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More from the <i>WaPo</i> on Obama and Cuba — 6 Comments

  1. All true, but sadly, “Mr Obama” doesn’t care what anyone thinks about what he does. He’s never been wrong about anything in his life. He does whatever he wants, and the same people who are criticizing him for this, are the same ones who credit him with being a deeply thoughtful man, highly intelligent, etc, all the while doing senseless things that benefit no one, and further tank his popularity.
    His ego has no limits. this is just one in hundreds of examples where he demonstrates he does things because he believes his judgment and understanding of everything is superior to anyone. His arrogance is truly remarkable; if he weren’t also so lazy, he’d be even more dangerous than he is. It’s hard even for a man of his genius, to completely screw up a country when he only puts in a couple of hours a week at the office.

  2. Supposedly Raoul Castro lectured Obama for 30 minutes straight on the phone.

    Why did any President allow that?

    Wouldn’t anyone here love to give it to that guy for just ten minutes uninterrupted?

  3. Cornhead, I am pretty sure Obama agreed with Castro’s lecture. Obama has shown time and again his disdain for his country and his respect for our enemies’ point of view.

  4. This all reminded me of that huge smile and warm brotherly handshake Obama gave Hugo Chavez way back in early 2009, just months into Obama’s first term. Just found an article in the Los Angeles Times about it — it’s interesting to see what Obama said at that time about our relations with Cuba:

    Obama said he welcomed Cuban leader Raul Castro’s statement last week that his government wanted a full dialogue with the U.S. about a range of issues, including human rights, treatment of dissidents and media restrictions. Castro also acknowledged that the Cuban government may have been wrong in some of its positions.

    “And so we’re going to explore and see if we can make some further steps,” Obama said.

    Oh, well, so much for any “further steps” on Castro’s part; we now know they’d all be on our side. Of course, Obama mouthed those words before he was elected to a second term, when he’d have all the “flexibility” one could possibly desire.

  5. For those who believe that all those European and Canadian tourists have improved things for the people of Cuba, the reply is that the government of Cuba has been helped much more than the Cuban people. For documentation of that, read Cuban Gov. to Keep 92% of Worker Salaries.

    HAVANA TIMES – Cubans working for firms with foreign capital on the island received a bucket of cold water Tuesday when a new resolution published in the official Gazette fixes their salaries at only 8% of what the joint venture or foreign companies must pay the government in hard currency for their services.
    The announcement published by Granma daily quotes Vice-minister of Labor and Social Security, Zamira Maré­n Triana, as saying the new wage involves a “significant increase” for workers.
    Ever since the government announced in October that prospective employees of foreign companies at the Mariel Special Development Zone would be receiving nearly 40% of their real wages before taxes, workers of companies operating with foreign capital on the rest of the island were expecting to receive a higher cut of the wage paid by their employers to the State.
    It is the custom in Cuba that if a foreign firm wants its employees to be productive they must pay them an additional amount of hard currency under the table, since the amount they officially receive after the government takes the lion’s share is not a living wage.

    As long as Cuba is the fiefdom of the Castro brothers, any “foreign trade” will benefit the government much more than the people. As the Castro brothers have a tight control on affairs in Cuba, and thus control the terms under which “foreign trade” operates, one should not expect anything else.

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