Conghaileach
21st December 2002, 18:31
CUBA AND THE US, AT YEAR'S END, 2002
by Walter Lippmann, CubaNews list moderator
December 18, 2002
Here in Cuba we are seeing celebrations of the first year of renewed
business with the U.S. during which $253 MILLION US dollars worth of
business has been transacted between our two nations.
The cash payment system, which Congressional rightists hoped would
expose Cuba as a bankrupt deadbeat, has instead proven to be very
attractive to US corporations who like doing business with no worries
about getting paid. No wonder some of these businesses are now calling
for an end to the blockade.
Let's keep in mind that if Cuba could have more tourist trade, and,
more importantly, if Cuba could SELL many of its much valued
products to the US, it would have even more money to buy even more from
US corporations. Imagine the rum, coffee, tobacco and other sales
which we could easily see developed quickly if the blockade were
lifted?
And you can rest assured that if Cuba missed even one single $5.00
bill it would be headlined in all the media US which never avoide any
kind of opportunity to bash Cuba and its Revolution.
Trade between the two countries was unilaterally cut off by the US over
40 years ago and thus the resumption of trade is a big step in the
direction of ending the unilaterally-imposed US blockade of the island
of Cuba. Viva free trade between the United States and Cuba. We need
more of it, which is in the best interests of many businesses and all
of the peoples of both of our countries.
Yesterday's edition of Juventud Rebelde ran a full-page feature on
precisely this theme, headed: "Por un comercio libre y bilateral" ("For
a free and bilateral commerce") which discusses in detail the need for
genuine free trade between the US and Cuba, which has been denied both
to US citizens and corporations due to the persistently malignant role
of those Cuban-American exile rightists in US politics over the past
40+ years.
Today Otto Reich is twisting in the wind. It seems he's put out to
pasture (though still receiving his entirely undeserved governmental
salary) where he has apparently been made to shut his mouth at this
very sensitive time in Latin American history. (Recall his crude
intervention to back the Venezuelan coup in April of this year.)
The idea that having the U.S. Congress under Republican control might
secure the renomination of Reich has been clearly proven to be false.
The right wing is frothing at the mouth over
this: http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=...02/11/25/201711 (http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2002/11/25/201711)
Today's Wall Street Journal, which called for an end to the blockade on
Cuba during the Carter visit, runs an editorial all but demanding
that Reich be put in charge of Latin American affairs at the State
Department. Don't hold your breath.
Indeed, there's an obvious connection between the expanding trade ties
between the nations of Cuba and the US, and the sullen silence of
Otto Reich. We know he's completely opposed to the expanded trade ties
and now appears to be able to do between somewhere between little and
nothing to block the trade.
And let's not forget that this is the man who, after all, publicly
instructed the governor of Minnesota, a married man, not to engage in
"sexual tourism" while he (Ventura) was on a working trip to expand
business opportunities for the state of which he is Governor.
Ventura demanded that Busy & Co.
apologize: http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor...ptember_9_bush_ (http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor/september_9_bush_)
apology.ht ml
Jesus Arboleya, is one of the island's leading scholars on the US, and
in particular on the role of the Cuban-American exiles. Just a
few weeks ago he published some extremely prescient (that is, he
analyzed and accurately foretold) the consequences of the
Republican election successes of recent weeks. They're NOT what Bush
and his backers had projected. Take the time to read or re-read them
today as we look on at Otto Reich, his momentary silence and assess
what it really signifies.
Arboleya, by the way, wrote and published a massive study on the Cuban-
American right which is available in print in the US as well as a short
book published by Ocean Press on the US-Cuban migration conflict. Two
great reads. Arboleya's articles were taken in full from the website
of Radio Progreso www.rprogreso.com
Parenthetically, all of these developments might help explain why Vicki
Huddleston, formerly the head of the US Interests Section in Havana
was herself sent to a faraway diplomatic post from which she hasn't
been seen or heard since.
Huddleston, you'll recall, took many opportunities to get into the
media attacking Cuba, both here on the island and in Florida where she
enjoyed posing for photo opportunities and speaking to rightist exile
groupings like the Cuban-American National Foundation. She's been
replaced in Havana by James R. Cason, who does his job with something
less than the stident enthusiasm of her predecessor. He has the same
job and he says the same things, but he does so in a rather softer
(though not at all conciliatory) manner.
Something really seems to be going on here, and these are straws very
much in the wind.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I am certainly NOT saying US policy toward Cuba
has changed or that the US does not want to overthrow the Cuban
Revolution. Yet we certainly ARE now seeing some very interesting
things and living in very interesting times...
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO VENEZUELA...
Venezuela remains key to both Cuban and US concerns. The extreme
rightwing opposition has continued to escalate its efforts to sabotage
both the oil industry and the national economy of the nation of
Venezuela as a whole. It has not been successful, though media reports
say that they are continuing to try to escalate their actions.
Washington openly backed the opposition's call for premature elections
in Venezuela, but quickly was forced to backtrack from that call as the
Organization of American States (OAS) voted by 32-0 this week to
support the democratically- elected government of Hugo Chavez. Then
the US suddenly drew back from its call for a snap election against
Chavez.
Further, the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) has made a public declaration of solidarity with the
Hugo Chavez government. This would include sending replacement foreign
personnel to assist if is requested by the Venezuelan government to
replace those PDVSA staff who have chosen not to work in an effort to
sabotage the national economy at this crucial moment.
In this context, the lates public declaration of support for the
democratically-elected Hugo Chavez government by the Venezuelan
military suggests that the opposition has virtually no chance of
succeeding in overturning the government of Chavez. The hysteria they
are dislaying shows both their desperation and the volatility of the
conjuncture. (Obviously, these things can all change quite quickly as
we know.)
I'd like to urge anyone who hasn't taken the time to listen to and
enjoy the radio program BABEL'S GUIDE, to hear some of the
finest commentary on US-Cuban relations, the Miami Cuban exile and
Cuban-American communities, and, in recent times, the unfolding
struggle in Venezuela as well.
The on-air programs, which feature listener call-ins as well, are on
Miami's WAXY 790 AM, Monday through Friday from 8-9 AM. Spanish
listeners can also tune in to AYER IN MIAMI, the daily Spanish program
on the same topics which is at WOCN 1450 AM from 9:30 to 10:30 AM
and 5-6 PM and both English and Spanish programs are available archived
on the internet.
If you're in living or visiting in Miami you can listen to it over the
air. If not, you can hear it in archived form via the internet as I do
when I'm home in Los Angeles or here in Cuba as I am at the moment:
www.rprogreso.com and click on the "Listen" link at the website.
Please share this message with other friends and other lists where
readers may want to get news from and about Cuba. CubaNews can be a
great vehicle they might need to follow the story of Cuba as it
unfolds.
Please note that you can also access the current thirty messages from
the CubaNews list at the following URL, and can also utilize the
list's search engine for focused research when you need to find just
the right article on a topic related to
Cuba. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/messages
Take care,
Walter Lippmann, Moderator CubaNews list
CubaNews website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
My website with lots of Cuba information:
http://www.walterlippmann.com
by Walter Lippmann, CubaNews list moderator
December 18, 2002
Here in Cuba we are seeing celebrations of the first year of renewed
business with the U.S. during which $253 MILLION US dollars worth of
business has been transacted between our two nations.
The cash payment system, which Congressional rightists hoped would
expose Cuba as a bankrupt deadbeat, has instead proven to be very
attractive to US corporations who like doing business with no worries
about getting paid. No wonder some of these businesses are now calling
for an end to the blockade.
Let's keep in mind that if Cuba could have more tourist trade, and,
more importantly, if Cuba could SELL many of its much valued
products to the US, it would have even more money to buy even more from
US corporations. Imagine the rum, coffee, tobacco and other sales
which we could easily see developed quickly if the blockade were
lifted?
And you can rest assured that if Cuba missed even one single $5.00
bill it would be headlined in all the media US which never avoide any
kind of opportunity to bash Cuba and its Revolution.
Trade between the two countries was unilaterally cut off by the US over
40 years ago and thus the resumption of trade is a big step in the
direction of ending the unilaterally-imposed US blockade of the island
of Cuba. Viva free trade between the United States and Cuba. We need
more of it, which is in the best interests of many businesses and all
of the peoples of both of our countries.
Yesterday's edition of Juventud Rebelde ran a full-page feature on
precisely this theme, headed: "Por un comercio libre y bilateral" ("For
a free and bilateral commerce") which discusses in detail the need for
genuine free trade between the US and Cuba, which has been denied both
to US citizens and corporations due to the persistently malignant role
of those Cuban-American exile rightists in US politics over the past
40+ years.
Today Otto Reich is twisting in the wind. It seems he's put out to
pasture (though still receiving his entirely undeserved governmental
salary) where he has apparently been made to shut his mouth at this
very sensitive time in Latin American history. (Recall his crude
intervention to back the Venezuelan coup in April of this year.)
The idea that having the U.S. Congress under Republican control might
secure the renomination of Reich has been clearly proven to be false.
The right wing is frothing at the mouth over
this: http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=...02/11/25/201711 (http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml?a=2002/11/25/201711)
Today's Wall Street Journal, which called for an end to the blockade on
Cuba during the Carter visit, runs an editorial all but demanding
that Reich be put in charge of Latin American affairs at the State
Department. Don't hold your breath.
Indeed, there's an obvious connection between the expanding trade ties
between the nations of Cuba and the US, and the sullen silence of
Otto Reich. We know he's completely opposed to the expanded trade ties
and now appears to be able to do between somewhere between little and
nothing to block the trade.
And let's not forget that this is the man who, after all, publicly
instructed the governor of Minnesota, a married man, not to engage in
"sexual tourism" while he (Ventura) was on a working trip to expand
business opportunities for the state of which he is Governor.
Ventura demanded that Busy & Co.
apologize: http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor...ptember_9_bush_ (http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor/september_9_bush_)
apology.ht ml
Jesus Arboleya, is one of the island's leading scholars on the US, and
in particular on the role of the Cuban-American exiles. Just a
few weeks ago he published some extremely prescient (that is, he
analyzed and accurately foretold) the consequences of the
Republican election successes of recent weeks. They're NOT what Bush
and his backers had projected. Take the time to read or re-read them
today as we look on at Otto Reich, his momentary silence and assess
what it really signifies.
Arboleya, by the way, wrote and published a massive study on the Cuban-
American right which is available in print in the US as well as a short
book published by Ocean Press on the US-Cuban migration conflict. Two
great reads. Arboleya's articles were taken in full from the website
of Radio Progreso www.rprogreso.com
Parenthetically, all of these developments might help explain why Vicki
Huddleston, formerly the head of the US Interests Section in Havana
was herself sent to a faraway diplomatic post from which she hasn't
been seen or heard since.
Huddleston, you'll recall, took many opportunities to get into the
media attacking Cuba, both here on the island and in Florida where she
enjoyed posing for photo opportunities and speaking to rightist exile
groupings like the Cuban-American National Foundation. She's been
replaced in Havana by James R. Cason, who does his job with something
less than the stident enthusiasm of her predecessor. He has the same
job and he says the same things, but he does so in a rather softer
(though not at all conciliatory) manner.
Something really seems to be going on here, and these are straws very
much in the wind.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I am certainly NOT saying US policy toward Cuba
has changed or that the US does not want to overthrow the Cuban
Revolution. Yet we certainly ARE now seeing some very interesting
things and living in very interesting times...
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO VENEZUELA...
Venezuela remains key to both Cuban and US concerns. The extreme
rightwing opposition has continued to escalate its efforts to sabotage
both the oil industry and the national economy of the nation of
Venezuela as a whole. It has not been successful, though media reports
say that they are continuing to try to escalate their actions.
Washington openly backed the opposition's call for premature elections
in Venezuela, but quickly was forced to backtrack from that call as the
Organization of American States (OAS) voted by 32-0 this week to
support the democratically- elected government of Hugo Chavez. Then
the US suddenly drew back from its call for a snap election against
Chavez.
Further, the decision of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) has made a public declaration of solidarity with the
Hugo Chavez government. This would include sending replacement foreign
personnel to assist if is requested by the Venezuelan government to
replace those PDVSA staff who have chosen not to work in an effort to
sabotage the national economy at this crucial moment.
In this context, the lates public declaration of support for the
democratically-elected Hugo Chavez government by the Venezuelan
military suggests that the opposition has virtually no chance of
succeeding in overturning the government of Chavez. The hysteria they
are dislaying shows both their desperation and the volatility of the
conjuncture. (Obviously, these things can all change quite quickly as
we know.)
I'd like to urge anyone who hasn't taken the time to listen to and
enjoy the radio program BABEL'S GUIDE, to hear some of the
finest commentary on US-Cuban relations, the Miami Cuban exile and
Cuban-American communities, and, in recent times, the unfolding
struggle in Venezuela as well.
The on-air programs, which feature listener call-ins as well, are on
Miami's WAXY 790 AM, Monday through Friday from 8-9 AM. Spanish
listeners can also tune in to AYER IN MIAMI, the daily Spanish program
on the same topics which is at WOCN 1450 AM from 9:30 to 10:30 AM
and 5-6 PM and both English and Spanish programs are available archived
on the internet.
If you're in living or visiting in Miami you can listen to it over the
air. If not, you can hear it in archived form via the internet as I do
when I'm home in Los Angeles or here in Cuba as I am at the moment:
www.rprogreso.com and click on the "Listen" link at the website.
Please share this message with other friends and other lists where
readers may want to get news from and about Cuba. CubaNews can be a
great vehicle they might need to follow the story of Cuba as it
unfolds.
Please note that you can also access the current thirty messages from
the CubaNews list at the following URL, and can also utilize the
list's search engine for focused research when you need to find just
the right article on a topic related to
Cuba. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/messages
Take care,
Walter Lippmann, Moderator CubaNews list
CubaNews website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
My website with lots of Cuba information:
http://www.walterlippmann.com