Space for Political, Cultural and Religious Expression Opening up in Cuba

Interview with Joy Gordon, professor of philosophy at Fairfield University, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

The recent wave of democratically- elected leftist leaders in one Latin American nation after another, is challenging U.S. policy toward the hemisphere. Washington's economic and political domination over the region, almost two centuries old, was first articulated in the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine claimed the U.S. had an almost proprietary relationship with the rest of the countries in the hemisphere, and that the European powers should stay out. For the past 45 years, the top priority of U.S. foreign policy vis-a-vis Latin America and the Caribbean has been the isolation of Cuba under Fidel Castro.

Over several decades the U.S. has placed enormous pressure on governments in the region not to recognize Cuba, even as Washington repeatedly attempted to assassinate Castro and overthrow his government. Enforcing the U.S. policy of isolation was never wholly successful, less so now with many current leaders, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Uruguay's Tabare Vasquez establishing friendly relations with Havana.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Joy Gordon, professor of philosophy at Fairfield University, who has made a dozen trips to Cuba since 1989. The Bush administration -- and the European Union -- have focused on what they call an intensification of repression in Cuba after 75 dissidents were sentenced to long prison terms in 2003. But Gordon says on her most recent trip, in March of 2005, she observed the opposite -- that there is now more room for dissent in Cuba, in all realms of public life, than has been seen in decades.

For more information on the current situation in Cuba visit www.ifconews.org

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