Cuba Jails US Worker Handing Out Laptops, Cellphones

eldavojohn writes "An American citizen working as a contractor for the United States Agency for International Development has been arrested for giving away laptops and cellphones in Cuba. The intent was to enable activists to connect with each other and spread information of what's happening inside Cuba. From the article: 'Cellphones and laptops are legal in Cuba, though they are new and coveted commodities in a country where the average worker's wage is $15 a month. The Cuban government granted ordinary citizens the right to buy cellphones just last year; they are used mostly for texting, because a 15-minute phone conversation would eat up a day's wages.' A Representative on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the arrest was 'no surprise' while a human rights watch group cited a report outlining the Cuban Criminal Code offense of 'dangerousness,' which is most likely the one for which this individual was detained. There is at present no way to contact the individual nor official word on why he was detained." The article quotes an actvist with Human Rights Watch who said that "any solution to the contractor's case would probably be political" and that "the Cuban government often provokes a negative reaction in the United States just as [the two] countries begin to move toward more dialogue."

Comments

Re:Normalize with these animals?

[jmorris42]

> Well, we do business with China and Saudi Arabia. Just Saying....

Yea. Which is why I'd like to see us get off the imported oil habit to the point we could tell the House of Saud to pound sand.

And some of us objected to MFN status for China based on their horrid human rights record. Too bad the 'progressives' formed an unholy alliance with the big transnational corporate interests on that issue.... But no we probably can't just treat China as the total pariah they would be in a more perfect world. People who say size doesn't matter are just deluding themselves.

Re:Normalize with these animals?

[timeOday]

Watch this. Here's a summary, but it's really much more interesting to look at how the story was reported over time: 1 2 3.

It really illustrates how easy it is to believe anything about your enemies once you regard them as "morally bankrupt animals."