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Eugene Robinson | Truthdig | May 26, 2008
WASHINGTON—For nearly five decades, the United States has pursued a policy toward Cuba that could be described as incredibly stupid.
It could also be called childish, irresponsible and counterproductive—and, since the demise of the Soviet Union, even insane. Absent the threat of communist expansionism, the refusal by successive American presidents to engage with Cuba has not even a fig leaf’s worth of rationale to cover its naked illogic. Other than providing Fidel Castro with a convenient antagonist to help him whip up nationalist fervor on the island—and thus prolong his rule—the U.S. trade embargo and other sanctions have accomplished precisely nothing.
Now, with Fidel ailing and his brother Raul acting large and in charge, the United States has its best opportunity in years to influence the course of events on the island. George W. Bush, as one might have expected, won’t do the right thing. It will be up to the next president.
Related Story: Castro Slams Obama
Truthdig | May 26, 2008
Semi-retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro thinks Barack Obama is “the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race,” so he must have been disappointed to hear that Obama would continue an embargo against the island nation. That policy, Castro wrote in a column that appeared in state newspapers, is “a formula for hunger for [Cuba].”
Obama has said that he would meet with Raul Castro, Cuba’s current president, and that he would use the embargo as leverage in negotiations.
AP via Google:
Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama’s plan to maintain Washington’s trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.
In a column published Monday by government-run newspapers, Castro said Obama was “the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race,” but noted that he has not dared to call for altering U.S. policy toward Cuba.
“Obama’s speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country,” Castro wrote, referring to Obama’s remarks last week to the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.
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