BURMA
President Bush yesterday signed a bill barring insurance companies and employers from discriminating based on a person's genetic information, and also announced a shift in policy toward Cuba he said is designed to test its new dictator.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A military judge today denied motions to delay the arraignments of five Guantanamo detainees suspected of mounting the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
BURMA
President Bush yesterday signed a bill barring insurance companies and employers from discriminating based on a person's genetic information, and also announced a shift in policy toward Cuba he said is designed to test its new dictator.
Are Cuban-Americans fairly labeled as "hard-liners"? Indisputably, the Cuban-American community has maintained its uncompromising support for complete political freedom and democracy in Cuba. Cuban-Americans have consistently and ardently opposed any political or commercial engagement with Cuba's regime until it meets conditions set out in the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act passed by Congress in 1996. Those essentially are: Immediate release of all political prisoners; recognition and respect for fundamental human rights set out by international accords; and legalization of opposition political parties, an independent news media and independent labor unions.
The nation's mainstream media and political pundits rarely miss an opportunity to attach the label of "hard-liner" to Cuban-American critics of the dictatorship. That begs a question: Are Cuban-Americans fairly labeled as "hard-liners"? Indisputably, the Cuban-American community has maintained its uncompromising support for complete political freedom and democracy in Cuba. Cuban-Americans have consistently and ardently opposed any political or commercial engagement with Cuba's regime until it meets conditions set out in the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act passed by Congress in 1996. Those essentially are: Immediate release of all political prisoners; recognition and respect for fundamental human rights set out by international accords; and legalization of opposition political parties, an independent news media and independent labor unions.
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush announced today that Americans soon will be allowed to send cell phones to Cubans a move that he hopes will push the communist regime to increase freedom of expression for Cuban citizens.
Today has been declared Cuba Solidarity Day by the White House to remind Americans that the citizens of that small island just 90 miles off U.S. shores are still trapped in one of the world's few remaining communist dictatorships. It is a cause well worth paying attention to. These relics of the 20th century cling on to life in the 21st century, keeping their citizens from achieving the freedom and prosperity that so many states, formerly in communist thrall, have attained since 1989.
