Latin America
Related: About this forumObama, Cuba and Venezuela
Weekend Edition June 5-7, 2015
Resistance to Normalization
Obama, Cuba and Venezuela
by MARK WEISBROT
Last week, the U.S. government took the deeply ironic step of removing Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Ironic because, between the U.S. and Cuba, state sponsorship of terrorism has come from the U.S. and has been directed at Cuba. These incidents have spanned more than four decades, from the launching of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, to the numerous U.S.-organized assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, to the blowing up of a jetliner and other terrorist attacks from Cuban exiles operating out of the United States.
The latest move removes one obstacle from the normalization of relations with Cuba, but there are many more ahead, including the embargo; and the much-hated U.S. military base and prison of Guantanamo, which the Cubans have indicated is a deal breaker if it is not closed down. Another irony: the U.S. government lectures Cuba about human rights while it illegally imprisons and tortures people on the island.
Interestingly, the Cubans have raised an issue with Washington that could have more important implications for the region than removing the 53-year-old embargo that has been condemned by virtually the entire world for decades. It is now apparent, as I first suggested a month ago, that the Cubans made it clear to President Obama that normalization of relations with Cuba would be limited if Washington was unwilling to normalize relations with Venezuela. This is important because U.S. hostility toward Venezuela, and especially its support for regime change there, have since 2002 poisoned relations with Latin America even more than the embargo against Cuba.
President Obama seems to have gotten the message, meeting with President Maduro of Venezuela at the Summit of the Americas on April 11, backtracking from his executive order that declared Venezuela an extraordinary threat to U.S. national security, and sending a top State Department official Tom Shannon to Caracas twice since April 7 to make peace. Shannon, a career diplomatfailedweisbrot who was Assistant Secretary of State for President George W. Bush, is considered in Washington circles to be pragmatic. In the context of Venezuela, this means someone who favors support for groups that want to get rid of the government mainly through electoral means, rather than through violence and a military coup.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/06/05/obama-cuba-and-venezuela/
Good reads:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016123982
Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)What the hell is Weisbrot talking about? He actually sounds almost angry that the U.S. is normalizing relations with Cuba again. Did the guy miss the part when Raul Castro called Obama an "honest man?"
Judi Lynn
(160,631 posts)Context is everything:
Raul Castro Says Cuba Blockade Not Obama's Fault
AP
Posted: 04/11/2015 1:01 pm EDT Updated: 04/13/2015 1:59 pm EDT
PANAMA CITY (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Saturday declared his refusal to refight the Cold War battles while Cuban President Raul Castro rallied to his defense, absolving Obama of fault for the U.S. blockade in a stunning reversal of more than 50 years of animosity between the United States and Cuba.
"In my opinion, President Obama is an honest man," Castro said - a remarkable vote of confidence from the Cuban leader, who praised Obama's life and his "humble background."
. . .
. . . . He said many U.S. presidents were at fault for that troubled history - but that Obama isn't one of them.
. . .
Even President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, whose country is a close U.S. partner, told the summit that such unilateral policies of isolation are always counterproductive and ineffective. "For that reason we reject the adoption of sanctions against Venezuela," she said.
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/11/raul-castro-obama_n_7046540.html
Marksman_91
(2,035 posts)It's right there. Raul Castro quoted as saying "Obama is an honest man." What was your point?
Peace Patriot
(24,010 posts)...to U.S. national security, except in the horribly twisted minds of Washington policy-makers and 'think tanks' who believe really twisted shit, such as that Saudi Arabia is a U.S. ally.
And it is appalling to have Barack Obama buying into twisted shit.
Maybe it's a sop to the Miami Mafia, to try to shut them up while he does something really different in U.S./Latin American relations: the opening to Cuba. They hate Venezuela just as much, so let Venezuela take the hit, while Mr. Sleight-of-Hand undoes 50 years of injustice to Cuba.
I don't know. You have to sort of think in a twisted fashion to understand almost anything that comes out of Washington DC.
hack89
(39,171 posts)And said that Venezuela is not a threat. Apparently the wording was pro forma.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Until they wean themselves from Venezuelan money and realign ther economy with America's they have no real choice.