Between US, Cuba and human rights

Thu, February 09, 2012 - 12:00 AM

IT’S NOW left up to Barbados to decide on the future of Cuban-born, American-bred detainee Raul T. Garcia.

But, really, should it be?

Garcia, 57, left Havana at the tender age of four for the United States, where he grew up and was schooled in a life of crime before transferring to Colombia.

Garcia, who was also being sought by United States authorities to answer several charges, was eventually nabbed in Barbados for cocaine trafficking, but after serving out his 15-year jail term at Her Majesty’s Prisons Dodds, the Spanish-speaking Garcia now has nowhere to go.

So far, both the Cuban and American authorities have been mum on his situation, leaving Barbados to both fend for and feed Garcia while he remains in solitary confinement.

But, obviously, the detainee would prefer to be elsewhere. This is clear from his refusal to take any food for the past 23 days, never mind the fact that Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, after visiting and receiving a brief from prison officials, stated earlier this week that Garcia, who has a heart condition and has lost more 25 pounds, was not in any immediate danger.

Political activist David Comissiong has also been quite vocal about his wish for Garcia to be released onto our streets. But can the rest of us be so comfortable with this idea, especially since there is no managed system or precedent for dealing with such a complex case?

Without a doubt, this island is now caught in a very awkward position and it needs to tread cautiously, given its heavy dependence on the United States, its sympathetic shoulder to Cuba and its global standing on human rights issues.

Indeed, Article 2 of the UN’s Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, speaks to rights and freedoms “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.

Article 9 also states that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”.

Still the question needs to asked: Why Barbados and why not Cuba, where Garcia was born? Why not the United States where he was raised?

In the same way that a Barbadian who has broken the laws of either country would be shown the door, why are we the only ones being asked to do right by Garcia?

In the case of Cuba, we have been made to understand that it is the immigration regulations that stop Garcia from returning to his place of birth.

While Havana remains unbending, the United States has shown its flexibility in welcoming notorious Cuban exiles such as Orlando Bosch, now deceased, and Luis Posada Carriles.

So why not take in a “reformed” Raul Garcia? Are our citizens in need of any less protection from him?

We are sympathetic to the calls for Garcia’s freedom after 17 years behind bars. But why, why, we ask, should his fate be to our anguish?

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Posted by Kay-rani Rosita 3 months, 1 week ago: Did anyone get a chance to read today’s editorial – Between US, Cuba and human rights? I think you should. It is excellent and above all, BALANCED.