Though unable to attend the event with Leonard Weinglass, attorney for the Cuban Five, which Steve Clemons had mentioned over a month ago, I did take some time to watch a part of his lecture. After viewing a few minutes of this talk, it’s abundantly clear why Weinglass is regarded as a formidable trial lawyer — his narrative style is simply captivating. In this clip (above), he contrasts the plight of the Cuban Five with that of Luis Posada Carriles.
Former Ambassador Wayne Smith wrote an article in The National Interest Online this summer debunking the retention of Cuba on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. As if we weren’t doing enough to discredit our counterterrorism efforts with our selective definitions in other regional theaters (for instance, our courtship of the MEK in Iran), the protection of Posada Carriles undercuts our global efforts by compromising potential cooperation and intelligence sharing.
On a related note, the President will deliver a speech today on freedom, democracy and the future of Cuba (China, of course, will be conspicuously absent from the discussion). An outline of what he will say can be read here. But you can read further analysis and commentary of the speech and US-Cuba policy at The Havana Note including Sarah Stephens and Peter Kornbluh on the Posada case, Philip Peters on Cuban reforms, and Lawrence Wilkerson on the embargo.
–Sameer Lalwani
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