Free the Cuban Five?!?
June 26, 2007 4:59 PM   Subscribe

Every month a bunch of protestors stand around the US Consulate in Vancouver shouting out "Free, free, free, free the Cuban Five!" for an afternoon and it drives me completely mad (don't these people have anything better to do?!?). I went to google the Cuban Five and found the wikipedia entry as well as an entire website devoted to freeing these guys and from the sounds of things, there's pretty much no disputing that they were spies of some sort. Last I checked, spies in a country pretty much don't really have too many rights, why are these guys protesting so freaking much?
posted by PWA_BadBoy to Law & Government (8 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: grind your axe someplace else -- ask your question when you can do it without it sounding like this.

 
I just looked up the Wikipedia page and it seems to have a lot of information pertaining to the controversy and social protest surrounding the Cuban Five and their present incarceration.

But you say you read that, so I'm a little confused. Do you want someone to come in and justify the point of view of those who would say they should be released?

Also, I think part of the implication is that, at least some of them, were spying on certain non-governmental organizations, which isn't, obviously, the same as muscling out documents about the Manhattan Project or something.
posted by kbanas at 5:07 PM on June 26, 2007


Part of the answer is that there are certain people and groups who will seize any excuse, no matter how feeble, to protest against the US.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:13 PM on June 26, 2007


Wait, wait, wait -- you want to apply rational standards to far-left political protestors... in Vancouver?
posted by docgonzo at 5:25 PM on June 26, 2007


Dialectical materialism sucks, amirite?

The position of the protestors is freely (and excessively) available on the web. Is there something else you'd like explained?
posted by zamboni at 5:51 PM on June 26, 2007


"so freaking much" is a value judgement and as such cannot be answered. Everything else is chat.
posted by rhizome at 6:02 PM on June 26, 2007


why are these guys protesting so freaking much?

Consider the possibility that these are deeply misguided people that don't themselves actually know what they're protesting about, or perhaps are being manipulated into protesting by proxy.

There are also many companies that provide paid protesting services -- they get money to deliver people to sites of interest and have those people "protest" the client's issue of choice. These people didn't show up to support Paris Hilton out of a deep, meaningful feeling of concern.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:04 PM on June 26, 2007


I've heard the Cuban government could be behind (or sponsoring) some of the protest.
posted by dcjd at 6:08 PM on June 26, 2007


There are also many companies that provide paid protesting services

Really? This is not something I ever ran into in my time covering political protests. 'Tho maybe we're a bit naive up here.

Got any links?
posted by docgonzo at 6:18 PM on June 26, 2007


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