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The Failures Of fidel's Regime
Thursday, November 30, 2006   By: Juan Paxety

Thousands perform acts of civil disobedience

As fidel castro rots, either from the inside in his hospital bed, or from the outside in his grave, the Cuban people are rising up in civil disobedience.  McClatchy Newspapers reports that more than 3000 demonstrations occurred last year - more than twice the number of the year before. This despite the castro regime stepping up reprisals - beginning with the infamous jailing of its opponents three years ago.

``Repression generates rebellion,'' said Janisset Rivero, executive director of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, a Miami exile organization that published the Steps to Freedom report, to be released Thursday at the University of Miami.

The report shows growing discontent with life in Cuba, in part because of the government's inability to provide basic needs.  While those of us who favor limited government see the foolishness of relying on government to provide for us, such provision is just what castro's revolution was supposed to provide.  The report finds:

_The central province of Villa Clara appears to be a hotbed of political opposition, logging far more protests than any other province. Even though nearly all of the island's internationally known dissident activists live in Havana, only 11 percent of last year's civil disobedience took place there.

_25 hunger strikes were held by prisoners.

_The Ladies in White, the group of female relatives of the 75 political prisoners picked up in the 2003 sweep, held 182 different protests.

_The 3,322 acts logged in 2005 - including 2,613 vigils - represent an 85 percent increase over the 1,805 acts of civil disobedience in 2004.

The report is not yet posted on the Directorate's web site - we'll link to it when it's available.

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