U.S. Deplores Cuba Transition Plans

[Say_What]

Tio Sam's hissy fit trying to dictate to a sovereign nation. Just more bellicose bullshit from Cuba's Ugly Neighbor to the North. :puke:

<clips>

U.S. Deplores Cuba Transition Plans

WASHINGTON -- The "dynastic succession" taking place in Cuba is not acceptable to the United States and will also be rejected by the Cuban people over the long run, the State Department said Friday.

Instead of trying to impose provisional leader Raul Castro as the successor to President Fidel Castro, Cuban authorities should allow the Cuban people to elect their next leader, spokesman Tom Casey said.

"What we want is a transition from the current dictatorship to a democratic government," Casey said. "And we certainly don't think that a transition from Fidel to Raul Castro fits that bill."

Casey declined to respond specifically to a comment by Raul Castro that he had mobilized Cuba's armed forces after taking power in anticipation of a possible invasion by the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/18/AR2006081800705.html

[Warren Stupidity]

1. I agree dynasties suck

So to set an example for Cuba George Bush Jr. should immediately resign.

[CottonBear]

2. Oh, the hypocrisy! Bush is a dictator from a family dynasty.

Hey Casey: It doesn't matter what you want. It's not your freaking country. :grr:

[peacetalksforall]

3. "What we want..." WHAT WE WANT? Who the heck are we to say

WHAT WE WANT. HOW ARROGANT! HOW RIDICULOUS! This is too much.

I can't believe this statement. What they want is to invade Cuba. These fools must be voted out.

[Say_What]

5. OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza recently said:

``There's no transition and it's not your country.''

I loved reading that. :thumbsup:

Here's the quote:

<clips>

...Perhaps OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza's reaction to the idea of a U.S. transition coordinator for Cuba summed it up best. "But there is no transition," he said, "and it isn't your country."

Indeed, the transition plan put forward in 2004 had such a "made-in-the-USA" tone to it that it backfired in Cuba. Even Cubans who had their disagreements with the Castro government did not want to be told by the United States how they should run their country. Leading dissidents described the new approach as counterproductive. Elizardo Sanchez of the Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, for example, noted that the U.S. policy announced in 2004, "has had an effect exactly the opposite of the one you should want."

Cuba's Catholic Bishops also disagreed with the U.S. approach, saying its measures "threaten both the present and the future of our nation."

http://www.counterpunch.org/smith07112006.html

[independentpiney]

11. Agreed

Imperial hubris at it's finest

[Ian David]

4. We're gonna need their sugar for our Ethanol-Fueled vehicles! n/t

[Say_What]

6. Propaganda Machine USINFO: Lifting Embargo on Cuba "Still on the Table,"

OMFG, they are just soooo f*ck'n desparate!! Now they're trying to coerce the EU and others to pressure Cuba to make a transition to *democracy*. I can hardly wait to see how this horseshit plays out.

<clips>

Lifting Embargo on Cuba "Still on the Table," U.S. Official Says

Washington -- The European Union and other members of the global community can play an important role in helping Cuba make a transition to democracy, says Thomas Shannon, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

In an August 17 video conference with an audience in the Czech Republic's capital of Prague, Shannon said the Europeans can make it clear to the Cuban regime that they will not tolerate increased repression once Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, reportedly suffering from serious health problems, is no longer capable of "being present as a political leader."

Shannon repeated the U.S. offer to consider lifting its trade embargo on Havana if the Cuban regime fulfills a number of requirements, such as releasing political prisoners; guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech and association; allowing the creation of organizations that are independent of the state, including trade unions, neighborhood associations, and political parties; and starting a "pathway" that leads to free and fair elections.

The assistant secretary said President Bush offered in a 2002 speech "to look at how the embargo could be lifted," but Castro rejected the offer.

"The offer is still on the table," Shannon emphasized. He said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, co-chairs of the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (CAFC), have noted that the United States wants to "find a way to engage with Cuba as it makes its transition to democracy. We want to find a way to be helpful as Cubans begin to build and develop a democratic state." (See related article.)

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x=200608181119581xeneerg8.555239e-02

[David__77]

7. I love it.

Castro's last stick in the eye of the empire will be smooth transition to a new generation of leaders carrying on Cuba's social system.

[hughee99]

10. I'm not sure that I'd call Raul Castro "a new generation"

He's only 5 years younger than Fidel.

[NeoConsSuck]

8. The limp dick prez

Like anyone in the world really gives a shit what he or his administration says. Hell, 65% of Americans don't give a shit about him anymore, why should the rest of the world?

You're running on empty, george. That's because all that political capital you thought you were going to spend turned out to be counterfeit, just like you.

[zreosumgame]

9. translation:

Use the Diebold machines that have been proven corrupt

[whoneedstickets]

12. The Cubans SHOULD hold an election...

...but then just have their Supreme Court declare Castro the winner