The U.S. Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing last week on lifting the ban on travel to Cuba, revealing the high discrepancy among congressional members over whether or not restricting Americans from traveling to Cuba will ultimately influence democratic change and enhance human rights under the Castro regime. Many representatives argued that this policy has failed at influencing democracy within the communist state and has prevented Americans from traveling where they please. Others claimed that by allowing Americans to travel to Cuba, to speak and have frequent contact between …
Liberals are disputing the Conservative view that President Obama is siding with Chávez and Castro in the Honduras crisis. They are mistaken. On June 28, the Congress and Supreme Court of Honduras ,with the assistance of the Honduran Armed Forces, physically removed President Manuel Zelaya from his residence and expelled him from the country. The new Honduran government states President Zelaya’s removal from office was the result of legal orders issued by its supreme court. In a matter of hours, a new government was sworn in. It promises, unlike Zelaya, …
In case you missed it, Orbitz is not limited to simply booking flights and hotel accommodations anymore. It has also become a passionate advocacy group. In a heartfelt letter to its loyal customers, Orbitz called for an end to the US-Cuban embargo and immediate normalizations with the Caribbean island. On their recently-launched website, www.opencuba.org, anyone can sign the online petition calling for an end to the “alleged injustice” of Americans being unable to travel to the Caribbean island. Perhaps our friends at Orbitz might stand to benefit from a quick history …
Handshakes with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, steps to alter Cuba policy, positive enthusiasm for a Leftist regime in El Salvador, and a generally apologetic tone for past U.S. misbehavior in Latin America has done little to calm the anti-American rage of the vanguard of Latin America’s Bolivarian leaders. Ready to shred constitutional guarantees, trample individual liberties, and manipulate political systems to perpetuate power, the Bolivarian cabal argues that democratic governance must not be an issue between the U.S. and the rest of Latin America. The latest stratagem is to permit totalitarian …
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 …
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 …
The Congressional Black Caucus visited Cuba yesterday in an effort to convince Congress that they should loosen restrictions on access to and financial aid for the Communist nation. After the propaganda machine was well lubricated on both sides, some interesting quotes emerged: “A fourth member of the Caucus said that despite Obama’s electoral victory, the American society continues to be racist.” – Statement by Fidel Castro, April 6, 2009 “[Another lawmaker] added that his government should apologize to Cuba for all these years of hostility and for the blockade policy, because …
This year was indeed historic for Latin America. Fidel Castro finally stepped down from power and handed the reins to his brother Raul. According to a panelist at a recent event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Raul, unlike his brother, is no charismatic political leader; he is a military man, a manager of bureaucracy. Does that matter? Perhaps. The panelists also made clear Fidel will most certainly not return to power due to deteriorating health, though he still does manage to “put his foot down” from time …
