Castro Daughter Gets U.S. Visa



Mariela Castro
(Miami, Florida)

The U.S. State Department finally granted a visa to Cuban President Raul Castro’s daughter so that she can attend a May 2-5 forum on LGBT issues in Philadelphia, Equality Forum, the organizer of the seminar, said on Tuesday.

“Equality Forum is delighted that the State Department has affirmed democratic values by authorizing Mariela Castro to speak at Equality Forum 2013,” said Equality Forum executive director Malcolm Lazin in a statement.

Initially, the State Department had denied permission to Mariela Castro to travel to Philadelphia, although it allowed her to travel to the United Nations in New York.

The forum will pay special attention at this conference to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Cuba.

One might say that the communist leadership of Cuba supports lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered, if only indirectly. Other communist nations are not nearly as liberal.