Cuba Policy to Remain Intact, says Obama
By Circles Robinson
HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 20 — US President Barack Obama, ruled out a change of policy toward Cuba until the island’s government shows its gestures are serious on the road toward greater freedom in the Caribbean island nation, reported IPS on Wednesday.
Speaking during a press conference to Spanish-speaking media in Washington, Obama said “I think that any release of political prisoners, any economic liberalization that takes place in Cuba is positive, positive for Cuban people, but we’ve not yet seen the full results of these promises.”
Before Obama took office in January 2009, he gave the impression of his desire to make changes in the hostile US policy towards Cuba and possibly free-up ordinary US citizens to visit the neighboring country.
Nonetheless, after nearly two years of the current administration, the half-century economic blockade and the travel ban remain firmly in place.
On Tuesday October 26, the United Nations is scheduled to once again vote on a Cuban motion to condemn the US blockade. In last year’s vote only Isreal and Palau voted with the US, while 187 countries sided with Cuba’s postion.
william brady: You apparently are taken in by the rationale offered by the U.S. for maintaining the blockade. The U.S. is not telling Cuba to “have free elections, etc., and we’ll kindly lift the blockade as a reward.” It is saying “jump through our hoops and become our lap dog, and we will allow you this and that.” You, william, should have a better understanding of what is true and what is not.
I do not believe that the U.S. will lift the blockade so long as it can use the economic dysfunction of state monopoly socialism to discredit socialism in the U.S. and around the world. This is one more reason for the PCC to jettison its religious-like loathing of private property and the market. It’s one more reason to advance to a socialist cooperative republic using the workers’ experiences with cooperative in the Basque country of Spain for its economic basis.
The king of broken promises and ruler of the world has once again decided that the rights of Americans are of no importance.
Please, Cuba;
If YOU want the blockade lifted….
Show that you are having FREE and I mean FREE elections,
Opened to all and not just the chosen.
Show that YOU have a true Freedom of the PRESS>
This will be a start and the U.S. will have no options but to lift the Embargo.
We American people want this to happen. Now, show our Leaders…Please
Well fine. I went there anyway 11 yrs. ago. I say that dialogue is better than no dialogue.
Obama sounds just like Bush with regards to US policy towards Cuba. Nothing has significantly changed in 50 years. The embargo is in place and Americans are practically forbidden to travel there. Shameful.