US won't lift Cuba embargo

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Tuesday the United States will not soon lift its embargo on Cuba despite Fidel Castro's resignation.

Asked by reporters at the State Department if Washington planned to change its Cuba policy now that Castro has stepped down, Negroponte replied: "I can't imagine that happening anytime soon." He declined further comment.

~snip~

"What does this mean for the people in Cuba?" Bush said at a news conference during his trip to Africa. "They're the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro. They're the ones who were put in prison because of their beliefs. They're the ones who have been denied their right to live in a free society. So I view this as a period of transition and it should be the beginning of the democratic transition in Cuba."

Bush said he anticipates debate about Cuba's future, and that some people will say "Let's promote stability."

"In the meantime, political prisoners will rot in prison and the human condition will remain pathetic in many cases," he said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_cuba

[fascisthunter]

1. BREAKING: US Won't Get Over Itself

Empire on decline

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Surely You Don't Expect Shrub to Do Any Different?

No offense, but surely you don't expect Shrub to do any different? Buckaroo Bush has made it a point to stand against inconvenient regimes when her feels like it, while ignoring US-friendly tyrants.

[Selatius]

3. The US only supports democratic reforms if it means opening up Cuba to business interests.

If the Cubans vote for strong labor protections, environmental regulations, and strong regulations with capital flows, they've voted against the wishes of Wall Street.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. but you must admit, the US would be just as open to

totalitarianism if IT meant opeing up Cuba to business interests.

[Selatius]

9. True enough, we've supported any number of dictators who weren't communist.

Augusto Pinochet, Fulgencio Batista, and the Somoza dictatorship come to mind. Nevermind dictatorships in Africa and the Middle East and other places in the world we've supported who weren't communists but were just as intolerant of democracy and civil liberties.

[AlphaCentauri]

11. agree there is no freedom if Cubans have to do what Washington dictates n/t

[LynnTheDem]

4. Top tourist destination for Canadians & Brits? CUBA.

Sorry, Americans. You lose out.

Gotta keep that "USA is #1 for Freedom!" thang!

:eyes:

[PDJane]

8. Yeah, but it's a warm country......

with no Americans.

(Joking, honest)

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. It may be a joke, but there is a lot to be said for an American-free

vacation.

Wish I could take one, sometimes.

[LynnTheDem]

5. Yes, "some people will say "Let's promote stability." Most people will say

let's l;et the Cubans decide their own country's future for themselves.

Republics will say let's bomb them all.

[Auggie]

6. This is a good thing for Cuba

Keep those damn American corporatists out

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. It will be lifted

Not right now. Not under this president, but it will be lifted in the near future.

Somewhere in a America a plan is being hatched on the most effective way to exploit the people of Cuba. Once it's formulated it will spread like fire. Then the army of lobbyist will descend on DC like a biblical plague of locust. Those dreams of corporate millions cannot be denied.

[The Croquist]

13. I have no love for Castro but I've never understood the embargo.

We traded with the Soviet Union, Russia, China and many other countries. Somehow Cuba is supposed to be different. We subsidize our own sugar production but refuse to import their sugar. We could probably buy the whole Caribbean sugar production for ethanol without batting an eye but instead subsidize corn production that creates more pollution not less.
Supposedly their cigars are the best. I don't know if that means they stink less but I'll defer judgment on that.

Sorry but I don't have nearly as much compassion for other countries as I do for US citizens. If Joe consumer can save money by buying Cuban products good for us. If that helps Cuba fine. If they are willing to let in US Corporations let them do so at their own risk.

[jmowreader]

14. Quality cigars don't stink...

but other than that...

The biggest problem here isn't cigars. It isn't tourism or land. It's sugar.

Cuba was blessed with exactly the perfect conditions for sugar growing. They could, without a whole hell of a lot of problems, completely kill the US sugar industry--because our conditions are all wrong for sugar.

The cigar industry is the second largest problem. By the time Cuba nationalized the tobacco industry, all the great cigar families of Cuba had hauled ass for the mainland. They established their old brands as US trademarks. Should Cuba's cigars once again be allowed into the US, we'd have a Cuban Cohiba plus two other Cohibas. We'd have a Cuban Punch and a Honduran one. And so it goes. Who owns the trade dress--the Padron family, or Cubatabac?

[Dulcinea]

15. The South Florida Cuban exiles are very politically powerful.

They are reliably Republican, and they want the embargo.

[Mika]

16. Not exactly "reliably Republican".

charts from opensecrets.org



Admittedly, these charts stop at 2000 but the younger generation of Cuban-Americans are trending towards Dems.


Pro trade and pro embargo factions are both a mixed group of repugs and dems on both sides of the issue.

[AlphaCentauri]

19. Yep, they try to manipulate both parties with donations

the corporate way

[roody]

17. Go see Cuba now before the invasion of the

McDonalds, Murder King, and Wal Mart! Cuba is still beautiful and unspoiled. Unfortunately, you will meet many Americans there.

[freedomnorth]

18. Castro calls on U.S. to change Cuba policy

HAVANA (Reuters) - Three days after stepping down as Cuban leader, Fidel Castro was back in the fray on Friday calling on the United States to change its longtime policy of sanctions toward Cuba.

Castro said in an article that he had intended to take a few days off from writing when he announced his retirement on Tuesday after 49 years in power, but could not keep silent.

The international reaction to his departure, including calls for "liberty" in Cuba, forced him to "open fire" again on his ideological enemies in the United States, he said.

"I enjoyed seeing the embarrassing position of all the U.S. presidential candidates," he wrote in a column published by the Communist Party newspaper Granma. "One by one, they felt obliged to make immediate demands on Cuba to avoid risking a single vote," Castro said. "'Change, change, change!'" they cried in chorus. I agree, 'change!' but in the United States," he wrote.

(more at link)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN2255337620080222