While Obama ‘negotiated’ with the apartheid Castro regime, more than 13,000 arrests of dissidents took place

1/8/2015

By Alberto de la Cruz

It looks like Obama's appeasement of Cuba's apartheid dictatorship was a boon for the Castro regime from the very beginning.

Via Capitol Hill Cubans:

During Obama-Castro Negotiations, Over 13,000 Political Arrests Took Place in Cuba

Since the Obama Administration began secret negotiations with the Castro regime in June 2013, there have been over 13,000 political arrests in Cuba.

This highlights the sense of impunity and emboldenment felt by the Castro regime during these secret negotiations.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHR) has just releasedits data of fully documented and confirmed political arrests. Many more are suspected, but remain unknown.

Throughout 2014, there were 8,899 political arrests in Cuba. That is more than quadruple the amount of arrests in 2010 (2,074) and a nearly a 40% increase from 2013 (6,424).

Moreover, simply compare 2013, from a pre- and post- negotiations perspective.

During the first half of of 2013, prior to the secret negotiations beginning, the were 2,143 political arrests.

During the second half of 2013, post the commencement of the secret negotiations, there were 4,281 political arrests.

In other words, the rate of political arrests immediately doubled when the secret negotiations began.

And, as we posted earlier today, there are now even more political prisoners in Cuban than before Obama's December 17th concessions to Castro.

Meanwhile, the 53 Cuban political prisoners that were to be released pursuant to the Obama-Castro deal remain shrouded in a shameful secrecy.

Tragically, this is similar to the fate of democracy advocates in Iran, Syria and even Venezuela, whose efforts have become even more daunting as a result of Obama's mixed messages and "extended hand" to tyrants.

Cuba's courageous democracy advocates are the latest victims.

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