Dear Robert;
I apologize to my colleagues who don't like a lot of
political foolishness on the list. I do think that our duty
as citizens sometimes compels us to discuss things like
this.
You're leaving facts out of your argument. a) The
independent librarians were initially authorized by Castro
(that was in the part of the Heyer column that you deleted
before you posted it to the list.) b) The latest round of
repression started when US administration officials started
encouraging Cubans to sign petitions, & etc., knowing full
well that Castro's reaction would be a crackdown. Inciting
people to pursue their liberty is not a bad thing, unless
the incitor knows that the incitees will end up in prison,
and that the incitor because of diplomatic immunity faces no
risk whatsoever. Then the incitement is just a cynical
manipulation of human beings to advance the political agenda
of the incitor.
We were recently led into war via the tactics of inventing
and exaggerating facts which supported the decision,
covering up and distorting facts which didn't support the
decision, and personally attacking anyone who disagreed.
I'm sorry, but your tactics on this issue seem very similar.
I have no problem helping Cuban colleagues whether
"professional" or not) - advancing someone's personal
political agenda is another matter.
Thanks.
> In a message dated 6/30/03 9:50:14 AM Eastern Daylight
> Time, CareyE@tht.com writes:
>
> >
> > (And on the putative cause of this dust-up, the
> > "independent librarians" in Cuba, I have to say that
> > _everything_ I've seen, on both sides, has been so
> saturated with partisan grandstanding that I don't think I
> > have the slightest idea what's really going on there.)
> >
> Please refer to the detailed reports confirming the
> systematic persecution of Cuba's independent librarians
> issued by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and
> the International Federation of Library Assocations, among
> others. Journalists for the New York Times, the
> Washington Post, the BBC, ABC TV, the Boston Globe, the
> Chronicle of Higher Education, the Associated Press, etc.
> have also gone to Cuba and documented the repression of
> the librarians.
> Sincerely,
>
> The Friends of Cuban Libraries
> (WWW.FRIENDSOFCUBANLIBRARIES.ORG)
>
Scott DeLeve
Public Services Law Librarian
University of Mississippi Law Library
P.O. Box 1848 / University, MS 38677
662/915-6834 / sdeleve@olemiss.edu
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