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Weekly Report - 20 August 2015 (WR-15-33)
CUBA: Dissidents complain of abandonment
No sooner had the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, left Havana after an emotive flag raising ceremony to mark the restoration of the US embassy in Cuba than local authorities resumed dissident round-ups. Dissidents complained of over 100 detentions across the island over the weekend of 15-16 August; all subsequently released. “We are deeply worried about the reports about detentions of peaceful dissidents”, an unnamed state department official told Spanish media. “We will continue expressing our support for an improvement in human rights conditions and democratic reforms in Cuba”. Critics of the restoration of ties with Cuba remain distinctly unimpressed, accusing the US administration of President Barack Obama of forsaking the dissidents and of making too many concessions to the Cuban government led by President Raúl Castro – encouraged by US lobbyists motivated by blatant commercial reasons – with very little in return from Havana.
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