>What's interesting about the Cuban petitions (the Casey letter and
>the Campaign for Peace and Democracy petition) is that, unlike most
>petitions, neither is meant to directly petition any government or
>political entity -- the Cuban government, the US government, Latin
>American governments, European governments, or any other relevant
>political power.
Sure they are-- Cuba. The point of most of the signers is to kick Castro in the head that even opponents of the embargo think he is undermining any reasonable support for the regime and that he is playing directly into Bush's hands. And there has been direct responses from the Cuban government to the letters, so they have been very effective on that basis. Hopefully, Cuba will backtrack and release the dissidents-- finding whatever face-saving cover the regime needs to do so and back out of its disasterous policy.
-- Nathan Newman
The statements of the Cuban government have all been explanations of its actions and the context in which they were taken, with no hint that it will reverse the sentencing decisions that it made (aside from the fact that the executions of the hijackers are irreversible). If there will be any reversal in the future, it will most likely come when the spotlight is removed from Cuba. (Not that the reversal will help Cuba very much, as far as the US government's policy toward it is concerned. Saddam Hussein emptied the prisons, but the USG invaded Iraq all the same.)
In any case, the Casey letter is not a petition but a position statement as to how the self-described "democratic left" regards the Cuban government -- as "just one more dictatorship." The CPD petition is more an attempt to pass its wish for the wish of the Cuban people, assuming, without evidence, that the democratic will of the Cuban people exercising the right to self-determination would necessarily coincide with its wish that all Cuban "political prisoners" be released.
Yoshie