Candidates bring Cuba into race

[Mika]

Source: Miami Herald

One day after Democrat Barack Obama called for lifting limits on
family travel to Cuba, rival Hillary Clinton expressed support for
current restrictions.

The leading Democratic presidential contenders Tuesday staked out contrasting positions on family travel to Cuba, injecting the island dear to hundreds of thousands of South Florida voters into a race mostly consumed by the war in Iraq.

In an opinion column in The Miami Herald, Sen. Barack Obama assailed President Bush's policy -- which restricts Cuban Americans to visiting relatives once every three years and sending only $100 per month -- as ``strategic blundering when it comes to advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in Cuba.''

Rival Sen. Hillary Clinton said she would continue the Bush administration's hard-line stance, for the most part. Clinton's campaign said she agrees that exiles should be able to freely send money to their relatives but said she does not favor ''any wholesale, broad changes'' to the travel restrictions until Fidel Castro falls.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/211039.html

---

The race for who can be more macho and incoherent on Cuba policy starts in Miami.

So far, only Kucinich, Gravel, and Paul are the only candidates in the running who have extolled the ending of sanctions on Cuba and American travel (Dodd has expressed that ending American's travel restrictions would be his goal, although not entirely ending economic/trade sanctions).

[CanSocDem]

1. Great line....

"The race for who can be more macho and incoherent on Cuba policy starts in Miami."

I wish Hilary wasn't winning.


.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Glad we're finally hearing a different view, at any rate. So TIRED of seeing politicians

who have TOTALLY sold out to the Cuban American National Foundation in order to take back a big buncha bucks for their campaign coffers.

The CANF has completely compromised a TON of U.S. Congresspeople, and Presidents. What a ####ing shame.

Since you gotta start somewhere, this little bit, at least, is a beginning!

(You have to wonder why more people don't ask themselves why it is Cubans want to go back to Cuba to visit, if they are really so terrified of Cuba's government. Doesn't look as if it would be worth the risk, does it?

I think that's why _Bush decided, as the Deciderer, to cut them off altogether: it was too embarrassing for the observant among us to see these guys getting on and off the daily flights to Havana from Miami, Los Angeles, and New York, considering the tall tales our propagandists have been spinning all this time.

[Mika]

3. The CANF's former director, Joe Garcia, is now head of the Miami-Dade Democratic party.

I'm pretty sure that this is the reason behind the lurch to the right many of the Dem candidates are taking.

Big mistake, imo (both Joe Garcia's appointment and the postitions staked out by the major candidates).

[Bacchus39]

7. the reason is to NOT lose votes in Florida

being anti-Castro is the politically correct stance to take regardless of party. It is a non-issue for non-Cubans. but an explosive issue for Cubans. so take the safe way. Pander, pander, pander. Politicians you know.

[Mika]

8. Yes, but the article goes on to say..

Some polls suggest that most Cuban Americans, weary of waiting for Castro's death, are frustrated with the current policy. But outspoken exile leaders say allowing Cuban Americans to support the island's economy would prop up the ailing dictator's authority.

If undermining Castro is truly the goal, then ending restrictions on American travel to Cuba by the US gov is the way to go.

I suggest that maintaining the standoff and continuing with threats and sanctions by the US gov only empowers the Castro factions and unites the Cuban people against US hegemony.

This is a basic requirement for maintaining the status quo and the money stream to both political sides of this standoff.

[Bacchus39]

9. yet still the politicians are weighing the best political stance

do I take the hardline stance? or do I take a softer stance that allows Cubans to travel back to Cuba?? Which gets me more votes or opposition? Simple as that. Since its a non-issue for non-Cubans, take the safest stance.

I am all for undermining Castro and allowing non-Cubans like me to travel to Cuba.

although I disagree that the status quo unites the Cuban people against the US. It may empower Castro of course. but certainly Cubans see the irony of constant lambasting of the archenemy but then complaining that they cannot advance as a society without open relations with that same archenemy.

[Mika]

10. You misinterpreted my point.

I never said that US actions unites the Cuban people against the US. It unites them against US hegemony. Two distinctly different things (hopefully).

[Bacchus39]

11. United against hegemony, as opposed to being in favor of it??

who wouldn't be against US aggression against their country?

I do in fact misinterpret your point apparently.

still doesn't change the fact the Cuban government blasts the US as their mortal enemy while desperately hoping for open relations.

[Mika]

14. The Cuban government blasts the US GOVERNMENT.

Mainly because the US GOVERNMENT has declared itself to be the mortal enemy of the Cuba.

The Cuban government has not declared itself to be the enemy of the US. That is exemplified by their fight for normalized relations for 45+ years.

[Billy Burnett]

19. Who is in favor of US hegemony over Cuba? The US paid "dissidents", that's who.

The so called "dissidents" that are on the US gov and various anti Cuba exile groups payroll with historic connections to the pre-revolution US puppet Batista government seek US hegemony over Cuba - again. The non foreign funded political opposition in Cuba functions openly and legally without hassle of any kind. The so called "dissidents" who are funded by US sources sometimes engage in illegal activities (promoting/aiding/abetting US hegemony) and that is when they get arrested.

I've read many of your postings on this subject. I just don't believe that you are so Pollyanna regarding this.

But, I do get a kick out of your arguments. Keep up the good work.

[Bacchus39]

20. right, there is no legitimate opposition in Cuba

all dissidents are agents of the enemy.

[Mika]

21. Huh? What the hell are you talking about?

But, you do confirm Billy's point. You play pretend. You've never been to Cuba. Billy has. I have. As a matter of fact there are several DUers who've been to Cuba.. ALL have confirmed what Billy mentioned on these various threads over the past years. That being, there are opposition political parties and movements in Cuba of domestic make up, and without foreign funding. They function openly and organize for political representation, including running for democratically elected seats in all three levels of Cuba's parliamentary system - the municipal, provincial and national assemblies.

You have consistently deliberately ignored the home grown Cuban opposition political participants. You only recognize the US funded "dissidents" as the only legitimate political activists in Cuba.

IMO, this consistent position is denigrating of the hard working opposition in Cuba that aren't agents of the US government's Transition Plan for Cuba. For what reason do you do this? Do you think that Cubans are incapable of forming their own opposition? Too stupid? Too weak? Why do you not accept that there is even a legitimate domestic non US funded opposition in Cuba?

[David__77]

15. Don't underestimate the power of the embargo to bolster Castro.

It does garner opposition to the US and support for the government in Cuba. Certainly it is far from universal, but there are many, including many intellectuals who might otherwise to "pro-American," who look negatively upon the hardline tactics of the US vis-a-vis Cuba. And it's not so effective these days, with Venezuela stepping into the fold once occupied by the Soviets. Cuba even has it better, because it has more power in its relations with Venezuela than it ever had with the Soviets, who more than once threatened cutting Castro loose if he didn't fall into line.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. No kidding. For all of the talk of Reagan and the Pope and the

Solidarity movement, what really killed the Soviet Union was Levis and KFC.

The largest capitalist enterprise on the planet today is Red China.

[Scurrilous]

17. Speaking of CANF...

Nine new schools open in Miami-Dade

"Traffic also caused problems at West Kendall's new Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School. By 8 a.m., a line at least 30 cars deep had formed around the school, which is in the middle of a residential area. Not all the traffic was meant for Jorge Mas Canosa. An elementary school sits one block down from the new middle school."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/209115.html


Coming soon... Orlando Bosch elementary and Posada High.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Oh, God. I'm going to blow lunch. Look at what was written at the Miami-Dade County Dem. site:

Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus launches its first ever in Florida Spanish language radio program, Democracia al Día, (“democracy up to date”) at WRHC Cadena Azul 1550 AM, at 8 to 9 pm every Thursday. The purpose of the radio program is to inform and discuss issues of interest to the community, from a Democrat point of view.

http://www.miamidadedemocrats.com/events.asp?EventId=342&nDate=8%2F23%2F2007&

Yeah, right. <groan> "Democrat point of view!" Who wrote that? Surely not a Democrat! They're even invading the Democratic Party.

[Vogon_Glory]

4. Wise Up, Senator Clinton!

Wise up, Senator Clinton! There's no reason to to waste your time trying to cozy up to the hard-line Cuban exile voting block. They already hate you, they hate your husband the former president, and they hate Democrats in general. Many, if not most of the hardliners, are still nursing decades-old grudges against the Democratic Party dating back to JFK's alleged "betrayal" at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. You owe them no special favors.

It is time to put the rest of the United States' interests ahead of the wish lists of the Cuban exile intransigents. The US should end the trade restrictions, end the travel ban, and start working with Cuba and other Caribbean-basin countries to cut coastal pollution, restore fisheries, and fight international drug trafficking. A Clinton administration should advance the interests of US farmers and restore lost agricultural markets in Cuba. Cold warriors may rant and wail, but whether we like it or not, the post-1959 Cuban government has survived fifteen years of trade embargo and travel restrictions AND the collapse of the Soviet Union.

If enough island Cubans choose to start a Czech-style "Velvet Revolution," fine. But the US-imposed trade and travel restrictions have failed to effect any such political change.

[antiimperialist]

5. On second thought, Obama's and Edwards' Cuba position seem identical to me

I was excited after reading reports in AP, later echoed by DU, about Barack Obama's op-ed in the Miami Herald. With some many messenger carrying the news I and many others got confused and thought Obama's Cuba proposal was better than it really was: He basically said that if Fidel Castro dies and a Democratic president took over, Obama would ease the embargo. This is the exact same position taken by John Edwards a while ago.

[Mika]

6. Almost the exact same position of the Bush admin.

With the exception of th creating a special class of citizen/resident that has the freedom to travel to Cuba. The rest of us can't have the freedom to travel.

[Mika]

12. Deleted. wrong thread. n/t

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

16. glad to see Hillary is pandering to the Batista crowd

gotta get that rightwing Miami vote locked up!

Really people, why is is anyone giving this woman the time of day, let alone wanting her to be the nominee?

[harun]

18. I think they are recently unemployed mortgage bankers her campaign

has hired to post on DU.

[Vidar]

23. Clinton takes the side of corruption yet again. Kudos to Obama

on this single point, though I don't think he's all that much better over all. Just read another posting about Obama rallying the corrupt, influential Miami gusanos to his cause with anti-Castro rhetoric: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x302858

I retract my earlier slight praise. Obama is every bit as slimy as Hillary.

[Mika]

24. Kucinich is the only candidate with a realistic Cuba policy..

.. and that policy is to normalize diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba and to end all travel sanctions. Time to end the cold war.

Simple and straightforward, and the right thing to do.

[Vidar]

26. True enough.

[PunkPop]

25. It's official.

I hate Hillary.

What an idiot.