Living in Miami, I have watched Republicans stroke the Cubans year after year.  Ana Menendez got this one right……. hopefully the Cuban community, which is predominently Republican, will see the light.  Check out the comments after the article. Promising…..

From the Miami Herarld:

T he candidate did not wear a guayabera. He did not endlessly stroke the Cuban ego. And he did not pretend to know everything.

Barack Obama stood Friday beneath the banner of the Cuban American National Foundation and delivered an address notable not just for what it contained, but for what it did not.

”I won’t pretend to know everything about Cuba,” Obama said at the beginning of a speech that touched on the island and the United States’ policy throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Later, with a smile, he added: “The easy thing to do for an American politician is to come down to Miami, talk tough and go back to Washington and nothing changes.”

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Hiding from and fearing perceived enemies. Isn’t this the way a chicken shit twelve-year-old would act?

Maintaining an open-door policy would always be in our best interests.

“Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raúl Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him,” Bush said, referring to the new Cuban president. “He gains a lot from it by saying, ‘Look at me, I’m now recognized by the president of the United States.’ ”

Bush said a decision to meet with some foreign leaders could be counterproductive. “It can send chilling signals and messages to our allies. It can send confusion about our foreign policy. It discourages reformers inside their own country. And, in my judgment, it would be a mistake” with Iran and Cuba, he said.

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Short of Castro dying, there won’t be much celebration among the Cubans in South Florida at the news of him stepping down.

Many Cuban Americans expressed optimism tempered by caution Tuesday after awakening to news that Fidel Castro is stepping down as Cuba’s official leader after nearly a half century.

”In a year or so, I think, we will see some change,” Luis Garcia, 75, said as he stood in front of the Versailles Restaurant, a landmark in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. “Fidel no longer has the ability to run a country. He’s very ill.”

Regina Botello, another customer at the restaurant, said: “It’s the best thing that could have happened on this 19th of February. It’s the first step toward real change.”

More at the Miami Herald

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We can’t give our kids health insurance, but we can spend $55 million on a tent city for Cubans….. just IN CASE Castro should die. Here’s a question for ya…..they can already bring their boats to the U.S. shore, and if they get caught with dry feet, they’re in like Flint…..so why bother with a tent city. If they have to weigh the two….tent city….. Miami…..tent city…..Miami…..which do you think they’ll go for? And the Dept. of Homeland Security is going to check for criminals? Who they gonna check with? Raul? I don’t think so…….. Notice in this article it states that in the 90’s when they did this, the Haitians were sent home. They still are. Funny how we pick and choose who we’re going to save and who we aren’t. Of course, Haiti has nothing we want.

The U.S. military has expanded plans for a pop-up tent city to shelter migrants in case of a Caribbean boat crisis, spending more than $55 million to prepare a safe haven for up to 45,000 boat people.

Since Fidel Castro took ill and ceded power of Cuba to his brother Raúl, the Bush administration has been preparing for a 10,000-person tent city.

In May, the Navy hired a Jacksonville contractor to build cement block buildings with 525 toilets and 248 showers on an empty slice of the base. The military could rapidly erect tents around the site. The buildings should be completed next summer at a cost of $16.5 million.

Now, under the expansion, the military has invited military contractors to bid on a $40 million project that would build a second tent city on the base for 35,000 migrants in need of humanitarian relief.

The Navy put out the bid in recent months, said Marine Capt. Manuel Carpio, the officer here assigned to plan for the crisis and coordinate with various U.S. and international agencies.

Full article at the Miami Herald

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The BBC has an interview with a retired CIA agent who was one of the agents who captured and killed Che Guevara. The interview took place in the Miami home of Felix Rodriquez. Mr. Rodriquez proudly displays items for the journalist to view. Makes me sick. From the article:

Full article at the BBC

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Why do we care soooooo much about human rights violations in Cuba and not elsewhere in the world? What is it about Cuba? Is China not a communist country? Oh wait, I forgot…..China has us over a barrel. Nevermind…….

Cuba’s foreign minister walked out of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday in protest of President Bush’s speech in which he said the “long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end” on the communist island.

The Cuban delegation issued a statement saying the decision by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to leave was a “sign of profound rejection of the arrogant and mediocre statement by President Bush.”

In his speech, Bush looked ahead to a Cuba no longer ruled by Fidel Castro, the ailing 81-year-old leader who has not appeared in public in more than a year, since ceding power to a provisional government headed by his brother Raul.

More at The Guardian

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Planning for the big take over should Castro kick.

WASHINGTON - In the first vote on Cuba legislation under a Democrat-controlled Congress, the House on Thursday easily approved a big increase in money for U.S. programs that support dissidents on the island.

The House also approved a proposal that would provide Voice of America with $10 million to bolster its broadcasts to Venezuela, where news media freedoms have been seen as under attack by leftwing President Hugo Chavez.

And the House was expected to pass late Thursday a proposal to make big cuts in military aid to Colombia - in the most significant change to the $5 billion U.S. anti-drug trafficking program known as Plan Colombia since its inception in 2000. However, Republicans critical of the proposal agreed to let the bill pass while planning to challenge it later during House-Senate negotiations.

The $34 billion State Department foreign aid bill for 2008 provided several avenues for Democrats to challenge some of President Bush’s policies on Colombia and Cuba, with the administration and its backers scoring a victory on Cuba.

President Bush requested almost $46 million for Cuba democracy programs for the 2008 fiscal year, a five-fold jump from the 2007 level, in keeping with a recommendation by an interagency commission that said the money would help bring democracy to the island.

Democrats on an appropriations panel that oversees State Department foreign aid bills - chaired by Rep. Nita Lowey of New York - had cut the aid level back to $9 million, arguing there was not enough oversight to ensure the money would be well spent.

An amendment proposed by Cuban-American Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, and Albio Sires, a New Jersey Democrat, to adopt the original Bush funding request passed by a 254-170 vote, with 66 Democrats joining 188 Republicans in support.

More at McClatchy

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But of course he does. Hialeah, a suburb of Miami, has one of the highest concentrations of Republicans (if not the highest) and Cubans of any city it’s size. And again I have to say, why all the attention given to Cuba? Why is it ok to trade with China???? Or all the other countries with dictators???? I’ve never understood this. I also don’t understand why a Cuban can get to dry land in Florida and poof…they are a citizen. A Haaitan gets to shore…..poof…..they are sent back. Makes no sense.

Some of his comments from the Sun Sentinel:

Cuban-Americans are going to have a lot to say about who wins the 2008 presidential election, Republican Rudy Giuliani said Thursday during a campaign stop in this heavily populated Cuban-American city.

He criticized what he called the romanticization of the Castros in Hollywood, especially given Cuba’s repressive policies against homosexuals, who have strong political support in the film and TV industries. (huh?)

He said he was able to distinguish between “those you can deal with and people who, the only way to deal with is to move them aside.” (again, huh?)

Giuliani also promised to be strong against terrorists and told his audience that Democrats would be weak on foreign policy and push for bigger government.

“America can’t show weakness to these Islamic terrorists,” he said. “I don’t think anyone understands that better than the Cuban community. You understand being strong in the face of dictators and terrorists.”

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This embargo is so stupid. China is a communist country, but that’s ok. We do business with so many BAD people…… what is it about Cuba?? I bet they’d lift that embargo if we could get OUR hands on that oil!!

The discovery of oil in the Florida Straits and near the Cuban shoreline — potentially billions of barrels of reserves — has boosted Cuba’s energy prospects and drawn the attention of the U.S. oil industry.

Now, a small Canadian energy company, Sherritt International, says it plans to export Cuban oil for the first time — a move that could put the crude on a collision course with the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Details are few, but questions about the move go to the heart of the embargo: Where will the oil be refined? And how could Sherritt International or subsequent handlers keep the Cuban crude out of fuel being exported to the United States?

The issues rise as the oil and gas industry turns its gaze to the prospect of oil drilling off Cuba — currently forbidden fruit for U.S. companies.

Sherritt International, in a report about its record 2006 earnings, said that in 2007 it “plans to export a portion of its Cuban production as a consequence of anticipated production growth and limited demand for domestic heavy oil.”

Sherritt, which had revenue of about $1 billion U.S. in 2006, produces an estimated 68,000 barrels of crude oil in Cuba. Michael Minnes, company spokesman, said plans for exporting the oil are still under discussion.

”We respect U.S. law,” Minnes said from Sherritt’s Toronto headquarters. “We have no intention of selling it into a situation that would affect the embargo.”

Read more at the Miami Herald

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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba (AP) — If Cubans flee in droves when Fidel Castro dies, those intercepted at sea will likely wind up at this base, creating ”an incredible challenge” for U.S. forces, the base commander said.

The military has begun planning for a possible mass exodus, scouting potential sites to detain migrants in tents far from a detention center for prisoners suspected of links to al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Most of the current captives, brought from Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, have been held here in southeast Cuba without charges since 2002.

A sudden migrant surge would return Guantnamo to an earlier role. More than 40,000 Haitian and Cuban migrants were held at the base in the 1990s when political and economic turmoil in their countries prompted a mass movement toward U.S. shores.

”We continue to plan for the possibility of that happening again,” said Navy Capt. Mark Leary, who is in charge of the 45’square-mile outpost.

Source: Miami Herald

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Sources at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón hospital say Cuban leader Fidel Castro has suffered complications from at least three operations for an infection in his large intestine, Spain’s El País newspaper reported Monday.

José Luis García Sabrido, chief of surgery at the hospital, examined Castro in December and dismissed claims by U.S. officials that he has cancer.

A Cuban diplomat told the newspaper Castro was suffering from “scarring problems,” related to complications from the surgeries, which have led to significant muscle loss and required him to be fed intravenously.

According to sources cited by El País Castro this summer was diagnosed with a severe diverticulitis, an inflammation of the large intestine, which led to heavy bleeding.

In a report published on its Web site, El País said, “A grave infection in the large intestine, at least three failed operations and various complications have left the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, laid up with a very grave prognosis.”

Read more at the Sun Sentinel

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HAVANA · As Fidel Castro lies gravely ill, the largest U.S. congressional delegation to visit communist-led Cuba arrived Friday for three days of talks with government leaders, foreign diplomats and others, in what some hope could be a first step toward normalizing relations with the island nation.

Leading the 10-member, bipartisan delegation are Reps. William Delahunt, D-Mass., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who have criticized the four-decade economic embargo against Cuba.

“We sense this is an important time, and we hope to be able to meet with officials here and others and hopefully launch a new era in U.S.-Cuba relations,” Flake said Friday afternoon, as the group arrived at the elegant Hotel Nacional.

The trip comes less than a month before Democrats take control of Congress, and as an ailing Fidel Castro seems unlikely to return to power. Cubans on the island and in Florida are calling for an end to the Bush administration measures that have restricted visits and the amount of money that can be sent to family members in Cuba.

Read more at the Sun Sentinel

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Gee, Ileana… how about you and the rest of that worthless republican crowd advocate some of that freedom and love our (America’s) way for a change???

Congresswoman Denies Urging Killing of Castro

MIAMI, Dec. 10 (AP) - A congresswoman says a video showing her calling for Fidel Castro’s assassination is fake, a charge denied Sunday by the film’s director.

The congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, appears in the 28’second clip made available on the Internet by the makers of a new British documentary, “638 Ways to Kill Castro.”

In it, she says: “I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people.”

But Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, a Havana-born lawmaker recently selected to become the top Republican on the House International Relations Committee, says the filmmakers spliced clips together to make the sound bite.

“It’s twisted in a way that gives the viewer a totally wrong impression,” she told The Miami Herald. “I-ve said the community has moved on, that those strategies are not being used today, but apparently the filmmakers think we-re still in a -60s mentality.”
…
The film’s director, Dollan Cannell, stood by the authenticity of the video.

“I can assure you categorically and completely that there has been no distortion of what she said,” Mr. Cannell told The Associated Press on Sunday.
…
“No one advocates assassination,” the congresswoman said. “What we are advocating for is free elections, freedom for political prisoners, free expression of ideas and respect for human rights. That’s how you get change in Cuba. Not assassination.”

New York Times story

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Travel agents report a brisk demand for visas to Cuba, one of the few places that welcomes Palestinians.
Driven by fear of civil war and increasingly bleak economic prospects, Palestinians are fleeing their violence-wracked lands in growing numbers. Many are skilled and educated, and are leaving behind an increasingly impoverished and fundamentalist society.

Many countries make it difficult for the stateless Palestinians to obtain even tourist visas, because they often overstay them.

Two popular destinations for Gazans are Canada, which still offers legal immigration, and Cuba, which imposes few restrictions on Palestinian travelers.

Those with tourist visas to Cuba often don’t plan to go there. Instead, they get off in transit at a European airport, rip up their Palestinian travel document and seek asylum.

Read more at Chicago Sun Times

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HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba’s acting president, Raul Castro, departing from his brother’s confrontational approach to their arch-enemy the United States, said this weekend he was open for talks with Washington.

The offer made on Saturday was the most direct overture to the United States by Fidel Castro’s designated successor, who is running Cuba in the absence of its ailing leader.

Experts on Cuba said the Western hemisphere’s only communist country needs to get the United States to lift sanctions enforced since 1962 if it wants to revitalize its battered economy.

At a military parade where Cuba rolled out Soviet-era tanks and fighter jets, Raul Castro railed at increased hostility by the Bush administration and condemned the war in Iraq

Read more at Yahoo News

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