End the U.S. Embargo on Cuba In April, Western Hemisphere heads of state will meet in Panama City for the seventh Summit of the Americas. Latin American governments insisted that Cuba, the Caribbean’s most populous island and one of the most educated societies in the hemisphere, be invited, breaking with its traditional exclusion at the insistence of Washington. Given the many crises around the world, the White House may want to avoid a major shift in Cuba policy. Yet engaging with Cuba and starting to unlock the potential of its citizens could end up being among the administration’s most consequential foreign-policy legacies. Normalizing relations with Havana would improve Washington’s relationships with governments in Latin America, and resolve an irritant that has stymied initiatives in the hemisphere. The Obama administration is leery of Cuba’s presence at the meeting and Mr. Obama has not committed to attending. He must — and he should see it as an opportunity to make history. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/o...-embargo-on-cuba.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&_r=0
no kidding, at least on cigars and baseball players. They could probably make a fortune just selling every car on the street to American Classic Car collectors
We impose sanctions on russia but want to lift them on them on one of the most repressive regimes in existence? One that stole billions of dollars in assets belonging to US citizens? One that tries to kill its own citizens for the crime of wanting to leave. Nothing else in the obama/clinton foreign policy has made any sense either, so this is probably a done deal.
I work in Toronto every week. Many Canadians go on vacation in Cuba and come back with pictures & stories about their positive experiences. It would be interesting if the U.S opens up relations with Cuba.
If we go by your criteria, should we also have sanctions on China? Or just poor Caribbean nations that can't defend themselves or reciprocate?
I think the determination of which countries to have sanctions on is mostly about identity politics, with a little bit of economic ideology thrown in. The left were adamant that sanctions were needed against South Africa because of apartheid, but when it comes to Zimbabwe repressing the whites in that country, they couldn't care less. Countries that are ideologically to the left in economics, like Cuba, China, and Venezuala when it was under Chavez were ok with this crowd. The ex Cubans who live in Florida tilt republican, too, so that's a double reason for this administration not to care. And Putin made Obama look like a stooge, so we can't have that. One other thing. I think this admin would sanction Germany if they thought they could get away with it.