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Two Dictators: Fidel Castro and Nicolae Ceausescu |
Comment
by Martin Lessenthin
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Two Dictators: Fidel Castro and Nicolae Ceausescu |
Under the rule of former Romanian dictator
Nicolae Ceausescu, who terrorized and permanently silenced so many
people, the Romanian population was systematically and deliberately deceived.
When freezing temperatures and the notorious lack of power for heating
constituted a political problem for the leader of the Romanian economy, the
state-owned media routinely chose to disseminate incorrect information about
winter temperatures. At the same time, Romanians did not have access to
information from abroad. One could be prosecuted for the possession of foreign
newspaper, and for the distribution of own publications, however simple their
contents. Under Ceausescu, the possession of a typewriter was a
punishable offence and only lawyers were allowed to own one. However,
in order to be allowed to obtain a typewriter, lawyers had to apply for a
special "licence"!
A Romanian lawyer who sought asylum in Germany, brought with him and showed to
ISHR human rights activists one of these certificates which allowed him to own a
typewriter. That was twenty years ago – today one would laugh about it, if it
were not so serious and sad. Today we know what happened to Ceausescu’s regime
and the dictator himself. And we still can feel how difficult and cumbersome it
is to appraise the past and to heal the wounds left by such erroneous policies.
Similarly, Fidel Castro in Cuba is afraid that the population
might find out too much about life in freedom. The Maximo Lider cannot stand the
fact that journalists like Guillermo Farinas Hernandez
have unlimited access to the internet. To prevent the Cuban population
from receiving and disseminating independent information, the dictator is
prepared to let the hunger-striking journalist die. Even state employees who
have official internet access and whose job it is to find out about web site
structures are prohibited from browsing on western web sites. If the employee
fails to comply, he instantly loses his job.
Internet access in Cuba today is equivalent to possessing a
typewriter in Romania twenty years ago. Castro’s secret service and police
monitor anyone with a computer as well as all phone connection on the island.
Politicians should bare this in mind when they discuss the situation in Cuba; so
do holidaymakers who are fooled by Castro’s propaganda machine into believing
the dream of a Caribbean paradise.
Martin Lessenthin
International Society for Human Rights Germany
Spokesman of the Board
ISHR – IGFM, 01.06.2006
