Behind Obama's Change of Cuba Policy
BY
Jack A. Smith, SpeakOut
PUBLISHED
December 26, 2014
“The United States seems destined to plague us with miseries in the name of liberty.”-Simon Bolivar, the Liberator of Latin America
“Once the United States is in Cuba, who will get it out?”-José Martí, Cuban national hero.
Fair minded people and governments around the world have praised the US decision to finally ease up on Cuba after 55 years of unmitigated hostility. The final agreement, which included a prisoner swap, was hammered out in nine meetings over 18 months of secret talks in Canada between representatives of Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, with the Vatican acting as intermediary.
But what is the true meaning of President Obama’s historic announcement Dec. 17 about establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and eliminating some — though hardly all — the diverse punishments imposed upon this small socialist society a stone’s throw away from the vengeful Yankee Colossus?
It means that efforts to destroy the communist government of Cuba — from a CIA invasion to the imposition of seemingly endless draconian economic and political sanctions — have failed. In this David-Goliath contest, David was seriously wounded, but won. However, there is a second round to this competition that will likewise test David’s powers.
Obama’s policy change does not signify Washington accepts the existence of socialist or communist governments in Latin America and the Caribbean. They remain forbidden in the hemisphere presided over by the world’s richest and most militarily powerful capitalist state. Washington’s continual effort to undermine Venezuela’s momentum toward socialism is one more evidence of this fact.
More:
https://truthout.org/articles/behind-obama-s-change-of-cuba-policy/
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Had been stunned learning there had been all those meetings in Canada, and I hadn't seen a thing about it, myself.
Hadn't occurred yet to imagine anything had been published, having been so pessimistic so long!
Here's the first thing I saw, after reading your post:
DECEMBER 17, 201412:46 PMUPDATED 7 YEARS AGO
Secret talks in Canada, Vatican City led to Cuba breakthrough
By Warren Strobel, Lesley Wroughton
6 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The historic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations began in spring 2013, when President Barack Obama authorized secret talks with Havana, the same tactic he used to open nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Months of talks in Canada and at the Vatican, involving one of Obama’s closest aides, culminated on Tuesday when Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro spoke by phone for nearly an hour and gave final assent to steps that could end a half-century of enmity and reshape Western Hemisphere relations.
Obama believed that “if there is any U.S. foreign policy that has passed its expiration date, it is the U.S.-Cuba policy,” said a senior Obama administration official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.
The Vatican played a key role in the rapprochement, including facilitating talks on the release of Alan Gross, a former subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development who returned from Cuba on Wednesday after five years’ imprisonment, U.S. officials said.
In early summer 2014, Pope Francis - who is from Argentina - sent separate personal letters to Obama and Castro, urging them to exchange captives and improve relations.
When the pope received the U.S. president in Vatican City in late March, the secret Cuba talks were a central topic of discussion. Cuba “got as much attention as anything else,” the official said.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-reconstruction/secret-talks-in-canada-vatican-city-led-to-cuba-breakthrough-idUSKBN0JV2DM20141217
So it was Pope Francis, an Argentinian, who actually got the ball rolling! Wow! This is extraordinary! He most surely has never been "just another Pope," has he? Wow.
Pope Francis also visited the White House:
Many pictures of President Obama, first sitting President and family to visit Cuba:
https://tinyurl.com/yycsfh8e
I noticed at the baseball game, sitting next to Raul Castro was Salvador Valdes Mesa, Vice President of the Council of State, who's been around since the Revolution, where he fought with the original group, with both Castros, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, etc. and has held high office from the first revolutionary government.
As you can see, they LOVE baseball (beisbol) in Cuba.
President Carter warming up for the first pitch!
Getting some special advice!
Wearing guayaberas, Cuba's popular shirt!
Nine years later, Jimmy and Rosalind Carter met Cuba's Pres.,
Raul Castro, and visited failing Fidel Castro at his home.