Clark hints he would explore Cuba ties

[Bombtrack]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/7402949.htm

As his leading rivals for president hone positions on Cuba policy that appease South Florida's powerful exile bloc, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark is gaining notice for a divergent approach: a willingness to discuss easing the decades-long trade embargo against the island and its dictator.

Clark stops short of saying he would lift sanctions, but his nuanced responses to reporters, exile leaders and even a questioner at a nationally televised debate last month in Boston leave little doubt that a Clark administration could well do more than any other in 40 years to build ties with Fidel Castro's government.

''In general embargoes normally, usually, they don't work, and they certainly haven't worked in the case of Cuba as far as ending the Castro regime,'' Clark told reporters Monday during a visit to South Florida. ``We don't want to give a gift to Fidel Castro. But we do want to help the Cuban people achieve the same rights as everybody else in this hemisphere.''
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[mot78]

1. I hate to say this but...

we're screwed in Florida, unless he can give the Cuban exiles a really compelling reason why they should support his position.

[mikehiggins]

2. There aren't a whole bunch of "exiles" anymore

most of the younger cubans are as excited about Cuba as young Americans from Viet Nam are about visiting the "old country".

Clark should simply tell them that fifty years of blockades hasn't done a thing, and that Cuba is gaining real economic allies in Brazil and other Latin American countries. If we want to bring liberalization to Cuba we have to trade with them.

How hard is that to figure out?