. Espinosa has not been nominated by Ecuador, her country, but by two ALBA countries, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Of particular interest is the support of a person so close to Nicolas Maduro and Hugo Chávez, who is also nominated by the autocrat of San Vicente, Ralph Gonsalves, who has been supporting the narco-dictatorship of Venezuela and benefiting from that relationship. Espinosa has in her favor the ability to convince with a false, but effective discourse, which led various civil society organizations to fall in love with her. These organizations seem to forget that during Rafael Correa's government was when there was an inclement persecution against the Inter-American Human Rights System and that Espinosa was part of a government that systematically violated human rights and freedom of expression. On the other hand, the dangerous game of Argentina and Mexico, supporting this candidate, endangers the very existence of the OAS. Espinosa's triumph would return the OAS to an appendix of ideological factors that seek the destruction of the regional organization and would give the perfect excuse to the United States to suspend economic aid to that organization."

"The other candidate who wants the position of secretary general, Hugo De Zela, has a capacity for political adaptation to all the different governments that have passed through Peru in the last 42 years; He is a bureaucrat who adapts effectively to changes and manipulates institutions for his personal interest. He was the chief of staff of the most gray and noxious general secretary of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza."

In either case with the departure of Almagro, his replacement would be seeking an accommodation with Maduro in Venezuela and Castro in Cuba. This was the status quo under OAS secretary general José Miguel Insulza who attended gatherings in Cuba, and dropped the ball on Venezuela as the crisis worsened and spun out of control.

This leads to the obvious question. Why would Canada not be strongly backing Almagro?

Historically, Canada has been a strong defender of human rights and fairness on the international state, but today there is cause for concern with the current government. This would be a Faustian bargain that would trade this vote for the votes of several Caribbean countries to obtain a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Recent history indicates that regional democrats and human rights defenders should be concerned.

In November 2019, Canada shifted its long time support for Israel at the United Nations backing a anti-Israel resolution sponsored by North Korea and Zimbabwe that broke years of a Canadian bipartisan consensus in defense of the one democracy in the Middle East.

The vote change is dramatic. If it wanted to shift, Trudeau's government could have moved from a No, as it voted last year with U.S., to an Abstain, as Australia voted today. Instead, they jumped all the way to a Yes—for the first time in years and breaking bi-partisan tradition. pic.twitter.com/qw3CeX4ViV

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 19, 2019

According to International lawyer, human rights activist, UN Watch Executive Director, Hillel Neuer describing the November 2019 vote, "Trudeau is trading Canada's bedrock principles of fairness and equality for a UN Security Council seat."

Reading the February 15, 2020 column by Earl Bousquet titled "Between the Bridgetown Summit and the Washington OAS Vote" should give one cause for concern on the Canadian position on the upcoming vote. Bousquet described the priorities at The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Bridgetown Summit that took place on February 17-18th and cited that Canada's Trudeau was pushing for the CARICOM's support for the UN Security Council seat. According to Bousquet, the preferred Caribbean candidate is the Chavista candidate, María Fernanda Espinosa.

Taking all of this into consideration than what Carlos Ponce describes makes alarming sense and should be a wake up call to democrats in the region, and for Canadians to ask Prime Minister Trudeau what he is doing?

Trudeau meets Castro at his father's funeral

Professor Ponce presents a disturbing picture of Canada's strategic support for De Zela that is roughly translated below:

"On this occasion, in addition to his country's nomination, he has Canada's strategic support for his candidacy. De Zela's game is clear, allow Almagro and Espinosa to confront each other and since there is no consensus, he will sell himself as the candidate who gets support in different sectors and who should be the consensus candidate. A strategy that seems to have come from Canada. The possible failure of Espinosa would lead Argentina, Mexico and the Caribbean to support the De Zela candidacy. ... The triumph of candidate De Zela would take the OAS back to a gray stage, full of political compromises and little attention to the fight against dictatorships and authoritarians of the region; in other words, a return to a time similar to that of Insulza."

However, this game played by the Trudeau government goes beyond simple vote swapping, although it is a factor. Trudeau demonstrated his affinity for the Castro regime, upon the death of Fidel Castro in 2016, with a statement that could have been authored by Senator Bernie Sanders.

“It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba’s longest serving President. Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation."

 Prime Minister Trudeau has an unhealthy affection for Cuba's dictatorship that has killed tens of thousands of Cubans, jailed hundreds of thousands of political opponents, and driven an entire nation into misery, and assisting in the destruction of a second.  This is why the stakes later this month with the election of the OAS secretary is of such great importance. Sadly, the current Canadian government is playing a dangerous game that would deal a negative blow to the Organization of American States. Professor Ponce outlines the Canadian government's dangerous double standard between Cuba and Venezuela.

"Within the process of designating the Secretary General, the double standards of the Government of Canada are very dangerous, who on the one hand speak of the need to free Venezuela from tyranny, but at the same time openly support the dictatorship of Cuba. Not only do they support it at the diplomatic level, but with millions of Canadians going to the island for tourism and diverse support for programs in Cuba. But they also seem to punish Almagro for his defense of freedom for Cuba and have been campaigning for him not to be re-elected."

Friends of Israel were caught by surprise when Canada switched its vote at the UN back in November 2019. Friends of a free Cuba and a free Venezuela should take note and mobilize  to ensure that a nasty surprise isn't sprung later this month in the vote for the OAS general secretary.

Organization of American States holds Conference on Human Rights in Cuba

"We must take into account the violence being spread by the Cuban dictatorship. We can set out some examples to clarify. In Venezuela, this year the presence of the Cubans in the torture of people has been documented. It is estimated that the Cuban presence in Venezuela is 46,000 people, an occupation force that teaches torture and repression, that does intelligence work, that does civil documentation and migration work." -  Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization American States, December 7, 2018

On December 7, 2018 the Organization of American States held a Conference on Human Rights in Cuba that spanned the entire day. Below are the videos of the morning and afternoon sessions. It was a historic day that highlighted the human rights record in Cuba and how it negatively impacts the region.

Morning session



Afternoon session

The testimonies provided in these videos are of great importance and required viewing. Please share with others.

All eyes on Cuba: Rosa María Payá Acevedo in Havana, Cuba to host award ceremony on Thursday, March 8th

"I suppose it is true in a sense that a man can be a fundamental skeptic, but he cannot be anything else: certainly not even a defender of fundamental skepticism." - G.K. Chesterton 

"Democratic change today in Cuba is possible, even if tyranny pretends otherwise." - Rosa María Payá

Rosa María Payá Acevedo is back in Cuba at her family's home engaged in an exercise of political freedom to honor her martyred father on March 8, 2018 at 11:00am. My prayers and thoughts are with her. One cannot forget that she is at the mercy of the Castro regime that murdered her dad Oswaldo Payá and friend Harold Cepero on July 22, 2012. This same regime then made death threats against her, and the rest of the Payá family.

Let us also not forget that 24 U.S. diplomats in Havana between November 2016 and August 2017 suffered severe injuries, including brain trauma, under circumstances that have not been cleared up or that a Cuban dissident was the victim of a brutal machete attack on May 24, 2015 for advocating to keep a school open in Cuba.


This is why it remains important for friends of freedom to follow her on social media and raise the alarm if and when danger seems imminent or she is actually under attack. On March 6, 2018 at 10:07am Rosa extended the following invitation in Spanish, "Thursday 8/3 at 11:00am we invite civil society and interested citizens, accredited and independent press, diplomatic corps of democratic countries and above all, you, to the Payá Award, murdered in Cuba 2012 by the Castro regime that today seeks to perpetuate itself."

Jueves 8/3 a 11am invitamos a sociedad civil y ciudadanía interesada, prensa acreditada e independiente, cuerpo diplomático de países democráticos y, sobre todo, a ti, a entrega del Premio Payá, asesinado en Cuba 2012 por el régimen castrista que hoy busca perpetuarse @CUBADECIDE https://t.co/ThUXq9B37w

— Rosa María Payá A. (@RosaMariaPaya) March 6, 2018

Arrests and detentions are already taking place to prevent dissidents from attending the ceremony in what may be shaping up to be a crackdown. Independent journalist Agustín López Canino has been detained. Activists Ivan Hernandez Carrillo, and Sayli Navarro are being held under house arrest in order to prevent them attending the ceremony on Thursday.

Latin American leaders have applied for visas to enter Cuba, including Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Jaime Bellolio, a member of Chile's Chamber of Deputies.Will the Castro regime allow them to enter?

This is a time to be vigilant, keep all eyes on Cuba, and to denounce repression and other irregularities.

Night Comes to Venezuela: Electoral Farce in Venezuela

"Support Venezuelan democratic institutions that must today work in exile. - Luis Almagro, General Secretariat of the OAS

My message on the elections held yesterday in #Venezuela #OEAconVenezuela #OEAwithVenezuela https://t.co/idjeYNlxHd pic.twitter.com/EymRFvARMs

— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) October 16, 2017  

Message from the Secretary General on Venezuela

October 16, 2017

Yesterday gubernatorial elections were held in Venezuela. We are not going to comment on the irregularities in the process, given that they repeat the same variables of illegality, uncertainty and fraud that we have been denouncing since our first communication to the president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, in November 2015. We reiterate these same complaints regarding the election process for the National Constituent Assembly or the annulment of the recall referendum.

Today we would have liked to greet the winners and welcome the completion of a civic celebration. However, we have to express skepticism and denounce the lack of guarantees that take place over and over in elections held by dictatorships.

The General Secretariat of the OAS rejects all of these illegitimate acts carried out by illegitimate governments, and condemns in particular, once more, the abuses of the civil and political rights of the Venezuelan people by the regime.

The results of an election in a country with no guarantees for the effective exercise of democracy cannot be recognized. It is clear that any political force that agrees to go to an election without guarantees becomes an essential tool of the eventual fraud, and shows that it has no democratic reflexes to protect the rights of the people, in this case, the right to the vote.

This type of act is not new: it first happened when the recall referendum was annulled and it was repeated when the results of the July 16 consultation were not respected.

This is an important lesson for everyone, for the political leadership of Venezuela and for the international community.

These are the only kind of results we can expect – fraud and human rights violations – if the political strategy and acts distance themselves from democratic principles and values in favor of easy and circumstantial agreements.

No election in Venezuela will provide guarantees to voters unless it is carried out with qualified electoral observation – in particular by this Organization – that ensures a transparent and legal process.

In order to generate a democratic reconstruction in the country, the opposition political leadership must unite with the people and those few leaders who, in accordance with their principles, understood at all times that the citizens of Venezuela want freedoms and are not willing to follow the rules of the dictatorship.

We consider that it is no longer the time for resolutions or declarations, although we appreciate that the last ones made have been conclusive and reflect more accurately the agenda we proposed on May 30, 2015: general elections, freedom for all political prisoners, the separation of powers and respect for institutions, and the opening of a humanitarian channel.

The General Secretariat of the OAS, for its part, will continue along the lines of action that have been announced:

a) Continue the processes underway to determine the evidence for crimes against humanity by the authorities of the regime in Venezuela;
b) Promote and legitimize the application of sanctions against the Venezuelan regime; and
c) Support Venezuelan democratic institutions that must today work in exile.

Reference: S-031/17

Remarks by President Trump on Cuba and Venezuela today at the UN General Assembly

"From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure." - Donald Trump at the UNGA

President Donald Trump addresses the UN General Assembly

The Office of the Press Secretary at the White House released President Donald Trump's full speech to the United Nations General Assembly this morning. Below is the excerpt that relates to Cuba and Venezuela. There is no mention either of the ongoing crisis involving U.S. diplomats physically harmed in Cuba that could lead to shuttering the U.S. Embassy in Havana or the thousands of Cuban soldiers in Venezuela that have been described as an occupying force by OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro. Nevertheless it is a remarkable statement that exposes the terrible record of communism generally and specifically analyses what is taking place in the two Latin American countries.

In some cases, states that seek to subvert this institution's noble aims have hijacked the very systems that are supposed to advance them.  For example, it is a massive source of embarrassment to the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The United States is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay 22 percent of the entire budget and more.  In fact, we pay far more than anybody realizes.  The United States bears an unfair cost burden, but, to be fair, if it could actually accomplish all of its stated goals, especially the goal of peace, this investment would easily be well worth it.

Major portions of the world are in conflict and some, in fact, are going to hell.  But the powerful people in this room, under the guidance and auspices of the United Nations, can solve many of these vicious and complex problems.

The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world.  In the meantime, we believe that no nation should have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily or financially.  Nations of the world must take a greater role in promoting secure and prosperous societies in their own regions.

That is why in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has stood against the corrupt and destabilizing regime in Cuba and embraced the enduring dream of the Cuban people to live in freedom.  My administration recently announced that we will not lift sanctions on the Cuban government until it makes fundamental reforms.

We have also imposed tough, calibrated sanctions on the socialist Maduro regime in Venezuela, which has brought a once thriving nation to the brink of total collapse.

The socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro has inflicted terrible pain and suffering on the good people of that country.  This corrupt regime destroyed a prosperous nation by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried.  To make matters worse, Maduro has defied his own people, stealing power from their elected representatives to preserve his disastrous rule.
 
The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing.  Their democratic institutions are being destroyed.  This situation is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch.

As a responsible neighbor and friend, we and all others have a goal.  That goal is to help them regain their freedom, recover their country, and restore their democracy.  I would like to thank leaders in this room for condemning the regime and providing vital support to the Venezuelan people.

The United States has taken important steps to hold the regime accountable.  We are prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people.
 
We are fortunate to have incredibly strong and healthy trade relationships with many of the Latin American countries gathered here today.  Our economic bond forms a critical foundation for advancing peace and prosperity for all of our people and all of our neighbors.

I ask every country represented here today to be prepared to do more to address this very real crisis.  We call for the full restoration of democracy and political freedoms in Venezuela. (Applause.)

The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented.  (Applause.)  From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure.

Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems.

America stands with every person living under a brutal regime.  Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action.  All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests, and their well being, including their prosperity.

OAS Secretary General Condemns New Imprisonment of López and Ledezma

"The Venezuelan regime continues to escalate its use of repression." - Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS

Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López taken in the middle of the night

Secretary General Condemns New Imprisonment of López and Ledezma

  August 1, 2017
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, today condemned the new imprisonment of Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López:

“This latest action taken without the minimum guarantees of any legal framework is completely harmful to the human rights of both leaders and their families.

In both cases, the detentions are carried out instilling fear and intimidation of their families.

The Venezuelan regime continues to escalate its use of repression.

On Sunday there were 16 indiscriminate murders of citizens who protested against a fraudulent election and the installation of an illegitimate national constituent assembly.

Today there was the selective targeting of opponents. The regime is trying to silence Ledezma and López and, through them, silence and subdue an entire people. It is no accident. They are opposition political leaders in a framework of the social, political and economic crisis of a Venezuela that is suffering to return to democracy.

There are no legal rationale for Ledezma and López to be in jail. This is the same lack of rationale used in the cases all political prisoners.

The justifications are arbitrary and unlawful, among other things because they ignore the health concerns- which have not changed- that led to the leaders’ release, because they imply that they were planning an escape, or because they broke a prohibition of making public declarations.

These are errors in the manipulation and use of the law that are made by the Regime. They are imprisoned because they are politicians who demonstrate leadership. They are imprisoned because they are hostages of the government.

I urge the international community, the countries of the OAS, the United Nations, the European Union and the Vatican, among others, to continue to adopt measures to defend democracy and human rights in Venezuela.

We admire the determination and courage of the Venezuelan people, the strength shown in the face of danger by the young people who protest, the women who march, the doctors who care for those injured by the repression, the religious figures who call for a stop to the repression, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, who denounce these facts every day.

Our international solidarity can only be with those who claim their rights and not those who deny and repress them, those who are tortured and not their torturers, the victims and families of the victims and not their murderers.

For the corrupt, the murderers and the torturers, the international community must reply with the greatest severity.

In Venezuela today we are faced with a dictatorship that is afraid of its people and of international sanctions for their criminal actions. The way to overcome fear is not to harden repression, not to imprison political leaders, not to continue to violate the human rights of the people. If there is more repression and human rights violations, the actions and sanctions of the international community will have to be tougher. It is clear, repression does not stop the people, it strengthens their determination and makes their protest that much more necessary.

I reiterate that the only possible solution in Venezuela is an immediate call for full elections, including national and international electoral observation, the end of the repression, the release of all political prisoners, the restoration of the powers of the National Assembly, the opening of a humanitarian channel, and the cancellation of the fraudulent National Constituent Assembly. The mechanism for this is a negotiated exit between the regime and the opposition, one that includes Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López. A negotiation in which includes the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, and uses the best mechanisms of the hemispheric community for monitoring political commitments. A peaceful path toward peace and a democratic path toward democracy in Venezuela.”

Reference: E-060/17

Venezuela 2017: Grabbing up opposition leaders in the dead of night while international community denounces Maduro

"Truth and love must triumph over lies and hatred." - Vaclav Havel

Tonight agents of the Maduro regime in Venezuela raided the homes of Leopoldo López Mendoza and Antonio Ledezma took them away into the night their whereabouts unknown at this hour. Family members are extremely concerned and hold the government responsible. Leopoldo's wife tweeted "12:27am: Moment when dictatorship kidnaps Leopoldo in my house. They will not break us!" along with video of the arbitrary detention.

12:27 de la madrugada: Momento en el que la dictadura secuestra a Leopoldo en mi casa. No lo van a doblegar! pic.twitter.com/0EdlQvEGXS

— Lilian Tintori (@liliantintori) August 1, 2017

The knock on the door in the middle of the night to disappear political dissidents was a feature of Stalinism in the Soviet Union during the first half of the 20th century. Bolivarian socialism of the 21st Century bears a close resemblance to this dark chapter in human history.

Yesterday afternoon the General Secretary of the Organization of American States General Secretariat denounced "the entire fraudulent process of National Constituency" Luis Almagro issued a video statement over twitter.

#31Jul
OAS General Secretariat denounces the entire fraudulent process of National Constituency in #Venezuela: @Almagro_OEA2015 pic.twitter.com/yyUmzBljBK

— OAS (@OAS_official) July 31, 2017

There is an existential struggle for civilization in Venezuela and the choice is clear: truth and love or lies and hatred.  The Maduro regime is engaging in massive lies to consolidate its dictatorship and seeks to provoke the opposition to violence by sowing hatred through brutal violence and repression.  Snipers shooting high school and college kids in the head because they are engaging in nonviolent protest. This has been going on for years.  Local beauty queen Génesis Carmona (age 22 ) nonviolently expressing her desire for a better Venezuela was shot in the head on February 18, 2014 by agents of the Maduro regime and died a day later on February 19, 2014. These are provocations that enrage those with a sense of justice.

Around the world today the dictatorship in Venezuela was put on notice rejecting Sunday's fraudulent vote on the question of a Constituent Assembly and the escalating violence and repression against nonviolent protesters and independent media outlets.

Canada denounces & condemns significant and undemocratic action by #Venezuela gov to create constituent assembly https://t.co/SYsATMAXDz pic.twitter.com/qTJrBiKWOX

— Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) July 30, 2017

What can we do? First echo the messages of the democratic opposition emerging out of Venezuela, translating it into different languages to magnify the effect. Secondly share the statements denouncing the Maduro regime's fraudulent Constituent Assembly in Venezuela and international solidarity with Venezuela's democratic opposition. The following countries refuse to recognize the results on Sunday of the vote in Venezuela: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, Guatemela, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Germany, Spain, France, Norway, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the European Parliament.

 

The failure of the Americas in Venezuela: Chickens coming home to roost

"Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost."  Robert Southey,The Curse of Kehama (1809) 

Venezuela in 2017

Venezuela is on the edge and reaching a tipping point. Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), said at the Atlantic Council that one of the tragedies of Venezuela is that what is happening there could have been avoided.


Democracy was not defended early on and now it has become a security and humanitarian crisis. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in their 2016 annual report paints a grim picture of Venezuela today. Below is an excerpt from the introduction:

1. During 2016, the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Commission” or “the IACHR”) has continued to monitor the overall human rights situation in Venezuela and has observed persistent structural situations that affect the human rights of Venezuelans and led to a grave political, social, and economic crisis. These structural situations identified by the Commission have first of all included a worsening of the citizen security situation, related to the right to life and humane treatment.

2. Second, there has been deterioration of the rule of law and democratic institutions. Reports continue of lack of access to justice and an independent and impartial judicial branch, while on the other hand, political polarization has been exacerbated, resulting in open confrontation between the legislative branch and the other State authorities that has affected the balance and separation of powers necessary for a democratic society. In this context, the Commission has also observed a corresponding impact on political rights and the right to participate in public life.

3. Third, a deterioration of the right to freedom of expression has been observed, including the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of opposition figures and individuals who publicly express their disagreement with the government; repression of and undue restrictions on the right to protest; dismissal of public employees or threatening them with losing their jobs should they express political opinions against the government; campaigns to stigmatize and harass journalists, opposition politicians, and citizens; the use of criminal law and other State controls to punish or inhibit the work of a critical media; and impediments to the right to access to information.

4. Fourth, access to economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) has been severely restricted. Shortages and scarcity of food, medicine, water, and electricity have led to a grave crisis, contributing to disease outbreaks and other affects on health. The response to the situation has been deficient and in some situations entailed a lack of access to necessarily medical care. This has severely affected children, sick individuals, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and the elderly, among other groups. In this context, added to the political context, public protests have increased, and security forces have responded to them by using force.

5. The Commission has also continued to observe the precarious situations of human rights defenders, people deprived of liberty, migrants and refugees, and other particularly vulnerable groups. Finally, the Commission continues to find it difficult to conduct monitoring given that access to public information on the performance of State bodies is scarce, as is access to official data that would enable it to evaluate respect for human rights in Venezuela.

Obama shakes hands with Chavez in 2009 with Maduro in the background

Although the United States alone did not fail to defend democracy (others in the Americas also failed the South American country), it did play a role with a bad policy. The Obama Administration since 2009 sought a new relationship with Latin America, specifically with Venezuela and Cuba. It was achieved in the midst of a worsening human rights situation in the region, coinciding with the expanding influence and legitimization of the Castro regime as it normalized relations with the United States.

President Obama's March 21, 2016 visit to Cuba was not a step forward, but a huge leap backward into the 1960s when U.S. foreign policy in Latin America embraced military dictators calling them "Presidents." The visit was another part of the failed foreign policy legacy of the Obama administration, which in this case prolongs the life of the communist regime in Cuba and legitimized it internationally while marginalizing Cuba's democratic opposition. This has also had consequences for other countries in the region such as Venezuela where according to OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro: “There are currently about 15,000 Cubans in Venezuela,” ... “It’s like an occupation army from Cuba in Venezuela.”

The Obama family take in a baseball game with Raul Castro in March 2016

This process has also been underway in Nicaragua, along with the continued denial of that reality by the American embassy there. Opposition lawmakers have been ousted by an electoral authority controlled by president Daniel Ortega. Ortega did not permit foreign observers into Nicaragua to monitor the November 6 presidential and legislative elections that were rigged.  Despite normal relations and high level outreach early in the Obama Administration the Ortega regime pursued closer relations with Russia and China. In April 2016 Nicaragua purchased 50 Russian battle tanks at a cost of $80 million. Vladimir Putin signed a new security agreement with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega in 2016.

Strong man Daniel Ortega and President Obama in 2009

There is a price to embracing and legitimizing autocrats, unfortunately the United States will be paying it for years to come, as will many others in the Americas.  Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) in testimony before the United States Senate on July 19, 2017 highlighted the cost of not defending democracy in Venezuela:

"When others were content to look the other way as Venezuela collapsed into dictatorship, I raised my voice to denounce the systematic violation of the Constitution and the escalating violent repression. There is no greater crisis facing our hemisphere today. We must stand in solidarity with the brave people of Venezuela in restoring democracy and the rule of law in their country.

My raison d’etre at the OAS is “More Rights for More People”. This is a solemn commitment I take seriously every single day. It is a responsibility of which I will never tire. It is the fundamental role of the Organization of American States – to stand vigilant in defense of democracy throughout the Americas. This is why the Inter -American Democratic Charter was created. It is a commitment that all member states must take seriously at this moment of truth for Venezuela.

[...]

In a Hemisphere of close to 1 billion people, 20 countries that represent nearly 90% of the population of the Americas joined to speak in defense of democracy in Venezuela. Twenty foreign ministers advocated for the lives and human rights of the Venezuelan people, at the General Assembly that took place in Mexico in June. But as the violence in Venezuela escalates and the death toll continues to rise, it is clear that words are not enough.

The reluctance of the international community to act in defense of democracy has allowed the situation to deteriorate incrementally, but consistently, to the point where today it has become a full- blown humanitarian and security crisis. Every step of the way it has been too little, and too late. The Democratic Charter was designed as a preventative tool. When it was agreed, it established a very explicit authority to act in every signatory state, when necessity requires. When used as intended, it can prevent or stop any backsliding in the regions’ hard -earned democracies.

It is true that only the people of Venezuela must solve the crisis in their country. However, in Venezuela, the words of civilians are met with the weapons of the Regime. The people of Venezuela peacefully took to the streets in defense of their fundamental rights and freedoms. The Regime responded strategically and systematically, targeting an unarmed, civilian population with violence and terror.

More than 100 people have been killed since the protests began. That is one close one person each day. Of those killed, more than 30 were under the age of 21; 24 were students; 14 were teenagers. Since the protests began, more than 450 investigations into human rights violations have been opened. Civil society estimates that the number civilians injured is above 15,000.

As of July 12, there were 444 political prisoners in Venezuela; the highest number since the military dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. These statistics do not include the thousands of lives lost in the humanitarian crisis. Countless Venezuelans are dying without food or medicine - between 4 and 6 children die every week from malnutrition."

Million of people are losing their freedom and thousands of people are losing their lives. This humanitarian and security disaster was first a moral and ethical one that could have been prevented. The international community bears a measure of responsibility in what is unfolding in Venezuela. Hopefully responsibility will be taken to resolve it.

#PayaPrize: Castro regime reveals its totalitarian and repressive nature before region's democrats

Our interest is to bring Cuba closer to Inter-American values and principles and expand its achievements in science, health and education. - Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the OAS

Award ceremony in Havana at 11:00am this morning

At 11:00am with her home surrounded by Cuban State Security and with the names of Mr. Luis Almagro and Ms Mariana Aylwin taped to two empty chairs Rosa Maria Payá and a small group of activists who had managed to evade the security cordon carried out the award ceremony. At the same time in Miami, Ofelia Acevedo and other Cuba Decides activists held a press conference to update what had been going on and she explained to The Miami Herald: “We have seen their level of intolerance, arrogance and contempt for others,” she said. “They feel attacked because other personalities in the world recognize not only the Oswaldo Payá award, but also because in Cuba there are people who think differently and have different alternatives.”

Ofelia Acevedo, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas's widow addresses the press

Earlier this morning Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States reported over social media that he had been denied entry to Cuba by the Castro regime's immigration authorities.

Letter from @Almagro_OEA2015 to @RosaMariaPaya after being denied visa to travel #Cuba to receive #OswaldoPayá prize https://t.co/GTGfcMNSPt pic.twitter.com/EcvztU91Mw

— OAS (@OAS_official) February 22, 2017

He was the third high ranking Latin American democrat to be blocked from entering Cuba in the past 72 hours. A day earlier on February 21, 2017 former Mexican president Felipe Calderón was also told he would not be able to enter Cuba and on the evening of  February 20, 2017 former minister and member of parliament Mariana Aylwin, who is also the daughter of the former Chilean president Patricio Aylwin was declared inadmissible by the Castro regime's immigration machinery. The past seventy two hours should have dispelled any notions that the Castro regime has changed.

Cuba under General Raul Castro remains a totalitarian communist state that only legally recognizes the communist party, one educational system that it controls, one centrally planned economy that it also controls, regime monopoly over all media, and a communist moral code. Independent grassroots organizations are illegal and critical thought is punished.

Hannah Arendt, the political scientist who wrote The Origins of Totalitarianism, in a lecture on the profound difference between authoritarianism and totalitarianism delivered at Oberlin College on October 28, 1954: “If we look at it as a form of government, it rests on two pillars: on ideology and on terror. It is no tyranny because tyranny is lawlessness and because it is content with the political sphere in the more narrow sense of the word.” ...“Authoritarianism in many respects [is] the opposite of totalitarianism."

This is why a private award ceremony in Havana is turned into an international crisis because the totalitarian regime in Cuba refuses to tolerate international political figures recognizing dissidents, even if it is only to accept an award. Secretary General Almagro in a letter to Rosa Maria outlined the Castro regime's objections:

Last Thursday, OAS official Chris Hernandez-Roy was called to a meeting by the Consul of Cuba in Washington and the First Secretary of the Consulate during which the following was conveyed to him:

1. The surprise of the Cuban authorities at the reason for the visit
2. That they would not grant us the visa
3. That our entry to Cuba would be denied, (even in the case of traveling with a Uruguayan diplomatic passport)
4. Their “astonishment” at the involvement of the Secretary General of the OAS in anti-Cuban activities
5. That the reason for which we requested the visa is considered “an unacceptable provocation”
6. That the prize is not recognized by the Cuban state
7. They characterized the activities of “Cuba Decides” as undermining the Cuban electoral system.

Presenting a human rights award named after a nonviolent Cuban activist is according to the Castro dictatorship an "anti-Cuban activity" furthermore that the prize "is not recognized by the Cuban state" and "an unacceptable provocation." Finally the "Cuba Decides" campaign for a plebiscite within existing Cuban law according to the dictatorship is "undermining the Cuban electoral system." Cuban citizens cannot independently create a prize and offer it to someone for their good works without the permission and recognition of the Castro regime. Seeking to give Cuban citizens a voice to exercise their sovereignty is considered subversive by the Castro dictatorship.

Friends of Cuban Decides following the award ceremony in Havana.

 The Castro regime's embassy in Chile issued a statement worth analyzing to better understand the nature of the system being confronted by Cuban democrats that repeated many of the same points raised with Almagro but went further in libeling Cuba Decides: ... “as an illegal anti-Cuban group that acts against the constitutional order and that provokes the repudiation of the population, with the collusion and financing of politicians and foreign institutions, in order to generate internal instability and, at the same time, affect our diplomatic relations with other countries.”

The facts of the matter are that the dictatorship does not respect its own constitutional order if it in any way limits the regime. Furthermore dissidents are systematically disenfranchised from the economy to keep them marginalized. Finally there is no freedom of assembly or association and citizen initiatives such as the Varela Project are never aired over the official media which is the only mass media on the island. This is why some in the opposition have to seek funds outside of Cuba and access to international media with the hope that it will bounce back into the island.  Nevertheless the dangers of dissent far outweigh any benefits as the untimely deaths of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante would demonstrate and still need to be investigated five years later.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article134256469.html#storylink=cp

Communist regimes have a century long track record of killing dissidents and Cuba is no different, but it is important to remember that there are two types of executions. Thousands have been placed against the wall and executed by firing squad in Cuba, others have been victims of extrajudicial killings using a variety of methods ranging from poison, car "accidents", drowning or a shot in the back. However there is what Cuban writer Carlos Alberto Montaner called the "other wall"  and subtitled it "the assassination of character in Cuba" and his presentation in Spanish is available online that describes the killing of reputations.

Orlando Zapata Tamayo: May 15, 1967 - February 23, 2010

Even worse Cuban dissidents have been subjected to both types of execution. The case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, who died on February 23, 2010 is a case in point. He was beaten down repeatedly and tortured over seven years in Cuban prisons for his human rights activism. Orlando Zapata Tamayo had collaborated on the Varela Project with Oswaldo Payá and engaged in human rights education campaign with Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet. His death while on hunger strike drew international attention and led to a posthumous campaign of slander by Castro regime agents to deny Orlando Zapata's history as an activist seeking to portray him instead as a violent criminal.

Today while taking part in a television program I heard first hand this execution by character assassination by a Castro regime apologist. The attack to slander and destroy the reputation of  Rosa Maria Payá using logical fallacies is underway. Under the vast majority of moral and ethical systems the ad hominem attacks, slanders and libels directed against Rosa are profoundly evil.

Communist morality has no problem with any of it because as the communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin observed in a speech to Russian communist youth on October 2, 1920:

"The class struggle is continuing and it is our task to subordinate all interests to that struggle. Our communist morality is also subordinated to that task. We say: morality is what serves to destroy the old exploiting society and to unite all the working people around the proletariat, which is building up a new, communist society."

Ronald Reagan understood the full significance of communist morality as defined by Lenin and identified how this was applied by the communist regime in Russia in 1983:

... "I pointed out that, as good Marxist-Leninists, the Soviet leaders have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is that which will further their cause, which is world revolution. I think I should point out I was only quoting Lenin, their guiding spirit, who said in 1920 that they repudiate all morality that proceeds from supernatural ideas -- that's their name for religion -- or ideas that are outside class conceptions. Morality is entirely subordinate to the interests of class war. And everything is moral that is necessary for the annihilation of the old, exploiting social order and for uniting the proletariat."

This is Machiavelli's the ends justify the means on steroids. Communist morality views revolution via class struggle as a moral imperative while at the same time dismissing traditional moral and ethical systems based in metaphysical absolutes as an instrument to control the working class.  

The outcome of this morally flawed system has been over a 100 million killed and counting, generations living in misery and the emergence of totalitarian dictatorships the world over preaching egalitarianism but delivering hardship and slavery to billions.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article134256469.html#storylink=cpy