So asks The Washington Post:

IN THE PAST few months, proponents of lifting U.S. and international sanctions against Cuba have been gaining momentum. Their argument is that the strategy of isolating the Castro regime has failed.... Since the critique of the old Cuba policy was grounded in its supposed ineffectiveness, it seems fair to ask: Is the new, Castro-friendly approach working? A good answer to that question came Tuesday, when Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year-old Afro-Cuban political prisoner, died after an 83-day hunger strike...

Human rights groups agree that Cuban totalitarianism has not eased since 79-year-old Raúl Castro replaced his 83-year-old brother, Fidel. "Rather than dismantle Cuba's repressive machinery, Raúl Castro has kept it firmly in place and fully active," said Human Rights Watch in a report last November. "Deplorable prison conditions, torture, and lack of medical attention" explained Mr. Zapata's death, said Freedom House, which in 2009 designated Cuba one of the "worst of the worst." Yet the stroking of the Castro brothers goes on. As Mr. Zapata died, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was arriving in Havana for another warm reunion with the brothers -- his third in the past two years....

Meanwhile, Cuban doctors — remember how we always heard about how great Cuba is because they "loaned" doctors to other South American countries undergoing leftist revolutions (never mind what their loss portends for Cubans) — a few of these Cuban doctors who apparently escaped are suing Castro and Chavez (in Miami courts), alleging they were held as virtual slaves:

Seven Cuban doctors and a nurse sued Cuba, Venezuela and the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) for alleged conspiracy to force them to work in conditions of "modern slaves" in order to pay off the Cuban debt with the Venezuelan government for oil supply.

The defendants "intentionally and arbitrarily" held the health staff in "debt servitude" and the staff became "economic slaves" and "political advocates," according to the complaint filed in the United States, Efe reported.... the leading defense attorney Arístides Cantón argued that the plaintiffs travelled to Venezuela in "deceit" and "threats," and were forced to work unlimited hours in a social welfare program known as "Mission Barrio Adentro," in areas with high rate of crime.

What is with the American celebrities who love dictators like Castro and Castro? Danny Glover, Harry Belanfonte, Naomi Cambell.... Chevy Chase even said: "Socialism works. I think Cuba might prove that." Works for who? Undoubtedly it's very good for the Castro brothers and their guests. Not so much for the once-proud nation now being held captive as their private possession.

They were certainly capable of getting excited about the horrors of the Bush administration. (You remember Bush? He ended his term quietly, on time, ceding to the Obama administration — who kept most of Bush's more "controversial" policies in place.) But when it comes to actual torture and slavery? This stuff bothers me, and it bugs me even more that there's simply no outrage about it at all from the American left or media. None.

Castro isn't their enemy. Chavez isn't their enemy. Sarah Palin — now there's a horrible human being we must focus on obsessively.