[Marxism] Cuba jails top Communist member

["Charles Brown" <cbrown@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 I don't know if this was posted here.

Charles

^^^^^


BBC News


Last Updated: Wednesday, 21 June 2006

Cuba jails top Communist member
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5103440.stm

[Robinson, 49, had been a party member since 1982]

Cuba has sentenced a once high-flying government member to 12 years in
prison for corruption, the Cuban Communist Party has announced.

Juan Carlos Robinson, expelled from the ruling Politburo in April, pleaded
guilty, official media reported.

Robinson, 49, had been seen as an example of Cuba's future leadership.

President Fidel Castro, who turns 80 in August, last year vowed to stamp out
corruption which he said threatened the survival of Cuba's socialist system.

Robinson was tried and convicted last week, the official Granma newspaper
said.

"It was demonstrated that Robinson, in the open process of his ideological
weakening and with abuse of his position, forgot his high responsibilities
and the integrity demanded of a revolutionary cadre and used his influence
to obtain benefits," said Granma.

Changes

Robinson was one of the few Afro-Cuban political figures on the island and
had been presented by the government as an example of Cuba's young black
leadership.

But in April he was sacked from the ruling Politburo, accused of arrogance,
dishonesty and abuse of power.

[Castro has made tackling corruption a priority]

On Wednesday, the party leadership indicated that Robinson's fate should be
an example, saying "in our country, no-one despite their responsibilities
and merits can violate the law. He who does so will inexorably receive the
weight of revolutionary justice."

Robinson's conviction comes amid a series of changes in the Communist Party
across the island, with several top officials being replaced.

The government has said increased vigilance against corruption is required
as the country emerges from what was labelled its "special period" - more
than 15 years of serious economic hardship following the demise of its
former benefactor, the Soviet Union.

Late last year, President Castro announced an anti-corruption campaign.

Thousands of students were deployed to work at petrol stations to deter
pilfering while others have been sent into state companies to audit
accounts.



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