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Freedom in the World: Cuba

According to the Freedom in the World 2016 report Cuba is not a free country. With a
population of over 11 million people, the GDP per capita is only about $6,789.80. Cuba also
does not have free speech or freedom of the press (Freedom House 2016). Cuba is actually a
communist country; Cubas Communist government has survived more than 50 years of United
States sanctions intended to topple the veteran leader Fidel Castro (BBC 2016). Cubas current
dictator, Raul Castro, replaced his brother as president in 2008. This country is of particular
interest to me, as my parents and grandparents emigrated from Cuba via Freedom Flights in the
late sixties, wherein the U.S. and Cuban governments came to an agreement which would allow
naturalized Cubans to sponsor relative for repatriation in order to escape the communist regime.
Twice daily, five times a week an empty passenger plane would depart Florida on its way to
Cuba, returning with an average of 85 passengers, mostly families with young children. The
Cuban refugee community grew several hundred thousand strong and prospered through hard
work something they considered impossible in Cuba (Satanovsky 2015). Meanwhile, back in
Cuba, life has never been the same. Fidel Castro exercised control over virtually all aspects of
Cuban life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organizations, the government
bureaucracy and the state security apparatus (BBC 2016). Additionally, according to Mart
News, the watchdog organization for freedoms throughout the world, Freedom House, has given
Cuba a rating of 6.5 points in its Freedom in the World 2015 report, which places the island in
a group of countries where the situation of political rights and civil liberties is slightly better than
the absolute worst countries. (Freedom House 2015).
Overall, not much has changed over the years in regards to Cubas freedom. On a scale
from 1-7, with 7 being the worst, the 2016 Freedom House report gave Cuba a 6.5 in the

Freedom rating, a 7 in political rights and a 6 in civil liberties which pretty much is consistent
with its previous year rankings. Notably yet, in July 2015, Cuba and the United States reopened
embassies in one anothers capitals, officially reestablishing diplomatic relations after more than
50 years of cut ties. By January 2015, the government had freed all of the 53 political prisoners
whose release the United States had requested in prior negotiations. . . . Unfortunately however,
the warming of relations did not lead to a comparable change in the Cuban governments respect
for civil liberties and fundamental political rights (Freedom House 2016).

In sum, while

conditions have improved slightly in some respects, such as first-ever public Wi-Fi hotspots
opening across the island for a $2 usage fee and some expansions in religious freedoms after
Pope Franciss visit to the island last September, economic reforms in the country probably will
never be as free as they are in other countries and will be on a slower annual growth pace.
References
Cuba country profile. (2016, March 2). Retrieved August 19, 2016, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19583447
Freedom in the World | Cuba. (2016). Retrieved August 17, 2016, from
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/cuba
Freedom House: Cuba only country without liberty in the Americas - Foundation for
Human
Rights
in
Cuba.
(2015).
Retrieved
August
19,
2016,
from
http://www.fhrcuba.org/2015/01/freedom-house-cuba-country-without-liberty-americas/
Satanovsky, G. (2015, November 6). Freedom Flights begin from Cuba. Retrieved August
19, 2016, from http://www.famousdaily.com/history/cuban-airlift.html

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