As I have mentioned here numerous times, I have yet to see a proponent for the elimination of the embargo against Cuba’s totalitarian dictatorship without any concessions from the regime provide a plausible and logical argument. They are good at bringing up irrelevant points in an attempt to bolster their arguments (i.e. China, Vietnam, etc.), and they are really good at ignoring history–particularly the historical fact that Cuba has been trading with free, capitalist democracies for decades now but the Cuban people have yet to reap one benefit from it. But as far as providing a compelling argument as to why the US should treat a vile and murderous regime any differently than it has, I am still waiting.
With the new report advocating the end of the embargo coming from congress, we see a renewed offensive by groups dedicated to either helping the regime, enriching themselves at the cost of Cuban blood, or worse yet, both. The US-Cuba Democracy PAC has released an excellent response to Sen. Lugar’s (R) report, which points out its faulty premise.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Republican, Richard Lugar, issued a new report this weekend calling for the U.S. to lift its trade embargo with communist Cuba.
The U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC issued the following press release in response to the Lugar report:
“U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) is a great public servant of unquestionable character. Unfortunately, the Cuba Policy Report (“the Report”) issued this weekend by his Foreign Relations Committee Latin America staff ignores key elements of the Cuban reality and contains major policy contradictions.
“First and foremost, the report noticeably ignores the plight of Cuba’s courageous — yet brutally repressed — pro-democracy movement. According to the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, support for Cuba’s pro-democracy movement is at the core of U.S. policy towards Cuba. Not once does the report mention representative democracy as a central tenet of U.S. policy towards the entire region. Yet during a 2001 summit in Lima, Peru, 34 out of 35 countries in the Western Hemisphere adopted the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which placed representative democracy as a priority in hemispheric relations. Cuba remains the glaring exception.
You can read the entire response HERE.
I think that we must Mr. Lugar to the list of R.I.N.O.s
I meant to say add Mr. Lugar to the R.I.N.O.s list.
The old policy is crap, we need new ideas. Thank God for, and God Bless, Sen. Lugar.
Raul,
Sort of like the “stimulus”? We have to do something, even if it makes the problem worse? Please dude, the only thing that’s old is those lame arguments.
It is beyond me why we don’t hear anyone talking about the ONE MEASURE that IF TAKEN would bring about the end of tyranny in Cuba. No big thinkers talk about it, no politicians, no Castro haters…NOONE. It’s beyond me.
Here it is: THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT. The political pressure inside Cuba would reach the boiling point in just months once everyone knew that the only way to improve their situation would be to fight the regime. The cuban government makes life difficult because they WANT Cubans to leave and the later send remittances to their family members. The government would be forced, for the first freaking time ever, to improve the living conditions of the citizenry because the escape valve would have been sealed. The U.S. government could sell the abolishment of the Cuban Adjustment Act by saying that all we want to do is eliminate the human trafficking and providing a safer, more orderly way for Cubans to migrate to the U.S. while in reality only granting entry into the U.S. to those who qualify for political asylum. Yes, in order to migrate to the U.S. a person would have to fight against the tyranny and prove that they have suffered from political persecution in order to be granted asylum.
Within five years I guarantee you that Cuba would be free!!!
That’s the ticket ladies and gents!!!
tvdude, we have suggested that and are attacked from all sides for doing so. And I understand why. It’s like my parents got out of a burning building but you now want me to lock the rest of the people inside. The U.S. played an important role in the creation of the mess in Cuba and the Cuban Adjustment Act acknowledges that and attempts to make amends for it. No es facil.