[lbo-talk] Cuban prisons

[joanna bujes]

I recently spoke to an afro-american man half of whose roots are cuban 
and who visits Cuba quite often. Last time, a few years ago. He is not a 
communist or a socialist or an ideologue of any stripe. He tells me that 
political discussion and criticism of the government is quite open and 
no one seems to fear prison for saying what they think. So I do wonder 
who these "independent thinkers" who reputedly wind up in Cuban prisons are?

He did acknowledge that the incarceration rate is high and mentioned 
something very odd, which is that youths who are not in school or 
employed are placed in work camps, which count as "prisons," thus 
raising the incarceration rate. I assume what he's telling me is true 
and he seems to have no interest in propagandizing either way. FYI.

Joanna