Thread: Cuba still very controversial

With all the controversy spent on Israel in this forum regarding the influence of AIPAC on shaping American policy, we never seem to hear about the influence of Cuban-Americans on American policy towards Cuba. We now have had an economic blockade against Cuba for 50 years and travel to Cuba from the United States is still quite restricted. Even in the Cold War 1980s, you could visit the USSR a lot easier than you could go to Cuba, but now Cuba is a sad remnant of the Cold War that offers no threat to the USA.

So why do we get incidents like the Ozzie Guillen affair in Miami. After being quoted as saying he loves Fidel Castro, he not only is crucified in the local press and makes a tearful apology, but is suspended as manager for 5 games by the Miami Marlins! Apparently freedom of opinion or belief doesn't count when you're dealing with an influential local group with strong national political clout!

http://www.lfpress.com/sports/baseba.../19639526.html

And then there is the just completed Summit of the Americas, where Ecuador tried to stir the waters by not attending because Cuba was not invited, and the United States and Canada basically disagreed with all the other American countries (even the conservative ones) by holding fast to the principal of Cuba not being included in the future. The irony is that Canada DOES do business with Cuba and Canadian tourism in Cuba is crucial to what's left of the Cuban economy (I guess Canada doesn't want to annoy the USA, what with the Pipeline controversy).

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...5a67add3c2f370

So does the USA's policy towards Cuba make any sense any more? We're not that nasty toward Venezuela or Iran, who are a lot more worrisome than Cuba is? Are we sticking to political principle, or is this just another case of domestic political clout trumping common sense in foreign policy?

Originally Posted by skeptic-f

So does the USA's policy towards Cuba make any sense any more? We're not that nasty toward Venezuela or Iran, who are a lot more worrisome than Cuba is? Are we sticking to political principle, or is this just another case of domestic political clout trumping common sense in foreign policy?

The Americans are just still angry that an island off their coast who they forced to sign an agreement while under military occupation that meant the Americans could walk in an take over anytime they wanted, booted them out and confiscated their business interests. I believe that every country in the world has come to an agreement with Cuba over previous business interests and have accepted compensation from the Cuban government except the Americans. A 50 year old embargo on Cuba is a running joke in international diplomacy and disgraceful.

The Latin American states have set up their own summit organisation that does not invite America or Canada and that is the future.American policy towards Cuba these days does not make any sense to people outside the American government but to the Americans in government it makes perfect sense in that they cannot be seen to have good relations with a country that usurped their power in what they consider their back garden.

The average American doesn't actually care about Cuba.

One very vocal group does though -- Cuban-Americans. Because Florida still takes in a lot of Cuban refugees, these people understandably don't like Castro. The descendants of refugees don't either.

Because of their influence in Miami and Florida overall, there is a lot of pandering to them in politics and in public image.

Eventually, we'll wake up and realize that ending the embargo will actually improve life in Cuba, however. Fidel is almost dead, and with a market open to American trade, Cuba would most likely become a very fertile area for market liberalization and for expanding political freedom.

Until then, refugees and their descendants will inadvertently encourage the continuance of a needless embargo.

The embargo needs lifting immediately. It is nothing less than petulance on the part of America in the face of a tiny nation which dared give it the finger, and serves no purpose.

America doesn't have to trade with countries it doesn't want to trade with, being a super power doesn't rebuke that simple right every country in the world has,

If the USA offers aid funds to certain countries it has the right to ask them not to trade with countries it doesn't trade with either - don't accept the aid if you disagree...

I don't think that embargo is needed anymore, my guess is the US can actually profit by trading with Cuba - but its the citizens choice,

Originally Posted by Gilos

America doesn't have to trade with countries it doesn't want to trade with, being a super power doesn't rebuke that simple right every country in the world has,

If the USA offers aid funds to certain countries it has the right to ask them not to trade with countries it doesn't trade with either - don't accept the aid if you disagree...

I don't think that embargo is needed anymore, my guess is the US can actually profit by trading with Cuba - but its the citizens choice,

It's not actually a "citizens' choice." The government forbids us from trading with them. That's not a choice at all, and the embargo itself was implemented by Congress, not by a referendum.

Personally, I'd like to see more links with Cuba. If business started to go into Cuba and Cuban-Americans could visit in large numbers, the citizens of Cuba would see just how f - - - - d up their lives are by comparison and how much better their lives could be. If that didn't cause unrest and pressure on the current regime I don't know what would.

For instance, imagine if cruise liners could stop at Cuba and see the sights/shop - it's a natural destination that almost all cruise lines avoid because of the U.S. embargo. I would bet the existence of West Berlin and the autobahn connection to West Germany had a lot to do with the dissatisfaction of East Germans trundling down the road in their Trabants while BMWs and Porsches wizzed by them. I hear the Cubans actually have government-organised hitch-hiking!

Cuba's role in the war on drugs...

Cuba and US find common ground in war on drugs
8 September 2012 - Officers patrol Cuba's coastline to deter and detect smugglers

The golden beaches of Cayo Cruz lie at the end of a long path through a nature reserve. It is an idyllic stretch of Cuba's northern coast but this is key territory in the fight against international drug-trafficking. Cuba sits right between the world's major narcotics producers in South America and the biggest market for those drugs, the United States. The island has served as a bridge for traffickers in the past but in recent years it has been a barrier to the illegal trade.

"We used to see a lot of suspicious boats here," Ardoldo Cisneros Pena recalls of the 1990s. He is chief border guard in Cayo Cruz, where we were recently given rare access. "There were almost daily drops into the sea," he says. Small planes would bombard Cuban waters with packets of drugs, for speedboats to whisk to the US. Today, the scene is tranquil. A young border guard scans the horizon from a mint-green watchtower. A stone slab below reads "They shall not pass!" and "Viva Fidel!".

'Mortal venom'

It was Fidel Castro, then president, who acknowledged a surge in the use of Cuban waters by drug-traffickers in 1999. There was a nascent narcotics market too, as smugglers' packages began washing up on the coast. The government was compelled to act against what Mr Castro calls a "mortal venom". "We have more resources now, there is a helicopter for the border guards and more commitment from the interior ministry, the military and the Cuban people too," Lt-Col Cisneros explains. Operation Ache, as the crackdown was known, also installed a new radar and recruited hundreds of unpaid "collaborators", trained to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious parcels along the shore. The drugs planes have now gone and the main threat today is from speed-boat smugglers attempting to traffic marijuana north. "They try to escape us but if they can't, they try to dump the drugs because they know this activity is very heavily penalised here," explains Lt-Col Mago Llanez Fernandez, who heads the team responsible for intercepting the smugglers at sea.

He admits that up to 60% get away. Securing any abandoned narcotics is the priority here. But as the boats flee, Cuba now passes real-time data to the US coastguard so they can pick up the pursuit. It is rare teamwork for two old, ideological enemies. "I think this is important for Cuba, because we're preventing the drugs reaching here, but it's also very important for the US and other countries in the area," Lt-Col Llanez points out. With its very heavily policed society, it is no surprise Communist Cuba is not a big drugs market itself. Scarce supply means even a joint of marijuana can cost up to a week's wage ($5) for a state worker. But some smugglers have begun to see potential here. "We've seen a rise in attempts by Cuban Americans to bring drugs in, especially marijuana, because the prices are high here," says police investigator Yoandrys Gonzalez Garcia. "It's not a huge amount but it concerns us and we're increasing our efforts to fight this."

'Effective'[/quote]

I think the only ones who still want to embargo Cuba are not very faithful to Capitalism and a market economy.

If the USA had any class they would have packed up and left Guantanamo years ago...they got that base from a criminal dictator Baptista, and think they own that on Cuban soil forever...they just do not have the class to leave and give it back to Cuba...they are so despotic and arrogant makes all decent law abiding people want to throw up at their misconduct and disregard for other people on the planet!