A couple of reports from that island paradise run by the brothers Castro...The first is an example of "We will get to you by getting to your family" -- a method used by thugs throughout history. In this particular case, Castro's Communist police have trumped up prostitution charges against the daughter of a known dissident. Carmen Bermúdez Arrieta watched her 25-year old daughter sentenced to two years in the Red Flag internment camp in Güira de Melena, a cruel injustice designed by authorities as a reprisal for Carmen's involvement with the Cuban Liberal Movement, a group that frequently opposes Communist policies.
In the second, a 65-year old street vendor was fined and threatened by police for selling chili peppers without a license. Roberto García paid the 60 peso fine (no small amount to him) but was warned that the next time he was caught, his bicycle would be confiscated. "I have a small garden and I sell what I grow," he said. "With the little that I earn, I pay for the electricity and I buy food. I'm not hurting anybody."
Nothing but the cause of world socialism, Roberto. And we can't have that.
(Story from the Miami Herald via Spanish language reports from www.cubanet.org)
