The Washington Post questioned military cooperation between the US and Cuba

Raul Castro (d) talks with then - Interior Minister Abelardo Colome (i) during a military parade in Havana. File photo.

ccording to the Post, normalize military ties with the island means that the Cuban military are morally equivalent to their counterparts on the continent, when in fact they are accomplices of political repression and corruption.

An editorial in The Washington Post on Tuesday questioned the recent US habit of involving Cuba in its fight against military environment on the continent common crimes such as drug trafficking and human trafficking.

The Post recounts the presence of several Cuban officials at an air base in Key West last April, as guests of the US military command for Latin America, and remember that some of them play a prominent role in the repression of activists human rights on the island, as in the case of Idael Fumero Valdes, jede Research of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR).

About the deputy director of the North Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gustavo Machin Gomez, American who led the Cuban delegation at the meeting in Key West, Post recalled the expulsion of the US in November 2002 for spying.

Gustavo Machin goes to Cuba security conference

Gustavo Machin goes to Cuba security conference

The editorial notes that, apparently, the Obama administration had a broader agenda in mind when he first accepted the participation of Havana at the Fourteenth Conference on Security in the Caribbean, sponsored by the United States Southern Command, which took place in last January in Kingston, Jamaica.

The US newspaper said that Latin American military value the legitimacy that comes accompanied with ties with their American counterparts, and praises the achievement of US foreign policy towards Latin America to condition cooperation and military assistance to respect the rule of law and human rights.

According to the Post, normalize military ties between the US and Cuba under the pretext of combating drugs and other common threats implies that the power of civilians is no longer so important, and that the military in Cuba are morally equivalent to their counterparts continent, when in fact they are accomplices of political repression and corruption.

Finally, the editorial stresses that pending in the US Congress legislation could block the full normalization of military relations with Cuba until the island democratize. Meanwhile, Washington should not warns the Post- engage in a relationship with the oppressors of the Castro regime.