The uncertainty in Cuba has once again put the 47-year dictatorship of Fidel Castro under the microscope. While no one has yet to hear directly from either the Commandante or his brother Raul, other voices from Cuba have begun to emerge, putting lie to the fantasy that Castro has created a worker's paradise. Today's Examiner tells the story of "Eduardo", who spent years in prison deliberately exposed to toxins because he expressed a desire to leave Cuba:

One of the jobs at the camp was to put parathion on crops. I knew parathion, an insecticide, entered the bloodstream through the skin, mouth and nose causing poisoning, blackouts, and death. We were made to spread the parathion with our bare hands, breathing in the powder as we worked.

Every day the guards pointed guns in my face, hit me and shouted “traitor,” “vermin” and “parasite.” They told me I would not be released until I renounced my desire to leave Cuba but that if I did I might get my old job back.

I told them they would have to let me go or kill me.

Read Eduardo's story, as told by Robert Cox, and remember that this is just one victim of Fidel's vision of Utopia -- a paradise for himself and those fortunate enough to be close to power, but a long nightmare for the Cuban people.

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