Jimmy_jack Posted October 26, 2016 Posted October 26, 2016 Still heading the right direction. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/diplomats-us-expected-abstain-vote-cuba-embargo-43070231 1
lafabrica Posted October 26, 2016 Posted October 26, 2016 agreed this is a promising move forwards. of course, as per the article, there are some senators that are openly showing dissent.
TheGipper Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 I remember when President George H.W. Bush (41) obstained on the Japanese Prime Minister years ago.... Or am I thinking of the wrong thing? 1
Danimalia Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 I think post-election, we will see some more positive momentum re: relations with Cuba. I don't want to turn this into a political discussion which is against the rules, but I don't think it's controversial to say that President Obama may be inclined to take some bigger steps after the election. He may feel a but liberated in those last few months of his tenure. My limited experience with the Cuban people has been incredibly positive. They seemed to be warm, intelligent, and very welcoming people. With cigars, rum, baseball, music, etc., we should get along fine! 1
NSXCIGAR Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 2 hours ago, Danimalia said: I think post-election, we will see some more positive momentum re: relations with Cuba. I don't want to turn this into a political discussion which is against the rules, but I don't think it's controversial to say that President Obama may be inclined to take some bigger steps after the election. He may feel a but liberated in those last few months of his tenure. Really not a whole lot more he can do via executive order without pushing up against congress. The lifting of the 180-day vessel docking requirement is already a clear violation of the Helms-Burton Act. The Helms-Burton Act also prohibits the lifting of any sanctions so long as Fidel or Raul are in power, so both will need to go unless congress passes a law superseding Helms-Burton, which does not seem likely any time soon. In addition, if Trump wins, he'll likely rescind all of Obama's executive orders immediately which includes the recent cigar and rum allowances. Trump has also said he is against any concessions on the embargo without first negotiating some kind of "deal" with Cuba, which of course Fidel and Raul have never seemed interested in doing before. But who knows--maybe Trump is someone who actually could work out some kind of concession from the Castros. The flipside is Hillary who will likely continue Obama's policy of gradually loosening the embargo without requiring any concessions from the Castros, which I feel is the the best policy both short and long-term. 54 years of sanctions have changed absolutely nothing on that island. As far as the UN, they've condemned the embargo officially since 1992, so their position has always been clear. Today's voting results are just business as usual. 1
Danimalia Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 I thought the abstention was a first? It may not change much, but if the President is willing to anger the anti-Castro hardliners in a state his party's nominee considers important electorally, that seems pretty symbolic in the sense that not only are our relations defrosting, but that the Cuban-American community is changing pretty rapidly. Interesting, anyway.
LordAnubis Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 Hahaha.. is this even a thing?!?! The real question is, if there's a vote, and it's majority against the Embargo, then clearly the UN is a great service improving the state of the world 1
wabashcr Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 6 hours ago, Danimalia said: I thought the abstention was a first? It may not change much, but if the President is willing to anger the anti-Castro hardliners in a state his party's nominee considers important electorally, that seems pretty symbolic in the sense that not only are our relations defrosting, but that the Cuban-American community is changing pretty rapidly. Interesting, anyway. I'm not in FL, so can't speak directly to this, but from what I've read, you're correct. The hardliners are getting older (and in many cases passing on), and the younger generations of Cuban Americans are more open to detente with the Castro government. Of course they know the history, but it's not as personal when you're a generation or two removed from some of the worst persecution. I think there's a similar effect among people who could never forgive Castro for the missiles. While there are still plenty of those folks left in FL, I get the feeling that sentiment is fleeting. There's no way either party would have risked tipping the scales in Florida this close to the election in years past. That it hasn't seemed to generate much backlash would seem to indicate a lack of political expediency in opposing normalization. 2
Smoke6 Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 6 hours ago, Danimalia said: I thought the abstention was a first? It may not change much, but if the President is willing to anger the anti-Castro hardliners in a state his party's nominee considers important electorally, that seems pretty symbolic in the sense that not only are our relations defrosting, but that the Cuban-American community is changing pretty rapidly. Interesting, anyway. As with all things, change is always part of the calculus. Look at how quickly the USSR faded away once a little capitalism was introduced. I can only imagine that once travel is unrestricted to Cuba and thousands of Americans visit that it can only change for the better.
Smoke6 Posted October 27, 2016 Posted October 27, 2016 1 hour ago, Hutch said: " better" is debateable I hesitated just a bit when I wrote that as I too am hesitant when I imagine all the Americans stumbling around Havana sightseeing and nursing their Cuba Libres while sitting at the Hotel de Nacional. Will it actually make Cuba a better place? Money can definitely be a change agent but it is still debatable what the government will allow them to do.
NSXCIGAR Posted November 16, 2016 Posted November 16, 2016 Well, everybody enjoy the ability to bring back cigars and rum until Jan 21. Not likely to survive when The Donald is in the house. Here's a short op ed by the Miami Herald about the general situation with Cuba and Trump: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article114790723.html?ref=yfp
Bahnofstrasse Posted November 16, 2016 Posted November 16, 2016 23 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said: Well, everybody enjoy the ability to bring back cigars and rum until Jan 21. Not likely to survive when The Donald is in the house. Here's a short op ed by the Miami Herald about the general situation with Cuba and Trump: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article114790723.html?ref=yfp http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/16/cuban-american-leaders-dissidents-urge-trump-to-get-tough-with-castro-regime.html
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now