On the PEN-L list, Louis Proyect, wrote:
"In an interesting maneuver, the Campaign for Peace and Democracy includes an "explanation" for the petition that signers are not required to take a position on. They say, "One reason dissidents turn to the U.S. for help is that Cubans are not consistently allowed access to the tools necessary to disseminate their views to the public: computers, copying machines, printers, etc. Obviously they would not be as likely to accept American aid, and the political influence that generally accompanies it, if Cuban citizens, whatever their views, were free to acquire these items themselves, without obstacles."
If you stop and think about it, this effectively sweeps the Cuban electoral process under the rug. Unlike the USA, all candidates receive equal funding from the state and are allowed to present their views on a level playing field. The Cuban elections, which do not enter the radar screens of the CPD signatories, are far more participatory than anything in the Western Hemisphere, according to Hostos College professor Peter Roman, author of "People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government". What is not so widely known is the fact that most candidates have no connections to the Communist Party. Candidates are nominated in a public gathering, usually consisting of 500 people. Any citizen has the right to nominate any other. Personal integrity and the respect of the community are decisive factors in selecting a candidate. Once candidates are selected, photos and biographies are posted in public areas. Candidates need no money to run, nor for that matter is it allowed."
This doesn't sound so bad. At the same time, I confess that the only thing I really know about Cuba is what I learned from reading a book on how it organized its health care system, from the ground up, so that in two generations it rivals anything offered in the first world countries. This was not written by a political fan, but by a mid-western academic.
That at this point in history, with our civil liberties crumbling at home, with the prospect of having to choose between Bush and Lieberman for president, with social services disappearing, with teachers being laid off, with the U.S. proclaiming its right to attack any country in the world -- preemptively, I marvel at this focus on Cuba's lack of democracy. I say nothing about what's going on in the rest of Latin America and on the part the United States played in that.
Let's put it this way, I don't think right now that the greatest obstacle to world peace and progress is Cuba. If folks like ANSWER are able to step into the great void of the American "left" because a lot of leftists are polishing up their credentials for buddhist sainthood, well, I'm not surprised.
Joanna