Results from President Barack Obama’s recent overtures to the Cuban regime are coming in: Raul Castro has extended the warm hand of friendship to the peripatetic North Korean Foreign Minister Cuba’s United Nation’s representatives continue to defend their sovereign right to censorship Fidel still fulminates against the same commercial and trade values Washington promises will change life on the island In short, Cuba lurches forward with mummified grace, controlled by grumpy old men, devoured by memories of the heroic, anti-American past, and blinkered by decades of rigid belief in the …
In his latest reflection, Cuba’s Fidel Castro writes with an air of nostalgia about the presidency of John F. Kennedy and the travails of the Kennedy family: He [JFK] saw himself as the representative of a new generation of Americans confronting the old and dirty politics of men in the mold of Nixon and had defeated him with a feast of political talent. As for the Bay of Pigs, Castro applauds JFK for recognizing defeat.
Now that President Obama and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez have decided they want to be better friends and move toward a closer relationship, it is important for people in the U.S. to get to know Venezuela’s mercurial, but democratically-elected President better. One of the challenge ahead will be reconciling the gaping double standards in Mr. Chavez’s manner of conduct and his selective attention to the instruments of international justice. On April 22, the government of Venezuela issued an international arrest warrant to Interpol for Manuel Rosales, the elected mayor of the …
Today’s Washington Post reports an often heard but highly inaccurate statement: 90% of guns employed in the drug cartel killing spree come from the U.S. It is a factoid prominently stuck in the minds of leaders and the media, some of whom use this misrepresentation in support of reimposing extensive federal gun restrictions. The Post reports that Mexican law enforcement seized 35,000 weapons between December 2006 and the present. Of that total, the Post reports that 13,149 weapons were then reported to the U.S. by our southern neighbor. That leaves …
It is not every day that the Washington Post and the Heritage Foundation sing from the same sheet of music. Today, on the problem of Cuba, we generally do. One must read the Post’s lead editorial “Coddling Cuba.” The reaction to the recent visit of the Black Congressional Caucus to Cuba will, we predict, do little to strengthen the hand of those anxious to rush the Obama Administration unconditionally toward a complete normalizing of relations with Cuba. The adulation and exoneration lavished on the Castro brothers, the readiness to shift …
On April 6, Ambassador Jeffrey S. Davidow, White House Advisor for the Summit of the Americas, said very plainly: “It would be unfortunate if the principal theme of [the Summit of the Americas] turned out to be Cuba. As I’ve told you, I think there are a lot of very important issues that warrant discussion, whether it’s the economic issue, social inclusion, the environment, public safety. We would prefer, obviously, to focus on what we have been preparing for, but there is no effort on our part to try to …
“Arriving in Tehran,” Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez declared, “for us is like arriving at one’s home town.” It certainly should be as this is his sixth as President. The purpose of the visit, Chavez announced was to form with Iran a “common revolutionary front … in the world.” As for patching up relations with President Obama and the U.S. in the run-up to the Fifth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17-19, Chavez was less positive. I don’t have much hope, because behind …
The Fifth Summit of the Americas kicks off in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17. President Obama will attend. U.S. diplomats are hard at work to make it the starting point for a “New Day” in Latin American partnership. Several Latin American leaders, however, are working hard to create difficulties and force U.S.-Latin America splits. On his way to Iran this week, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez stopped off in Qatar. He wants Arab leaders to join him in creating a “petro-currency” to replace the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency …
Four members of the U.S. Senate on March 31 introduced S. 428S, “The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act.” A similar measure will follow in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, as legislation goes, is quite simple: it forbids the President to “regulate or prohibit, directly or indirectly, travel to or from Cuba by United States citizens or legal residents,” and repeals all previous travel restrictions. Ultimately most arguments for lifting the travel ban [and the trade embargo which is clearly the real target of many in Congress] blame …
In her March 25-26 visit to Mexico, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attracted considerable attention when she said, “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. …So yes, I feel very strongly that we have a co-responsibility.” Secretary Clinton acknowledges that the U.S. market and American habits are a major contributor to drug fight and horrific violence raging south of the border. Few will dispute this. But the Secretary goes on to say, “we have been pursuing these [drug] strategies for 30 years.” She adds, “Neither interdiction [of …
