The United States: Judging Others is Easier
DALIA GONZÁLEZ DELGADO

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

On the subject of human rights the US brings to mind the fable of the judge and the executioner: every time the US tries to accuse almost the whole planet, its criminal record turns it into the main defendant.

Once again the US State Department sent to Congress its annual report on the situation of human rights in the world; and once again it expressed its concern about the situation in many countries, among them Cuba where, according to the report: “the systemic repression of fundamental freedoms continues”

It seems that they don’t listen to the opinions of many prestigious people, such as that recently expressed by Elías Carranza, Director of the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, who declared that Cuba is “the safest country in the region”. They didn’t hear it, or they don’t care. This is not the first time they ignore UN criteria.   

The world changes; Cuba is changing, updating its economic model. But the US rhetoric towards Cuba remains the same. They insist on including us on their “black lists” that allow them to justify the blockade which is indeed a massive and systematic violation of human rights. In fact, the Geneva Convention of 1948 classifies this type of action as an act of genocide. 

In the words of US State Secretary Hillary Clinton, the report presented today makes it clear for the governments all over the world that “we are watching and will hold them accountable”.

Of course, they watch everybody. They look everywhere, except at their own bellybutton.

The US has the largest jail population in the world; it is the only country where children can be given life sentences without parole. About ten thousand minors are in prison as adults.

Isn’t  what happens in the jail on the illegally occupied Guantanamo territory in a  violation of human rights? Isn’t what happens in the USA to immigrants in violation of human rights? Is it a lie that the US is one of the most racist countries on earth? The same “divine destiny” that gives them the right to judge everybody else, gives them the freedom to decide on the lives of others and to kill civilians with their drones and pre-emptive wars on a daily basis.

It is absolutely unfair that they accuse Cuba, a nation that makes huge efforts to promote –not with rhetoric, but with actions- the first right a human being has: the right to life.

Anyone who visits Cuba realizes this. Could this be the reason why they try so hard to prevent Americans from visiting the Island?

Movie star Benicio del Toro who directed one of the seven stories in the film Seven Days in Havana said, at the presentation of the film in Cannes this Thursday, that the difficulties the USA impose on their citizens who wish to travel to Cuba can be considered a kind of censorship. 

With del Toro, Spanish director Julio Medem, who directed another story in the film, declared that the movie “talks about the situation, of suffering, and survival”; but also about the optimism that emanates from Cubans: “beautiful people, talented, warm and welcoming.”  

We could continue giving examples, but the list would be never-ending, and everything is very clear now. The US needs to be the judge to avoid being judged as executioner.