Christmas photos of daughters Stephanie and Melanie, granddaughter Natasha, great-grandson De'Andre, and myself.
Apologies, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here, so hardly know where to begin in this new year. I’ll try to be brief, sort of like Yahoo News or other on-line news services with snippets or websites, since attention spans now for any topic are short. If readers are inspired to explore further on something of interest, that’s great. I tried to make all the fonts the same, but failed and don't know how to do it once it's on the blog site, so please bear with me.
December was Human
Rights Month and Dec. 10 is Human Rights Day. At Amnesty International, we write a lot of letters
in marathon sessions at Write-for-Rights events, more than 3 million letters
already during December. Surely some of those will have an impact beyond
filling up in-boxes. Some letters are even sent directly to prisoners and their
families, though those may never get delivered to the intended recipient—still someone
in that country will see them.
According
to a recent poll, more than half of Americans are unaware we DC residents are disenfranchised and those who know don’t seem
to particularly care. We are fighting an uphill battle to enjoy rights other
citizens take for granted.
It’s
really horrific that Saudi Arabia,
our supposed mid-east ally, executed 47
people to mark the new year.
In
South Sudan, where I went on a
humanitarian mission in 2006, unfortunately, power hunger there apparently
overrides commitment to a new independent nation, achieved after so many years
of civil war. I’m referring to South Sudan’s
President Salva Kiir now creating 28 new states to further his hold on
power and his drive to divide South Sudan along ethnic lines. Apparently, for
him, as for so many other heads-of-state, wielding his own unfettered authority
is more important than citizens’ well-being.
Haiti is one of the countries I monitor
in my role as volunteer Caribbean coordinator for Amnesty International USA and
the news from there is rarely good. http://news.yahoo.com/election-results-ignite-violent-protests-haiti-185740894.html (legislative election results announced)
Haiti delayed presidential run-off is Jan. 17.
In Chile, where I
was an election observer in the 1988
plebiscite that went against General Augusto Pinochet, more details are
finally emerging. http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2015/12/30/pinochet-dictatorship-pacts-silence-unraveling-chile/pyM0fSOC1uhQquPTZFJIrK/story.html
As usual, lots of news and commentary regarding Cuba, especially in light of the
anniversary of the accords, with the
web titles revealing subjects:
http://www.newsweek.com/cuban-protest-artist-el-sexto-you-have-keep-it-406988 (Our efforts helped free him and we got to meet him in person
at Amnesty International’s DC office)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/12/23/obama-cuba-policy-makes-life-worse-for-cubans/OUyQLFMyhtl6PJR1X2PnuI/story.html (Boston Globe, Obama’s
Cuba policy makes life worse for Cubans.)
Below, articles about the stand-off between Costa Rica and
neighbor Nicaragua on the Cuban migrants, which apparently is being resolved now
by allowing the 8,000 migrants to pay for a flight between Costa Rica and El
Salvador, providing someone a profit and costing relatives in the US who are
financing most of the journey. The Costa Rican prsident’s trip to Cuba to personally
appeal to Raul Castro seemed to go nowehere. The US government kept out of the
issue, except to say the Cubans must set foot on US soil by land and not arrive
by air.
http://news.yahoo.com/costa-rica-suspends-political-participation-c-america-body-032439191.html Costa Rica partially pulled out of
SICA, a regional body promoting Central American cooperation,
after neighboring nations failed to help handle a growing Cuban migrant crisis.
One of the prisoners released as the result of the accords
last year was re-arrested, went on a hunger strike, and is now near death. Last
I heard, he was in cardiac arrest in a local hospital. I don’t think the Cuban
government would want him to die. If he recovers, he, of course, should be immediately
released.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article52148245.html (Cuban hunger striker near death.)
Probably
because of my advocacy for Cuban dissidents or perhaps because of my Cuba book,
I discovered that some folks at Amnesty Int’l thought I was Cuban! In terms of
heredity, I’m as far from being Cuban as can possibly be imagined. In fact,
that was the whole basis of the “nunny bunny” critique against me that
propelled me to write my second memoir focused on Cuba and Latin America. The
initial accusation made by a Latino man, as explained in the book, was that I
am not Hispanic or Latina, so how could I possibly dare comment on events in
Cuba? In the book, I tried to make the case for my credibility and experience,
despite that handicap. If anything, not being
Cuban should give me more credibility as an objective observer with no skin in
the game. I also corrected the folks at Amnesty that I am not actually of Cuban
descent. I thought it was obvious—certainly it would be to a Cuban or Cuban
American. Another Amnesty member interested in Cuba, who lives in another city
and also has no Latino heritage or appearance, told me that he is also often thought
to be a Cuban American—and, though he speaks Spanish, it is with a marked
gringo accent. It apparently is just assumed that someone in favor if Cuban
democracy must be some sort of retrograde and partisan Cuban American still evidencing
a Cold War mentality.
https://cuba.yahoo.com/post/135177799378/in-beautiful-crumbling-cuba-the-future-arrives (Patrick Symmes) I disagree with Symmes, in saying there
is little evidence to implicate the Cuban government in Oswaldo Paya’s
mysterious death—I’ve spoken at length with his daughter Rosa Maria and agree
with the Washington Post editorially
and with several human rights organizations that the issue deserves an
independent and more thorough investigation. Otherwise, Symmes tries to be
balanced in his article. I am sure he knows that if he said otherwise about
Paya’s death, he would have no future access to Cuba, at least as long as the
Castro brothers are still alive.
A reader had this to say about President Obama’s comments on the
anniversary of the accords with Cuba: More bullshit from the procrastinator in chief. I
couldn't finish reading it. He's running out the clock, is all. Of course Raul
will promise him full access. Then he'll either renege with no explanation, or
the activists who could have given Obama clues of the type he seems to lack
won't be there -- gone to Spain, being treated in one of Cuba's excellent
hospitals for a mysterious, highly contagious condition, or unavailable for
other bullshit reasons. Then there'll be the presidential Potemkin tour in
which carefully selected "average Cubans" who've exercised their
well-known freedom of speech to criticize the regime will be trotted out. Raul
has months to select these folks, bribe them, and coach them. & of course
he knows everything everybody's said, so the show of dissenters will be
beautifully managed. Anyone who gets brave and goes off-script can be taken out
and shot as soon as Obama is airborne. Dictatorship made easy. Obama is smart,
but not smart enough to pick up on the practical lessons available in
totalitarian states all over the world.
Another reader, familiar with Cuba, says about
Obama’s anniversary statement: I am
advocating that a prior condition to allow American businessmen to invest in
Cuba is that they be allowed to hire, fire, and pay their own workers directly
in dollars and that the workers do not have to pay an income tax superior to
the US income tax for their yearly income and family size. In other words, that
it be guaranteed that American businessmen will not be accessory to slave
labor. Until these
conditions are met the US government should prohibit US investment in the
island.
According to another reader, Negotiations seem to be stuck because the Cuban government wants the
lifting of the embargo to consolidate the rule of its ruling elite and to
permit this ruling elite to become wealthier while the US government want the
lifting of the embargo to introduce reforms in Cuba that will weaken the ruling
elite and eventually lead to human right and political reforms.
Already this year, tourism to Cuba has hit a new high mark, 3 million, probably the majority from the US. Of the 53 political prisoners released a year ago during the signing of the Obama/Raul Castro accords, most have reportedly been rearrested. Cuban democracy advocates have been buoyed by the victory of Maduro opponents in parliamentary elections in Venezuela, but not sure how to proceed because of their much greater strictures and lack of real elections.
On the anniversary
of the accords, Cuba says Obama is welcome to visit, but not to treat internal
matters. The Cuban regime will be in a quandary if Obama does decide to visit,
as it can scarcely limit his movements and whom he wants to talk with and also what
he wants to say—and his arrival in Cuba would generate a huge amount of
excitement. He absolutely should go there and speak with whomever he wants—also
say publicly (hopefully on national TV) that Cuba should consider allowing
foreign companies to hire and pay workers directly. Freedom of movement and
engagement, and the direct hiring and paying of workers, after all, are not
just matters internal to Cuba, but involve freedoms of Americans vis-à-vis
Cuba. There must be accommodations on both sides.
AFP, Dec. 11, 2015
[Castro's] Attorney General Dario Delgado asserted that Cuba has no political prisoners, only jailed common criminals who "call themselves dissidents."
"It is sometimes said there are political prisoners here. There aren't," Delgado told the official Communist Party daily Granma.
"The majority of those who call themselves dissidents are common inmates who have been attracted by counter-revolutionary organizations, internal or external, and receive payments directly or indirectly," he said. "But they aren't prisoners of conscience."
[Castro's] Attorney General Dario Delgado asserted that Cuba has no political prisoners, only jailed common criminals who "call themselves dissidents."
"It is sometimes said there are political prisoners here. There aren't," Delgado told the official Communist Party daily Granma.
"The majority of those who call themselves dissidents are common inmates who have been attracted by counter-revolutionary organizations, internal or external, and receive payments directly or indirectly," he said. "But they aren't prisoners of conscience."
Venezuela
One swing of the political pendulum, in the wake
of Macri’s presidential victory in Argentina, is the substantial loss of
Maduro’s party in legislative elections. Maduro is saying he accepts the
results, but he may have some tricks up his sleeve, such creating new
government entities to circumvent or supersede existing ones, as he did to
override a successful mayoral candidate in Caracas. I’ve volunteered to help a
very worthy Venezuelan asylum applicant with interpretation and translation of
documents in preparation for her asylum hearing. She fled Venezuela after
losing her job during Chavez’s time because she joined an opposition political
party. As a result, she was further threatened, beaten, and suffered what her
physicians called PTSD, so after the last physical attack, which included a gun
being held to her husband’s head, she fled to her sister’s home in suburban
Maryland. She is quite hopeful about the legislative election outcome in
Venezuela, but knows from past experience, notably with nullification of the
Caracas mayoral election, that Maduro may have some other schemes in mind.
Before the election, he threated to call out the army if the election did not
go his way, but he may now not be so sure that the army would obey him. The
legislative victory against him was overwhelming, but there are still 3 years
left in his 6-year presidency, which he won by a narrow margin. He and his
cronies, under the wily tutelage of Raul Castro in Cuba, will be an obstacle to
any democratic reforms, and, in any case, even the best intentions will not
allow the opposition to turn matters around quickly. And the price of oil
continues to plummet, going at times even below $40 a barrel.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/12/18/venezuelan-ruling-party-claims-fraud-in-dec-6-election-threatens-to-challenge/ Look who’s claiming election fraud—Nicolas Maduro, the king fraud, but only if his side loses.
Mongolia has abolished the death penalty.
A
nurse in Sierra Leone was considered
to have died of Ebola, but she sneezed when her body was cleaned with chlorine
and so was revived.
Honduras
He
was shot visiting his north coast hometown of La Ceiba.
Central American
recent youth arrivals
to the DC area are finding themselves being teased by long-standing Hispanic
students, being called “chanchi”, which, roughly speaking means “piggish.”
Adolescents—even younger kids—can be cruel and prone to being bullies, creating
groups that arbitrarily exclude others. After all they have been through, young
migrants don’t need that sort of “welcome.”
Organ harvesting
I’ve mentioned this issue before, but here goes
again because of serious rumors
circulating in Amnesty International circles that China is massacring Falun
Gong members to harvest their
organs. I objected recently on this blog when a popular (very
self-promoting) writer claimed in a radio interview that Central American
immigrants were being killed in Mexico for their organs. Falun Gong members are
certainly persecuted by the Chinese government and Central Americans are also being
murdered in Mexico, but, in neither case, is it for their organs. I’m quite
sure of that. As a Spanish medical interpreter for 12 years in DC, including
with patients undergoing organ transplants, I am very skeptical of the many
rumors circulating around the world of people being killed to harvest their
organs. Organ transplant is a very meticulous and sophisticated medical process
of matching donor and recipient. In the case of a partial liver or a kidney
transplant from a live donor, both parties are usually hospitalized together
after undergoing careful testing. In the case of a lung or heart transplant
from a just deceased person, usually an accident victim, speed is of the
essence and often the victim still has some bodily functions, though may be declared
"brain dead." Organ transplants require very careful prior tissue
matching and immediate transfer from either a live donor or one barely
deceased. In Guatemala, the rumor that adopted children were being killed for
their organs led to American humanitarian workers being killed and the shutting
down of inter-country adoptions, so the rumors had real world consequences. In
China, organs reportedly are sometimes transplanted from prisoners undergoing
the death penalty, usually corneas, but if so, there is careful tissue matching
before the execution and immediate organ transplant. It's not possible to
"harvest" organs and keep them on ice until they are needed, but
rumors persist all over the world that mass killings for this purpose are
taking place.
Former President
Jimmy Carter announced that his cancer is gone. That’s pretty amazing in
such short order, given that it had even spread to his brain. He underwent a
new, experimental treatment that seems to have worked for him. I’m glad, as he
is a remarkable man, more so post-presidency than during his presidency. Carter’s
cancer may be gone for now, but it would not be surprising if it recurred or if
a different type of cancer affected him, despite close monitoring. After all,
the man is 91 and so may be vulnerable to
cancer and other maladies.
I recently wrote a letter of condolence to Carter regarding the sudden death
of his 28-year-old grandson, as my son died suddenly at age 27 after a work
accident and our family just observed the anniversary of his untimely death.
For the most part, I’ve applauded President
Carter’s humanitarian efforts around the world, setting an example for future
presidents (GW Bush painting pictures of his dog or himself in the bathtub does
not qualify for particular applause). Carter
can be rightly proud of his legacy, though I do consider him a bit naïve—if
that’s a right word to describe a former president—in Cuba, where he has
allowed himself to be shown and to praise showcase AIDS treatment facilities
and has made statements that appear not to realize the extent of Cuban
repression. Whether that’s a calculated stance to win over the Cuban
leadership, I cannot say. I also would fault him as an election observer in
Venezuela when Hugo Chavez first was declared the presidential winner for not
delving deeper into apparent irregularities. He wanted the Carter Center to
demonstrate its complete objectivity in judging an election outcome, despite
the political coloration of the candidate, but he might have spared Venezuelans
and citizens of allied nations much suffering and strife if he had been more
careful in investigating accusations of fraud and manipulation. Otherwise, in
Nicaragua and Haiti, where I was an election observer with him in 1990, I fully
agreed with him on evaluating those events and he has been successful in the
eradication of the Guinea Worm in Africa and in promoting Habitat for Humanity.
Kudos for Jimmy Carter.
After
Connecticut enacted a law in 1995
that required that people to get a permit
before purchasing a gun, a 40 percent reduction occurred in the state’s
homicide rate. Soon after the San Bernardino massacre, there was an apparent
terrorist attack in Britain with a knife that wounded three people. Knife
attacks against several people have occurred in China, but with much less death
and injury, obviously, than from an attack with firearms. In Israel, likewise,
there have been recent knife attacks, many that were not fatal. Now even gun
advocates may be willing to consider some controls.
In Florida, a mother recently shot her daughter to death, fearing she
was an intruder. What can I say? If someone insists on having a
loaded gun trigger-ready, they need to be very careful with its storage and use
and think for a moment before they shoot—and that may include police officers.
How about calling out when you hear a strange noise at night, to see if someone
familiar might actually be there? Just because you have a gun doesn’t mean that
every little situation that surprises or scares you needs to be responded to
with lethal force. Think ahead about how your weapon is stored and secured, the
(very few) situations that might require its use, and always anticipate what
might go wrong, as people are, by definition, accident prone and impulsive,
including you, the gun owner. (If you were actually thinking in terms of
probabilities, you wouldn’t have a gun to begin with.) Don’t carry a loaded gun
in your purse in a grocery cart next to your small child, who may open the
purse and shoot the gun, as one little boy did, killing his mother. And don’t
leave a loaded pistol at your bedside when you go out for the evening, leaving
your pre-teen son and his friends alone in the house, which is how my younger
son Jon got shot in the foot, bad enough, but fortunately nothing worse. Maybe
you have warned your son never to go into your bedroom, but once you are out
the door, you cannot guarantee that the lure of showing off the bedside gun to
his friends won’t be too much to resist.
It’s a dilemma on how to react to the San Bernardino shooting in terms of attitudes towards Muslims. As I’ve said before, obviously not all Muslims are terrorists, but many if not most terrorists around the world these days identify as Muslim. How to tell the difference between them? It’s always hard to predict on the basis of membership in a particular category who will actually become a mass shooter, as their numbers are relatively few. For example, most persons with mental illness are not dangerous, but some of them have become so. And if we treat all Muslims (or mentally ill individuals) as potential terrorists, that’s going to make them feel alienated and more likely to become violent or radicalized, a self-fulfilling prophesy. But if members of suspect groups have no extra scrutiny, are we going to miss chances to thwart any plans they may have? It’s very hard to keep every Muslim or potential murderer under surveillance at all times, especially since Americans want privacy and don’t like a nosey or intrusive government. We all complain about airport screening, for example, but what’s the alternative?
There seem to be oscillations in public policy
and public opinion, a self-correcting Hegelian
dialectic that goes in the opposite direction when a position seems to have
become too extreme. For example, the hue and cry was that too many children
were being born, creating overpopulation (the “population bomb”), so many
couples decided (aided by birth control) to remain childless or to have only
one child, a policy enshrined in China’s one-child policy. So when it became
obvious that this was creating a demographic imbalance, some nations, including
China, Japan, and European countries, began encouraging people to have more babies.
I’m wondering if a tipping point has also come for Latin
America’s leftist leadership, whereby constituencies who can still vote will
start going in the other direction—as in Argentina and Venzuela. Now Correa in
Ecuador, instead of trying to remain in power indefinitely as originally
planned, like some of his Latin American counterparts, has announced that he
has decided to step down in 2017 after all. What this may mean for Hillary
Clinton (or Bernie Sanders?) after 8 years of a Democratic presidency we shall
soon see. I am trying to imagine the least bad, least goofy, Republican candidate
who might actually have a chance, just in case, not that I would vote for any
of them. If Republicans will sober up and get serious, get rid of Trump,
Carson, and Fiorina, then I could perhaps stomach Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, or
even Marco Rubio, though I cringe just thinking about them, but, at least, they
all have some government experience and wouldn’t be completely off-the-wall.
Rubio, the other day, referred to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria,”
blatantly courting Israel and hardline Jewish voters, which didn’t endear him
to me nor are his finances all on the up-and-up. Still, I’d rather see him
elected than his fellow Cuban American Ted Cruz. I hope not see any of them!
I’ve never watched or listened to the Republican
candidates’ debates—I just cannot stomach them. Most of them say, “On Day One, I will [blah, blah,
blah]…” repeal Obamacare, put up a wall to keep Mexicans out, bomb ISIS into
oblivion, etc.” Donald Trump would be entertaining if his poll numbers didn’t
keep rising. He seems to be deliberately creating a caricature of himself,
saying whatever he wants, bluffing to see if he can get away with it. It’s
almost hard for comics to get any traction, because he is already so
outrageous. He said recently, “100% of blacks will vote for me.” I’m sure
that’s news to African American voters. I can barely stand to listen to
Democratic candidates either. What can we do now, move to Mexico? Mexico will
have to build a wall to keep us out!
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