Humanizing CDR Thugs

Call them what they are, SS type security agents guilty of brutalizing and oppressing the Cuban people, not "Block-Watchers," a friendly sounding name similar to our "Neighborhood Watch," citizen organized neighborhood groups whose purpose is to protect citizens from criminals.

Are we suppossed to feel for these worms?

Excerpted from the Washington Post:

Once, in a bygone era when revolutionary fervor was at its apex, they were muscular entities, dominating street life and cementing castro's hold on power. But over the years they have atrophied, becoming more creaking relic than shining showpiece, victim of the waning enthusiasms of a population weary of economic deprivation.

As castro's brother, interim President raul castro, prepares to take full control after his brother's death, party officials take visiting dignitaries on tours of the committees, and there are signs that the younger castro is trying to inject new life into a system that could be crucial to solidifying his hold on power.

Police call block leaders more often, pressing aggressively for information, according to interviews with current and former CDR leaders. Earlier this year, Cuba's state-run television network broadcast an exposé shaming several committees for failing to post obligatory round-the-clock sentries.

"We're working to lift up the committees," said Over DeLeon, a veteran of the Cuban Revolution who has been a block committee president in Havana for most of the past four decades. "People have not been demonstrating the same spirit, faith and enthusiasm. The population is tired. It has been battling for many years. But we must be vigilant."

Restoring the CDRs to their former glory might be a monumental task. For every unabashed enthusiast such as DeLeon, it seems, there are other CDR leaders whose passion for the system has tapered off.

"We know who the dissidents are, where they work, who they meet with -- we know everything that happens on this block," DeLeon said. "Anyone who is not a revolutionary is an enemy of the Revolution."

The article is here, complete with an excellent photo of DeLeon and his wife.

Posted by Ziva at January 29, 2008 10:20 AM

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Posted by: Cigar Mike Pancier at January 29, 2008 11:00 AM

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