Inflammatory phrases like “Havana’s human rights hell” and “11 million Cubans enslaved for the last 50 years” are just that—inflammatory. They do nothing to encourage any sort of international understanding or change on the part of the Cuban regime. Nor do they advance the cause of detente between the United States and Cuba, or indeed, Cuba and other countries of the world. The kind of rhetoric used by Ms. Mary Anastasia O’Grady of the Wall Street Journal on a regular basis is exactly what Washington needs to get away from, and which popular media should likewise spurn. Her “axis of evil”-type commentary is the kind of communication that forces other nations and peoples to put up their guard, to act on the defensive, to be suspicious of U.S. motives, and understandably so.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo’s death last week must not be exploited in order to incite this sort of negative fear-mongering. As nearly the only word on Latin America each day in the Wall Street Journal, Ms. O’Grady should feel a greater responsibility to deliver facts and opinion fairly, with evidence.
To readers following Cuba and broader Latin American issues in U.S. and other media: beware the O’Gradys of the opinion pages.
