Former President Jimmy Carter applauded President Obama for shaking Cuban President Raul Castro’s hand during the memorial service for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday in South Africa.
“I think it was something significant,” he told CNN. “I hope that will be an omen for the future.” The handshake has set off a round of criticism for Obama even acknowledging the Cuban dictator given the history of Cuban human rights violations since it became a communist dictatorship in 1959.
Since its turn to communism, Cuba has proven to be an oppressive communist country that will employ torture, firing squads, labor camps, and imprisonment in order to silence opposition to the regime. Cuba and the United States do not have diplomatic relations.
Currently, the United States is urging Cuba to free American Alan Gross, who was imprisoned in December 2009. Gross was arrested for trying to help a small Jewish village obtain the internet while working on a U.S. government project. The Cuban government charged him with “acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state.” Gross was sentenced to 15 years in jail.