For the Cuba Skeptics

MARCH 5, 2011

BY: CAPITOL HILL CUBANS



Almost every day this week there's been a column arguing that Cuba is not Egypt or Libya; and thus, not to expect similar events to unfold.

It's akin to the Castro-required qualifiers for reporting from Havana on Cuba's dissident movement -- that it's "small and unorganized."

Unfortunately, this takes a toll on well-intentioned people, who consequently become skeptical of a forthcoming end to Castro's brutal dictatorship -- which (not coincidentally) is exactly what it wants you to think.

So we urge Cuba skeptics to read the following headline from France24 News:

Preparing for post-Gaddafi: Benghazi rebels organize a transition council

In Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and one of the first to fall under rebel control, dissidents are scrambling to get organized.

Now ask yourself:

Just one month ago, how "large and organized" was Libya's dissident movement? And who foresaw that regime change was imminent there?

Answer:

One month ago, Libya's dissident movement was no larger or better organized than Cuba's. And no one saw it coming.