Nicholas Laughlin's blog etc.

At last. From today's Express editorial:

It is ironic that as more and more of the world embraces freedom and democracy, the authorities in Cuba, one of the world's last remaining communist dictatorships, have thought it necessary to resume the type of repression associated with the long rejected early days of Stalinist philosophy....

There is speculation that the new approach of the Cuban government is driven by fear of invasion from what is widely seen as a right-wing US administration bent on imposing its will on the rest of the world and anxious to please the Cuban dissidents resident in the state of Florida. But it is far more likely that Mr Castro and his comrades are simply reverting to form as they run out of answers to the country's economic problems....

The new wave of repression has already drawn the condemnation of the European Union, which has long been working to ease Cuba's isolation by the US. It will also put pressure on Cuba's regional allies, including Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of Caricom, who have been seeking to bring the communist country out from the international cold....

As one of its main allies in the region, including a close relationship between Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the Cuban leader, the Trinidad and Tobago government needs to use whatever diplomatic clout it wields to convince Mr Castro that this is not the way to go.

It is also important that the local and regional organisations which have for years supported Cuba, and rightly protested the American embargo that has brought so much hardship on its population, send a message to Mr Castro that the behaviour of his government is not only unacceptable, but counter-productive.