por admin » Vie Abr 23, 2010 7:51 pm
Ya me extranian? La Agenda de la Libertad despues de George W. Bush
Los disidentes en los paises mas opresivos del mundo no estan sintiendo el amor por parte del Presidente Obama
Nadie sabe a ciencia cierta quien puso el panel publicitario en la carretera I-35 cerca a Wyoming, Minn. con la foto de G. Bush diciendo "Ya me extranian?". Pero el disidente Sirio Ahed Al-Hendi es uno de los que extranian a George W. Bush.
En el 2006, Mr. Hendi estaba en un cafe-internet en Damascus cuando lo apresaron, lo esposaron y lo metieron a la maletara de un carro. El estuvo un mes en una prision de 5 x 3 sin ventanas donde escuchaba a sus amigos gritar debido a la tortura que les propinaban. Esos gritos eran una senial reconfortante, el saber que seguian vivos.
Mr. Hendi fue uno de los mas afortunados: ahora el vive en Maryland como refugiado politico donde trabaja en una organizacion llamada Cyberdissidents.org. Y este Lunes pasado, el se unio a otros disidentes internacionales en una conferencia auspiciada por el Bush Institute at Southern Methodist University para discutir la manera como las herramientas digitales pueden usarse para resistir a los regimenes represivos y dictadores.
El se reunio con el 43rd presidente. En un desayuno privado ofrecido por Mr. y Mrs. Bush, Mr. Hendi le dio su mensaje muy simple al ex-presidente: "Yo te extranio" Han habido "muchos cambios" bajo la presente administracion, pero no para bien.
Adrian Hong, quien escapo una prision en China en el 2006 por ayudar a escapar a los North Koreanos tambien hace eco de ese sentimiento. "Cuando fui soltado despues de 10 dias de carcel, se me dijo que fue por el mensaje muy fuerte de la Casa Blanca y la cultura de libertad que tu defendias" le dijo a Mr. Bush.
El ex-presidente, ahora con un bronzeado deportivo, no menciono el nombre de Obama ni una sola vez. Lo unico que dijo al respecto es que estaba preocupado por la mentalidad aislante... "Yo no creo que le hace servicio a los valores de nuestro pais" dijo Mr. Bush. Los disidentes no fueron tan diplomaticos.
Mr. Hendi dijo con respecto a los cambios de la politica de Obama con su pais: "En Syria cuando un disidente era arrestado durante la administracion Bush, por lo menos la Casa Blanca condenaba el hecho, bajo la administracion Obama no se dice ni una sola palabra.
Tampoco esta de acuerdo con la decision de Obama de enviar un embajador a Damacus, hecho que no se realizaba desde el 2005, esto le da confianza al regimen, ellos no conocen el dialogo, solo la fuerza.
Mr.Hong lo puso de esta manera: Cuando vemos a los disidentes... y hasta su retorica ha cambiado dramaticamente. Bajo la administracion de Mr. Bush, hubieron muchas reuniones con los disidentes de North Korea, se hizo el esfuerzo para hacerlos una prioridad.
Y tambien hablo Marcel Granier, el presidente de RCTV, la mas antigua y popular estacion de television en Venezuela. El empleaba a varios miles de personas, hasta que Hucho Chavez cancelo su licencia en el 2007. Ahora es esta luchando para mantener un canal independiente en cable. Mr. Chavez ha ordenado a los networks que no le den espacio. Los que apoyan al gobierno han atacado su casa con gas lacrimogeno dos veces, y asi el sigue en el pais, incansable luchando por la libertad de los medios de comunicacion.
Como muchos amantes de la democracia en la conferencia, Mr. Granier estuvo muy esperanzado ante la historica eleccion de Mr. Obama. Pero un anio y medio despues, el esta preocupado por el silencio de la administracion de Obama ante la dictadura en su pais. "Por lo menos en Afghanistan, la poblacion sabe que US estara alli por 18 meses"
Este sentimiento de abandono ha sido nutrido por un cambio real en la potlitica. Solo esta semana Obama anuncio que cortaria los fondos para promover la democracia en Egypt a la mitad. Programas en paises como Jordan e Iran tambien han sido recortados. Tambien estan los gestos simbolicos: recibir a el Dalai Lama por la puerta falsa, medias palabras de apoyo a los protestantes de Iran, sonrisas y estrechadas de mano con Mr. Chavez y demas.
Daniel Baer, representante del State Deparment dice que no es cierto que la Casa Blanca se esta distanciando de la promocion de los derechos humanos. Pero esta muy claro que Obama no es como su predecesor.
Por su parte Mr. Bush ciertamente esta conciente que la Agenda de la Libertad que fue la pieza central de su presidencia, ha sido identificada con la guerra con Iraq, es una pena. La promocion pacifica de los derecho humanos y la democracia-en parte apoyando a los individos que arriesgan su vida- son las consonantes de los mas basicos valores de US. Defenderlos no debe ser un tema de un partido politico.
Por el momento Mr. Bush no es el poster boy correcto: El no puede ponerle una nueva marca y despolitizar la agenda de la libertad. Entonces quizas el puede tener la esperanza, mientras se mantiene alejado, que
los americanos se sienta comodos nuevamente con el concepto de la libertad, ojala sea asi por el bien de los amantes de la democracia, esos valientes de paises como Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Colombia, China y Rusia. No hay que perder la esperanza.
Ms.Weiss es la asistente de la editoria del WSJ.
Ms. Weiss is an assistant editorial features editor at the Journal.
Miss Me Yet? The Freedom Agenda After George W. Bush
Dissidents in the world's most oppressive countries aren't feeling the love from President Obama
By BARI WEISS
Dallas
No one seems to know precisely who is behind the "Miss Me Yet?" billboard—the cheeky one featuring a grinning George W. Bush that looks out over I-35 near Wyoming, Minn. But Syrian dissident Ahed Al-Hendi sympathizes with the thought.
In 2006, Mr. Hendi was browsing pro-democracy Web sites in a Damascus Internet café when plainclothes cops carrying automatic guns swooped in, cuffed him, and threw him into the trunk of a car. He spent over a month in prison, some of it alone in a 5-by-3 windowless basement cell where he listened to his friend being tortured in the one next door. Those screams, he says, were cold comfort—at least he knew his friend hadn't been killed.
Mr. Hendi was one of the lucky ones: He's now living in Maryland as a political refugee where he works for an organization called Cyberdissidents.org. And this past Monday, he joined other international dissidents at a conference sponsored by the Bush Institute at Southern Methodist University to discuss the way digital tools can be used to resist repressive regimes.
He also got to meet the 43rd president. In a private breakfast hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Bush, Mr. Hendi's message to the former president was simple: "We miss you." There have been "a lot of changes" under the current administration, he added, and not for the better.
Adrian Hong, who was imprisoned in China in 2006 for his work helping North Koreans escape the country (a modern underground railroad), echoed that idea. "When I was released [after 10 days] I was told it was because of very strong messaging from the White House and the culture you set," he told Mr. Bush.
Bloomberg News
.The former president, now sporting a deep tan, didn't mention President Obama once on or off the record. The most he would say was, "I'm really concerned about an isolationist mentality . . . I don't think it lives up to the values of our country." The dissidents weren't so diplomatic.
Mr. Hendi elaborated on the policy changes he thinks Mr. Obama has made toward his home country. "In Syria, when a single dissident was arrested during the administration of George W. Bush, at the very least the White House spokesman would condemn it. Under the Obama administration: nothing."
Nor is Mr. Hendi a fan of this administration's efforts to engage the regime, most recently by deciding to send an ambassador to Damascus for the first time since 2005. "This gives confidence to the regime," he says. "They are not capable of a dialogue; they don't believe in it. They believe in force."
Mr. Hong put things this way: "When you look at the championing of dissidents . . . and even the rhetoric, it's dropped off sharply." Under Mr. Bush, he says, there were many high-profile meetings with North Korean dissidents. "They went out of their way to show this was a priority."
Then there is Marcel Granier, the president of RCTV, Venezuela's oldest and most popular television station. He employs several thousand people—or at least he did until Hugo Chávez cancelled the network's license in 2007. Now, he's struggling to maintain an independent channel on cable: Mr. Chávez ordered the cable networks not to carry his station in January. Government supporters have attacked his home with tear gas twice, yet he remains in the country, tirelessly advocating for media freedom.
Like many of the democrats at the conference, Mr. Granier was excited by Mr. Obama's historic election, and inspired by the way he energized American voters. But a year and a half later, he's disturbed by the administration's silence as his country slips rapidly towards dictatorship. "In Afghanistan," he quips, "at least they know that America will be involved for the next 18 months."
This sense of abandonment has been fueled by real policy shifts. Just this week word came that the administration cut funds to promote democracy in Egypt by half. Programs in countries like Jordan and Iran have also faced cuts. Then there are the symbolic gestures: letting the Dalai Lama out the back door, paltry statements of support for Iranian demonstrators, smiling and shaking hands with Mr. Chávez, and so on.
Daniel Baer, a representative from the State Department who participated in the conference, dismissed the notion that the White House has distanced itself from human-rights promotion as a baseless "meme" when I raised the issue. But in fact all of this is of a piece of Mr. Obama's overarching strategy to make it abundantly clear that he is not his predecessor.
Mr. Bush is almost certainly aware that the freedom agenda, the centerpiece of his presidency, has become indelibly linked to the war in Iraq and to regime change by force. Too bad. The peaceful promotion of human rights and democracy—in part by supporting the individuals risking their lives for liberty—are consonant with America's most basic values. Standing up for them should not be a partisan issue.
Yet for now Mr. Bush is simply not the right poster boy: He can't successfully rebrand and depoliticize the freedom agenda. So perhaps he hopes that by sitting back he can let Americans who remain wary of publicly embracing this cause become comfortable with it again. For the sake of the courageous democrats in countries like Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Colombia, China and Russia, let's hope so.
Ms. Weiss is an assistant editorial features editor at the Journal.