Cuba's Chance

With Fidel Castro finally fading from the scene, his brother and heir Raúl has a golden opportunity to take the country on a new path to freedom. The U.S. can help--if it is prepared to break some shackles of its own

Diego Giudice / archivolatino / Redux

Fidel Castro

Raùl Castro is a master of mixed signals. Cuba's interim President recently agreed to allow representatives from the United Nations Human Rights Council to visit the island next year to inspect its notorious prisons and address its dearth of free expression. It was a concession Fidel Castro had long sneered at, and to many it was a sign that Raúl, who has ruled Cuba since major intestinal surgery sidelined his elder brother in 2006, might be willing to break with family tradition. But even as Raúl reached out to the U.N., his state security agents were arresting and roughing up dozens...

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