U.S. uses Martin Luther King as anti-Cuba prop
Tue Jan 17, 2006 6:28 AM IST
HAVANA (Reuters) - The United States used quotes from civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday as the latest prop in its ideological war with President Fidel Castro's communist government.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up," shone in bright orange letters from an electronic display moving across the top windows of the American diplomatic mission in Havana.
The quote from King's famous 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington was followed by articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The display began on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, marking the birthday of the slain black leader. A spokesman for the U.S. Interest Section said the message, focusing on human rights, spoke for itself.
The U.S. government has long criticized Cuba's one-party state, born of the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, for violating human rights and suppressing dissent.
The display is likely to bring an angry response from Cuban authorities, who accuse U.S. diplomats of breaking international conventions by meddling in Cuba's domestic politics.
A Christmas display at the U.S. mission in 2004 included a lit-up number 75, in reference to the pro-democracy activists jailed by Cuba in March 2003.
The Cuban government retaliated with huge billboards showing pictures of hooded and bloodied prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a swastika and the words "Fascists: made in USA."
The billboards are still up on Havana's Malecon sea-wall opposite the U.S. mission.
HAVANA (Reuters) - The United States used quotes from civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday as the latest prop in its ideological war with President Fidel Castro's communist government.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up," shone in bright orange letters from an electronic display moving across the top windows of the American diplomatic mission in Havana.
The quote from King's famous 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington was followed by articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The display began on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, marking the birthday of the slain black leader. A spokesman for the U.S. Interest Section said the message, focusing on human rights, spoke for itself.
The U.S. government has long criticized Cuba's one-party state, born of the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, for violating human rights and suppressing dissent.
The display is likely to bring an angry response from Cuban authorities, who accuse U.S. diplomats of breaking international conventions by meddling in Cuba's domestic politics.
A Christmas display at the U.S. mission in 2004 included a lit-up number 75, in reference to the pro-democracy activists jailed by Cuba in March 2003.
The Cuban government retaliated with huge billboards showing pictures of hooded and bloodied prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a swastika and the words "Fascists: made in USA."
The billboards are still up on Havana's Malecon sea-wall opposite the U.S. mission.
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