UN to condemn American embargo on Cuba
Byrnzie
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oc ... go-un-vote
UN to condemn American embargo on Cuba
General assembly expected to push Obama to build on recent thaw in US-Cuba relations
* Rory Carroll - guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 October 2009
The UN general assembly is expected to overwhelmingly condemn the US economic embargo against Cuba today, adding pressure on the Obama administration to abandon its 47-year-old policy.
The majority of the assembly is due to approve a resolution demanding an end to the embargo. The annual diplomatic ritual has extra resonance this year because of Washington's slight thaw with Havana.
Last year 185 members voted to end the embargo, with only Israel and Palau siding with the US. Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.
The White House has made cautious openings to Raul Castro's government – such as easing travel restrictions for Cuban Americans – but has maintained crippling trade and financial controls first imposed by the Kennedy administration in 1962.
Mainstream US thinktanks say Obama's reforms are timid and fail to reset a relationship that soured soon after Fidel Castro's revolutionaries overthrew the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista 50 years ago.
"This is a start, but more, much more, needs to be done," said Sarah Stephens, director of the Centre for Democracy in the Americas. "Not because the UN says so, but because our country needs to embrace the world not as we found it in 1959 – or in 2008 – but as it exists today."
In the name of squeezing Havana's communist authorities, the embargo bans Cuban imports, greatly restricts US exports and deters foreign firms from doing business with the island. Cuba, 90 miles off Florida, says the measures amount to a blockade and economic warfare.
As a senator, Obama opposed the embargo but hardened his position when running for president, not least because he needed the votes of anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Florida. In office he has let Congress take the lead in easing restrictions while saying the embargo will remain until Havana releases political prisoners and improves human rights.
"The US realises that the embargo is an outmoded policy but Obama is not ready to do the hard work required to remove it entirely, which means that US policy will continue to consist of piecemeal changes," said Dan Erikson, author of The Cuba Wars and an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank.
The UN general assembly's opposition to the embargo has risen steadily since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favour of the resolution. The figure was 179 in 2004, 182 in 2005 and 184 in 2007.
Even US allies such as Britain, Australia and Colombia side against the superpower, saying its Cuba policy is a cold war anachronism given US trade with undemocratic states such as China and Vietnam. One European ambassador called the embargo "demented".
Havana is poised to claim a propaganda windfall from today's vote. Rogelio Polanco, its ambassador to Venezuela, told a seminar in Caracas that international solidarity was needed to rein in a global bully. "The US's economic and military power, even if diminished, remains hegemonic," he said.
Fidel Castro has long blamed the embargo for the island's impoverishment but since his brother Raul took over the presidency last year there has been greater official recognition of the shortcomings of socialist central planning.
The infrastructure creaks, the average monthly wage hovers under $20 and there are chronic shortages of basic goods such as fruit, vegetables, meat, soap, shampoo and toilet paper.
Agriculture is a disaster – state-run collectives barely function, meaning most food is imported – and industry fares little better. The island's trade deficit jumped to $11.4bn last year, up 65%, forcing debt rescheduling and talk of default.
In a recent speech Raul Castro suggested the embargo was not the main culprit. "It is not a question of yelling 'fatherland or death, down with imperialism, the blockade is hurting us', but working hard and overcoming poor organisation."
No country could indefinitely spend more than it earned, he said. "Within the conditions of our imperfect socialism, due to our own shortcomings, two plus two often adds up to three."
The government has loosened controls over farming and abolished near-universal subsidies such as free lunches. The next to go may be the monthly ration book, the libretto, which gives everyone a basket of rice, beans and some chicken.
Volker Skierka, a Fidel biographer, said there may be marginal improvements but that the former president was holding back further change. "These steps are not radical and fundamental. The danger is that minor success will be overwhelmed by the failure of reforms," he said.
UN to condemn American embargo on Cuba
General assembly expected to push Obama to build on recent thaw in US-Cuba relations
* Rory Carroll - guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 October 2009
The UN general assembly is expected to overwhelmingly condemn the US economic embargo against Cuba today, adding pressure on the Obama administration to abandon its 47-year-old policy.
The majority of the assembly is due to approve a resolution demanding an end to the embargo. The annual diplomatic ritual has extra resonance this year because of Washington's slight thaw with Havana.
Last year 185 members voted to end the embargo, with only Israel and Palau siding with the US. Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.
The White House has made cautious openings to Raul Castro's government – such as easing travel restrictions for Cuban Americans – but has maintained crippling trade and financial controls first imposed by the Kennedy administration in 1962.
Mainstream US thinktanks say Obama's reforms are timid and fail to reset a relationship that soured soon after Fidel Castro's revolutionaries overthrew the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista 50 years ago.
"This is a start, but more, much more, needs to be done," said Sarah Stephens, director of the Centre for Democracy in the Americas. "Not because the UN says so, but because our country needs to embrace the world not as we found it in 1959 – or in 2008 – but as it exists today."
In the name of squeezing Havana's communist authorities, the embargo bans Cuban imports, greatly restricts US exports and deters foreign firms from doing business with the island. Cuba, 90 miles off Florida, says the measures amount to a blockade and economic warfare.
As a senator, Obama opposed the embargo but hardened his position when running for president, not least because he needed the votes of anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Florida. In office he has let Congress take the lead in easing restrictions while saying the embargo will remain until Havana releases political prisoners and improves human rights.
"The US realises that the embargo is an outmoded policy but Obama is not ready to do the hard work required to remove it entirely, which means that US policy will continue to consist of piecemeal changes," said Dan Erikson, author of The Cuba Wars and an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank.
The UN general assembly's opposition to the embargo has risen steadily since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favour of the resolution. The figure was 179 in 2004, 182 in 2005 and 184 in 2007.
Even US allies such as Britain, Australia and Colombia side against the superpower, saying its Cuba policy is a cold war anachronism given US trade with undemocratic states such as China and Vietnam. One European ambassador called the embargo "demented".
Havana is poised to claim a propaganda windfall from today's vote. Rogelio Polanco, its ambassador to Venezuela, told a seminar in Caracas that international solidarity was needed to rein in a global bully. "The US's economic and military power, even if diminished, remains hegemonic," he said.
Fidel Castro has long blamed the embargo for the island's impoverishment but since his brother Raul took over the presidency last year there has been greater official recognition of the shortcomings of socialist central planning.
The infrastructure creaks, the average monthly wage hovers under $20 and there are chronic shortages of basic goods such as fruit, vegetables, meat, soap, shampoo and toilet paper.
Agriculture is a disaster – state-run collectives barely function, meaning most food is imported – and industry fares little better. The island's trade deficit jumped to $11.4bn last year, up 65%, forcing debt rescheduling and talk of default.
In a recent speech Raul Castro suggested the embargo was not the main culprit. "It is not a question of yelling 'fatherland or death, down with imperialism, the blockade is hurting us', but working hard and overcoming poor organisation."
No country could indefinitely spend more than it earned, he said. "Within the conditions of our imperfect socialism, due to our own shortcomings, two plus two often adds up to three."
The government has loosened controls over farming and abolished near-universal subsidies such as free lunches. The next to go may be the monthly ration book, the libretto, which gives everyone a basket of rice, beans and some chicken.
Volker Skierka, a Fidel biographer, said there may be marginal improvements but that the former president was holding back further change. "These steps are not radical and fundamental. The danger is that minor success will be overwhelmed by the failure of reforms," he said.
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Comments
Is Fidel dead? I remember hearing he was sick and on death's door and now this article talks about Raul, but I don't recall hearing he'd actually kicked the bucket.
Dumbest fucking embargo ever.
no fidel is not dead.
bwahaha the UN condemning something. thatll make an impact im sure. :roll:
take a good look
this could be the day
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lie beside me
i just need to say
now its time to earn it.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
'Last year 185 members voted to end the embargo, with only Israel and Palau siding with the US. Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.'
The U.S would have undoubtedly vetoed it.
I wonder what those small Island states are usually thinking when they vote against resolutions dealing with the US and Israel. Like they feel its finally their time to shine in the world.
The UN should implement a rule where resolutions cannot be vetoed by the involved nation. But that would probably get vetoed before it passes.
U.S pressure.
I agree. It definitely needs changing.
Ya but they keep changing its not the same ones that vote with the US. Maybe they just keep changing their names
I think they should either implement that or limit the number of vetoes / year / nation.
Your love gimme such a thrill,
But your lovin' don't pay my bills
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2009/07/126656.htm
"The United States government provides a wide range of foreign assistance programs to the Pacific island nations. The majority of this assistance is administered by the Department of the Interior as part of our Compacts of Free Association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. This assistance totals over $200 million dollars annually."
Actually, the list is pretty consistent. Take a look at who casts a negative vote on Resolution 242 every year and the same 5 or 6 countries appear: U.S, Israel, Australia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10791.doc.htm
Interesting. I guess I haven't been paying enough attention. Thanks for the info. I remember for a while a few central American countries were voting in favor of the US and a few African nations too but that seems to have changed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8331069.stm
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Cuba's ex-leader Castro 'strong'
'Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro is looking strong and remains on top of developments at home and abroad, says a world health chief...'
Even better:
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/sean-penn-h ... interview/
Sean Penn Cuba-bound to interview Fidel Castro for Vanity Fair
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, October 25th, 2009 -- 7:15 pm
"Sean (Penn) is going to the land of Fidel as a journalist, writing a story for Vanity Fair (magazine) about how the (Barack) Obama administration has affected Cuba," TMZ reported.
Penn was traveling with Diana Jenkins: "Actually ... it's her plane ... she's married to the head honcho at Barclays bank," TMZ added, noting the pair set out from Las Vegas on Saturday.
"Barclays sources say Sean and Diana are going to meet (Fidel) Castro -- presumably because that's what Diana told them," the website reported. Penn's representative also told TMZ a meeting was possible.
Since taking office in January, US President Barack Obama has moved to ease a half-century of tension with Cuba, with small steps such as relaxing rules on visits and money transfers to the island.
Story continues below...
rawstorycastro Sean Penn Cuba bound to interview Fidel Castro for Vanity FairBut so far, the US administration has not taken major strides in its approach to the Americas' only communist regime. The Obama administration has said it will not, for now, seek to end the US economic embargo, instead urging Havana to show progress on human rights.
In July, the two countries also officially restarted a dialogue on migration issues which had been suspended since 2003, and talks are also under way aimed at restarting bilateral mail service which was cut off in 1963.
Obama recently asked Spain to send a message to Cuba urging its President Raul Castro to step up efforts to improve relations with Washington, a Madrid newspaper reported Sunday.
"Tell Raul that if he does not take steps, neither can I," Obama told Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, according to El Pais, which cited a diplomatic source.
"We are making efforts, but if they do not make efforts, it will be very difficult for us to continue," said Obama during the meeting on October 13 at the White House, the newspaper added.
that should be interesting. our relations with cuba are so ridiculous it's almost farce, if it weren't occasionally so horrifying. like when katrina wiped out new orleans and cuba offered to send doctors and dubya told them to go fuck themselves cos we had it under control... which we didnt. that was sickening. a golden opportunity to mend fences and he pissed on it.
the problem is that the people that control policy are not interested in establishing "good" relations and a equal trading partner - it's only about how can we roll in there and exploit the people and land ...
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
Yeah, those that control policy don't know what playing fair is.