Dissidents Not Welcome at the Flag Raising Ceremony in Cuba

It's what's missing from this scene that's most disturbing, and the cartoonist captures it beautifully. Dissidents are not welcome. 

"In Cuba," writes Armando Valladares in his August 20 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, "to ask for a man's basic rights is to ask for intimidation, incarceration, torture, and death." Vallardares would know. He says he spent eight years naked in solitary confinement (he refused to wear a prison uniform) as a conscientious objector to the Castro regime. He witnessed the torture and execution of those he knew, those who dared to protest. 

The American flag was raised at the American embassy in Cuba. But dissidents were not invited. And children of murdered dissidents were not allowed to speak. As was the case of Rosa Maria Payá, whose father Oswaldo Payá was murdered in 2012 by the regime ("official" version--it was a car accident). 

Rosa was at the flag raising. She even had a press pass. But here's the story you won't read in the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times or the Washington Post: Rosa wasn't allowed to ask questions. 

But this is Cuba, you say. Of course she wouldn't be permitted to speak. 

Ah, but it wasn't the Cuban authorities who silenced her. It was the Kerry people. The Kerry people. The American authorities. 

Because it's not about principle. It's not about human rights. It's not about freedom of expression. It's not about freedom at all. It's the show. It's the display. It's the stagecraft. Dissidents? Sorry, you're not welcome. Dissidents? Sorry, can't speak. Dissidents? Sorry, this isn't about you. It's about politicians and their egos, presidents and their legacies. The show must go on. Pictures must be taken for posterity. Dissidents must be silent, invisible, even at the American Embassy in Cuba.

(Mr. Kirby asked me not to ask questions today in John Kerry's press conference or [they would] use force to [remove] me.)

For Further Reading

"In Historic Cuba Visit, Kerry Presides Over Raising of U.S. Flag Over Embassy in Havana" (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, August 15, 2015)

"To Embrace Cuba's Regime, State Department Doesn't Have ot Behave Like It" (Capitol Hill Cubans) 

More on Rosa Maria Payá's father, Oswaldo Payá here.  

Armando Valladares' article (in Capitol Hill Cubans blog) here.