Yet there have been very few protests from the left about this clear example of the Castro regime’s fascism. I guess they’re too busy fighting the “real enemy” here. From KSL.com:
HAVANA (AP) – Cuba has ordered jailed punk rocker Gorki Aguila, an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and the communist government, to stand trial on Friday for “social dangerousness,” a charge that could carry up to four years in prison.
Authorities arrested the 39-year-old lead singer of Porno para Ricardo at his Havana home on Monday, shortly after the band had completed work on a new album. Cuban law defines “social dangerousness” as behavior contrary to “communist morality,” and police use it to detain offenders before they have a chance to commit a crime.
Performing songs with angry lyrics that poke fun at or openly insult Fidel Castro and his brother Raul, who became Cuba’s president in February, Porno para Ricardo is banned from official Cuban airwaves.
The government often applies the “social dangerousness” charge in cases of public drunkenness or as a way to keep large groups of unemployed Cubans _ or those simply skipping work _ from congregating on city streets during business hours. It is also applied to cases of drug addiction and “anti-social behavior.”
But Aguila works for Cuba’s film institute and was doing nothing out of the ordinary when police came and took him away, his father Luis said Wednesday.
The arrest has touched off an avalanche of criticism on blogs in Cuba and the United States. Musicians on and off the island also sent e-mails decrying the case. Aguila remains in police custody but has been well-treated and is in good spirits, his father said.
Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, released a statement Wednesday saying legal protocols should mean the trial will be held in public. He said Aguila has asked “diplomatic observers” to attend, apparently hoping they will be allowed to get a glimpse of a legal system seldom seen by foreigners in this closed society.
Sanchez’s statement said that after investigating, the commission determined that “Gorki Aguila has not committed any specific crime as defined by the current criminal code.”
The Cuban government has not commented.
There’s a campaign to collect money for his legal defense. Give if you can. Babalu blog has several posts up and will be keeping abreast of the situation. Let’s do what we can to help this brave freedom fighter escape Castro’s gulag.
This statement is not much different from what Our American Government is doing with H.R. 1955.
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“Government often applies the “social dangerousness†charge in cases”
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America should have no problem with a country that restricts “Liberty”. We “American Government†are the roll model for the world to follow. Legislate more laws. Throw more people in Prison. If anyone makes a mistake, (keep records and drag their life thru the mud). America is a Country of no chances. You either are born or marry money, which will be the only way.
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In America we have a few shoe-ins. Which our media use as tools dangling them openly. Used as a tool of enticement. American Government cannot let their surfs lose Hope yet.
Right. America’s just like Cuba. So why don’t you go there? Or Europe?
Because you have more freedom in America than any other country in history. H.R 1955 is a cutesy way to target Islamism, a little too cutesy for my taste but it’s an attempt to allow some Muslim who are radicals but aren’t terrorists to remain free while the ones planning to overthrow the Constitution can be dealt with before they kill any of us.
The real mistake of all the politicians is to not be willing to admit we’re at war with Islam. We are fighting the same war that started when mohammed invaded the Jewish and Christian held territory and continued until now.
Did you know one of your heroes Thomas Jefferson invaded a forign country stricltly because Muslims beleive it’s their right to enslave non-Muslims? Hundreds of Americans were kidnapped and enslved by the Muslim raiders only Jefferson sending in the marines stopped the raids.
Islam respects strength and if we allow Muslims to sell DVDS of beheading and other nonsense in their Mosques their behavior will escalate. H.R. 1955 is a tepid response to that truth. It is not an assault on freedom, it’s a poor response to a threat in our midst. You’ll see the threats to your freedom when Muslims take over sections of our country the way they did in Lebanon in the 80s.
And the term is “serf” not “surf.”
The Corporate structure of America should enjoy the invasion. The corporate manor of stealing labor is protected under this Government. What if the Muslims run thru our streets with guns shoot down citizens. Our government can send thru the local Police to confiscate all citizens’ weapons and imprison ALL that shoot back.
So just, what the fuck are these sissies whipped Americas going to do. Call a Lawyer. When the flag goes up. I will help execute a few Lawyers. An I know a few 100 U.S. soldiers that feel the same way. There are most likely more.
You mean “corporate manner” I think but grammar aside I can only say, huh? Your labor isn’t stolen here because no one is forced to work. No corporation can force you to labor for them. You’ve exited the realm of wild-eyed conspiracy mongering and entered into a fantasy world. Possibly the once excellent but now leftied up Shadowrun.
Look, you can theorize about some vast government conspiracy looking to steal your guns (they’re called the Democrats in real life) but I’m telling you that you can look at recent history, the Lebanese Civil War, and see that Militant Islam will easily destabilize a Republic just as it is destabilizing the neo-socialist democracies of Europe. We cannot wait for militants to control hundreds of neighborhoods and compounds before acting.
I disagree with H.R. 1955 because it’s a smokescreen, a cowardly attempt to take on militant Islam by pointing out characteristics of it without naming it. We will lose the war to the militants if we follow this tepid course of action.
When Milant Islamists run through the streets I would hope you’d shoot them, not your fellow Americans no matter how much you dislike their politics. To follow you course of action makes you little more than a mercenary in the service of the Caliphiists.
Rob:
The statement below is just incorrect. Corporations, I will mention one as a for instance of proof. Knowledge Learning Corporation “courts and induces employees to volunteer to work on projects off the clock for free. This Corporation is a Corporation for Profit. It owns Leap Frog. This is one. There are many more , stealing labor. I know a person very close to me that works for KLC. This is normal procedure. Make employees feel a sense of duty and obligation.
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***”No one is forced to work. No corporation can force you to labor for them”***
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“Mercenary in the service of the Caliphiists”. OK…. I live to support my family, that requires money.
Knowledge Learning Center is guilting people into volunteering at Ronald McDonald House and you’re claiming this is some sort of fascism? Really?
I worked in that industry for many years and it’s full of people happy to volunteer. But if your friend isn’t happy with their job in America they can get a new one. Child care workers are in high demand (though underpaid) and I myself used to hop from YMCA to Faith in Action grant and back with ease because qualified adults are hard to come by.
Getting guilted into helping terminally ill kids on the weekend is hardly having your labor stolen. And frankly people should be volunteering sans pressure anyway.
Try again.
My point about the Caliphate is that if you won’t fight against Islamization you’re aiding it. How will your family do in a Muslim no-go zone like the 700+ they have in France?
“Knowledge Learning Center is guilting people into volunteering at Ronald McDonald House “”Knowledge Learning “Corporation” not “Center”. I have never known about the Volunteering at Ronald McDonald house by their employees, its wrong, if done in the name of the corporation. KLC is the largest of its type in the U.S. . I can say that is no surprise though. Using its employees to per mote the Corporation in an advertising ploy (at no cost plus a tax deduction) good business move. Volunteering for a non-profit is onr thing. Volunteering free labor to a for profit corporation is a horse of a different color. Give me one good reason anyone should volunteer to cut operations costs to a corporation that operates for profit. Would it be to assist the CEO achieve a larger bonus? .
Your,
“point about the Caliphate is that if you won’t fight against Islamization you’re aiding it. How will your family do in a Muslim no-go zone like the 700+ they have in France?”
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My fight involves Gun and Explosives against governments that allow this to take place.