More from the WaPo on Obama and Cuba
The WaPo’s editorial board keeps hammering home on this issue:
…[I]t’s important to know the reaction of those Cubans who have put their lives on the line to fight for democracy and human rights. Many have supported engagement and opposed the U.S. embargo. But they are now pretty much unanimous in saying that the way Mr.”‰Obama has gone about this is a mistake.
Actually, “mistake” is the polite word used by Berta Soler of the Ladies in White, an astonishingly courageous group of women who march each week in support of political prisoners. “Betrayal” was the term used by several others, who asked why Mr. Obama had chosen to lift economic restrictions and dispatch an ambassador without requiring the “significant steps toward democracy” he once said must precede liberalization.
Guillermo Farié±as, the general director of the dissidents’ United Anti-Totalitarian Front, told reporters in Havana that Mr. Obama had promised in a November 2013 meeting with himself and Ms. Soler that any U.S. action on Cuba “would be consulted with civil society and the nonviolent opposition. Obviously this didn’t happen .”‰.”‰. they didn’t take into account Cuban democrats.”
The negative response from the people whom Mr.”‰Obama portrays as the beneficiaries of his initiative is one reason to question his contention that Cuba should be treated like China and Vietnam, two Communist nations with which the United States normalized diplomatic and economic relations decades ago…
…Mr. Obama should have learned and applied some of the hard lessons of normalization with China and Vietnam ”” most notably that engagement doesn’t automatically promote freedom.
Much much more in that vein. It’s remarkable not so much for what it says but for who is saying it, and how clearly.
[ADDENDUM: Here’s a good interview with Marco Rubio on Cuba, a topic on which he certainly knows his stuff.]
[ADDENDUM II: I notice quite a few comments to the editorial from people who are hopping mad at the WaPo for going off the leftist reservation on this one.]
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.
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?
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.
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:
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.
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blogs/michael-j-totten
Venezuela has been subsidizing Cuba for some time. With the collapse of oil, there are no more subsidies. Obama is saving the Communist dictatorship in Cuba. See here for a personal perspective by someone who actually went there.
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.
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.