Freedom House: Cuba is the least free country in Latin America

It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that communist Cuba is the country with the least amount of liberties in Latin America. According to the latest rating from Freedom House, Cuba earns the lowest score for freedoms in the region. Nevertheless, leftists will continue to laud the triumphs of Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution and ignore the misery and oppression of the Cuban people. That’s the way it’s been for 65 years, and there is no respite in sight.

Via CubaNet (my translation):

Cuba, the country with the least amounts of freedom in Latin America, according to report

Cuba is classified as the country with the least freedoms in Latin America, according to the latest report from the prestigious NGO Freedom House.

For the 2024 report, the island remains among the countries worldwide with the lowest overall score in terms of freedoms, with only 12 points out of 100 possible.

Venezuela (15), Nicaragua (16), and Haiti (30) are the other countries in the region that fall into the “not free” category.

Freedom House assigns Cuba a lowly 11 points in the area of civil rights and only 1 point in political rights.

Cuba maintains the same score and status as in 2023.

Political Rights

Regarding the electoral process, the report notes that Cuban elections are neither fair nor transparent, and the opposition is not allowed to participate.

“The 470 candidates approved for the March 2023 National Assembly elections were considered elected. However, the 2023 general elections had the lowest voter turnout since 1993, at approximately 76 percent,” it reads.

Freedom House labels the Cuban government as authoritarian and states that “Cuba’s single-party system excludes the public from any genuine and autonomous political participation.”

“Intelligence agencies play a significant role in suppressing dissent and exert profound influence over virtually all aspects of the state,” it summarizes.

Civil Rights

The organization acknowledges that independent press operates outside the law on the island and is considered enemy propaganda. Likewise, it explains that independent journalists are “routinely harassed, detained, interrogated, threatened, and defamed in the official press.”

The report specifies that “the government closely monitors and criminalizes those perceived as dissidents within the artistic community, traditional artists and intellectuals, and media figures who express independent or critical opinions.”

In this regard, Freedom House mentions the recent case of academic Alina Bárbara López Hernández, found guilty of the crime of “contempt” after refusing to attend a summons following a peaceful protest.

According to Freedom House, Cubans do not have academic freedom, and the rights of association are limited and controlled by the government.

“Restrictions on freedom of assembly remain a key form of political control. Security forces and government-backed assailants routinely disrupt peaceful meetings or protests by political dissidents and civic activists,” they specify.

The report considers that on the island, due judicial process is not upheld, there is no separation of powers, and there is no rule of law.

1 thought on “Freedom House: Cuba is the least free country in Latin America”

  1. Maybe, LONG ago, foolish foreigners who didn’t know shit about Cuba could have been forgiven for being useful idiots, but anyone who supports or justifies Cuba’s totalitarian hell now is at best pathetic and more likely contemptible. After 65 years of oppression, abuses and misery, such support is obscenely evil.

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