Hey, Wayne Smith, Christian Science Monitor, CBS

Recently an article appeared in the Christian Science Monitor touting the release of some political prisoners in Cuba and was picked up by CBS. Read it here. The releases are seen therewith as a sign of hope. Also commenting in the article is the ubiquitous Wayne Smith.

Let's put this hopeful sign to the test. I love reading Payo Libre because the news is directly from Cuba. It is in Spanish, so I took the liberty of translating and summarizing some bits of recent articles.

Dispatches for 8/31/2007
Government Threatens the Freemasons- Concerned that an "enemy of the revolution" might be elected head of the masons, the government raises the specter of their becoming an illegal organization.

Cuban Oppositon Members Detained- A group of young activists involved in the noncooperation campaign, meeting at a church, were seized, hauled off to the hoosegow, pushed around, threatened, and fined a 100.00.

Cuban Opposition Member Detained- José Ramón Cuellar Méndez reported that he was kept at the police station for 24 hours and interrogated, having been accused of posting libelous images of Fidel. He reports that there were a group of young men at the station, awaiting "trial" on charges of "dangerousness," some as young as 17 or 18.

Dispatches for 8/30/2007
Holguin Author Visited and Threatened- visited by a member of the "Political Police," he was threatened with twenty years in jail, the loss of his job. He was already expelled from university. His wife, a journalist, was suspended from her job.

Opposition Member Accosted in Park
After being taken down to the police station where a member of the political police awaited him,
he was threatened.

That is not even two days worth of dispatches. I tired of translating the same thing. Given the illegality and lack of access to means of communication, there are probably only the tip of the iceberg.

So do CBS, The Christian Science Monitor, and Wayne Smith still want to talk to me about hope?