Despots, regardless of ideology or origin, deeply hate their fellow men
14ymedio / Pedro Corzo, Miami, 8 September 2024 — The vast majority of the political prisoners of the castrochavista regimes are young people, sometimes teenagers, who are practically beginning their lives and embrace, with full consciousness, the stanza of the Cuban national anthem that claims: “To live in chains is to live mired in shame and disgrace.” Despots, regardless of ideology or origin, deeply hate their fellow men, but there are two sectors of society that they especially despise: the young and the journalists.
The youth, because they know the willingness to take risks at that stage of life. Young people rarely properly assess danger, and that is probably what makes that period of our existence so magical and unforgettable.
There is a strong tendency to take risks, to defend ideals with sticks and stones, even if their enemies, like the serial killer Ernesto Che Guevara, enjoy the sound of machine guns.
The autocrats of castrochavismo, more than their military peers, like to censor and intimidate journalists and the media
The prisons of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia are full of people sentenced for the honorable crime of justly claiming civil rights for themselves and the country.
In the homeland of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, despot Nicolas Maduro imprisoned around 100 young people between 13 and 17 years old for opposing electoral fraud. These teenagers were then released from prison with severe restrictions on their rights.
Nicaragua is not far behind. According to a report in the newspaper La Prensa, in May of this year, 66 of the 138 political prisoners were between the ages of 15 and 39. Even more tragic is the case of Bolivia, another autocratic state that does not recognize itself as such: its political prisoners, young and old, are barely documented.
However, in Cuba, the only country in the hemisphere where “real socialism” prevails, there are 1,119 political prisoners according to Prisoners Defenders, mostly young people, some sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally attempting to leave the country and others for participating in protest demonstrations.
The situation of journalists under these regimes of force is worse than what they suffered during the military regimes that overshadow the history of the hemisphere.
The autocrats of castrochavismo revel even more than their military peers in censoring and intimidating journalists and the media, with the ultimate goal of imposing permanent censorship until they achieve the ideal situation in which the communicators censor themselves.
Even more tragic is the case of Bolivia, another autocratic state that is not recognized as such: its political prisoners, young or old, are barely documented
The control or absence of the freedoms of expression and information is an almost constant practice in the countries of castrochavismo, Cuba again being the exception, because in that country all the media were confiscated in 1961 and remain under the absolute control of the Government 63 years later.
The rulers of these countries are ex officio censors, which is why they pay particular attention to the media, since they refuse to admit that information that refutes the official one is reported.
The situation in Cuba is quite unique. The censorship on the island is total. The media are controlled, and the journalists are officials, because they do not have the power to investigate or prepare a work that has not been previously subjected to censorship. Hence, on Castro’s island, independent journalism has emerged that involves great risks for the men and women who practice it.
The situation of journalists under these regimes of force is worse than what they suffered during the military regimes that overshadow the history of the hemisphere
In Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, the independence of the media has been severely restricted, to the extent that it is practically non-existent.
Nicolas Maduro, imitating a provision on the press issued by the Cuban dictatorship in 1999 – Law 88 on the Protection of National Independence and the Economy of Cuba – created the Strategic Center for Homeland Security and Protection (Cesppa), with the aim of “predicting and neutralizing potential threats from internal or external enemies.”
If Castro’s Law 88 was applied to the infamous Black Spring of Cuba, in which dozens of independent journalists were arrested, among other activists, Maduro’s Cesppa now provides invaluable services to the Venezuelan despot. The same happens in Nicaragua with a law of the Ortega-Murillo regime, which after controlling traditional media such as the distinguished newspaper La Prensa, intends to manipulate the Internet at will with its arsenal of legislation.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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