It’s time for Kerry to engage with Cuban dissidents

If Secretary of State John Kerry is serious when he claims that the Obama Administration will keep pressing for democracy and human rights in Cuba, this is the least he should do: invite Cuban dissidents to the flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Havana when he travels for the historic event there on Aug. 14.

It sounds like a trivial gesture, but it’s not. Cuba’s dictatorship — yes, even those of us who don’t oppose the reestablishment of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic ties must call it for what it is — refuses to have direct contact or even participate in events attended by peaceful oppositionists.

Anybody in Cuba who dares to organize with others to demand free elections or freedom of speech is considered a “U.S. mercenary, ” and is officially treated as a non-person. When foreign embassies celebrate their national holidays and decide to invite dissidents, the Castro regime sends pro-government artists or state-salaried “intellectuals, ” but no government officials.

For the Obama administration, inviting Cuban dissidents such as the Ladies in White or other well-known peaceful opponents to the Aug. 14 U.S. flag-raising at the embassy in Havana — scheduled to be attended by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez — would be proof that it’s not bluffing when it says that it will maintain its commitment to democracy and human rights in Cuba.

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