cubaninsider: Cuba-U.S. Talks Hit Snags

Contentious Issues Arise
Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

The third round of diplomatic talks between America's Roberta Jacobson and Cuba's Josefina Vidal were held in Havana Monday. This session was much different than the first one held in Havana in January and the second one held in Washington in February. Unlike the first two, this one was hastily announced just hours before Jacobson flew to Havana on Sunday. For another, journalists for the first time were barred from attending the session. Also, unlike the first two meetings, neither Jacobson nor Vidal met with reporters at the end of the day for summary statements and long Q & A sessions. This time, Vidal heatedly mentioned what she considers the U. S. "sponsorship of turmoil and nascent coups in nations that are strong Cuban allies." She particularly referenced "the surging coup in our region against democratically elected Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela" and "the impeachment proceedings underway in Brazil against the two-time democratically elected Dilma Rousseff." Vidal also mentioned "U. S. support of dissidents against Cuba's friends in Argentina, Chile, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and elsewhere around the region." Vidal angered Jacobson when she said, "It seems to me that the U. S. is not ashamed that in Venezuela today it is supporting a coup against Maduro similar to the one against Chavez in 2002 and the very same Cuban-American contingent in your U. S. Congress are allowed, without restrictions, to impose sanctions, wage economic warfare, and possibly assist coups against any of Cuba's friends in the region." Beyond the sparks evoked by the Venezuelan issue, Jacobson continued her efforts to have embassies in Havana and Washington prior to the Summit of the Americas that begins in Panama on April 10th. Calmly, Jacobson told Vidal the U. S. wants more diplomats at its Havana embassy than Cuba suggests and she told Vidal that the U. S. wants its diplomats to have "unrestricted" travel around the island. Vidal then calmly told Jacobson that Cuba must be removed from the U. S. Sponsors of Terrorism list and that it is "unreasonable" to think that Cuba will open a full embassy in Washington while the U. S. bars it from having "a bank necessary for us to conduct routine business." This assessment at what transpired at yesterday's hastily called session in Havana was not confirmed by either Jacobson or Vidal and, for the first time, reporters were not allowed to closely observe. Prior to yesterday's meeting President Obama had secretly sent Mark Erwin, a former U. S. ambassador to Mauritius, to meet with Vidal. Erwin reported back that Vidal was willing to open embassies prior to April 10th. That's why the third round between Jacobson and Vidal was announced late on a Friday.

Interestingly enough, Jen Psaki -- the chief spokesperson for the U. S. State Department -- ended up this week saddled with recapping the Jacobson-Vidal session in Havana. Psaki was asked about allegations that the U. S. is supporting "another coup in Venezuela," presumably on behalf of a few powerful Cuban-Americans in the U. S. Congress. Psaki's exact answer was: "As a matter of long-standing policy, the United States does not support political transitions by non-constitutional means." Her statements solicited laughs from reporters who reminded her of U.S.-backed Latin American coups, including the 2002 coup that briefly overthrew Hugo Chavez in Venezuela to make way for a anti-Cuban Venezuelan government which the Bush administration, on behalf of anti-Castro zealots Otto Reich and Roger Noriega, quickly recognized only to create a huge U. S. embarrassment when a popular uprising restored Chavez to power within hours. Psaki faced that rebuke from journalists as best she could. If you want to see Psaki's exchange with those dubious journalists, you can view the video on Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now" website as it was featured on Democracy Now's News Hour this week. The mainstream U. S. media, unlike Amy Goodman, is too afraid to report on such things because to do so might upset some powerful Cuban-Americans in Congress. Also, after her news conference yesterday, the very competent Jen Psaki was heard, when she didn't think her mike was live, "smirking about alleged U. S. coups." That "smirk" was covered, you'll note, by the mainstream U. S. media that usually covers only anti-Cuban Cuban news.

This Wikipedia photo shows Cuban college students...all well-educated and healthy. These deserving young women are keenly interested in the ongoing attempts to normalize relations with their superpower neighbor, the United States. From such standpoints as education, health, and safety, Cuban females have fared far better in Revolutionary Cuba than the females in the thieving, brutal Batista-Mafia dictatorship. If Americans are not supposed to understand that, it reflects direly on the fact that the Cuban Revolution says a lot more about the United States than it says about Cuba. Young women like these should not continually be punished by domestic revolutionary mistakes nor should they continually be punished because a mere handful of two generations of Cuban-Americans still seek revenge, not to mention economic and political power, from their safe and prosperous sanctuaries on U. S. soil. Cuba has 11.2 million innocent people on the island. There are about 5.59 million females and 5.57 million males. Cuba has 7.2 million whites, 1.5 million blacks, and just under 3.0 million mulattoes or mestizos. They deserve the opportunity to shape their own futures without imperialist or revengeful interference from foreign entities.

As things now stand on the island of Cuba, Josefina Vidal has the intelligence, the courage, the power, and the decency to shape what could be a happy and prosperous future for the Cubans on the island. A few self-serving Cuban-Americans and their self-serving sycophants will, as always, try to prevent that from happening. Sadly, they will probably succeed. Since the 1950s, two generations of Americans have not cared what happened to Cubans on the island, which is also an obvious hint that the last two generations of Americans have cared less and less about their democracy. And that's how a U. S. policy towards Cuba, one that is opposed by the region and the world, can exist...decade after decade!!

By the way....................

.................this is an absolutely amazing photo. It shows Ted Cruz -- the Cuban-American Senator by way of Canada and Texas -- campaigning in New Hampshire this week to become President of the United States in 2016. In this photo he is trying to calm down a 3-year-old girl name Julie Trant. In speaking to a crowd of supporters, Cruz ranted about how President Obama and Democratic Presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton "has set the world on fire!" Lo 'n behold, off to Cruz's left, Julie, sitting on her mother's lap, said softly "The world is on fire?" Cruz heard her and stepped over to her, telling her, "The world is on fire, yes. Your world is on fire." Later, Julie's mother explained that Cruz's rant did not, in fact, scare Julie and that both the mother and child believe Cruz is the one who can "put out the fire." In any case, Julie's headline-making question is a reminder that if either Mr. Cruz or Mr. Rubio becomes President of the United States in 2016, it will crown this fact: The resurrected Cuban-Americans will have captured the U. S. before they recaptured Cuba!!!

There are two Cuban-American Senators -- Marco Rubio from Florida and Ted Cruz from Texas -- who are now campaigning hard to get the Republican presidential nomination. Considering the prime problems of other Republican contenders -- Bush, Christie, Perry, etc. -- Rubio and Cruz have legitimate shots. And considering Hillary Clinton's problems -- secret emails, foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation, Wall Street ties, etc. -- the Republican nominee might well win the Presidency in 2016. Of the two anti-Castro Cuban-American zealots, Rubio has the best chance by far because of the support he has from the Bush dynasty {if Jeb backs out}, the Tea Party, Fox News, and a host of right-wing billionaires. Cruz is considered too extreme for many of the conservative and even right-wing Rubio supporters. But Cruz is much smarter than Rubio and doesn't have nearly as many background problems in Texas as Rubio has in Florida -- such as revelations this week about yet another shady Rubio real estate deal, this one in Tallahassee where a home co-owned with a disgraced Cuban-American politician, Rubio's best friend, made headlines. Also, Cruz is a far more brilliant orator and extemporaneous speaker than Rubio. But, yes, Cruz is even more radical than Rubio -- as 3-year-old Julie Trant discovered yesterday in New Hampshire! From the mouths of babes wisdom sprouts...or at least a pertinent sentence tagged with an appropriate question mark.

Is the world on fire, Julie?

Well, even if it is...Ted Cruz can put it out!!
And by the way....................