I.

The recent “Statement of Conscience” declaration from 60 well-known U. S. and Latin American black activists, scholars, artists and civic leaders to the Cuban government calling for the release of an imprisoned Cuban physician and human rights activists, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, and an end to racist practices in Cuba marked the first time such concerted criticism (PDF) has been leveled against the Cuban government since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.