Could Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have gotten wind of the BUCL campaign?
Rice criticizes Spain over Cuba policy
BERLIN (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Spain on Tuesday for its dealings with Cuba and said she would press Spanish officials on the issue in Madrid this week.
After several years of tense relations with Spain, Rice is set to make her first visit as the top U.S. diplomat to Madrid on Friday. She will meet King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
“On Cuba, I am not sure that we see eye to eye,” Rice told reporters traveling with her to Germany where she is meeting Group of Eight ministers.
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“I don’t see how that course (of democracy) is advanced by simply dealing with the current regime, a regime that seems to be setting itself up for a non-democratic succession when the transition takes place in Cuba and doing that at the expense of contacts with the very nascent and fragile democratic opposition that is beginning to arise in Cuba,” she said.
“The Cubans deserve better and I think we will talk about that,” Rice said.
Yeeeeooooow-and this from the Secretary of State!!! It’s nice to start the day with a bit of good news.
I doubt anybody expects much to come out of this visit. Looks like a formality or “gesture.” People like Zapatero (who looks like an unfunny Pee-Wee Herman trying to pass for a male model) and that utter slimeball Moratinos will never do the right thing, because it’s not in their nature (assuming they even know what the right thing is). Their hand would have to be forced. Besides, the Spanish have serious US issues, so unless they get a Sarkosy, I’m not holding my breath.
As for meeting with the king, well, I suppose it’s a photo opportunity, if nothing else. The guy does a great job as a bon vivant, and I guess he’s smart enough to know which way the wind blows and go with it, but he’s totally discredited himself when it comes to Cuba. Maybe Rice can ask him what was the latest gift he accepted from Castro (which was almost certainly either part of Cuba’s patrimony or stolen property), so one day he can be sued into returning it (along with previous gifts).
Moratinos and Zapatero will soon join Chamberlain and Petain in the trash heap of history. Appeasers and collaborators in the enslavement of the Cuban people.
This is great news! Another opportunity to start another dialogue with Fidel Castro, although his health will not allow him to participate in this one, like he did with us in 1978. We accomplished so much then. So many Cuban travel agencies were established in the U.S. and I even provided information to Cuban State Security, just like Elizardo Sanchez. I will volunteer my expertise if a new dialogue takes place. I am so excited at these prospects that it has inspired me to write an opinion piece in the Miami Herald.
Marifea, count me in for the new dialogue, just like we did 30 years ago. How nostalgic! Since then, look at me now: I am the world’s leading economist on Cuba, thanks to the statistics the revolutionary government gave me. The U.S. State Dept. cannot do without my expertise for this new dialogue.
Marifea and Carmelo, this is indeed a wonderful opportunity for a new dialogue. My Center for Cubanologo Studies at FIU will apply for another State Department $500,000 grant, like the one we got in 1992, to do an appropriate academic study. Our last study was so successful, that we put it on the Internet. We are still looking for a publisher for it.
A Lisandro y Carmelo: vayan a otro lugar con sus cagadas y sus peos dialogueros y llévense a Marifea con su sartén.