Obama annouces plan to normalize relations with Cuba

[Vandalshandle]

Obama announces plan to normalize relations with Cuba Video Reuters.com


I am amazed that it took us 54 years to realize that we are not going to starve them in to submission by way of a trade embargo.

As for me, I have dibs on the used car import to America franchise!

 

[Sunni Man]

How was the U.S. embargo starving the Cuban people?

Cuba has had trade relations for decades with every other country on the planet. ....

 

[Katzndogz]

The regime is so evil that trade does not help the people.

 

[theHawk]

Obama just can't help himself when it comes to his commie buddies.

 

[waltky]

Quid pro quo?...

US, Cuba patch torn relations in historic accord
Dec 17,`14 WASHINGTON (AP) -- After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations - a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations.

President Barack Obama's dramatic announcement in Washington - seconded by Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana - was accompanied by a quiet exchange of imprisoned spies and the celebratory release of American Alan Gross, a government contract worker who had been held in Cuba for 5 years. The shift in U.S.-Cuba policy was the culmination of 18 months of secret talks between the longtime foes that included a series of meetings in Canada and the personal involvement of Pope Francis at the Vatican. It also marked an extraordinary undertaking by Obama without Congress' authorization as he charts the waning years of his presidency. "These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked," Obama declared at the White House. "It's time for a new approach."

Obama spoke as Castro was addressing his nation in Havana, where church bells rang and school teachers paused lessons to mark the news. Castro said that while the U.S. and Cuba remain at odds on many matters, "we should learn the art of living together in a civilized manner in spite of our differences." Obama's plans for remaking U.S. relations with Cuba are sweeping: He aims to expand economic ties, open an embassy in Havana, send high-ranking U.S. officials including Secretary of State John Kerry to visit, and review Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. The U.S. also is easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, including for family visits, official government business and educational activities. But tourist travel remains banned.

Obama and Castro spoke by telephone Tuesday for nearly an hour, the first presidential-level call between their nations' leaders since the 1959 Cuban revolution and the approval of a U.S. economic embargo on the communist island that sits just 90 miles off coast of Florida. The two men are also expected to meet at a regional summit in Panama next spring. Despite Obama's declaration, the Cuba embargo was passed by Congress, and only lawmakers can revoke it. That appears unlikely to happen soon given the largely negative response to Obama's actions from Republicans who will take full control of Capitol Hill in January. "Relations with the Castro regime should not be revisited, let alone normalized, until the Cuban people enjoy freedom - and not one second sooner," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "There is no `new course' here, only another in a long line of mindless concessions to a dictatorship that brutalizes its people and schemes with our enemies."

The response from around the world was far more welcoming, particularly in Latin America, where the U.S. policy toward Cuba has been despised. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Obama's action "a gesture that was courageous and historically necessary." The Vatican said Pope Francis "welcomed the historic decision taken by the governments of the United States of America and Cuba to establish diplomatic relations, with the aim of overcoming, in the interest of the citizens of both countries, the difficulties which have marked their recent history." In Cuba, a sense of euphoria spread through Havana as people gathered around televisions to watch the Obama and Castro announcements. "For the Cuban people, I think this is like a shot of oxygen, a wish come true, because with this, we have overcome our differences," said Carlos Gonzalez, a 32-year-old information technology specialist.

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See also:

Senators: we're optimistic Cuba to free contractor
November 11, 2014 — Two U.S. senators expressed optimism Tuesday that Cuba will free imprisoned American government contractor Alan Gross.

Sens. Jeff Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, said they met with Gross for about two hours during a trip that included meetings with Cuban officials. Gross was detained in December 2009 while working to set up Internet access as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gross' family has said he has threatened to commit suicide if he is not released by his birthday next May. Asked about the possibility of Gross going free, Flake said: "I do feel we're closer there, one because what Alan Gross has said himself, this is going to end one way or another." Both senators added, though, that Cuban officials gave no indication any development was imminent. Flake also cited as cause for optimism a report by The Associated Press on Monday that USAID is preparing internal rules that would effectively end risky undercover work in hostile countries.

The new policy follows an AP investigation this year into work by the development agency, which set up a Twitter-like social network in Cuba and secretly sought to recruit a new generation of dissidents on the island while hiding ties to the U.S. government. The AP found USAID and its contractor concealed their involvement in the programs by setting up a front company, routing money through Cayman Islands bank transactions and fashioning elaborate cover stories. "There's been a realization and a statement that there won't be covert programs run out of AID anymore and that's a good thing," said Flake, who is a longtime advocate of loosening the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. "It's not just a source of tension between countries; it puts Americans in danger and it really cheapens AID's mission around the world, in my view."

USAID has denied the Cuba programs constituted covert action. Cuba has said repeatedly it wants to negotiate with the U.S. over the fate of Gross as well as three Cuban agents who are imprisoned in the U.S. on charges including espionage. Cuba argues they were only keeping tabs on militant exile groups blamed for terror attacks on the island.

Senators we re optimistic Cuba to free contractor - Yahoo News

 

[hjmick]

I'm not convinced this is a good idea...

 

[LoneLaugher]

Our resident nutters are confused.

 

[Katzndogz]

Of course it's not a good idea. Have we gotten anything out of this deal? No. Have the Cuban people gotten anything out of this deal? No.

What was the purpose?

It has nothing to do with Cuba. This is part of obumble's transformation of the United States.

 

[Vigilante]

Latin American historian Thomas E. Skidmore says there had been 550 executions in the first six months of 1959.[20] British historian Hugh Thomas, in his study Cuba or the pursuit of freedom[21] stated that "perhaps" 5,000 executions had taken place by 1970,[20] while The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators ascertained that there had been 2,113 political executions between the years of 1958-67.[20]
Professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, Rudolph J. Rummel estimated the number of political executions at between 4,000 and 33,000 from 1958–87, with a mid range of 15,000.[22]
One estimate from The Black Book of Communism is that throughout Cuba 15,000–17,000 people were executed.

 

[Roadrunner]

Of course it's not a good idea. Have we gotten anything out of this deal? No. Have the Cuban people gotten anything out of this deal? No.

What was the purpose?

It has nothing to do with Cuba. This is part of obumble's transformation of the United States.

Cuba will get much from this if travel is normalized.

Just the fishing resource could bring millions.

They need to avoid the whoring and gambling though.

 

[Roadrunner]

Latin American historian Thomas E. Skidmore says there had been 550 executions in the first six months of 1959.[20] British historian Hugh Thomas, in his study Cuba or the pursuit of freedom[21] stated that "perhaps" 5,000 executions had taken place by 1970,[20] while The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators ascertained that there had been 2,113 political executions between the years of 1958-67.[20]
Professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, Rudolph J. Rummel estimated the number of political executions at between 4,000 and 33,000 from 1958–87, with a mid range of 15,000.[22]
One estimate from The Black Book of Communism is that throughout Cuba 15,000–17,000 people were executed.

How many did the Batista regime jail and execute?

 

[Vigilante]

Latin American historian Thomas E. Skidmore says there had been 550 executions in the first six months of 1959.[20] British historian Hugh Thomas, in his study Cuba or the pursuit of freedom[21] stated that "perhaps" 5,000 executions had taken place by 1970,[20] while The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators ascertained that there had been 2,113 political executions between the years of 1958-67.[20]
Professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, Rudolph J. Rummel estimated the number of political executions at between 4,000 and 33,000 from 1958–87, with a mid range of 15,000.[22]
One estimate from The Black Book of Communism is that throughout Cuba 15,000–17,000 people were executed.

How many did the Batista regime jail and execute?

He's dead and gone, but Fidel still kills, and tortures CURRENT citizens!

 

[Mr. H.]

I've always wanted to visit Cuba. I better hurry before McDonald's and KFC anchor themselves.

 

[Katzndogz]

Latin American historian Thomas E. Skidmore says there had been 550 executions in the first six months of 1959.[20] British historian Hugh Thomas, in his study Cuba or the pursuit of freedom[21] stated that "perhaps" 5,000 executions had taken place by 1970,[20] while The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators ascertained that there had been 2,113 political executions between the years of 1958-67.[20]
Professor of political science at the University of Hawaii, Rudolph J. Rummel estimated the number of political executions at between 4,000 and 33,000 from 1958–87, with a mid range of 15,000.[22]
One estimate from The Black Book of Communism is that throughout Cuba 15,000–17,000 people were executed.

How many did the Batista regime jail and execute?

Are you trying to justify Castro's bad behavior with Bautista's bad behavior?

That's a fail. The revolution was intended to end bad behavior. Instead it got worse.

 

[Katzndogz]

I've always wanted to visit Cuba. I better hurry before McDonald's and KFC anchor themselves.

That won't happen unless the regime opens those outlets themselves.

 

[Politico]

Yay more voter card recipients!

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

I have no opinion on this matter but I am open to why we should or shouldn't?

 

[theHawk]

Let's be friends with the regime that let the Russians park their nuclear weapons a stone's throw away from the US. They had "good intentions" when they did that.

 

[Thunderbird]

Good news for dictators!

A Victory for Oppression
President Obama’s policy is bad news for the Cuban people living under a dictatorship, and it sends a dangerous message to the world.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Let's be friends with the regime that let the Russians park their nuclear weapons a stone's throw away from the US. They had "good intentions" when they did that.

I know right? Next thing you know we'll have diplomatic relations with Vietnam!

Or what about the Brits? They burned up Washington DC once, they had "good intentions" when they did that.