Laura Bush pushes for human rights in Cuba, in call to Ladies in White
First Lady Laura Bush has used her final year in the White House to try to influence two of the most doggedly difficult human rights and foreign policy issues to face the Bush administration and its recent predecessors.
She has made a personal crusade of trying to free political opposition leader and human rights campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in Myanmar, and -- on a broader front -- she has tried to bring democracy in general to the country also known as Burma.
And today, she brought a very public spotlight to the Ladies in White, the group of spouses and other relatives of jailed dissidents seeking to bring respect for human rights to Cuba -- as they worked to do in the 2007 protest march pictured above.
Just as her work on behalf of Burmese dissidents has had an "in-your-face" quality, so, too, has her direct challenge to the Castro regime in Cuba.
With Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, who was born in Havana, she spoke with members of the group by digital video conference.
In a written statement issued after the long-distance meeting, she said:
These women show a courage and determination that is deeply moving, and their stories are an important reminder that dictatorship cannot crush the spirit of freedom.
The United States will continue to shine a light on the abuses of the Castro regime, which has imprisoned the husbands, sons and brothers of the Ladies in White, as well as other Cubans who attempt to exercise their fundamental human rights. The United States supports the efforts of the Ladies in White and other independent civil society activists to free all political prisoners and restore human rights in Cuba.
If the video conference and a statement by the first lady suggest to Cuban Americans in Miami and elsewhere a continued White House effort on behalf of Castro's opponents, well, what Republican campaigner would complain?
-- James Gerstenzang
Photos: Above: Ladies in White in a 2007 protest. Credit: Gregory Bull / Associated Press.
Below: First Lady Laura Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez in video conference with members of the group. Credit: Joyce N. Boghosian / The White House.
