Abandoned by the Pope, Will Cuba’s Political Prisoners Abandon All Hope?

Abandoned by the Pope, Will Cuba's Political Prisoners Abandon All Hope?
By Nat Hentoff
This article appeared on Cato.org on October 14, 2015.

In my last column, I reported on the suffering of Cuba's dissidents and
political prisoners, which has only increased since President Obama
normalized relations.

The reconciliation between Cuba and the United States was facilitated by
Pope Francis and Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop of Cuba. On Oct.
1, 2014, I wrote a column titled "Pope Francis' Admirable War on Poverty."

It is with regret that I must now write that by abandoning Cuba's
political prisoners, Pope Francis bears some responsibility for their
increased suffering.

The PanAm Post, an online magazine covering the Americas, reported that
prior to the Pope's visit to Cuba, a list of political prisoners was
sent to the Vatican by Nelis Rojas de Morales — secretary of the
International Coordinator of Former Cuban Political Prisoners. Cuban
human rights groups were therefore stunned when Cardinal Ortega, the
architect of the Pope's visit, denied the very existence of political
prisoners in Cuba during two interviews with Spanish language media.

In an interview held in Rome, and published on March 30 in the Spanish
language Catholic magazine Nueva Vida (New Life), Cardinal Ortega denied
that there were any political prisoners in Cuba. Two months later, on
June 5, Cardinal Ortega told Spain's Cadena Ser radio that "there are no
political prisoners on the island; just common criminals."

"The dissidents, those that are called dissidents, are more present in
the foreign press, in south Florida, and in blogs," he said

Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and
National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), contested Cardinal Ortega's claim that
there were no political prisoners left in Cuba. According to the PanAm
Post, the CCDHRN identified at least two dozen prisoners serving long
sentences for peaceful political activities, 13 of whom were members of
the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), Cuba's largest dissident organization.

The Catholic Register reported that Jose Daniel Ferrer — general
coordinator of Cuba's Patriotic Union (UNPACU) — "wrote an open letter
to Pope Francis Sept. 3 asking him to 'intercede and take up the defense
of the rights of the oppressed in Cuba.'"

Damas de Blanco ("Ladies in White") leader Berta Soler told Reuters that
she would like to "discuss with the Pope the need to stop police
violence against those who exercise their freedom to demonstrate in public."

Earlier this summer, she reiterated to the PanAm Post that "the Catholic
Church … should protect and shelter every suffering, defenseless person."

Although the Cuban government released over 3,000 prison inmates prior
to the Pope's arrival, none of them were political prisoners. Reuters
reported that in August, the month before the Pope's visit, Cuban police
detained 768 dissidents for peaceful political activity, the highest
monthly total in 2015. The arbitrary detentions continued during the
Pope's visit. Berta Soler was prevented from attending the Pope's
appearances, while three members of UNPACU were dragged off, detained
and have since disappeared after they tried to approach the Pope.

The closest that Pope Francis ever came to acknowledging the existence
of political prisoners in Cuba was an oblique reference — during his
welcoming ceremony in Havana — that he "would like my greeting to
embrace especially all those who, for various reasons, I will not be
able to meet." The Pope's greeting resonated with the impact of a tree
falling in an empty forest with no one left to hear it.

Defenders of both Pope Francis and Cardinal Ortega have likened their
non-confrontational approach to the Castro regime with the spirit of
reconciliation exemplified by the ministry of Jesus Christ. Yet the
stubborn denial that there are no political prisoners suffering in
Cuba's jails — and equating the defense of human rights with a partisan
political agenda — seems a far cry from the ministry of Jesus.

The Bible gives an account of Jesus appearing in "the Temple courts" and
advocating on behalf of a woman accused of adultery brought before him
by "the teachers of the law and the Pharisees" (New International
Version, John 8: 1-11). Jesus stood between the woman and the stone
throwers and challenged the unjust law that required her to be stoned to
death.

Even atheists like me can acknowledge that the historical Jesus became
the world's most famous political prisoner through his detention, his
public humiliation and his suffering. As Christians, Pope Francis and
Cardinal Ortega might well remember — in their future dealings with the
Castro regime — that Jesus welcomed the righteous into heaven with the
greeting: "I was in prison and you came to visit me … whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me" (Matthew 25:31-46).

Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment
and the Bill of Rights. He is a member of the Reporters Committee for
Freedom of the Press, and the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow.

Source: Abandoned by the Pope, Will Cuba's Political Prisoners Abandon
All Hope? | Cato Institute -
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/abandoned-pope-will-cubas-political-prisoners-abandon-all-hope