Free Republic

When a recently-freed political prisoner who was foreign and black (and a former communist terrorist by his own admission) visited the U.S. in 1990 to request economic and diplomatic sanctions against the segregationist government that jailed him the U.S. media and political establishment went absolutely bonkers with acclaim and adulation. “The hero of oppressed people everywhere!" (hailed ABC.) "A larger than life figure!" (gushed CNN) "A virtual symbol of freedom!" ( heralded CBS). "His name has a mystical quality--a worldwide hero!" (rhapsodized Dan Rather.) “A Hero in America!” (headlined Time magazine.) Other reports compared Nelson Mandela to the Pope, Jesus...

Santa Clara#Santa Clara, Cuba] Cuban dissident Marta Beatriz Roque has told the AFP news agency that prominent Cuban dissident Jorge Luis García Pérez has been arrested for civil disobedience. Mr Garcia, better known as Antunez, was arrested outside his house in the town of Placetas after attending an opposition meeting. He has been transferred to the provincial capital Santa Clara. Antunez was released from jail last year after serving 17 years for distributing what the authorities call hostile propaganda. Cuban dissident groups say that nearly 300 political prisoners are being held by the authorities.

There are now hundreds of political prisoners [in Cuba], many of whom are Christians, all of whom are incarcerated in grossly inhumane conditions... Take for example Jorge Luis Antunez, who turns 39 years old today, Cuban Independence Day. He has been in prison since 1990, when he was first charged with "oral enemy propaganda." The story of this extraordinarily intelligent young Catholic man and his conscientious battle against the regime is remarkable. Mr. Antunez was born into humble circumstances in the town of Placetas. He was sent away to a state boarding school in the countryside but the indoctrination he...