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More US/Cuban News

Wow, that's some news. I am surprised I had not heard of any of this earlier.
 
This isn't any "news" at all, other than a buncha double talking politicians went and met with the scumbag murderer and his brother. :rolleyes:

Ohhh boy, Fidel (the murderer) looked us in the eyes and asked what can he do to help. All those weak-kneed liberals did was wet their pants instead of giving that SOB the real answer, "Stop murdering your citizens and continuing to violate basic human rights, now THAT is 'how you can help" you idiot!" :angry:

When you weed through all the BS, here's the meat of the article.

Jeffrey Davidow, the White House adviser for this month's Summit of the Americas, which Obama will attend, says the U.S. president has no plans to lift the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba.

So there ya have it, the "embargo" isn't being "lifted." The only thing that might happen is travel restrictions for those VISITING RELATIVES may be eased.

Don't look for Cuban cigars to be available (legally) in the USA anytime soon.
 
BTW so everyone knows Gary has a connection with the local paper, PM him for more news updates.
 
Amigos,

Don't get too excited, of what this politicians are saying about improving relations with Cuba. They are a bunch of HYPOCRITES; Rep. Cleaver said that "Cuba has more freedom then the U.S." Is he smoking Cuban Cigars with weed in them.

Fidel and Raul have killed thousand of Cubans and have imprisioned thousands more for not believing in his revolucion. One day we will have relations with Cuba, but it has to be done in the interest on the Cuban people and not the greed of some STUPID politicians, that don't have a clue of the suffering of the Cuban people.
 
Amigos,

Don't get too excited, of what this politicians are saying about improving relations with Cuba. They are a bunch of HYPOCRITES; Rep. Cleaver said that "Cuba has more freedom then the U.S." Is he smoking Cuban Cigars with weed in them.

Fidel and Raul have killed thousand of Cubans and have imprisioned thousands more for not believing in his revolucion. One day we will have relations with Cuba, but it has to be done in the interest on the Cuban people and not the greed of some STUPID politicians, that don't have a clue of the suffering of the Cuban people.

In response to the statement in bold, how exactly has the embargo helped the Cuban people over the past 47 years? No doubt that the Castro brothers have done horrible things to their people, but can you honestly say that their actions are any worse than China, Saudi Arabia, or any one of the other repressive regimes the U.S. has normal trade with?
 
Every situation is unique and because we trade with China dosen't mean we have to lift the embargo with Cuba as long as there is a Dictatorship.

What the Cuban people (I'm one of them) need is the same freedoms that we have here in the U.S. By lifting the embargo without guarantees of human rights and freedom to Cubans, all is going to do is to strenghten the Castro regime, and the Cuban people will still be opressed under their Communist system.

Look at your example of China , we trade with China,and they have a world economy now. They even have Triilions of Dollars of our debt in the U.S., but the Chinese people are still opressed. That's not right. That's not what we Cubans want. We have suffered 50 years of dictatorship and what we want is the same freedom as you have in the U.S.
 
Every situation is unique and because we trade with China dosen't mean we have to lift the embargo with Cuba as long as there is a Dictatorship.

What the Cuban people (I'm one of them) need is the same freedoms that we have here in the U.S. By lifting the embargo without guarantees of human rights and freedom to Cubans, all is going to do is to strenghten the Castro regime, and the Cuban people will still be opressed under their Communist system.

Look at your example of China , we trade with China,and they have a world economy now. They even have Triilions of Dollars of our debt in the U.S., but the Chinese people are still opressed. That's not right. That's not what we Cubans want. We have suffered 50 years of dictatorship and what we want is the same freedom as you have in the U.S.

First, I think everyone would agree that Cubans deserve and would love to have the freedoms we do in the U.S. However, the embargo is not going to help them get those freedoms.

Historically, economic embargoes have not had much success at trying to create change in the embargoed country. This is even more true with unilateral embargoes such as the U.S. against Cuba, regardless of how powerful the country instituting the embargo is is. Even in modern cases, such as North Korea, Iran, and Sudan, economic sanctions/embargoes have had zero success in furthering political goals. In almost all cases (specifically the three countries mentioned above), the embargoes have done nothing for the people of the country except make them worse off and have helped or at the very least maintained the status quo for their leaders. Take Iraq under Saddam. He maintained a stranglehold on power and lived in opulence while the people of his country died due to economic sanctions. Same with North Korea; Kim lives the high life while millions die from starvation.

Trade, on the other hand, has a great track record at promoting change in countries. China is a great example of this. Before finally joining the WTO in 2001, China had to clean up its act, both economically and in the human rights front. I'm not saying China is perfect or doesn't still have levels of oppression that are disgusting, but it is much, MUCH better now than in the past several decades. There is now a thriving middle class in China that wasn't there before and they have some political freedoms like local elections and limited freedom of speech and press. Its a slow process, but one that is only possible with trade and engagement.

With trade, you can assert leverage over a country in a way that is impossible to do without a trading relationship. Trade doesn't solve everything, but what is a better way to promote your country's values and ideals than to sell your goods and ideas to other cultures? Ending the embargo would not only benefit Cubans economically, but also start the process of opening up the country politically. Not all evolution requires revolution is the phase that comes to mind; Cuba won't change overnight with the embargo lifted, but Cubans stand a much better chance of getting the freedoms they want without the embargo than with it.
 
I got some longtime neighbors who are all pretty excited about seeing friends and families for the first time in years. Hopefully they won't mind me tagging along on one of their visits soon.
 
At 5pm today there was a press release that Cuban Americans can now go to Cuba without permission. I'm sure all of the details will be in print tomorrow. Price is a big issue at the moment, from Miami RT ticket is $500. Anybody want to venture into a start-up airline? John
 
At 5pm today there was a press release that Cuban Americans can now go to Cuba without permission. I'm sure all of the details will be in print tomorrow. Price is a big issue at the moment, from Miami RT ticket is $500. Anybody want to venture into a start-up airline? John


Dibs on the name El Cohiba Conquistador.
 
I'm not getting roped into a political debate but more news...
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

I may try to take a trip there this summer for my own enjoyment. Barring that in the next two years, I'd say the chances of me going to Cuba are 99%

Here's something at the end of the article you posted a link to:

But Obama is keeping the decades-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba in place, arguing that that policy provides leverage to pressure the regime to free all political prisoners as one step toward normalized relations with the U.S.

Still not much "news" here. :rolleyes:
 
Forget about the trade embargo ever going away, if the US raises it, the Cuban government will not honor it. And even if Cuban cigars were available legally in the US, it would probably be cheaper to fly over and get them yourself after the government taxes the hell out of them.
 
The embargo is not ending anytime soon. Major changes in the Cuban government will have to happen including the end of the Castro regime. Nothing to get excited about.
 
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