“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” (George Washington). Two hundred forty years ago, people understood that freedom of expression is the backbone of the people. If so, why is this vital right being continually withheld? Cuba has been a communist state since 1959, ruled by fascist dictators such as Fidel Castro, and Raul Castro. It has had a history of violence and Government crackdowns. Black spring of 2003 was one of the most notable, in which seventy five dissidents, including twenty nine journalists as well as human rights activists were arrested. These crackdowns are in reality, constant. The Cuban administration has the ability to suppress any rights they want to, and have silenced activists everywhere in the country. The Cuban regime has been specifically and intentionally targeted political dissidents and those who do not agree with the government. The right to free expression is guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (U.N.D.H.R), and the Cuban Government has continually and repeatedly defied this agreement. There is no hope for a beneficial change if the citizens of Cuba are not allowed to exercise their internationally assured rights. Furthermore, if no international bodies act upon this injustice, then all future demands of equal rights will go unheeded. However, the North American Union (N.A.U.) has enough influence in the region to forcibly bring rights to the Cuban people. There is no reasoning for why the Cuban people must continue to suffer any more indignities. The N.A.U. must coerce the Cuban regime with military superiority and economic sanctions to allow citizens political freedom. It is morally incorrect to force the mas... ... middle of paper ... ...e denial of free expression and the extremity of political prisoners in Cuba is a stain on the world. Finally, adversaries claim that the N.A.U. shouldn’t become involved with Cuba under the pretense of a reformation of political freedoms. The N.A.U. has lots of influence with Cuba, and it has the ability to make a change. The United States can offer military prowess, while Mexico has economical leverage with Cuba because their countries have steady trade. Accordingly, Canada can be a neutral party to negotiate with Cuba. The people of Cuba have been guaranteed the right to free expression and political dissent by the United Nations, but those rights are nonexistent to them. The answer is simple, urge the Cuban regime to finally give its citizens humane treatment. Overall, If the N.A.U. does not take action on Cuba, eventually all the Cuban people will suffer for it.
People in both Venezuela and in Fahrenheit 451 are not allowed to speak out or go against the government without the government's harsh retaliation. Both of these instances show suppression of freedom of speech, but this theme is more strongly expressed by Maduro’s actions.
The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).
In 1959, revolutionaries nationalized Cuba’s wealth and did not compensate U.S. companies for our efforts to fight against the rebels. They did, however, repay corporations from nations that did not fight. Because of this seizure of our property, the Cuban embargo was put into action. In fact, Cuba is the only country in the western
In the long and turbulent history between Cuba and the United States, it can well be argued that Cuba did not turn out quite like its other Latin American peers. Things seemed to be on the right track in the early 1900’s, when it appeared that Cuba was destined for a future of “independence”, like its neighbour Puerto Rico and it was yet another South American nation rife with the now atypical blend of affluent American investors and poor workers usually native to the land herself. However, following a coup d’état that saw the fall of the American-backed Fulgencio Batista in favour of his social antithesis in communist Fidel Castro, the situation rapidly turned sour. The American government, finding themselves backed into a corner and unable to mold Cuba in its golden image, decided that it would be pertinent to sever all trade with Cuba.
Article 53 of the Cuban Constitution provides: “Freedom of speech and press are recognized for citizens consistent with the purposes of socialist society. The material conditions for their exercise are present by the fact that the press, radio, television, movies, and others mass media are state-owned or socially owned, and can in no event be privately owned, which ensures their use exclusively in the service of the working people and in the interest of society. The law regulates the exercise of these freedoms.” (Human Rights Watch 29)
For years Cuba not only has been fighting for freedom, also several domestic issues are being part of the island’s national history. Human rights, prostitution; and poverty are part of the most relevant domestic issues that Cuba is facing until now dates. While the government has the primary responsibility and is particularly accountable for the full execution of the human rights inherent to all human beings, Cuba is part of many countries around the world where human rights are violate on a daily basis. As reported on the Country Reports on Human Rights for year 2013; Cuba is a country where the government organized mobs to assault and disperse those who sought to gather peacefully (Country Reports of Human Rights), the society in Cuba live without guarantee of basic individual freedoms of press, religion, association, speech, etc. Cuba count with a political system of abusive laws, corrupt institutions, and with a criminal code that allows the state to imprison individuals even before they committed a crime on the suspicion that they might commit one in the future. This is the Cuba’s “dangerousness” law, this repressive law categorize those who do not have the same ideas as the government or contradict socialist norms; as a potential threat or “dangerous”. The number of political prisoners increase every year, they are subject to criminal prosecution and they don’t have any guarantees since public hearings are conduct by incompetent and biased tribunals. Like Ramon Velasquez case, who was condemn to three years in prison in January 2007, after a “march of dignity” across Cuba to call for respect of human rights and freedom for political prisoners (Imprisoned for “Dangerousness” in Cuba). Unfortunately these type of detentions a...
The island of Cuba has been a focal point of American foreign policy since the acquisition of Florida in the late 1800's. Cuba continues to capture America's attention as it is the only existing communist state in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. policy has attempted to topple the communist regime in Cuba since its outset in 1961. Policies designed to incite revolution, destroy the Cuban economy, and starve the Cuban people seem to be at odds with American ideals of democracy and sovereignty. It is, in fact, the very policies that the United States has implemented that have strengthened and prolonged Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba. The relationship between the United States and Cuba is paradoxical in that its very basis is anti-democratic. The United States never has supported the right of the Cuban people to govern themselves and now it has adopted a position of attempting to force on Cuba the political ideals it deems safe. This examination hopes to explain the background of that relationship and the state in which it now exists. Foreign policy in Cuba is fascinating in that it is a story unlike any other in U.S. history. The ability of one small island to dominate the foreign policy concerns of a world power is certainly an subject for inquiry.
The results of colonization can be considered an act of pleasantry for some while not the same for others. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, known today as Cuba. History states that after chief Hatuey a cacique from one of the aboriginal native tribes was burned at the stake in 1912, and the Indian resistance collapsed - colonization of Cuba took full effect and quickly spread throughout the island. Exploitation began and freedom was forbidden to the natives and its people from afar (slaves). Cuba had now become the property of the Spaniards provoking the will to resist, from which revolts were born. A resistance that resulted finally in the ousting of Spanish governance in 1898, the first step to became an independent republic in 1902.
Many Cubans deserve to live a healthier life, and having the embargo against them will affect their lifestyle. Cuba should demonstrate a willing to negotiate with the United States by softening some of it’s laws. From my personal experiences, the Cuba embargo has affected the country’s progress greatly because of it’s tight importing laws against the United States. A powerful economic powerhouse like the United states would greatly improve the political and economic progress of Cuba by providing more resources and pressuring the Cuban Communist Party to change it’s laws.
The U.S. imposed an Embargo on Cuba on Oct. 19, 1960. Has the time come for the United States to lift the 5-decade embargo? The Embargo on Cuba was a part of America’s Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union, imposed on the basis that Cuba was a threat to the U.S. National Security because of their alliance with the Soviet Union. Although Cuba would like the U.S to terminate the embargo against their country, the U.S. wants Cuba to make their situation a better living environment and to promote human rights for its citizens.
The Republic of Cuba is an island in the Caribbean, located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean (CIA, 2009). Among many facts about Cuba, such as the militaristic regime, communism, Fidel Castro, cigars, etc, with which Cuba can be associated, there are a prominent historical issue that puts the country in a negative leading position in the world. Such issue is censorship. In that regard, this paper analyzes the issue of censorship in Cuba, specifically addressing the era of electronic expression and the recent trends for change.
Imprisoning politicians and journalists is one reason Castro’s rule was detrimental to Cuba. The imprisoning of innocent people reached it’s peak in the early 2000’s. The US Government Publishing Office records that in “March 2003, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro arrested more than 75
When looking back at the crisis that happened in Cuba, many things can be blamed. A stance that could be ...