Castro's strong words on the 52nd anniversary of the start of his revolution came on the heels of a new roundup of more than 50 dissidents who tried to participate in two separate protests this month.
Most of the would-be protesters were released after clashes with government supporters, but as many as 16 remain behind bars, including six charged with ``public disorder.''
Castro, whose speech was broadcast on Cuban television and radio, specifically named the Assembly to Promote Civil Society. That group's leader, Martha Beatriz Roque, who was released from custody over the weekend, has publicly stated that dissidents across the island were ready to take to the streets to bring international attention to their plight.
………. Heat, misery and popular discontent are a dangerous brew. Cuba's dissidents are growing bolder while the Cuban government has primed its forces to repress them. Castro only wants to hold on to power, and he will go to any lengths to do so. His top echelon may continue to follow him out of fear or greed. Whatever the motive, they will be remembered as accomplices in crimes against humanity……***
Hugo and Fidel bring the news[Full text] The concept of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez teaming up to create a regional television news network in Latin America takes some getting used to and maybe a stiff drink.
Cuba hasn't seen any semblance of freedom of the press or freedom of expression since the early 1960s, and Castro last year rounded up a group of 75 independent journalists and sentenced them to prison terms of up to 28 years.
Chavez hasn't gone that far but has enacted ominous laws that penalize media outlets that "offend or show disrespect for the president" or propagate information that might "cause panic or anxiety" among the people. More recently he decreed that half the music aired on radio must be of Venezuelan origin. Ciao, Britney Spears.
Yet, on Sunday, Telesur, a new regional Latin American television network modeled after the wildly successful al-Jazeera makes its debut from studios in Caracas. Venezuela, flush with money from the boom in oil prices, will bankroll 51 percent of the initial $20 million investment. The governments of Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina will provide other funding.
For those wondering about the editorial independence of Telesur, suffice it to say Venezuela's minister of communications will do double duty as the station's president. According to the BBC Monitoring World Media, some of Telesur's trial programming on June 3 included segments of the "International Forum against Terrorism and for Peace and Truth" from the Havana Convention Center. Ratings were not available, but that sounds about as riveting as vintage Soviet TV serials about tractor manufacturing.
Telesur, Spanish for "TeleSouth," may yet prove skeptics wrong and become a reputable and independent regional news outlet. That would be good for Latin America, which relies on foreign networks for its news, including CNN, from Atlanta, and a chain based in Spain.
There is a need for a network with an indigenous Latin focus. Telesur takes that mission literally: One correspondent will be Ati Kiwa, an Arahuaco Indian from Colombia, who will appear dressed in the tribe's regalia. Her visage will be a sharp departure from many of the Caucasian, blond news readers on Latin TV, who look like they were FedExed from Idaho.
"Today we know much more about Chechnya than what's happening on the corner, in Colombia or in Central America, because all the information that the North generates comes into focus about subjects that interest the North," Aram Aharonian, Telesur's director general, told the Los Angeles Times.
Some signs don't bode well. One Chilean contributor defined Telesur as an "anti-neoliberal medium ... critical of the First World's efforts to impose conservatism throughout the continent." Balance and objectivity will have to wait.
Whatever his politics, Aharonian understands one thing: People will vote with their fingers against bad TV. "The only censorship will be by the viewers," he told Newsweek. "If they are not satisfied they'll simply click the remote and change channels." [end]