Castro callously criticizes Cuban dissidents

In a speech yesterday Cuban president Raul Castro blasted dissidents on the island. "We will never give in to blackmail,” said Castro against political protestors he claimed where being manipulated by foreign countries. Castro also blamed the U.S. and Europe of "hypocritically holding up the flag of human rights" and declared that the Cuban human rights situation has slowly improved.

Castro’s comments echo those made last month by parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon who said that a foreign-led “media campaign” was being run against the Castro regime.

The Cuban government has faced increased international pressure over a series of actions regarding political prisoners. Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in late February after going on hunger strike while the Ladies in White have accused authorities of heavy-handedness in breaking up a recent march. Dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas has been in frail health while enduring his own hunger strike. Castro alluded to his condition in Sunday’s discourse:

"Everything possible is being done to save his life, but if he does not change his self-destructive attitude, he will be responsible, together with his backers, for the outcome we don't want," Castro said in a speech to a Union of Communist Youth convention.

"More than a half century of permanent combat has taught our people that vacillation is synonymous with defeat," he said.

Despite the Castro regime’s repression and staunch coercion against just about any opposition, the government denied that there are any political prisoners on the island.

Image- Guardian UK (Guillermo Fariñas has been on a hunger strike for over a month and has refused to leave Cuba in order to seek treatment).
Online Sources- CNN, MSNBC, LAHT, ABC News, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, Reuters, BBC News