A reply from an anti-Castro activist

Ann Louise Bardach writes an absolutely ridiculous op-ed in today's LA Times. She tries to criticize the Bush administration's Cuba policy, without recognizing that Castro is far worse than Bush.

Let's look at some of her arguments.

She mentions Luis Posada Carriles, who was likely behind the bombing of an airplane that killed 73 people and several other terrorist actions. The Bush administration failed to arrest Posada Carriles for five weeks after he illegally entered the country on a false passport. We're still holding him on immigration rather than terrorism charges.

Doesn't Bardach realize that Castro allows dozens or even hundreds of terrorists to run free in Cuba. Bardach didn't mention that Castro is far worse at allowing terrorists to run free than the US government. Her argument has been defeated.

She then mentions Alberto Coll. Coll's father was a political prisoner and Coll escaped Cuba as a teenager. Coll was once a hero, a hardliner against Castro who was awarded a medal of service by Defense Secretary Cheney. Then he changed some of his views. He called for an end to the 40 year embargo, somehow claiming that it wasn't working. After Coll's daughter died, he then went and visited Cuba on a visa and failed to note he visited an old girlfriend. The administration has spent $1 million to prosecute Coll for his criminal actions and tried to put him in jail for five years.

Bardach claims this is a persecution for Coll's political views. But Castro holds dozens if not hundreds of political prisoners. Bardach didn't tell you that Castro is far worse at political persecutions than the US. Thus, her argument has been defeated.

Her third argument is that we denied a visa for national security reasons to Ibrahim Ferrer, the 78-year-old Afro Cuban Grammy Award-winning sonero from the Buena Vista Social Club.

Bardach claims that denying the visa was for political reasons, because this 78 year old musician is not a national security threat. Sure, we may restrict the movement of Cuban citizens, not to mention US citizens trying to travel to Cuba. But Castro restricts the movements of many people within Cuba. It's a police state. She failed to mention that Castro is worse than us, thus, her argument has been defeated.

Bardach ends her article by saying:

All of which raises a few sobering questions: Is the administration capable of assessing authentic security risks in its war on terrorism? Can it distinguish between actual threats and political enemies? And finally, can it devise a policy toward Latin America that doesn't serve up frothy propaganda for the strongmen of Cuba and Venezuela?

Because with enemies like us, Castro really doesn't need any friends.

Bardach of course fails to mention that in Castro's Cuba, she would not even have the freedom to write such an article criticizing the government's policy. How dare she write something criticizing US policy without repeatedly noting that Castro's Cuba is an awful, evil dictatorial regime. By failing to hold the US to Cuba's standards, her arguments have failed without even needing to address them on their merits.