Feet firmly on the ground
Reflections of Fidel
WHILE the G-20 Summit was beginning and ending in London, the well-known Washington Post journalist, Karen DeYoung, wrote in that influential newspaper: "Senator Richard G. Lugar called on President Obama to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with the island's communist government…
"The nearly 50-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, Lugar (R-Ind.) said in a March 30 letter to Obama, puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations, and "undermines our broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere."
"The April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago would present a "unique opportunity for you to build a more hospitable climate to advance U.S. interests in the region through a change in our position regarding Cuba policy.
"Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," says Karen DeYoung is at the forefront of a broad movement advocating a new policy that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups. A bipartisan majority of Congress has repeatedly voted to ease restrictions on travel and other contact with Cuba, although the measures died after threatened presidential vetoes during the Bush administration."
"Lugar is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week that would end all restrictions on travel to Cuba except in cases of war or direct threats to health or safety."
"Lugar said the appointment of an envoy and initiation of direct talks on subjects such as migration and drug interdiction would "serve vital U.S. security interests . . . and could ultimately create the conditions for meaningful discussion of more contentious subjects."
Karen’s article makes it clear that the senator for Indiana has his feet firmly on the ground. His argument is not based on philanthropic positions. He is working, as she states, with "the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups."
I am sure that Richard G. Lugar does not fear the stupidity of those who describe him as soft or pro-socialist.
When President Barack Obama is touring the world affirming, as he has done in his own country, that that it is necessary to invest the whatever sums are necessary in order to emerge from the financial crisis, guarantee the housing in which numerous families are living, guarantee employment for U.S. workers who are losing jobs in their millions, instigating health services and a quality education for all citizens, how can this be reconciled with blockade measures to impose his will on a country like Cuba?
Today, drugs constitute one of the most serious problems of this hemisphere and Europe. In the war on drugs and organized crime, stimulated by the enormous market of the United States, Latin American countries are losing close to 10,000 people every year, more than double those lost by the United States during the war in Iraq. Their number is growing and the problem is very far from being solved.
That phenomenon does not exist in Cuba, a close geographic neighbor of the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Cubans have been cooperating for many years on the thorny subject and in combating illegal emigration. On the other hand, no U.S. citizen has died as a result of acts of terrorism emanating from our country, because such activities would not be tolerated.
The Cuban Revolution, which the blockade and dirty warfare have been unable to destroy, is based on ethical and political principles; that is why it has been capable of resisting.
I will not attempt to exhaust the theme. Far from that, I have omitted in this Reflection the damage the arrogant attitude of the United States against Cuba has inflicted on our country.
Those capable of serenely analyzing events, as is the case of the senator for Indiana, are using an irrefutable argument: the U.S. measures against Cuba, over almost half a century, constitute a total failure.
It is not necessary to emphasize what Cuba has always said: we do not fear a dialogue with the United States. Neither do we need the confrontation in order to exist, as some fools think; we exist precisely because we believe in our ideas and we have never feared dialoguing with the enemy. It is the only way of procuring friendship and peace among the peoples.
(Taken from CubaDebate) Havana. April 6, 2009
Lugar Urges Obama to Open Talks With Cuba, Ease Restrictions
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 2, 2009
With momentum building in Congress for a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, Sen. Richard G. Lugar called on President Obama to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with the island's communist government and to end U.S. opposition to Cuba's membership in the Organization of American States.
The nearly 50-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, Lugar (R-Ind.) said in a March 30 letter to Obama, puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations, and "undermines our broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere."
The April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago would present a "unique opportunity for you to build a more hospitable climate to advance U.S. interests in the region through a change in our posture regarding Cuba policy," Lugar wrote.
Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is in the forefront of a broad movement advocating a new policy that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups. A bipartisan majority of Congress has repeatedly voted to ease restrictions on travel and other contact with Cuba, although the measures died after threatened presidential vetoes during the Bush administration.
Obama said during the presidential campaign that he would adopt a new strategy toward Cuba, including removing some travel restrictions, but he has said that the embargo should not be lifted until the Cuban government improves its human rights record and holds free elections. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after the communist takeover in 1960 and imposed limited economic sanctions that were broadened in 1962 to cover all trade. Travel there by U.S. citizens has been prohibited in varying degrees since 1963.
Lugar is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week that would end all restrictions on travel to Cuba except in cases of war or direct threats to health or safety. Cuban Americans with relatives living on the island are currently allowed to visit once a year. A similar bill in the House has more than 120 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Lifting all restrictions -- and the trade embargo -- requires legislation, but Obama can end the travel limits for Cuban Americans by executive order. Neither the legislation nor Lugar, in his letter to Obama, proposes lifting all sanctions outright or immediately resuming diplomatic relations. Lugar said the appointment of an envoy and initiation of direct talks on subjects such as migration and drug interdiction would "serve vital U.S. security interests . . . and could ultimately create the conditions for meaningful discussion of more contentious subjects."
Reflections of Fidel
WHILE the G-20 Summit was beginning and ending in London, the well-known Washington Post journalist, Karen DeYoung, wrote in that influential newspaper: "Senator Richard G. Lugar called on President Obama to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with the island's communist government…
"The nearly 50-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, Lugar (R-Ind.) said in a March 30 letter to Obama, puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations, and "undermines our broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere."
"The April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago would present a "unique opportunity for you to build a more hospitable climate to advance U.S. interests in the region through a change in our position regarding Cuba policy.
"Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," says Karen DeYoung is at the forefront of a broad movement advocating a new policy that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups. A bipartisan majority of Congress has repeatedly voted to ease restrictions on travel and other contact with Cuba, although the measures died after threatened presidential vetoes during the Bush administration."
"Lugar is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week that would end all restrictions on travel to Cuba except in cases of war or direct threats to health or safety."
"Lugar said the appointment of an envoy and initiation of direct talks on subjects such as migration and drug interdiction would "serve vital U.S. security interests . . . and could ultimately create the conditions for meaningful discussion of more contentious subjects."
Karen’s article makes it clear that the senator for Indiana has his feet firmly on the ground. His argument is not based on philanthropic positions. He is working, as she states, with "the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups."
I am sure that Richard G. Lugar does not fear the stupidity of those who describe him as soft or pro-socialist.
When President Barack Obama is touring the world affirming, as he has done in his own country, that that it is necessary to invest the whatever sums are necessary in order to emerge from the financial crisis, guarantee the housing in which numerous families are living, guarantee employment for U.S. workers who are losing jobs in their millions, instigating health services and a quality education for all citizens, how can this be reconciled with blockade measures to impose his will on a country like Cuba?
Today, drugs constitute one of the most serious problems of this hemisphere and Europe. In the war on drugs and organized crime, stimulated by the enormous market of the United States, Latin American countries are losing close to 10,000 people every year, more than double those lost by the United States during the war in Iraq. Their number is growing and the problem is very far from being solved.
That phenomenon does not exist in Cuba, a close geographic neighbor of the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Cubans have been cooperating for many years on the thorny subject and in combating illegal emigration. On the other hand, no U.S. citizen has died as a result of acts of terrorism emanating from our country, because such activities would not be tolerated.
The Cuban Revolution, which the blockade and dirty warfare have been unable to destroy, is based on ethical and political principles; that is why it has been capable of resisting.
I will not attempt to exhaust the theme. Far from that, I have omitted in this Reflection the damage the arrogant attitude of the United States against Cuba has inflicted on our country.
Those capable of serenely analyzing events, as is the case of the senator for Indiana, are using an irrefutable argument: the U.S. measures against Cuba, over almost half a century, constitute a total failure.
It is not necessary to emphasize what Cuba has always said: we do not fear a dialogue with the United States. Neither do we need the confrontation in order to exist, as some fools think; we exist precisely because we believe in our ideas and we have never feared dialoguing with the enemy. It is the only way of procuring friendship and peace among the peoples.
(Taken from CubaDebate) Havana. April 6, 2009
Lugar Urges Obama to Open Talks With Cuba, Ease Restrictions
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 2, 2009
With momentum building in Congress for a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, Sen. Richard G. Lugar called on President Obama to appoint a special envoy to initiate direct talks with the island's communist government and to end U.S. opposition to Cuba's membership in the Organization of American States.
The nearly 50-year-old economic embargo against Cuba, Lugar (R-Ind.) said in a March 30 letter to Obama, puts the United States at odds with the views of the rest of Latin America, the European Union and the United Nations, and "undermines our broader security and political interests in the Western Hemisphere."
The April 17-19 Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago would present a "unique opportunity for you to build a more hospitable climate to advance U.S. interests in the region through a change in our posture regarding Cuba policy," Lugar wrote.
Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is in the forefront of a broad movement advocating a new policy that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, a number of state governments and human rights groups. A bipartisan majority of Congress has repeatedly voted to ease restrictions on travel and other contact with Cuba, although the measures died after threatened presidential vetoes during the Bush administration.
Obama said during the presidential campaign that he would adopt a new strategy toward Cuba, including removing some travel restrictions, but he has said that the embargo should not be lifted until the Cuban government improves its human rights record and holds free elections. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after the communist takeover in 1960 and imposed limited economic sanctions that were broadened in 1962 to cover all trade. Travel there by U.S. citizens has been prohibited in varying degrees since 1963.
Lugar is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week that would end all restrictions on travel to Cuba except in cases of war or direct threats to health or safety. Cuban Americans with relatives living on the island are currently allowed to visit once a year. A similar bill in the House has more than 120 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Lifting all restrictions -- and the trade embargo -- requires legislation, but Obama can end the travel limits for Cuban Americans by executive order. Neither the legislation nor Lugar, in his letter to Obama, proposes lifting all sanctions outright or immediately resuming diplomatic relations. Lugar said the appointment of an envoy and initiation of direct talks on subjects such as migration and drug interdiction would "serve vital U.S. security interests . . . and could ultimately create the conditions for meaningful discussion of more contentious subjects."
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