According to the Bushies, free trade is good for every country except Cuba. It's embarrassing to see the President of the United States whore himself out to a few hundred thousand Cubans in Dade County. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&u=/ap/20031010/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cuba_6&printer=1 WASHINGTON - Eager to please a key Florida constituency, President Bush directed his secretary of state and his Cuban-born housing secretary Friday to recommend ways to achieve a transition to democracy in Cuba after 44 years under Fidel Castro. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Housing Secretary Mel Martinez will chair a panel that will "plan for the happy day when Castro's regime is no more and democracy comes to the island," Bush said during a Rose Garden ceremony. "The transition to freedom will present many challenges to the Cuban people and to America, and we will be prepared," the president said. Bush also said the United States would step up enforcement of existing restrictions against the communist regime, such as a ban on tourism by Americans, and crack down on the trafficking of women and children in Cuba. The United States also will launch a public outreach campaign to identify "the many routes to safe and legal entry" for Cubans who try to flee their homeland, he said.
...and we know Clinton would have never done such a thing...hang on I need to find my eyes they just rolled right out of my head!
Hmmmmm, maybe because he is the most recent Democratic president...nah, can't be, that would be too logical for you!
these pesky little bastards just don't seem to understand that if they do as they're told and let IMF dictate their economic policy, they will achieve prosperity the likes of haiti in no time.
Are you trolling my thread with Clinton because you're too ignorant about the Cuban situation but feel the need to express yourself anyway?
This is all about Florida and the fact that his handlers figure that stunt with the Supremes won't work 2 elections in a row.
Trade with Marxist Cuba makes little sense. Basically, we'd be taking Cuba's credit card for tons of grain and other agricultural products. Mind you, Cuba is already in debt to a dozen other countries. We'd be giving them our goods with the knowledge that Cuba would most likely never pay us. And no, I'm not giving Castro's Cuba a free pass when it comes to trade.
Cuba will pay for our products with all the tourist and cigar money they get from Canada and Europe. Most of the impetus for trade to Cuba comes from farmers looking for a new market to export to. Okay, maybe those guys who want Cuban cigars to become legal. Whether this constituency can overcome the aging Cuban exile constituency, well, who knows.
???? This post is mindblowing in its ignorance of all things pertinent to the situation. Manny, free trade doesn't mean the US government gives Cuba all these goods in exchange for a promisory note. That's called foreign aid. Free trade means that private businesses in the U.S. can make business deals in Cuba if they so desire. Or that Americans can travel to Cuba if they like and blow their hard-earned cash on cigars and whores. But, no, your President has taken that freedom away from you.
we have "free" trade agreements with countries a lot more indebted than cuba. the issue is the same one it's been for a couple of hundred years. we are unwilling to tolerate a country in our sphere of influence pursuing it's own economic and poltical destiny. cuba went from being practicaly a u.s. plantation, to a country that despite decades of economic strangulation by the most powerfull nation on earth has provided a much better standard of life to its' citizens than other latin american countries strong armed into accepting the washington concensus. not the kind of example we want to see spread among other little brown people. see haiti, guatemala, el salvador, etc. for examples of capitalist paradises.
That's not true either. I did a quality of life indicator comparison between Cuba, El Salvador, and Guatemala a few months back on these boards. All three were in very similar situations. Which still demonstrates the Cuban myth our government backs.
I sense that this move by Bush is a way to smooth things over with the Cuban-Americans after his brother has been fouling things up recently. As usual, the policy outlined by the Bush administration promises to increase tension, provoke hostility, and have a net negative effect for both countries involved.
If we are to push a regime change in cuba, aren't we still breaking the deal that we made with the old Soviet Union?
Human development index rank: 52 Cuba 105 El Salvador 119 Guatemala ------------------ HDI Rank Country Human development index (HDI) value 2001 1 Norway 0.944 2 Iceland 0.942 3 Sweden 0.941 4 Australia 0.939 5 Netherlands 0.938 6 Belgium 0.937 7 United States 0.937 8 Canada 0.937 9 Japan 0.932 10 Switzerland 0.932 11 Denmark 0.930 12 Ireland 0.930 13 United Kingdom 0.930 14 Finland 0.930 15 Luxembourg 0.930 16 Austria 0.929 17 France 0.925 18 Germany 0.921 19 Spain 0.918 20 New Zealand 0.917 21 Italy 0.916 22 Israel 0.905 23 Portugal 0.896 24 Greece 0.892 25 Cyprus 0.891 26 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 0.889 27 Barbados 0.888 28 Singapore 0.884 29 Slovenia 0.881 30 Korea, Rep. of 0.879 31 Brunei Darussalam 0.872 32 Czech Republic 0.861 33 Malta 0.856 34 Argentina 0.849 35 Poland 0.841 36 Seychelles 0.840 37 Bahrain 0.839 38 Hungary 0.837 39 Slovakia 0.836 40 Uruguay 0.834 41 Estonia 0.833 42 Costa Rica 0.832 43 Chile 0.831 44 Qatar 0.826 45 Lithuania 0.824 46 Kuwait 0.820 47 Croatia 0.818 48 United Arab Emirates 0.816 49 Bahamas 0.812 50 Latvia 0.811 51 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.808 52 Cuba 0.806 53 Belarus 0.804 54 Trinidad and Tobago 0.802 55 Mexico 0.800 56 Antigua and Barbuda 0.798 57 Bulgaria 0.795 58 Malaysia 0.790 59 Panama 0.788 60 Macedonia, TFYR 0.784 61 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.783 62 Mauritius 0.779 63 Russian Federation 0.779 64 Colombia 0.779 65 Brazil 0.777 66 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.777 67 Belize 0.776 68 Dominica 0.776 69 Venezuela 0.775 70 Samoa (Western) 0.775 71 Saint Lucia 0.775 72 Romania 0.773 73 Saudi Arabia 0.769 74 Thailand 0.768 75 Ukraine 0.766 76 Kazakhstan 0.765 77 Suriname 0.762 78 Jamaica 0.757 79 Oman 0.755 80 St. Vincent & Grenadines 0.755 81 Fiji 0.754 82 Peru 0.752 83 Lebanon 0.752 84 Paraguay 0.751 85 Philippines 0.751 86 Maldives 0.751 87 Turkmenistan 0.748 88 Georgia 0.746 89 Azerbaijan 0.744 90 Jordan 0.743 91 Tunisia 0.740 92 Guyana 0.740 93 Grenada 0.738 94 Dominican Republic 0.737 95 Albania 0.735 96 Turkey 0.734 97 Ecuador 0.731 98 Occupied Palestinian Territories 0.731 99 Sri Lanka 0.730 100 Armenia 0.729 101 Uzbekistan 0.729 102 Kyrgyzstan 0.727 103 Cape Verde 0.727 104 China 0.721 105 El Salvador 0.719 106 Iran, Islamic Rep. of 0.719 107 Algeria 0.704 108 Moldova, Rep. of 0.700 109 Viet Nam 0.688 110 Syrian Arab Republic 0.685 111 South Africa 0.684 112 Indonesia 0.682 113 Tajikistan 0.677 114 Bolivia 0.672 115 Honduras 0.667 116 Equatorial Guinea 0.664 117 Mongolia 0.661 118 Gabon 0.653 119 Guatemala 0.652 120 Egypt 0.648 121 Nicaragua 0.643 122 São Tomé and Principe 0.639 123 Solomon Islands 0.632 124 Namibia 0.627 125 Botswana 0.614 126 Morocco 0.606 127 India 0.590 128 Vanuatu 0.568 129 Ghana 0.567 130 Cambodia 0.556 131 Myanmar 0.549 132 Papua New Guinea 0.548 133 Swaziland 0.547 134 Comoros 0.528 135 Lao People's Dem. Rep. 0.525 136 Bhutan 0.511 137 Lesotho 0.510 138 Sudan 0.503 139 Bangladesh 0.502 140 Congo 0.502 141 Togo 0.501 142 Cameroon 0.499 143 Nepal 0.499 144 Pakistan 0.499 145 Zimbabwe 0.496 146 Kenya 0.489 147 Uganda 0.489 148 Yemen 0.470 149 Madagascar 0.468 150 Haiti 0.467 151 Gambia 0.463 152 Nigeria 0.463 153 Djibouti 0.462 154 Mauritania 0.454 155 Eritrea 0.446 156 Senegal 0.430 157 Guinea 0.425 158 Rwanda 0.422 159 Benin 0.411 160 Tanzania, U. Rep. of 0.400 161 Côte d'Ivoire 0.396 162 Malawi 0.387 163 Zambia 0.386 164 Angola 0.377 165 Chad 0.376 166 Guinea-Bissau 0.373 167 Congo, Dem. Rep. of the 0.363 168 Central African Republic 0.363 169 Ethiopia 0.359 170 Mozambique 0.356 171 Burundi 0.337 172 Mali 0.337 173 Burkina Faso 0.330 174 Niger 0.292 175 Sierra Leone 0.275
Mainly because American tourists go through Canada to reach Cuba. The Cubans have started to re-build their economy somewhat thanks to the infusion of US Dollars from the exile communities.
US policy toward Cuba has remained practically unchanged since 1960. The rhetoric may have changed depending on the political winds, but the policy is to remove Castro.
Yes, but without a Marxist dictator in power, Cuba IMO would be much higher ranked than it is now. The Cubans that came here in the 50s & 60s were highly educated professionals who couldn't stomach the repugnant Marxist regime of Fidelito. Bush is playing to the Cubans in Florida, but he's right that Fidel's 45 yr. (45 FREAKING UNELECTED YEARS, PEOPLE! Does that not bother anyone?) stranglehold on Cuba has to end. The Cold War's over, the world has certainly changed and Fidel has no place in it.
Lets not forget the unelected dictator, Batista, who reportedly fled with about five billion dollars. Or the big landowners who had propped up various dictators so they could exploit their campesinos. I don't know about stomaching Marxism, but they couldn't stomach having the loss of profits. I'm sure all the people here bashing Castro would have been protesting Washington's support in the 50's and 60's and 70's and 80's of corrupt, non-Marxist dictatorships in Latin America, if they'd be around. I'm sure of it.
Pressuring to end a 45-year-old totalitarian government and promoting democracy in a country 90 miles away from the US coast? I can't believe our President is such a horrible, dumb, uneducated, evil redneck. Ben, the list you posted is far from perfect...for instance, I've been to both Greece and the Czech Republic (admittedly I was in Greece about 7-8 years ago) and the quality of life definitely seemed better in Czech, yet Greece is ranked higher. And would countries like Brunei and Saudi Arabia be ranked so high if it weren't for a few extremely rich people? Don't think so. Same with Cuba, the vast majority of the population is extremely poor but Castro and his goons are rolling in cash...gotta love Marxism.
Huge difference... Corrupt, thuggish Marxist dictatorships in Latin America: Threatened to station (in the case of Cuba did briefly station) Soviet missiles within striking range of the mainland US. Corrupt, thuggish non-Marxist dictatorships in Latin America: Did not threaten to station Soviet missiles within striking range of the mainland US.
they were rich facking scumbags who made a fortune being washington puppets, while the absolute majority of the population lived like slaves. one of the first things castro did, was send volunteers into the countryside to teach people how to read and write. there were CIA sponsored death squads targetting those volunteers. like in many third world countries, marxist movements were the only ones with broad popular support.they were NEVER allowed to govern democratically without u.s. terror.