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Obama to announce diplomatic relations with Cuba


TitanTiger

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Some commentary. I tend to agree, particularly with the bold portion.:

A Good Thing but Not a Big Thing

Later this morning, President Obama will hold a presser on re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. The Wall Street Journal:

President Barack Obama plans to tell the nation on Wednesday that the U.S. will reopen its embassy in Havana, the official said, culminating a central aspiration of his presidency and representing the end of one of the last vestiges of the Cold War more than a quarter century after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Secretary of State John Kerry will color in details of the U.S. effort, speaking from Vienna on Wednesday about the move to convert the diplomatic post in Havana, known as the U.S. Interests Section, into a full embassy, officials said. He is expected to travel to Cuba in July to oversee the embassy's reopening.

This is overall good news. Diplomatic relations are not a seal of approval but a recognition of facts. The U.S. and Cuba, being neighbors, need to have regular diplomatic conversations about a range of issues that matter to both countries. And the absence of such relations contributes to various forms of juvenile anti-Americanism in parts of the world. So clearing this piece of unfinished business off the national to-do list is a good thing.

But it isn't a big thing. After all, there are already Cuban diplomats in Washington and U.S. diplomats in Havana. This is mostly a symbolic move, and less the product of diplomatic derring-do than hard political realities. The continuing unraveling of Cuba's current economic patron, Venezuela, has focused minds in Havana on the need to build up Cuba's tourism industry and other carefully limited and restricted business ties with the U.S.Many supporters of President Obama will be busy celebrating his "great breakthrough" today. But celebrations are still premature. The hard work of calibrating our relationship with Cuba (and its thuggish regime) is just beginning.

http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/07/01/a-good-thing-but-not-a-big-thing/

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From now until 2017 it will be interesting to see how far the current administration goes to establishing relations with Cuba. In addition, it would be very interesting if Cruz or Rubio wins the White House, since both are Cuban-American and critical of the Administrations effort with Cuba.

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Terrible news. This man, once again, gives away something and gets nothing in return.

Worst President - ever.

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He'll probably sell them the White House to use as their embassy.

Which is something he would do, because he believes it's his house!

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He'll probably sell them the White House to use as their embassy.

Which is something he would do, because he believes it's his house!

Hell, I bet he'll GIVE those commies the White House--since Obama hates America and all.

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He'll probably sell them the White House to use as their embassy.

Which is something he would do, because he believes it's his house!

Hell, I bet he'll GIVE those commies the White House--since Obama hates America and all.

For the first time ever, Michelle was proud to be an American.... when ? Not until the Dems elected her hubby as their candidate.

obama-not-saluting_1.jpg

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I think this is great news. I have long said our policies with Cuba are inconsistent with the way we have dealt with other countries, like China (who IMO have worse human rights violations). I would be happy about this news regardless of which Administration was pushing these policies.

P.S. Would love to book my trip to Havana, so really ready for them to open up travel to anyone.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

Which says plenty

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

I heard a Congresswoman from Miami say there are so many exemptions that anyone can go to Cuba under the current rules. If you're a blogger you can go as a journalist, student and professors can go, member of a church can go, and aid worker can go. There may be a few more, but those are the one I remember.

Just basically said if your not traveling to Cuba now, your not trying hard enough.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

I heard a Congresswoman from Miami say there are so many exemptions that anyone can go to Cuba under the current rules. If you're a blogger you can go as a journalist, student and professors can go, member of a church can go, and aid worker can go. There may be a few more, but those are the one I remember.

Just basically said if your not traveling to Cuba now, your not trying hard enough.

Yes, but you have to go on a tour. Also, the laws still don't allow Americans to spend USD in Cuba, so again everything has to be paid for through a tour company. You can go, it's just very restrictive. Also, US hotel chains are not allowed to own property there, so there are only European hotel chains.

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Cynthia Mckinny went & picked sugar cane. She digs the Castro bros.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

Which says plenty

So are you proposing that we break relations, trade and travel with China?

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All the Middle Eastern countries (other than Israel) are pretty much dictatorships or close to it with seriously bad human rights policies and many African countries and some Latin American and Asian countries as well. Are you proposing that the U.S. withdraw into a shell and only establish relations with countries that are democracies with no human rights stains on their record?

IMO, U.S. engagement with those countries economically and politically creates opportunities to influence them, however slowly. Isolating the U.S. from them completely is certain to achieve nothing positive, and the case of Cuba is a good example of that.

I, for one, am glad to see the walls come down.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

Which says plenty

So are you proposing that we break relations, trade and travel with China?

Not at all. What I'm proposing is that Obama not bring down the barriers w/ Cuba until they comply w/ human rights issues. Sorry, but in the real world, nations can't be dealt with exactly equally, on the same footing as each other. 1+ billion people China isn't the same as little Cuba.

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

Which says plenty

So are you proposing that we break relations, trade and travel with China?

Not at all. What I'm proposing is that Obama not bring down the barriers w/ Cuba until they comply w/ human rights issues. Sorry, but in the real world, nations can't be dealt with exactly equally, on the same footing as each other. 1+ billion people China isn't the same as little Cuba.

So in other words, it's not about human rights principles at all for you. It's about economics.

What about Vietnam?

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Channonc - so you're cool with the human rights violations & them keeping Americans in prison for political crimes, as long as YOU get to book travel plans?

That's super.

No more cool than I am with China doing the same thing, and there is no restrictions on my travel to Beijing or Shanghai.

Which says plenty

So are you proposing that we break relations, trade and travel with China?

Not at all. What I'm proposing is that Obama not bring down the barriers w/ Cuba until they comply w/ human rights issues. Sorry, but in the real world, nations can't be dealt with exactly equally, on the same footing as each other. 1+ billion people China isn't the same as little Cuba.

"Which says plenty". <_< :-\

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Up until now, I would call our Cuba policy a form of Isolationism. Meaning, putting undue restrictions on trade and travel. One of the misconceptions of Non-Interventionism being called Isolationism.

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I've never seen the logic in refusing to talk to a supposed enemy, if that's how one wishes to characterize Cuba. I'm all for exchanging ambassadors.

For that matter, I've never understood individuals who get angry then refuse to communicate with spouses, siblings, friends, colleagues, or others. Silence is a piss-poor way to resolve differences. (But a good way to keep the fires of hate burning, I suppose.)

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Seems few here were ever taught why we had our policy with Cuba in the 1st place.

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