59th Anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day

In Solidarity with a Free Tibet.

Today my thoughts and prayers are with the brave people of Tibet who have spent decades resisting the occupation of Communist China over their homeland.  While at the same time showing their solidarity with other captive peoples, including Cubans and for that I will be eternally grateful and in solidarity with their freedom struggle. 59 years ago today a rebellion began in Tibet against the Chinese communist occupation of their homeland. Tens of thousands were slaughtered and is recognized as Tibetan National Uprising Day. Below is today's statement by Tibet's Prime Minister.

Fifty-nine years ago, on this day in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, thousands of Tibetans formed a massive human chain around Norbulingka, the summer palace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to protect him and their country. Tibetans from across the social spectrum, united by the indomitable Tibetan spirit staged a defiant, yet peaceful and historic uprising against the forceful and illegal occupation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese military in the following days and weeks brutally suppressed the peaceful uprising resulting in the death of thousands of Tibetans.
We stand here today in the same spirit to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day and to remember and honor all the Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives for our nation’s struggle for freedom.

Despite the continued and increased repression, Tibetans in Tibet have with unwavering conviction voiced their resistance against the repressive policies of the Chinese government. We have witnessed a continued spate of peaceful protests in the last five decades, the highlights of which are the protests in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 2008.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the 1988 protest and the 10th anniversary of the 2008 pan-Tibet uprisings in which Tibetans made a clarion call for freedom, thus expressing their genuine and legitimate grievances against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Recent reports indicate massive military and security buildup in Tibet, particularly in the capital city of Lhasa.

Since the occupation of Tibet, the Chinese government has continually subjected Tibetans to extensive repressive policies. Freedom House report of 2016 and 2017 ranked Tibet as the second least free country after Syria and worse off than North Korea, South Sudan and Eritrea. Reporters Without Borders also stated that Tibet is harder to get access to than even North Korea.

Given the hardline policies of the Chinese government, 152 Tibetans, young and old, monks and nuns, nomads and farmers, from all three provinces of Tibet have self immolated since 2009 calling for freedom for Tibetans and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Just three days ago Tsekho Tugchak, a Tibetan in his 40s from Ngaba, Amdo self immolated in Tibet. His voice echoed the aspirations of the Tibetans in Tibet. The unrelenting protests in Tibet are the result of the violation of political, religious, cultural and environmental rights of the Tibetan people.

Last month, the Chinese government implemented the so-called revised ‘Regulations on Religious Affairs’ that sought to control the overall religious freedom in Tibet.

Human Rights Watch recently reported the appointment of some 200 Communist Party cadres and atheist lay officials to control the management of Larung Gar. Since 2016, Larung Gar, the largest Buddhist academy in Tibet, has been demolished and the size of monks and nuns were reduced by half. Yachen Gar, the biggest nunnery in Tibet, is demolished and nuns are being evicted as we speak.
The recent tragic news of the fire breakout on 17th February at the Jokhang, Tsuklagkhang, the holiest shrine in the Tibetan Buddhist world and a UNESCO world heritage site is of great sadness to Tibetans and Buddhists around the world. There are reports of extensive damage and loss owing to the burning of dozens of precious statues, hundreds of artifacts and thangkas, and murals. Jokhang is still closed to the public. Clearly this is an irreplaceable loss of a sacred treasure of an ancient Tibetan civilization. Now, even after a fortnight, the Chinese government’s refusal to clarify the cause of the fire and the damage that it has caused is disturbing and raises more questions. I, therefore, urge UNESCO to send a mission to investigate into the matter and to send journalists to Tibet for an independent investigation.

The recent circular on “Reporting Leads on Crimes and Violations by Underworld Forces” released by TAR’s Public Security Bureau indicates the continuation and further restrictions in Tibet. The circular has listed 22 illegal activities that Beijing wants the Tibetan people to report, three of which directly mentioned His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The detailed guideline has particularly stated that the Tibetan public should provide information on the activities of what they labeled as “criminal gangs connected to the separatist forces of the Dalai Lama.”

This circular is a pattern of misguided practice, which clearly is based on the lack of understanding of the Tibetan mindset and culture. Tibetans inside Tibet revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama with their hearts and minds. Instead of acknowledging the faith and devotion of the Tibetan people, Chinese government have instead resorted to the criminalization of expressions of faith in His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is the fundamental reason for the lack of ‘harmony of nationalities’ which the PRC relentlessly propagates to achieve.

Also de-linking His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Buddhism in Tibet is another root cause of resistance among Tibetans. To artificially say that you can practice Buddhism but not follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama is akin to saying you can be a Catholic but not follow the Pope. This is a fundamental misreading of the very foundation of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet as a nation. Tibet and Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara: Buddha of Compassion) are one and the same, and the Dalai Lamas and the Tibetan people are inseparable. Trying to separate the two deeply hurts the sentiments of the Tibetan people and violates the core of the Tibetan spirit.

We strongly condemn the circular for criminalization of advocacy and protection of the Tibetan language and culture, and also for terming the Middle Way Approach “ a reactionary and narrow nationalistic idea.” In reality, Tibetan language is protected and encouraged under Article 4 of the Chinese constitution. Similarly, the Middle Way Approach is a win-win proposition for both the people of Tibet and China.

We stand firm in our commitment to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet through the Middle Way Approach. As President Xi Jinping sets out to begin his second term, I urge him to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese government.

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has always advised us to hope for the best but prepare for the worst, the Kashag has developed the Five-Fifty Vision that seeks to realize genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people based on the Middle Way policy. This vision also sets out to strengthen and sustain the Tibetan freedom struggle and the Tibetan community for another fifty years if needed.

In order to assert firm control of Tibetan people and regions, the Chinese government has subjected Tibetans to discrimination. A case in point is, despite having the same educational qualification and experience as the Chinese counterparts, the highest posts of the Party Secretary and other branches with real power of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) are held by Chinese officials. Similarly even at the prefecture and county level, qualified Tibetans are mostly denied the post of Party Secretary, whereas even lesser qualified Chinese is able to hold this leadership post.

The rising tide of China’s economic growth and prosperity has not lifted the Tibetans as Tibet remains one of the poorest region and ethnic Chinese who have flooded into Tibet in recent years have been the prime beneficiaries.

A letter received recently from inside Tibet mentions the case of the expansion of the Gongkar Airport in Lhasa under the TAR’s 12th Five-Year Plan:

“In less than five years there has been an influx of 25,000 ethnic Chinese migrants into Gongkar district alone in Lhoka and have taken over most of the local business and employment opportunities.

If such is the case in a small district like Gongkar, it is unimaginable to think of the situation in cities such as Lhasa, Tsethang, Shigatse, and Chamdo. Chinese government often speaks of development and investment in Tibet, but has never revealed the data of Chinese migration and settlement in the 74 districts in TAR and other parts of Tibet.” Such demographic dominance is the root cause of resistance and instability in Tibet.

Furthermore, to make Tibet into a Chinese region and Tibetan people into Chinese, for more than fifty years, the Chinese government has deliberately renamed the ancient Tibetan mountains, rivers, and places in Chinese language. Signboards are mandated in Chinese and even Tibetan people are incentivized to marry Chinese and take Chinese names.

I would like to say unequivocally that such sinister designs will not succeed and the cause of Tibet will prevail. Even after decades of Chinese occupation and rule, Tibetans have persisted and the Tibet cause has gained support and recognition from around the world mainly due to the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the indomitable spirit and resilience of the Tibetans inside Tibet and the unfaltering efforts of the exile Tibetans.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has propagated an educational pursuit based on the analogy of a “bird with two wings” whereby Tibetans can pursue modern education while preserving Tibetan identity.

As Tibetan millennials inside and outside Tibet strengthen their footing in the modern world, we encourage them to do so with a firm commitment to the cause of Tibet, and also to take pride in their identity and connection to their traditional Tibetan values. Their courage and conviction is and should remain as strong as that of the elder generation.

The sense of unity and courage shown by the Tibetan people have always been a source of great strength and pride, however, some elements of regionalism in exile is not only a hurdle in the course of the Tibetan freedom struggle, but it also disappoints and dampens the hopes of Tibetans who have strived towards realizing the common cause. We cannot allow regionalism and sectarianism to divide us. I, therefore, humbly and strongly urge Tibetans in exile to bridge our differences and strengthen unity, which has and will always be our ultimate strength.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the global and high level support and solidarity for Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan language advocate currently in prison. The European Parliament recently passed an urgent resolution. The Latvian parliament issued a joint statement calling for his release. German parliamentarians and French senators also issued similar statements calling on the Chinese government to implement fair legal process in his trial. I thank the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights for voicing concern on Tashi Wangchuk at the 37th UN Human Rights Council session that opened last week.

I also thank the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs for calling on China to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and its Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion to visit Tibet’s missing Panchen Lama, a UN recognized case of enforced disappearance for more than two decades.

The Tibetan non-violent struggle for freedom and peace spearheaded by His Holiness the Dalai Lama has gained support and solidarity from all over the world. I pay my respect and thank all the world leaders, governments, parliamentarians, non-governmental organizations and individuals who have and continue to empathize and tirelessly support the Tibet cause. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the Tibet Support Groups and Parliamentary groups for Tibet, such as the 90-member Japan’s All Party Parliamentary Tibet Support Group, the largest parliamentary support group for Tibet, for their continued effort in shouldering the Tibet cause.

Today, as we commemorate 60 years in exile, I would like to especially thank India and the countries around the world that generously continue to host and support Tibetans. To acknowledge their solidarity, the Central Tibetan Administration will mark this year as a Thank You Year and accordingly CTA will be organizing a series of special events around the globe.

Lastly, I pray for the long life of His Holiness the great 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, and for the well being of Tibetans inside Tibet. I pray and hope that the reunion of Tibetans inside and outside Tibet will be realized soon.

The President
Central Tibetan Administration
10th March 2018

Source: Central Tibetan Administration

Marching for a Free Tibet in London on March 10, 2012

 

The Economist in 2018 recognizes U.S. engagement policy with China a failure

"The Economist and politicians of both parties may have gotten China wrong--but we have been reporting and warning of the human and religious rights violations of this regime for more than 20 years. This was obvious to anyone covering Beijing honestly." - Raymond Arroyo, EWTNews 

 Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter meet with Deng Xiaoping in 1979

The Economist, after years of cheer leading the conventional wisdom on economic engagement with the Communist dictatorship in China on March 1, 2018 recognized that they had been mistaken.

China has grown rich beyond anybody’s imagining. Under the leadership of Hu Jintao, you could still picture the bet paying off. When Mr Xi took power five years ago China was rife with speculation that he would move towards constitutional rule. Today the illusion has been shattered. In reality, Mr Xi has steered politics and economics towards repression, state control and confrontation. 

This blog over the past ten years repeatedly warned of the wholesale failure of U.S. policy towards China. Economically engaging and subsidizing the communist dictatorship in China did no lead to the regime liberalizing and incorporating itself into the family of nations as Western engagement changed it for the better.  Instead global human rights standards have been steadily in decline with Western governments, led by the United States, compromised their values for shot term economic gain for narrow interests. The influx of Western investment, technology, and know how assisted in both the wholesale modernization of the totalitarian regime's surveillance apparatus and the Chinese military machine. Considering all of this, this blog asked on September 5, 2009 the following question about U.S. policy on Mainland China: "Are Normalized relations with Totalitarian States Normal?"

Chairman Mao Zedong and President Richard Nixon

Fang Lizhi, a professor of physics at the University of Arizona, a leader of the pro-democracy movement in China before fleeing the country in 1989, published an Op-Ed in the International Herald Tribune on October 11, 2010 warned that the "dangerous notion" that economic development will inevitably lead to democracy in China was a failure: 

"Increasingly, throughout the late 1990s and into the new century, this argument gained sway. Some no doubt believed it; others perhaps found it convenient for their business interests. Many trusted the top Chinese policymakers who sought to persuade foreign investors that if they continued their investments without an embarrassing “linkage” to human rights principles, all would get better at China’s own pace. More than 20 years have passed since Tiananmen. China has officially become the world’s second largest economy. Yet the hardly radical Liu Xiaobo and thousands of other dissidents rot in jail for merely demanding basic rights enshrined by the United Nations and taken for granted by Western investors in their own countries. Human rights have not improved despite a soaring economy. ... As the unfortunate history of Japan during the first half of the 20th century illustrates, a rising economic power that violates human rights is a threat to peace."

On December 12, 2014 this blog took a closer look at engagement and consequences during the Clinton Administration. Apologists for de-linking human rights concerns often cite national interests and strategic concerns trumping human rights. President Clinton took this line of argument to a new level in 1998 justifying a second waiver to the Loral Corporation providing technical information to the People's Republic of China at the time saying: "I believe it was in the national interest and I can assure you it was handled in the routine course of business, consistent with the 10-year-old policy." However CNN in  1998 reported that "[a] Pentagon office concluded in a still-secret report that 'United States national security has been harmed," according to government officials.' 

President Clinton completely de-linked human rights and trade with China

Further digging done by Edward Bolton in a 2000 report to the National Defense University National War College provided an analysis that points to particular financial and corporate interests, not national interests explaining the de-linking of human rights from MFN and also provides insight into the Clinton Administration's waiver for the Loral corporation to provide sensitive information to the Peoples Republic of China:

Boeing, which donated millions to both Democratic and Republican candidates over the years, is the parent company of Loral Corporation. In 1993, Loral sought and received a waiver to launch Loral/Hughes satellites from China. Loral CEO Bernard Schwartz has personally donated over $1M to both parties. Boeing also owns McDonnell-Douglas which in 1994 made an agreement with China to open a parts factory in Beijing. Boeing, who sold nearly 70% of the airliners China purchased in the 1993 to 1995 time frame, selected former Clinton administration Defense Secretary William Perry for its board of directors shortly after he left the Pentagon. Hughes Electronics Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM) and co-developer of satellite systems with Loral, also has dealings with China and worked to maintain MFN for the PRC. Hughes Electronics Chairman Michael Smith also serves as vice Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association, a long time supporter of MFN status for China.

Imagination, informed by history, led this blog to raise the question on February 6, 2015  "if policy makers today, now that the vast majority of computers used in the United States and the West generally are made in the Peoples Republic of China, who is to say that Communist China will not ... set up the conditions to switch on software, perhaps something hardwired into the computers they manufacture, and cripple the U.S. economy?" 

In August of 2015 this blog explored the consequences of communist China hosting the olympics.
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were a human rights disaster for China with scenes of Tibetan demonstrators gunned down by Chinese soldiers. Despite this the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has chosen China to once again to host the Olympics in 2022 in the midst of an ongoing crackdown on human rights lawyers and defenders in the country.  As was the case in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics friends of a free China need to increase scrutiny on the Chinese regime with an Olympic Watch. The consequences of  the IOC legitimizing such a regime cannot be overstated. The 1936 Olympics held in Berlin and hosted by the Nazi Third Reich with the ceremonies formally opened by Adolph Hitler should serve as a cautionary example. The 1936 Olympics whitewashed the brutality of the Nazi regime in Germany and led to acceptance of Hitler's criminal regime. The 2008 Olympics whitewashed the brutality of the Communist regime in China further legitimizing that criminal regime. In 2022 it will add insult to injury by returning to China and making this decision amidst a human rights crackdown where more than 200 lawyers and human rights activists have been detained with some facing 15 year prison sentences.

Olympics legitimized totalitarians in 1936 and 2008

This legitimization, despite a horrible record, is still found in mass media, including in The New York Times, America's paper of record, and this blog called them on it on September 28, 2017.  A  British diplomatic cable declassified in December of 2017 revealed that "at least 10,000 people were killed in the Chinese army's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989."

History has demonstrated that appeasing tyrants, rather than confront them early on, has terrible and bloody consequences. This isn't a choice but a historical reality. Paying lip service to human rights, while abandoning them in practice, shaped the process of globalization that is leading to an emerging world order that is the stuff of dystopian nightmares.

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.

University of Michigan researchers say they have answers on how U.S. diplomats and tourists were harmed in Cuba

This story is far from over

Spy tech may have caused the injuries to diplomats and tourists.

The Michigan Engineer News Center reported on March 1, 2018 that Kevin Fu, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan "reverse-engineered the attacks in a lab" and his team "showed how ultrasonic signals—outside the range of human hearing—can combine to produce audible and potentially dangerous tones similar to the undulating, high-pitched chirping that the diplomats described."

This attacks began in November of 2016 and were reported on in December of 2016. The State Department knew that diplomats were suffering brain trauma in Havana in February of 2017 and evacuated 40 Americans over the next two months.  On January 29, 2018 the news broke that 19 U.S. tourists had also suffered brain trauma in Cuba.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a preliminary report on February 15, 2018 and an accompanying editorial studying health impacts on 21 U.S. government employees in Havana between December 2016 and August 2017. These individuals had severe injuries and the bottom line on medical findings are that:

Concussion-like symptoms were observed in U.S. government personnel in Cuba after they reported hearing intensely loud sounds in their homes and hotel rooms and feeling changes in air pressure caused by an unknown source. The symptoms were consistent with brain injury although there was no history of head trauma.

There are efforts in the media to spin the news about the harm done to these diplomats and tourists without considering some difficult questions.

Secretary Tillerson had to protect his staff by limiting our work at @USEmbCuba to emergency services. While our investigation is ongoing, rather than find excuses, #Cuba should focus on helping to locate who or what is responsible for the harm caused to American citizens.

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) March 6, 2018

First if, as the Castro regime claims, the attacks never happened and are mass hysteria, the sounds recorded crickets then why are there physical manifestations of lasting injuries?

Secondly, if as the University of Michigan engineering professor asserts that the harm done was an "accidental side effect of attempted eavesdropping" then why did these injuries began in November of 2016 and continue through August 2017? Only ending after news of the injuries went public.

Castro agents have used listening devices for decades targeting diplomats. What changed? Why didn't the Castro regime immediately stop it when the injuries began to pile up?

The State Department tonight raised the issue of Cuba's responsibility under the Vienna Convention to protect U.S. diplomats stationed in Cuba. The consequences are grave. Staff cutbacks at the Embassy in Cuba were to be permanent the State Department announced on March 2, 2018.

Questions, if true: Why wouldn’t the Cubans admit it? Wouldn’t the CIA arrived at this conclusion months ago? In the middle, Cuban families affected by visa suspensions. #Cuba #Havana https://t.co/8LwRrynlyt

— Nora Gámez Torres (@ngameztorres) March 3, 2018

Questions remain in this mystery, but three years later Obama's Cuba policy legacy can be summed up as: brain damaged diplomats, the sounds of crickets, and an internationally legitimized dictatorship.  Hopefully the current Administration will turn things around.

Professor Jorge Dominguez is wrong on sexual harassment and wrong on Cuba.

Can rationalizing the behavior of tyrants lead to a deterioration in personal behavior?

Jorge I. Dominguez in Havana, Cuba in October 10-12, 2002

Harvard Professor Jorge Ignacio Dominguez is in the news. He has been placed on leave amid sexual misconduct allegations. The allegations stretch over decades into the present. The Chronicle of Higher Education has published an extensive article on the first allegation that was made in 1983 by a junior professor in his department.

The Harvard professor, it appears, has been exposed as a decades long sexual predator, but what of his academic work? Capitol Hill Cuban referenced a CBS article where Dominguez described Cuban dictator Raul Castro as "a very practical man... a problem solver," and claims that he is a "reformer."
The same article reports that Cuban dissidents, among them Oswaldo Payá, had "issued statements saying the government has not done enough and all political prisoners should be released," and Payá, in a press release, expressed anger that visiting Vatican Foreign Minister Dominique Mamberti is not meeting with opposition forces during his visit here."

The meeting followed reports that Government Professor Jorge I. Dominguez had sexually harassed at least 10 women across the past 30 years. https://t.co/IxtfNTC2RI

— The Harvard Crimson (@thecrimson) March 2, 2018

Prior to his 2012 death Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas who in 2002 had won the European Union's Sakharov Prize, and been nominated for thee Nobel Peace Prize after mobilizing tens of thousands of Cubans to petition the Castro regime for human rights reforms, is rarely, if at all mentioned by Harvard's resident Cuba scholar. 

This blog has cited Professor Dominguez on four occasions over the past decade, and one of them was a correction for a factual misstatement made by the Harvard academic. The first was in 2009 where he is cited describing the cost to Cuba of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2010 Dr. Dominguez was referenced in a program for a Catholic Social Week in Cuba at Casa San Juan María Vianney.  It was the kind of program that martyred Cuban dissident and Catholic layman, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, would criticize in March of 2012 as part of the process of fraudulent change.  Payá was murdered by General Raul Castro's agents on July 22, 2012.

On July 31, 2014 Professor Dominguez was interviewed on PBS and downplayed and misrepresented the outlaw nature of the Castro regime. Nevertheless, he unintentionally exposed the dangerous complacency of the U.S. government in its relations with the Castro regime. On August 4, 2014 a correction was issued, challenging the Dr. Dominguez's claim that "the number of political prisoners is effectively zero." Eighty six current political prisoners were then identified, a partial listing, and there are still political prisoners in Cuba today in 2017.

Ann Louise Bardach in a August 14, 2015 article in Politico, "Obama's Favorite Castro" quoted Jorge Dominguez, who she described as "Harvard’s resident Cuba scholar" in which he favorably compared Cuban military prowess to American and Russian failures during the same period.

 “In the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam and the Soviet Union lost the war in Afghanistan,” . During the same period, however, “the Cuban Armed Forces won the three wars, [that] they fought far from home in Angola and Ethiopia.”

However, Professor Dominguez fails to mention that the victory in Ethiopia consolidated Mengistu Haile Mariam, a genocidal war criminal, and assisted in the murder of tens of thousands of Ethiopians, including the execution of 1,000 children, many below the age of thirteen, whom the communist government had labeled "liaison agents of the counter revolutionaries." Castro's troops helped to exacerbate the famine that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives by "poisoning and bombing waterholes and machine gunning herds of cattle.” Or that the "victory" in Angola imposed another dictatorship there.

These omissions by Harvard's Cuba expert can be partially understood by his apparent blind spot for dictators. Dominguez traveled to Damascus, Syria in April of 2011 to deliver the keynote address for the Harvard Arab Alumni Association's event "under the esteemed patronage of Her Excellency Mrs. Asma al-Assad, The First Lady of Syria."

This fondness for despots, who have no limits, may also explain the difficulties Professor Dominguez is having at Harvard. The Assads and the Castros of the world don't have to worry about sexual harassment policies when they are committing mass murder. Harvard's soft spot for left wing academics may also explain why this alleged sexual predator was able to operate for 35 years after credible allegations were made, and he was found culpable but was allowed to stay on.