Castro Criticizes Cheney on Prisoners

Despite the Cuban government’s own history of suspect interrogation methods, Fidel Castro criticized former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday for defending the counterterrorism policies of the Bush administration. Posted on a government website, Castro rebuked Cheney’s speech from last week, and went on to accuse the US of using terrorism against Cuba after his 1959 revolt, mentioning US plans to overthrow the Cuban government in its formative years. A report released earlier this month by the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights chided Cuba for not fully protecting human rights, and Cuban rights activists estimate that Cuba is currently holding around 200 political prisoners. Despite this, Castro said in his statement that torture is an unacceptable means of obtaining information.