What Will Old Europe Say? Vaclav Havel, Arpad Goncz, and Lech Walesa gave a Bronx cheer to Castro (and implicitly to those in Europe who still swoon in the presence of El Jefe) in the WaPo yesterday, saying:

It is the responsibility of the democratic world to support representatives of the Cuban opposition, regardless of how long the Cuban Stalinists cling to power. The Cuban opposition must have the same international support as did the representatives of political dissent in Europe when it stood divided. Statements of condemnation for the government's repression, combined with specific diplomatic steps coming from Europe, Latin America and the United States, would be suitable means of exerting pressure on the regime in Cuba.

I note only the (probably intended) irony that they issued this stirring call in September, the month in which so much of Europe has returned from holiday to shake la arena de Cuba out of their shoes and get back to their grueling 30-hour workweeks.