More on Wikileaks

I think Secretary Clinton deserves the first word on this subject: “There have been examples in history in which official conduct has been made public in the name of exposing wrongdoings or misdeeds. This is not one of those cases.” Her full statement, well worth reading, is here.

But the cables are coming out whether any of us likes it or not. “Currently released so far… 485 / 251,287,” the Wikileaks page says today.

Some will be released by Wikileaks, others by the newspapers that also have the full trove. If you want to stay on top of releases about Cuba or any other topic, you will have to check Wikileaks plus the The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and Le Monde.

If this single cable (about Venezuelan health care, with minor mention of Cuba) is a guide, Wikileaks is exercising some discretion in those it is releasing itself, blanking out the names of sources.

The first cable from Havana, cited in the post below, came from El Pais.

Tracey Eaton, in a post at Along the Malecon, reckons that 509 cables originate at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and about 2,000 relate to Cuba. Of the 509, there are about 150 from the Obama Administration, about 350 from the Bush Administration, and a handful stretching back to 1987.

This link shows the cables released by Wikileaks that have the State Department’s filing “tag” for Cuba. It now shows four cables from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.

Depending on the cables selected – and the selection criteria are unknown – we may learn about U.S. policy, instructions from Washington, reporting about issues and personalities from embassies, and more.

Cuban media are already paying attention to these “revelations about imperial diplomacy.” As the cables come out, it will be interesting to see if their coverage will be full or selective.

Here’s a Herald story on the impact in the Americas so far.