Roberta S. Jacobson: “Free speech is a right that must be defended.”

This is not a U.S.-Venezuela issue, it is an internal Venezuelan issue.

No government--neither that of the Castros nor those of third countries--can credibly make the case that pushing the Cuban Government to respect universal human rights is taking sides in a dispute between Cuba and the United States.

The exit of either of the Castro brothers is very, very significant.

The policy is based on a clear-eyed strategy that empowers the Cuban people to determine their own future by creating new economic opportunities and increasing their contact with the outside world.