First the Colombian leftist journalist and now Silvio Rodriguez. I know these things are on autopilot at the State Department, but this is beyond embarrassing. We all know the cases of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Tariq Ramadan, but now there's a new sheriff in town, and someone should say something at State or Homeland Security. Fix this thing. It's shameful, unbelievably pointless, and profoundly, profoundly idiotic.
A few days ago, a Colombian leftist intellectual/journalist that had been critical of the United States' policy towards Latin America was flying from Paris to Mexico and his plane was re-routed to Martinique because TSA would not allow Air France to fly over the US airspace while containing this passenger. Hernando Calvo Ospina was not flying to the United States (which should also be fine), but flying over it on his way to Mexico. This was covered in Europe and Latin America, but I didn't see it anywhere in the United States.
Yesterday, there was a big MSG concert to honor Peter Seeger, and the State Department didn't give Silvio Rodriguez a visa so that he could come (he had been invited to participate). I don't know if you know Silvio Rodriguez, but to me he's like the Bob Dylan of the Spanish-speaking words, and has been for decades now. His crime? Being a Cuban leftist, and thus, sympathetic towards the Cuban revolution. Even though I'm young, and Silvio Rodriguez is much more important to my parents' generation, I'm a fan and this saddens me. If you know what would be the most effective way to register my disappointment, say so. And please join me if you think this is an important issue. It's not the first and won't be the last. And it really isn't that difficult to separate those critical of the United States government with the security threats.