Castro's purge infuriates US
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Your support makes all the difference.Tensions have dramatically escalated between Cuba and the US after a brutal crackdown by the regime of Fidel Castro against opposition leaders that resulted in prison sentences of 20 years or more for about 75 dissidents last week.
All were convicted after court hearings of no more than one day.
Cuba took a still more violent step on Friday by executing by firing squad three men who earlier this month hijacked a small passenger ferry in Havana Bay with 50 hostages and tried to make it to Florida.
The last of the political dissidents were sentenced on Thursday, prompting a stinging rebuke from Washington. The dissidents, who include journalists and doctors, were convicted of receiving money from the US government and collaborating with American diplomats to destabilise the Castro regime.
Opponents of President Castro have accused him of trying to sweep away the dissidents at a time when the rest of the world has been distracted by events in Iraq. His actions are certain to harden attitudes towards Cuba in Washington after a long period when frictions appeared to be easing somewhat.
"We call on Castro to end this despicable repression and free these prisoners of conscience," said the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell. "The United States and the international community will be unrelenting in our insistence that Cubans who seek peaceful change are permitted to do so."
The round-up of dissidents suggests growing anxiety within Mr Castro's circle that political opposition is becoming a serious threat, with the economy stagnating and popular frustration growing.
At the centre of the crackdown controversy is James Cason, the new head of the US Interests Section in Havana. The regime has accused Mr Cason of using his office to support dissidents with money and other assistance. Mr Cason has argued that his mission operates like any other US embassy.
A new chill on relations with the US and the European Union is already being felt. The US and the EU submitted a resolution of censure to the UN Commission on Human Rights last week, and the US Congress, which had recently been moving towards easing trade and travel restrictions, condemned the crackdown.
European governments are considered unlikely to extend any new trade concessions to the country for some time.
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