Frei Betto: Cuba guarantees human rights
Campaign News | Thursday, 11 December 2008
Brazilian priest Frei Betto said on Wednesday that the Cuban people enjoy the three main human rights: food, health and education.
In an exclusive interview with ACN, the author of the 1985 book ‘Fidel y la Religion’ (Fidel and Religion) said that the work of Cuba in the field of human rights is an example for all the countries that signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and do not observe its principles.
Betto, who was in Cuba attending an International Workshop titled “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60 Years Later” that took place at Havana’s Convention Center with the participation of over one hundred foreign personalities and representatives of the Cuban civil society, added that there are no missing people in Cuba or extrajudicial executions or children living in the streets.
“The Universal Declaration is still a virtual document,” stressed the Brazilian theologian, although he recognized the importance of the text establishing that all human beings have rights.
Betto noted that guaranteeing the right to food, health and education and making investments in these sectors would be a colossal step ahead for many countries.
In addition, he said that there is freedom of religious belief in Cuba and referred to the recent inauguration of a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Havana.
Betto stated that Cuba is a model of a humanist nation where its people have their rights guaranteed in spite of US aggressions and an almost fifty-year-old financial, trade and economic blockade.
