South Africa: No visa for Dalai Lama. Gold medal for Castro

Is this a joke? After denying the Dalai Lama a visa to attend an international peace summit in South Africa, the country today announced that it would award Fidel Castro its top honor, the Order of Companions of O. R. Tambo In Gold. Previous awardees include Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Okay, okay, I know that the Cuba's revolutionaries were tight with South Africa's anti-apartheid left back in the day. (both countries championed the non-aligned movement). But in 2009, isn't that day over yet?

Sigh. It's a moments like this when even the news wires get a little fiesty. 

South Africa, which prides itself as a model of democracy and human rights, drew fire from opposition parties this week when it denied a visa to Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who was due to attend a peace conference."

A well respected South African journalist put it more bluntly: 

Human Rights and democracy are no longer the cornerstones of our foreign policy. We prefer countries with entrenched, unelected, self-perpetuating leadership. Ignore the dull thud of rifle butts."

(Hat tip: Passport reader Eric Jon Magnuson)

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