Down in Cuba, life goes on.  The Cuban economy is a mess and the state media is attacking José Daniel Ferrer, the famous activist and political prisoner.

This is from the Miami Herald:

Amid an international campaign for the release of a dissident, Granma, Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, dedicated an unusual editorial on Wednesday to attacking the country's best-known political prisoner, José Daniel Ferrer, and the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Under the governments of Fidel and Raúl Castro and their current successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, the names of very few dissidents and members of the opposition have ever appeared on state media, an attempt to deprive them of public visibility. 

But the intense international campaign, with calls from Amnesty International, regional organizations and politicians from several countries to release Ferrer, seems to have forced the government to respond with accusations of its own directed against a frequent target: the United States.

Granma accused the U.S. of leading "a new slander and discredit campaign against Cuba," using "the arrest of the counterrevolutionary José Daniel Ferrer" as a pretext. 

The unsigned editorial said Ferrer was "a salaried agent serving the United States, with a long history of provocative actions against public order and legality."

So José is a U.S. agent?

Welcome to the club, José!

Everybody who dissents in Cuba is called a U.S. agent.  It must be one of the biggest spy rings in the history of the world.

As my late father used to joke at family gatherings, they called me a CIA agent down there, and then we came to the U.S.  I called the CIA for a badge, and no one knew my name or what I was talking about.

The regime's problem is that José is gaining international attention.  There are people all over the world calling for his release.

The editorial also attacked the U.S. Embassy in Havana.  We should close it and keep it closed until the regime stops attacking José Daniel Ferrer.

Change in Cuba?  Tell José!

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