Few nations follow U.S. in condemning Cuba

[Mika]

Few nations follow U.S. in condemning Cuba
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16515475.htm
The Bush administration is campaigning to get more
international condemnation of abuses in Cuba. So far,
there have been few takers.

Shortly after an ailing Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raúl last summer, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called her Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

With Havana seemingly on the edge of change, Rice hoped the European Union would issue a statement urging Cuba to adopt democratic reforms. As the leader on Latin American affairs within the EU, Madrid had the clout to make such a declaration happen, diplomats familiar with the outreach say.

The Spaniards declined.

To this day, the EU and most Latin American democracies have been conspicuously quiet on Cuba despite a stepped-up U.S. effort to garner those kinds of declarations on Cuba. Diplomats and analysts say the silence shows that many nations are both unwilling to be associated with U.S. policies toward Cuba and reluctant to anger Havana by criticizing its communist government.

More at.. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16515475.htm

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[xchrom]

1. why be so specific? -- i think you might a general reluctance to join

with the u.s. on a number of issues these days i.e.: remain silent -- or like the issues of global warming directly part company.

[Mika]

2. Just one more reason added to the stack. Bush really is a uniter. n/t

[xchrom]

4. lol -- ain't that the truth.

[Robbien]

3. Cuban doctors are helping out in dozens of countries

and almost every country except the US trades goods with Cuba. Cuba also has a robust tourist trade.

Unless we shell out alot of money, there will be very few takers on this BushCo anti-Cuban crusade.

[Vidar]

5. Cuba is a responsible citizen of the world, which is way more than

you can say for the US.

[Hobarticus]

6. Oh, man....are we gonna invade Cuba now?

Why are we still up in arms about Cuba, even now? I never understood this. We'll have communist China float our national debt, but freak out over a tiny nation off our coast. What gives?

[Judi Lynn]

7. Very shoddy reasoning, isn't it? Hard to forgive this kind of unchecked bullying. n/t

[ngant17]

9. Cuban-Americans in power

I read where **** appointed an inordinately high number of Cuban-Americans into key positions in the Cabinet of the White House, something like a dozen or so.

My guess is that **** has an obsession with Cuba and he feels he can do something that will make a name for himself in history, like the conservative myth that Reagan single-handedly ended the cold war. Of course, more rational minds know that the USSR imploded and it had nothing to do with the trillion dollar increase in defense spending that Reagan and the Repug Congress gave to the Pentagon.

They are delusional to the point that they believe their own lies.

And there have been few countries which have borne the brunt of official gov. lies from the USA other than Cuba. For almost half a century now.

Cuba will not be any different after the Castro era, because socialism is part of the Cuban constitution and it has been that way since 1995 or thereabouts. The only way you can change the Cuban constitution is to overthrow the Cuban government by a Yanqui invasion, which is technically impossible as the troops are tied down in Iraq for the foreseeable future. Not even considering the backlash from the rest of Latin America.

[Judi Lynn]

8. The writer artlessly throws light on the reality Bush's people have been arm-twisting

officials elsewhere to try to coerce their cooperation in bullying Cuba on our country's right-wing's behalf:

U.S. officials with Latin American responsibilities often discuss Cuba on their trips abroad.

The State Department's Cuba Transition Coordinator, Caleb McCarry has traveled to Spain, Finland -- which then held the EU's rotating presidency -- and Germany, which currently holds it.

Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon has traveled widely in Latin America as well as China, Spain and Canada. And Kirsten Madison, who among other duties oversees the Cuba desk at the State Department, has been to France, Italy and Belgium.

The State Department says it is not only out to convince others on the merits of U.S. policy on Cuba.

''This is not us giving them information only,'' spokesman Eric Watnik said. ``We want to know what they are doing to help the Cuban people and see if we can work together in supporting a democratic transition.''
(snip)

U.S. officials say they understand that other nations oppose Washington's ''tactics'' but that the two sides should work together to achieve democracy in Cuba.
(snip)

They're probably desperate to force some right-wing action on Cuba before the new Congress can drop the travel ban and Americans can start pouring into the country to see for themselves whether or not they've been told whoppers about Cuba by our own government!

Congress was getting closer and closer to a veto-proof majority needed to drop the travel ban BEFORE the last election. God, I hope this is the time we can do it.