Kerry, Hagel, and Cuba: The AP’s mouth is watering

Naturally, the prospect of John Kerry as Secretary of State and Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense with their shared policy of appeasement and submission to the criminal and murderous Cuban dictatorship has the Associated Press’ mouth watering. Finally, two cabinet officials who share both the AP’s and President Obama’s blindness to the horrific repression, injustice, and misery inflicted on the Cuban people by the Castro regime.

Via ABC News:

Could Kerry, Hagel Drive Reboot in US-Cuba Ties?

The nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, once held up millions of dollars in funding for secretive U.S. democracy-building programs in Cuba. Defense Secretary hopeful Chuck Hagel has called the U.S. embargo against the communist-run island “nonsensical” and anachronistic.

Both men are now poised to occupy two of the most important positions in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, leading observers on both sides of the Florida Straits to say the time could be ripe for a reboot in relations between the longtime Cold War enemies — despite major obstacles still in the way.

Cuba US Reboot.JPEG

Kerry’s confirmation hearing was held last Thursday, with Hagel’s likely to begin next Thursday. In a day marked by platitudes and praise from his longtime colleagues, the Massachusetts Democrat up for top U.S. diplomat sidestepped two questions on Cuba without giving any hint of his opinion on bilateral relations.

Yet Kerry’s record has showed some openness to relaxing the tough U.S. stance on Cuba.

“I think having a secretary of state and secretary of defense who understand and are willing to speak publicly that isolation is counterproductive is a very good start,” said Tomas Bilbao, executive director of the nonpartisan Cuba Study Group, which advocates using engagement to spur democratic change. “I’m optimistic about the opportunity.”

Carlos Alzugaray, an ex-Cuban ambassador to the European Union and the author of several studies about Cuba-US relations, said that if both men are confirmed, no Cabinet since the Carter administration would have such high-level voices in favor of rapprochement.

Continue reading HERE.

3 thoughts on “Kerry, Hagel, and Cuba: The AP’s mouth is watering”

  1. There is way too much “ambivalence” and “confusion” among Cubans themselves regarding enabling Castro, Inc. in material terms, which both encourages and appears to justify comparable behavior by non-Cubans. One reason we don’t get more respect is that too many Cubans are clearly NOT serious and not especially respectable (see RELAJO). If the overwhelming majority of Cubans outside the island were clearly committed to a free Cuba and clearly intolerant of anyone and anything favoring the status quo, that would make it rather more difficult for foreigners to carry on with business as usual. However, as it is, our collective dignity leaves much to be desired, and yes, non-Cubans CAN pick up on that.

Comments are closed.