A WELL-HEELED DICTATORSHIP…

Things may be looking up for the repressive Communist dictatorship in Cuba as an expected scramble to exploit and develop toil reserves in Cuban territorial waters begins. International oil companies from Spain, Norway, Russia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Canada, Angola, Venezuela, and the Peoples Republic of China (oddly enough there are none from the USA) are literally falling over themselves to bring in exploration drilling rigs to search for what may well be substantial oil deposits.

The US Geological Survey (back in 2004) estimated that there may be some 4.6 billion barrels worth of oil, the Cuban authorities disagree and suggest that there may be some 20 billion barrels worth. Either way a major oil discovery would make this communist dictatorship financially independent for the first time since the revolution in 1959 and effectively shatter the US trade embargo and turn Cuba from being a net oil importer into a net oil exporter. While this would be good news for the Cuban people it might not be good news for environmentalists and hard-pressed Cuban civil rights activists as the dictatorship would be flush with cash and effectively unassailable.

THUS SHOULD DIE ALL TYRANTS...

He won't be missed...save by his friends

The news that the Libyan ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after fleeing an assault on his home town of Sirte will I suspect lead to the shedding of few tears for his passing. He may be missed by members of his family and his friends but by few other people. There will be more tears from the relatives of his victims and their surviving family members. Gaddafi may not have dodged the NATO bullets but he has successfully avoided a day in court at the Hague on War Crimes charges. Hopefully the National Transition Council will once its fully in-charge will publish any recovered paperwork relating to the supply or arms to the previous regime and hopefully have a full and public investigation into just who supplied the Libyan dictator with his weapons over the long and brutal years of his rule.

CUBA AND POLITICAL PRISONERS

Despite the fact that the Cuban government is still in a state of denial when it comes to whether or not they actually hold political prisoners and basically considers dissidents as mercenaries in the pay of the US in order to destabilise the government. Despite this the Cuban Communist government has finally freed the last two political prisoners detained since a major crackdown on opposition activists in 2003. Felix Navarro, 57, was a teacher and political activist; 40-year-old Jose Ferrer a fisherman and member of one of the opposition movements. They were both sentenced to 25-year jail terms and considered prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International.

In all some 75 leading intellectuals, opposition figures and activists were detained during what became known as Cuba's "Black Spring". The Communist Dictatorship was exposed to widespread international condemnation at the mass arrests and long prison terms, with even the European Union suspending all its co-operation programmes. Some of them were later released on health grounds. However, it was not until last July that there was a breakthrough when a deal was brokered by the Roman Catholic Church in which Cuba's President Raul Castro agreed to free the remaining 52. The majority had left with their extended families for Spain within a few months. This process came to a halt when a dozen of the dissidents refused to leave and go into exile, they demanded that they be allowed to return to their homes in Cuba.

The Cuban government anxious to get out of the public eye has gone well beyond its original pledge and allowed at least 60 other prisoners to go to Spain. Another eleven more are due to leave Cuba shortly, including the last man listed as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. It was the death in prison in 2010 last year of the dissident hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo that out Cuba back into the international Human Rights spotlight. The issue remained in the headlines after another dissident, Guillermo Farinas, also began his own prolonged hunger strike. Earlier this month the remaining Ladies in White and some of the released prisoners met at the house of one of the organisers intending to hold a short march. They were besieged by several hundred pro-government supporters chanting abuse and forcing them to stay indoors.

The EU is due to consider in the coming months whether to fully normalise relations with Cuba. Cuba remains a one party state and despite the release of dissidents, the authorities are continuing to harass opposition groups even though they appear to have little impact amongst ordinary Cubans. In relation to curbing dissent in line of what's been going on across the Arab world, I wonder how long it will be before access to the Internet is curbed in Cuba. Oddly enough at the moment Cuba has one of the lowest levels of Internet access and mobile phone ownership in the Americas, but social media, may well be slowly starting to have an impact.

FREEDOM'S STRUGGLE

Guillermo Farinas

The struggle for freedom and democracy takes many forms, whether through acts of individual courage, as in totalitarian dictatorships like Communist Cuba, where Police in Cuba have again released leading dissident Guillermo Farinas after his third arrest in 48 hours. His latest arrest had come with around 10 other dissidents while laying flowers at a monument to Cuba's independence leader Jose Marti.

The BBC says that he was freed after being taken to hospital, complaining of chest pains. Guillermo Farinas gained international attention in 2010 when he came close to death after staging a 134-day hunger strike and was fed intravenously. He started his 23rd hunger strike in February 2010 in protest at the death of fellow dissident and hunger striker Orlando Zapata. This protest in July, when Cuban President Raul Castro authorised the release of 52 of the island's most prominent prisoners of conscience. The EU awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last December, although he was prevented from leaving Cuba to collect the award.

Sometimes, freedom, democracy and liberty can be affirmed at the ballot box, as is the case in South Sudan Preliminary results show that some 99% of South Sudanese have voted to secede from the north, according to the first complete results of the region's independence referendum. Some 99.57 percent of those polled voted for independence, according to the referendum commission. Early counting had put the outcome of the ballot beyond doubt, indicating Southern Sudan had secured a mandate to become the world's newest nation. The poll was agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal to end two decades of war. The final results from the 9th-15th January vote, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will accept, are expected early next month. If the result is confirmed, the new country is set to formally declare its independence on 9th July.

And sometimes, as in Tunis people have to stand up and be counted, when it really matters as they collectively brought an end 30 years of tyranny, corruption and wasted opportunities. Hopefully, the Egyptian people we be equally as successful as the Tunisian people were last month.

Another Tehran trade unionist arrested

Saeed Torabian, a spokesperson for the Tehran bus drivers’ union (the Vahed Syndicate), was arrested yesterday by Iranian security forces and is being held incommunicado, whereabouts unknown.

This statement is from the Bus Drivers Union:

“Saeed Torabian, board member the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburb Vahed Bus Company was arrested on Wednesday June 9 2010 at 9 a.m. by security forces at his home and has been transferred to an unknown location. It is worth noting after ransacking his home his computer and cell phone were confiscated by security forces. After the board of directors was informed, they, along with Torabian's family members, despite their search, were not able to locate his whereabouts.

Previously Mr. Saeed Torabian had been arrested twice during the 2005 strikes of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company and spent more than one month in detention. He was also suspended from work for four years and was denied wages and all benefits. After continuous inquiries with the court of public administrative justice he was reinstated in his job and was returned to work. At this time two other members of the Syndicate's board of directors, Mansoor Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, are imprisoned in Rajayee Shahr prison in City of Karaj and Evin Prison in Tehran.

The syndicate of Vahed Company workers condemns the arrest of Saeed Torabian and other syndicate members and demand the unconditional freedom of its members and all justice seeking prisoners.”

Check out the International Transport Workers' Federation website for more details.