Among the few things that Cubans can count on after 50 years under the rule of the Castro brothers is the subhuman, Draconian methods with which the regime lashes out against those who dare disagree.

The deafening silence from supposed freedom lovers around the globe, the United States and, yes, here in South Florida, is just as disturbing as the regime's repressive tactics.

The accusations, condemnations and punishments justly proposed and cast against totalitarian rulers on the right of the political spectrum -- Chile's Pinochet, Spain's Franco and the military juntas of the 1970s in Argentina and Brazil -- are hypocritically stowed away and muted when it comes to Cuba's dictatorship.

A couple of weeks ago, the regime in Havana once again harassed, threatened and beat Yoani Sánchez, an insightful 34-year-old blogger who takes issue with the government's obtuse rule and writes about it in her well-read blog, Generación Y. This year, the University of Columbia in New York recognized Sanchez's cry for justice by awarding her the Maria Moors Cabot prize for journalism.

Predictably, the regime denied her an exit visa to travel to New York to receive the distinction. Ironically, the same week, two Cuban artists -- pianist Chucho Valdes and singer Omara Portuondo -- were both awarded Latin Grammys at a lavish ceremony held in Las Vegas. The Cuban authorities granted both aritists the right to travel abroad, and both received visas from the American government allowing them to enter and freely travel within the United States -- which I support.

But where's the parity, the fairness? Travel in and out of Cuba should be open -- for people on both sides of the Florida Straits.

I wonder where all the civil libertarians were when it came to defending Sanchez's right to not to be physically beaten for her beliefs and to travel abroad to collect her award.

Where's the outcry to this injustice from the participants of the unprecedented Juanes concert that played in Havana Sept. 20? Where are the vigorous demands for the beleaguered blogger's rights from the many that so vehemently promoted the jam at Havana's revolutionary plaza?

Since Fidel Castro's announcement that he was stepping down and ceding power to his brother Raúl, Cubanologists, those so-called ``experts,'' have wishfully written about how much of a reformist little brother Raúl is. Unfortunately for the Cuban people and for the revisionist scholars' credibility, the record shows a rather alarming yet consistent trend.

Repression is still Cuba's modus operandi under Raul's reign, as noted in this week's report by Human Rights Watch. Most of the 75 independent journalists summarily jailed in the repressive wave of 2003, known as Cuba's ``Black Spring,'' are still imprisoned and facing long sentences.

As world leaders, particularly Latin American presidents -- along with U.S. congressmen and senators -- plead Cuba's case against the U.S. embargo to the Obama administration, the cries of the island's jailed and repressed opposition seem to not fit the anti-embargo crowd's narrow and myopic political agenda.

The plight of 39-year-old Darsi Ferrer, a doctor who recently ended an 18-day hunger strike protesting the miserable conditions in which he is unjustly detained doesn't much matter to Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona or to Massachusetts Congressman Bill Delahunt, a Democrat. Both adamantly argue in favor of the unrestricted lifting of U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

Obviously, the struggle of Yoani Sánchez and the thousands of Cubans who have paid a steep price for demanding the most fundamental freedoms, seemingly aren't seen or heard by those who energetically and shamelessly ignore Cuba's human-rights reality. A common, kitchen table saying passed on for generations perfectly sums up the indifference: No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver o sordo que el que no quiera oír -- There is no worse blind person than one who refuses to see or deaf person who refuses to hear.

Thanks to Sánchez's courage, the darkness is lifting, and Cuba's youthful voices are rising.