Video: Interview with Mariela Castro (Raul's daughter. Discusses same sex marriage, SRS, Obama)

[IndianaGreen]

Video: Interview with Mariela Castro (Raul's daughter. Discusses same sex marriage, SRS, Obama)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Video: Interview with Mariela Castro

http://paeditorsblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/video-interview-with-mariela-castro.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. What a privilege getting to see this interview. We get so LITTLE here from Cuba,

due to OUR politics. They get the Spanish and English shows from Florida, and radio programs, American movies, and the material from the entire rest of the world, yet we are trained to see Cuba as a far away, forbidden place, with most Americans seeming to believe this is CUBA'S doing, not our pompous, power-mad, materially obsessed right-wing leaders'!

Time to remind people Jimmy Carter dropped many aspects of travel to Cuba, and had it all voided by Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton opened some channels of exchange with Cubans again, in people-to-people programs, student exchanges, etc., only to have _{George W. Bush} completely nail the door shut tighter than ever before in U.S. history.

Time will tell what happens next.

Thanks, IndianaGreen.

[EFerrari]

2. Thank you!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Interesting remarks from Walter Lippman's CubaNews:

In response to: WSJ Myths about Cuba

To those who support the end of travel, trade, and remittance restrictions and the pathway to normalization:

Take note that this article from the WSJ like more you may see in the near future will suggest that we will have to wait a few more years to change U.S. Cuba policies. The British have an expression for such nonsensical sentiments, "Bollocks!". The media is priming up to lower public expectations for change in U.S. Cuba policy. Unless everyone who supports ending the restrictions speaks up and acts to let their representatives in Congress and to tell every member of the Obama Administration their positions, the incongruency and foolishness of our current policies will continue and both we, the American people and the Cuban people will continue to be the big losers. Let the Obama Administration know how important this issue is to you. http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople
Encourage him.

This media priming continues. An op-ed by Carlos Alberto Montaner published in the 12/29 NY Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/12/29/2008-12-29_barack_obama_can_crack_cuba_open__but_on.html suggests that President Obama will have to wait for Fidel Castro to die in order to make any headway with Cuba. However, Fidel Castro may live many years more. Longevity runs in the Castro family. Even his older brother Ramon Castro is still alive. Unless he knows something that we do not, I respectfully disagree with Mr. Montaner. U.S. foreign policy should not be determined on the mortality of one foreign leader, even one we dislike. The true power to influence Cuba lies in the reality that half the population of Cuba (more than 5,000,000) have relatives here in the United States. We can make progress in harnessing the power of those relations relatively quickly. And in case Mr. Montaner forgot, President Obama will confront this issue head on when virtually every Latin American leader will challenge him and our country at the Summit of Americas in April 2009 as to why we maintain this disastrous policy. It is time for some intellectual honesty and political leadership on the matter of U.S. Cuba relations.

It is also surprising how the media and thought leaders pick and choose their stories when it comes to U.S. Cuba relations. For example, why didn't the media cover the election story from Little Havana in Miami where on election night, pro-embargo extremists were cursing the election of President Obama and even waiving a large Confederate flag in front of Versailles Restaurant? That symbolic and distasteful demonstration should communicate that our next President and the incoming Administration does not owe the election to the interests that want to maintain the restrictions and the embargo--policies that are a failure and a stain on U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/

[amyrose2712]

4. Thank you for posting.

Like Judy Lynn stated, it is nice to hear something from Cuba.