Another reason that Cuba under the Castro regime should have remained on the list of terror sponsors

Hillary Clinton's emails: Hezbollah sets up operational base in Cuba

Back on May 29, 2015 the day the State Department removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror this blog offered ten reasons why it should have been kept on the list. On February 13, 2015 Vice News reported that in 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been warned that the Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah was setting up an operational base in Cuba to carry out attacks in Latin America that might also involve attacks on American diplomatic posts or banks there was revealed in an e-mail from September 9, 2011 that stated the following:

The Hezbollah office in Cuba is being established under direct orders from the current General  Secretary Hasan Nasrallah, who replaced Musawi in 1992. According to the information  available to this source, in preparation for establishment of the base, Nasrallah, working from  inside of Lebanon, carried out secret negotiations with representatives of the Cuban Government,  particularly the Cuban Intelligence Service (General Intelligence Directorate — DGI), agreeing to  , maintain a very low profile inside of Cuba. Nasrallah also promised to take measures to avoid any trail of evidence that could lead back to Cuba in the event of a Hezbollah attack in Latin  America.

This is another reason that Cuba under the Castro regime should have remained on the list of terror sponsors. The full document is available online here and click on the image below to read the portion mentioning Cuba and Hezbollah.

Two years after #12F and no progress on murders of protesting Venezuelan students

"Today I was hit with a rock in the back, a helmet in my nose. I swallowed tear-gas, Carried the kid who died, and what did you do?" - Robert Redman, age 28 over twitter on February 12, 2014 shortly before he was shot and killed.

"Gentlemen, he who is here will go out tomorrow to find a better future." - Bassil Alejandro Da Costa, age 24 , over Facebook on February 11, 2014. Killed the following day.

Two years ago today nonviolent student protesters Bassil Da Costa and Robert Redman were gunned down on February 12, 2014, the Day of the Youth in Venezuela, while engaged in nonviolent street protests against the government of Nicolas Maduro. Robert Redman was shot and killed hours after he had carried Bassil who had also been shot and killed earlier that same day and tweeted about it.

Today the Venezuelan human rights organization Foro Penal published and distributed the above image with the names and images of young Venezuelans murdered during the 2014 anti-government protests along with their first names which states: "It is ironic to celebrate the Day of the Youth in Venezuela when her youth are in prison, exiled or in a tomb." 

Also toda, Robert Redman's dad visited his son's grave site and tweeted the following image recreating picture of his son holding up the Venezuelan flag with the following text:"Here with my son on the 2nd anniversary of his murder by hired assassins of the regime. God bless you son."

Two years later and a second Venezuelan human rights organization PROVEA reports that: "In 2015 there was no progress into the investigations of the cases of Bassil Da Costa, Juan Montoya and Robert Redman.

They and the others killed, tortured and arbitrarily detained by the Maduro regime are not forgotten and the call for freedom and justice continues. My prayers go out to them and their families.

The International Bill of Human Rights and Cuba's failure to ratify

Two important anniversaries

 
2016 marks an important anniversary. Fifty years ago on December 16, 1966 two important human rights covenants were opened for signature: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that came into force on January 3, 1976 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that came into force on March 23, 1976. Together they are known as the International Bill of Human Rights. The Human Rights Action Center, founded by human rights pioneer Jack Healey in 2010 prepared the following video explaining the two covenants:


Eight years ago on February 28, 2008 the Cuban dictatorship signed both covenants. Less than a year later on January 28, 2009 representatives of the Cuban government extended an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture that was never allowed by the regime.

Eight years later despite calls by international human rights organizations and a campaign inside of Cuba the Castro regime has not ratified either covenant. Despite signing the two covenants the human rights situation in Cuba has deteriorated since 2008 with an explosion in the number of arbitrary detentions and the extrajudicial executions of high profile activists such as Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas who could have overseen a democratic transition in Cuba.

There have also been negative consequences for the United Nations Human Rights Council and international human rights standards as a result of the work of the Castro regime's diplomats working in Geneva, Switzerland over the years.

Nonviolence and Peace Movements a crash course

There is an alternative to the cycle of violence that has engulfed the world and it is to be found with the shield of human rights and the spear of nonviolence. Nonviolence is not passive and often times requires an aggressive attitude but always needs a strategic vision in order to succeed. Below author John Green gives a crash course on the history of nonviolence in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Cuba remains one of the worse places to be a reporter on planet Earth

Cuba is ranked #169 out of 180 countries in the Reporter Without Borders 2015 World Press Freedom Index with a score of 70.21

 Reporters Without Borders offered the following analysis in their 2015 report

"Freedom of information is extremely limited in Cuba, which is ranked lower in the index than any other country in the Americas. The government tolerates no independent press. Internet access is restricted and tightly controlled. The authorities continue to cite the US embargo as the reason for the low Internet penetration but the activation of Cuba’s ALBA-1 fibre-optic cable with Venezuela proves that it has more to do with a political desire to control the Internet. In addition to the lack of media pluralism, outspoken journalists and bloggers are still subjected to threats, smears, arrest and arbitrary detention. Does the announcement by Cuba and the United States of an historic agreement to restore diplomatic relations offer a ray of hope for Cuban journalists?"