CDMX, Mexico-. In Cuba, where to mention the words “human rights” was for decades an ideologically dangerous term, today the authorities ensure that these are respected.
This December 10, International Human Rights Day, Cuban authorities and institutions celebrated the date and presented some of the country’s “achievements” in this area.
For example, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero assured that the country “guarantees free access to health and education for all citizens equally. This is an example of human rights before the world, ”he declared on Twitter.
Marrero lies. Access to the university in Cuba is selective and rules out students and faculty who openly oppose the government. Persecution for ideological reasons in educational centers has been a State policy promoted for six decades and that persists to this day.
The Academic Freedom Observatory has recorded dozens of cases of students and teachers separated from the classroom for political reasons. Just a few weeks ago, the professor at the University of Camagüey, José Luis Tan Estrada, was fired for the critical content of his publications on networks. These political dismissals are not exclusive to the education sector, as can be seen in this Cubanet article.
On the other hand, the precariousness of health services and the impossibility of having treatment or medicine, even simple ones, due to deficiencies also constitutes a violation of human rights. It is the state’s obligation to provide access, but instead they build hotels.
Another of the Cuban leaders who echoed the celebration was Roberto Morales Ojeda. The Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, cited Fidel Castro, the dictator responsible for innumerable violations of the rights of citizens. “The Cuban Revolution can be synthesized as an aspiration for social justice within the fullest freedom and the most absolute respect for human rights,” he cynically stated.
There are no rights for those who disagree
According to the National News Agency, the island ensures “the protection of the rights of all people, regardless of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, religion, language or any other condition.” Note that the official media preferred not to specify that there are no violations for ideological or political reasons, but instead included it in an ambiguous category.
Probably the most honest statement today was posted on Cubadebate. The main government web portal interviewed Norma Goicochea Estenoz, president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU). The official, attached to her usual discourse, washed away the image of the dictatorship that she represents and maintained that what Cuba has achieved in terms of human rights is a source of pride.
However, Goicochea herself admitted that “those who attempt against this Revolution” (she says to refer to those who disagree with the regime) “have no place in our society.” Norma, one of the voices that maintains on international stages that Cuba is a “paradise of rights” confirmed today, December 10, the repressive and discriminatory nature of the government.
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