UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody
Posted on March 29, 2016 by Betty Clermont
President Barack Obama traveled to Cuba and Argentina last week.
In Cuba, Obama met with 13 Cuban dissidents at the US Embassy in Havana. They gave him the names of political prisoners the day after Cuban President Raul Castro said there were none in his island nation. Obama said the US continues to have “deep differences” with the Cuban government in the area of human rights and democracy. “My hope is that by listening and hearing from [the dissidents] that we can continue to refine our policy in such a way that ultimately the Cuban people are able to live freely and prosperously.”
In an earlier speech, Obama stated that equality under the law, the right to criticize the government, to protest peacefully, to practice faith peacefully and publicly, and to choose governments in free and democratic elections, are universal “rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.”
Pope Francis visited Cuba September 19-22, 2015. He refused to meet with dissidents and kept silent about political prisoners and other victims of the Castro regime. His only mention of “freedom” was in regards to that of his Church.
Obama honored the victims of the 1976-1983 Dirty War in Argentina on March 24, the 40th anniversary of the military coup.
Pope Francis has not returned to his native land although he has made four trips to Latin America. His two predecessors had quickly returned to Poland and Germany, respectively, to massive acclaim by their compatriots. But when asked by a reporter on Feb. 18, “Holy Father, when are you going to go to Argentina?” – Pope Francis avoided the subject.
The Dirty War
A brutal junta initiated the Dirty War resulting in the “disappearance” of approximately 30,000 Argentines. Even those only suspected of being a dissident were kidnapped, tortured and murdered. The kidnappings – or disappearances – were preferred by the dictators to open bloodshed on their own populace for the practical effect of subduing outright civil war because the friends and families of the disappeared worked and hoped for the release of their loved ones. Because the barbarity was largely hidden, this was called the Dirty War.
Shortly before Obama’s arrival in Buenos Aires, his administration announced that US government documents relating to this period would be declassified. The Nixon/Ford Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger supported the coup. Perhaps the newly unclassified documents will show a more direct US involvement in Argentina similar to the role we played in the 1973 military coup ousting the democratically-elected Chilean Pres. Salvador Allende by Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
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