squidhills wrote:
It's long past time this happened. Sanctions only work if more than one country back them. The US has blocked trade with Cuba for 50 years. The rest of the world... not so much (my Irish cousin had her honeymoon in Cuba because that's a thing you can do when you aren't American).

 whembly wrote:

In the runnings for the worst President ever? You betcha.

 dogma wrote:
27362 7438556 e700ad88cd92f13325319cbfe09e53d1.png]
In the runnings for the worst President ever? You betcha.

So you made up your mind before you even heard about Obama's Cuba decision.

 whembly wrote:

Doesn't convey that my mind is "made up".

 dogma wrote:

 whembly wrote:

Doesn't convey that my mind is "made up".

Yeah, it does, at least regarding the Cuba decision.

 Jihadin wrote:
Is Cuba giving up the American fugitives there?

Obama measures on Cuba trade, travel poke new holes in embargo
BY ANNA YUKHANANOV, MATT SPETALNICK AND KRISTA HUGHES
WASHINGTON Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:14pm EST

(Reuters) - The United States rolled out a sweeping set of measures on Thursday to significantly ease sanctions on Cuba, opening up the country to expanded U.S. travel, trade and financial activities.

Defying hardline critics in Congress, President Barack Obama made good on his commitment last month to loosen restrictions on dealings with the communist-ruled island as part of a historic effort to end decades of hostility.

The 54-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuba will remain in place - only Congress can lift it.


But the package of rules issued by the Treasury and Commerce Departments, which come into effect on Friday, will allow U.S. exports of telecommunications, agricultural and construction equipment, permit expanded travel by Americans to the island and open banking relations.

It was the first tangible U.S. step to implement the economic changes Obama pledged on Dec. 17 when he and Cuban President Raul Castro announced plans to restore diplomatic relations between the old Cold War foes.

"Today’s announcement takes us one step closer to replacing out-of-date policies that were not working and puts in place a policy that helps promote political and economic freedom for the Cuban people," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.

While Castro has welcomed last month's deal, he has made clear that Havana does not intend to abandon single-party rule or the state-controlled economy. Congressional critics of Obama's shift say that Washington should not be rewarding Cuba.

The new regulations, which fleshed out details of the policy changes announced in December, will allow Americans to travel to Cuba for any of a dozen specific reasons, including family visits, education and religion, without first obtaining a special license from the U.S. government as was previously the case.

Although general tourism will still be banned, those U.S. travelers who do visit will be allow bring home small amounts of the Cuban cigars that are highly rated by aficionados.

It will also be easier for U.S. companies to export mobile phone devices and software as well as to provide Internet services in Cuba. U.S. airlines will be permitted to expand flights to the Caribbean island.

In an expansion of remittances allowed, Americans will now be able to send up to $8,000 to Cuba a year, up from the $2,000 previously permitted, and bring $10,000 with them when they travel to the country. They will also be able to use credit and debit cards in Cuba.

In addition, there will be a change in the definition of “cash in advance” payment required by Cuban buyers, which could help a variety of business interests, most notably U.S. agriculture, in gaining greater access to Cuban markets.

The announcement was made after the Obama administration said on Monday that Cuba had fulfilled its promise to free 53 political prisoners as agreed with the U.S. government. It also comes a week before high-level U.S.-Cuba talks in Havana aimed at normalizing ties, including discussions on the timing of reopening embassies.

'SIGNIFICANT STEP'

Obama's spokesman, Josh Earnest, called it a "significant step" in delivering on Obama's new Cuba strategy. The president declared last month that decades of trying to force change by isolating the island had not worked.

But Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and forceful critic of the policy shift, called the announcement "a windfall for the Castro regime that will be used to fund its repression against Cubans, as well as its activities against U.S. national interests."

While Obama is using executive powers to poke holes in trade barriers with Cuba, Republicans who control Congress have made clear they will not let him entirely dismantle the embargo. Washington imposed economic sanctions on Cuba as Fidel Castro steered the island along a socialist path that made it a close ally of the Soviet Union, and severed diplomatic ties in 1961.

U.S. officials made clear the new measures do not mean that Cuba is now open for business, stressing that while investments in Cuba’s limited array of small businesses are permitted, general investment will still be prohibited.

And while telecommunications firms will be permitted to export devices, any U.S. company still has to reach an agreement with the Cuban government, which controls all imports and maintains a firm grip on Internet access.

Reaction from the U.S. business community, which had pressed the administration to open up Cuban markets, was mostly positive but tempered with caution.

“The regulations were welcome and they went even farther than was articulated in the president's announcement," said Jake Colvin, vice president at the National Foreign Trade Council. "But now it will depend on the reality on the ground in Cuba."

There was no immediate official reaction from Havana, but some ordinary Cubans welcomed the changes.

“If more Americans can come here, that means more customers, and this will be good for the economy,” said Orlando Veliz, a cook for a private restaurant in Havana.

(Additional reporting by Dan Trotta in Havana and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.

Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but "if these problems aren't resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense."

Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Dec. 17 that they would move toward renewing full diplomatic relations by reopening embassies in each other's countries. The two governments held negotiations in Havana last week to discuss both the reopening of embassies and the broader agenda of re-establishing normal relations.

Obama has loosened the trade embargo with a range of measures designed to increase economic ties with Cuba and increase the number of Cubans who don't depend on the communist state for their livelihoods.

The Obama administration says removing barriers to U.S. travel, remittances and exports to Cuba is a tactical change that supports the United States' unaltered goal of reforming Cuba's single-party political system and centrally planned economy.

Cuba has said it welcomes the measures but has no intention of changing its system. Without establishing specific conditions, Castro's government has increasingly linked the negotiations with the U.S. to a set of longstanding demands that include an end to U.S. support for Cuban dissidents and Cuba's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

On Wednesday, Castro emphasized an even broader list of Cuban demands, saying that while diplomatic ties may be re-established, normal relations with the U.S. depend on a series of concessions that appear highly unlikely in the near future.

The U.S. established the military base in 1903, and the current Cuban government has been demanding the land's return since the 1959 revolution that brought it to power. Cuba also wants the U.S. to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for losses caused by the embargo.

"The re-establishment of diplomatic relations is the start of a process of normalizing bilateral relations, but this will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don't give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base," Castro said.

He demanded that the U.S. end the transmission of anti-Castro radio and television broadcasts and deliver "just compensation to our people for the human and economic damage that they're suffered."

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Castro's remarks.

Castro's call for an end to the U.S. embargo drew support at the summit from the presidents of Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also praised the effort by the leaders of Cuba and the U.S. to improve relations. "The two heads of state deserve our recognition for the decision they made — beneficial for Cubans and Americans, but, most of all, for the entire continent," she said.

John Caulfield, who led the U.S. Interests Section in Havana until last year, said that the tone of Cuba's recent remarks didn't mean it would be harder than expected to reach a deal on short-term goals like reopening full embassies in Havana and Washington.

In fact, he said, the comments by Castro and high-ranking diplomats may indicate the pressure Cuba's government is feeling to strike a deal as Cubans' hopes for better living conditions rise in the wake of Obama's outreach.

"There is this huge expectation of change and this expectation has been set off by the president's announcement," Caulfield said. The Cuban government feels "the constant need to tell their people nothing's going to change ... the more the Cubans feel obligated to defend the status quo and to say that's nothing going to change, the more pressure it indicates to me is on them to make these changes, partly on the economic side but I would also say on the political side."

 Frazzled wrote:
I vote for Option B: Make Cuba the 51st state.

 whembly wrote:
Eh...

A lot of people on the right and in the Cuban-American expat community are going to go ballistic about this...

But let's be honest, it's time.

I think we made our point.

You could argue now that with the Ruble free-fall and economic unrest with China & Central America, now is the time to break that ice. With normalize relations, that may hasten the change to move away from the Castro-Communism environment faster than maintaining the embargo.

As a political junkie, it will be fascinating how Hillary and Jeb react to this. It's a touchy issue in the all important swing state of Florida.

I'm also pretty interested in how fast the Cubans could grow a middle class and the potential pressure that would excert on regime change.

 Frazzled wrote:

I'm also pretty interested in how fast the Cubans could grow a middle class and the potential pressure that would excert on regime change.

None, its not the embargo that kept their economy back. Its the Cuban government that kept the economy back. Real communism doesn't work.

 Tyran wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

I'm also pretty interested in how fast the Cubans could grow a middle class and the potential pressure that would excert on regime change.

None, its not the embargo that kept their economy back. Its the Cuban government that kept the economy back. Real communism doesn't work.

*Looks at the number of poor people on the third world*

Neither capitalism, unless you live in the First World.

 Ouze wrote:
Hah, I think Raul has overreached. The US will never abandon our extrajudicial gulag.

 whembly wrote:
I actually think we're on track to disband the "jailhouse for terrorists" in Gitmo soon...

 Ouze wrote:

 whembly wrote:
I actually think we're on track to disband the "jailhouse for terrorists" in Gitmo soon...

Ok, 2007-era Obama.

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
Hah, I think Raul has overreached. The US will never abandon our extrajudicial gulag.

I actually think we're on track to disband the "jailhouse for terrorists" in Gitmo soon... but, as to the base itself? Nope. Nevah go'n to happen Shirley.

 Ouze wrote:
We disagreed on this earlier so probably no point in rehashing it but to reiterate, I'm in the camp that he could close Gitmo this afternoon if he actually wanted to.

 Frazzled wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
Hah, I think Raul has overreached. The US will never abandon our extrajudicial gulag.

I actually think we're on track to disband the "jailhouse for terrorists" in Gitmo soon... but, as to the base itself? Nope. Nevah go'n to happen Shirley.

Considering its ours by treaty...