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.
Některé části světa se proměnily k lepšímu, zatímco jiné ustrnuly v čase, aby se nějak protloukly. Jedním takovým místem, které se nezměnilo, je Kuba, navzdory tomu, že Fidel Castro se rozhodl odejít do penze a předat otěže moci svému bratru Raúlovi.