AFGHANISTAN AND CUBA: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
By Claudio F. Benedí

The situation of Afghanistan bears more similarity than dissimilarity with the situation of Cuba, in terms of both fact and law. The two countries have declared war on Judeo-Christian civilization.

As soon as Castro's communist regime took power in Cuba, the word "God" was stricken from the Cuban Constitution and Cuban law, and heavy sanctions were enacted, with, in extreme cases, the imposition of the death penalty, dressed up as a counterrevolutionary sanction. Under Castro's communist regime, human rights, as conceived in the West and as enshrined in the 1940 Cuban Constitution, were suppressed, and were replaced with a declaration to the effect that all rights were held by the state; and individuals had no rights vis-a-vis the state, the individual thereby rendered defenseless against the de facto state and against the rule of law as exercised in Cuba.

Events in Afghanistan under the Taliban were somewhat similar. The Judeo-Christian God was banned and some of His followers persecuted and even murdered.

The Taliban also suppressed human rights as conceived and respected in the West, with despicable and insulting suppression of all aspects of women's rights.

Another unprecedented event, echoed by the Cuban state, was the declaration of total war against the United States and what this country stands for, in the most horrific and absurd subversive movement yet founded worldwide. There is undisguised mutual sympathy between Castro's totalitarian communist regime and that of the Taliban and, particularly, between Castro and 0sama bin Laden, to the absurd extent that there were publications that indicated that Osama bin Laden might find refuge in Cuba.

A few days ago, the "Secretary of Foreign Affairs" of Castro's communist regime stated, in the highest UN forum, that Cuba condemned the United State's unjust war and crime against the Taliban in Afghanistan because "the United States is killing children and the civilian population and bombing hospitals and Red Cross facilities." This is a scandalous accusation against the United States by Castro's communist regime and demonstrates Cuba's identification and solidarity with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

With the defeat of the Taliban in Kabul, a power struggle has emerged among the tribes and factions that fought against that group, as has a thorny problem; because all groups dispute, and lay claim, to power in Kabul, but none is fully entitled to govern. It has, therefore, been decided to meet shortly in Germany or in any other European country to seek an agreement on a government acceptable to all.

For its part, the United Nations is seeking accord among the various factions and groups or tribes.

To prevent this situation repeating itself in Cuba when, as is expected shortly, Castro's communist regime is defeated, Cuba has the best legal, patriotic, and historic solution: restoration of its 1940 Constitution, in its pertinent parts, an instrument which clearly provides that the provisional president of Cuba shall be the most senior magistrate. It is our good fortune that our most senior magistrate, Dr. Jose Morell Romero, is a great and distinguished patriot, capable and upright, and entirely devoted to the Free Cuba cause. As an incontestable patriotic solution, he will serve briefly as provisional President, and will call duly supervised, free, and democratic elections, and will hand over power to whoever is elected. This is the free and democratic Cuban solution.                [Volver]