On March 18th five years ago, Castro’s government cracked down on the Varela Project and other civil society initiatives rather than risk allowing a spark of democratic reform to spread across Cuba as it had in the former Soviet bloc.  The seventy five prisoners of conscience locked up were dissidents, independent journalists, leaders from civil society, and librarians, who had dared to speak the truth openly about what life is like in Cuba.  Even though four prisoners have recently been released, fifty five of the seventy five remain incarcerated in deplorable conditions.  In general, the only reason that any of these prisoners were freed was because of how seriously their health had deteriorated.
Néanmoins, si le mur de Berlin et le rideau de fer appartiennent désormais aux poubelles de l'Histoire, certains vestige de l'ère soviétique demeurent  fermement en place. Certaines parties du monde se sont transformées en mieux, tandis que pour d'autres laissées à elles-mêmes, le temps semble s'être figé.