June 14, 2008
All About "God Bless America"
Ever since sending Jorge Ponce, a Cuban American from the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area, some CAMBIO bracelets some time last year, he has proudly sent me photos and links to articles where Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutiérrez is wearing the bracelet or mentioning the bracelet and the idea of CAMBIO. Since then he has been kind of enough to send me other information pertaining to Cuba, the latest of which I share with you now.
This is an excerpt of an online discussion with Eugene Robinson, columnist for the Washington Post. You may have read Robinson's article, "Hard-Line Lunacy on Cuba" a few weeks ago in the WaPo in which he called the US embargo on Cuba "incredibly stupid." If you have not read it, please do enjoy it HERE.
An excerpt from the article:
"It could also be called childish and counterproductive -- and, since the demise of the Soviet Union, even insane. Absent the threat of communist expansionism, the refusal by successive American presidents to engage with Cuba has not even a fig leaf's worth of rationale to cover its naked illogic. Other than providing Fidel Castro with a convenient antagonist to help whip up nationalist fervor on the island -- and prolong his rule -- the U.S. trade embargo and other sanctions have accomplished nothing."
Below is an excerpt that Jorge sent me from the online discussion this past Tuesday which he follows up with his own observations.
The partial transcript follows.
"Germantown, Md.: You've been getting some ribbing on your Cuba Policy as of late. Have you thought any differently since your column? I tend to agree with you on the whole -- that we need to open up more toward that government, as painful as it may be. But I also hear the points from the other side... washingtonpost.com: Hard-Line Lunacy on Cuba (Post, May 31)
Eugene Robinson: No regrets or reconsideration on this one. If a policy doesn't work for 50 years, you really need to try something else. In the case of Cuba -- and I've been there many times -- I'm convinced that U.S. policy has strengthened Fidel Castro's hand.
Jorge's Observation: Again, Eugene claims that just because he's visited Cuba ten times, he is an expert on this matter. As Dan Rather found out, Cuban officials manipulate what they want American tourists and reporters to see and report on. He refuses to consider the facts that I and Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez addressed in our published letters.
What does this show? He's not interested in the truth, or like Jack Nicholson said in the movie "A Few Good Men," "he can't handle the truth."
Instead, he's an advocate of anything and anyone who is or pretends to be anti-Yankee. Ergo, his longstanding honeymoon with the Castros.
It's interesting how individuals like Eugene pretend to be so worried about the Cuban people. Oh, my God!! I can't handle so much concern!!
His true motives become obvious when his solution to rid them of their suffering is to lift the U.S. embargo. But, as I've indicated previously, the U.S. embargo is not multilateral. Cuba has traded with many European and Asian countries since the the Castro's came to power in 1959. Yet, the living conditions of Cubans have not improved.
Lifting the embargo would bring more revenue to the Cuban authorities, which they will use to increase terrorist activities against the U.S.
Forget about loving and caring so deeply about the Cuban people. How about showing some care for Americans? I don't know about Eugene, but I'm all about God Bless America. "
You can also read Jorge's and Secretary Gutierrez's rebuttals to May 31st article by Robinson HERE.
Cross-posted on www.Claudia4Libertad.typepad.com
Posted by Claudia4Libertad at June 14, 2008 11:58 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/8608
Comments
I guess there are some people who argue that trading with Cuba would somehow end the Cuban dictatorship. But arguing against this point is really a straw man argument. Intelligent opponents of the embargo understand that trading with Cuba will not in and of itself end the Cuban tyranny. But, they do recognize that the embargo in and of itself, and even when it was multilateral, also did not end the Cuban tyranny, and indeed the embargo gave the Cuban government the ability to strengthen its psychological hold over its population, by claiming to be a country under siege by its powerful northern neighbor. Ending the embargo is not good policy because it will end the Castros' rule - in reality, nothing short of a military invasion has ever successfully ended a regime. (In a way, I would be more accepting of an outright invasion of Cuba than I am of the embargo - at least it would be quick and effective, though of course the collateral costs of military invasions are horrible to consider.)
Since we have established that the embargo neither helps nor hurts the existence of the Castro regime, the real reason to give thought to ending the embargo becomes to help raise the standard of living for Cubans. The world's wealthiest nation and the nearest producer of food, fuel, and consumer goods currently refuses to trade with the island for political reasons, while it does trade with China, Vietnam and even North Korea - at best, it is hypocritical, and at worst, it is a human rights violation.
Needless to say, the trade and travel embargoes are flagrant violations of Americans' civil rights as well.
Posted by: Eddy ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 15, 2008 01:19 AM
"Since we have established that the embargo neither helps nor hurts the existence of the Castro regime, the real reason to give thought to ending the embargo becomes to help raise the standard of living for Cubans. The world's wealthiest nation and the nearest producer of food, fuel, and consumer goods currently refuses to trade with the island for political reasons, while it does trade with China, Vietnam and even North Korea - at best, it is hypocritical, and at worst, it is a human rights violation."
Very well said, Eddy, but factually incorrect. The US sells plenty of food and medical supplies to the Cuban government. In fact, the US is one of the Cuban government's largest suppliers. Hence, I fail to see how you came to the conclusion that the US is committing a violation of the Cuban people's human rights when the facts of the matter indicate that it is the Cuban government that is depriving the people of Cuba of the most basic human rights.
There is a glaring misrepresentation in every argument I have seen against the embargo: the blame for the misery of the Cuban people is placed solely on the embargo. Not one of these arguments, including yours, addresses the fact that it is the Cuban government that is perpetrating these heinous acts upon its people. Lifting the embargo will not cause the dictatorship to change its ways, just like the billions of dollars of trade with the US and the rest of the world has not been able to accomplish this.
When someone can come up with a plan to lift the embargo without enriching the dictatorship, and at the same time exert more pressure, I will gladly listen. In the meantime, trading one so-called failed policy for another obviously failed policy is not a viable, nor logical solution.
Posted by: albertodelacruz at June 15, 2008 09:25 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
