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THE MEDIA HAS EPIC CUBAGASM
CHA CHA CHA
CASTRO CRACKS WHIP
DOZENS ARRESTED
FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: Dan Perkins, is a domestic and foreign policy contributor to ReaganBaby.com, DailySurge.com and TheHill.com.
“Just hours before President Obama landed Sunday in Cuba for his historic visit to the communist island, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 dissidents who were marching to demand improved human rights.
Members of the group, known as the Ladies in White, are used to the routine. They march each Sunday after Mass at a church in a suburb of Havana called Miramar and usually get arrested and detained for hours or days.
Some in the group thought Cuban authorities would back off this Sunday out of respect for Obama’s visit. Berta Soler, one of the founding members who has been marching since 2003, said while walking to the church Sunday morning that maybe they would be allowed to protest without getting arrested.
“Everything looks good so far,” she said.
Despite dozens of international reporters in town for Obama’s trip, the group was quickly rounded up in buses and police cars.
“For us, it’s very important that we do this so President Obama knows that there are women here fighting for the liberty of political prisoners,” Soler said before being arrested. “And he needs to know that we are here being repressed simply for exercising our right to express ourselves and manifest in a non-violent way.”
Obama’s three-day trip to Cuba is to highlight the new relationship between the Cold War foes. After more than five decades of political and economic isolation, the two nations announced in December 2014 that they would re-establish diplomatic relations. Embassies have since reopened in Havana and Washington, U.S. cellphones can be used in Cuba, U.S. airlines are planning direct flights to the island, and several U.S. companies have struck deals to trade with Cuba.
Obama is expected to embrace those changes during his trip, but the issue of human rights has been the most difficult negotiating point leading up to his visit. Secretary of State John Kerry was supposed to visit the island ahead of Obama’s trip but canceled because of disagreements over whom he could meet with.
The White House has said that Obama will meet with a group of dissidents on Tuesday, but several have said they’re unsure whether they’ll be able to attend.”
READ: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/03/20/cuba-dissidents-protesters-arrested-president-obama-visit/82048950/
PLUG BOOK: http://www.amazon.com/The-Brotherhood-Red-Nile-Responds/dp/1460251008/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cp_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SJ574PKMZ7Q0S351GAC
BIO: Author and master storyteller Dan Perkins presents the first book in his trilogy about terrorism against the United States. The first in the series, The Brotherhood of the Red Nile, A Terrorist Perspective, has propelled him to national acclaim with interviews on radio, television and in-print. With the second installment, The Brotherhood of the Red Nile, America Rebuilds, we get a closer look into the mind of an ingenious writer. Picking up where book one ends, book two delivers more intrigue and mystery while striking terror in the hearts of readers as we ask the question: How in the world can we stop this from happening?
WEBSITE: danperkins.guru
TWITTER: @dansbeak