Hillary Clinton to call for lifting Cuba embargo

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Hillary Clinton plans to urge Congress to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba during a speech on Friday at Florida International University in Miami.
Clinton, according to her presidential campaign, will say that Republican arguments in opposition to more engagement with Cuba represent the “failed policies of the past.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-urges-congress-lift-cuba-embargo-120776.html#ixzz3hJOEBJit

[artislife]

1. Good!

Thank you President Obama for re-establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba leading to this urging of lifting the embargo. I applaud Hillary's statements.


There, I do agree with her completely on an issue!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Thank you and have a terrific day.

[artislife]

4. You, too!

[ismnotwasm]

3. K&R!!

[George II]

5. It's about time...clearly the embargo and everything else hasn't done anything...

...to change the Castro regime. I think we should have realized that 20 or 30 years ago, and stopped punishing the Cuban people.

[artislife]

19. I agree

Such a little island considered such a big threat. I hope this helps the people of Cuba quickly.

[still_one]

6. She actually consulted with Obama last year to consider lifting the embargo

"Near the end of my tenure I recommended to President Obama that he take another look at our embargo. It wasn’t achieving its goals and it was holding back our broader agenda across Latin America. After twenty years of observing and dealing with the U.S.-Cuba relationship, I thought we should shift the onus onto the Castros to explain why they remained undemocratic and abusive."

http://time.com/3637669/hillary-clinton-alan-gross-cuba-hard-choices/

[freshwest]

8. Wow. So she influenced Obama to put that on the front burner. All of our relationships with the

Americans south of the border (Central, Carribbean and South Americans are Americans) must be more honest and open. PBO has won over a lot of leaders with his humility. Castro in particular had gracious things to say about Obama.

And Hillary pledged early on to maintain all of his policies, which she worked for as SoS, and expand upon them. So the world can be a better place, no matter that it's different than what most people have grown accustomed to seeing.

We need a lot of improvements at home and abroad. These are days of great good and evil. The choice is still ours; if we don't get with it, the choice will be in the hands of those, for good or evil, who make it for us.

[still_one]

9. nope, that isn't what I said. Obama had plans for Cuba and Iran in his first term, and moved toward

those goals which paid dividends in his second term.

All I was saying was in her book she mentioned a change in her position

[freshwest]

22. Even better, means she learned. The rest of my post stands. Anyone likes the past better can say:

Whatever happens, some see the worst:

[still_one]

24. I am not disagreeing with you. If someone learns from a bad view point that is a good thing,

least I think so

[bigdarryl]

17. But but she's republican like

[riversedge]

10. Yes, I recall reading about this a while ago--so today's headline

about Hillary wanting to life the embargo was not a surprise.

[still_one]

11. Yes. My point was she had been going in that direction for some time

[riversedge]

13. oK point taken. In solidarity

[askew]

25. The people involved in the initial Cuba news all said that Kerry was

the driving force behind the Cuba deal. He made is a condition of coming on board as SoS.

And I distinctly remember Hillary attacking Obama for being for lifting of the embargo in 2008. Guess she "evolved" here too.

[flamingdem]

31. Interesting he made it a condition!

Do you remember where you might have read that?

I agree he has been the driving force, it's always been an issue of his.

[still_one]

34. I am saying in her book she changed her position. Kerry was very instrumental in the recent

Successes, but I believe the Obama indicated when he was interviewed by Jon Stewart that both the Iran and Cuba events were planned in his first term

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. That's a good position. n/t

[BainsBane]

12. Anyone who thinks that's an easy thing to say at FIU

has never lived in South Florida.

[L0oniX]

18. The old ones who have always objected have mostly died off.

[lunamagica]

29. Not really. I live here, and while the Cuban community is not the solid, one-mind block it once was

they have hardly "mostly died off".

Many are still alive, and remember, many come every year, hating the Castro regime.

And they tend to be very vocal and violent

So this won't be easy. Not at all

[L0oniX]

36. There is this thing ...the rest of the US and it's majority.

[lunamagica]

26. You are so right. Tonight on Univision there was a student saying how insulting

it was for Hillary to talk about lifting the embargo, because FIU was the school of so many Cuban exiles.

It won't be easy, and I admire her bravery in taking that position in no other place than FIU

[BainsBane]

28. I taught Latin American history down in that area

It was a fucking mine field. No way would I have come out publicly against the embargo down there. And I'm not exactly reticent with my views.

[L0oniX]

14. Well that's safe and easy to say ...now.

[lunamagica]

30. No, it is neither safe, nor easy.

[L0oniX]

37. Yea well Obama has already made the move so she is just riding on it.

[PBass]

15. YES, BUT WHAT DOES HILLARY REALLY BELIEVE? (sarcasm)

"Although President Barack Obama is taking the credit for Wednesday’s historic deal to reverse decades of U.S. policy toward Cuba, when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she was the main architect of the new policy and pushed far harder for a deal than the Obama White House.

From 2009 until her departure in early 2013, Clinton and her top aides took the lead on the sometimes public, often private interactions with the Cuban government. According to current and former White House and State Department officials and several Cuba policy experts who were involved in the discussions, Clinton was also the top advocate inside the government for ending travel and trade restrictions on Cuba and reversing 50 years of U.S. policy to isolate the Communist island nation. Repeatedly, she pressed the White House to move faster and faced opposition from cautious high-ranking White House officials."

[link:]http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-18/hillary-clinton-secretly-pushed-cuba-deal-for-years[link]

[BainsBane]

20. So the issue is not actual policy?

but thought crime? WTF cares what any of them beleeeve. It's what they do that counts. Cuba was a Third Rail of American politics until the Obama administration, the POSUCS who has done nothing according to some here, reestablished diplomatic relations.

I dare you to go down to S Florida and talk about lifting the embargo. Go on. Let's see it. Doesn't matter if you're the 5000th person to propose it. It ain't gonna be pretty.

[ibegurpard]

21. Good

Way past time.

[Thinkingabout]

23. K & R

[AgingAmerican]

27. Should have been lifted in the 70s

nt

[virtualobserver]

32. I couldn't agree more with her

It makes to no sense to restore relations without also lifting the embargo.

[flamingdem]

33. Hillary understands this issue

She has changed her views probably due to the influence of her sister in law who is a right ish wing Cuban American lawyer.

I'm not totally convinced though, considering Honduras my tendency is to think that Kerry deserves the credit here.

[Gothmog]

35. I love the fact that she will be making this proposal in Florida

Florida is a swing state and the younger Cuban population no longer automatically vote for GOP candidates.