cubaninsider: Bad-Mouthing Cuba

26.6.16

Bad-Mouthing Cuba

A Republican Pastime
{Monday, June 27th, 2016}

This AP photo shows Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas who is Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. He has spent a few days blasting Cuba. Back on Friday, Congressman McCaul planned to fly to Cuba at the head of a five-person congressional delegation but the Cuban government denied them visas. McCaul said, "We wanted to look at their airport security, so I attempted to go down there to just look at them. There were five of us." While Cuba has allowed a plethora of U. S. officials to visit the island, it remains leery of some, especially Republicans it feels are intent on turning back President Obama's efforts to ease the congressional hostility towards the very vulnerable Caribbean nation. Perhaps Republican Congressman McCaul from Texas should comprehend that.

The Washington Examiner used this graphic to highlight Congressman Michael McCaul's intense anger at Cuba for denying him permission to fly to the island. The sentence at the bottom says, "It is easier for Cubans to come to the U. S. than for the Homeland Security Committee to get to Cuba." That, of course, is a fact. Thanks to Republicans like Mr. McCaul in the U. S. Congress, Cubans are the only people in the world who have very special Wet Foot/Dry Foot financial and residence incentives to come to the United States. And thanks to Republicans like Mr. McCaul, everyday Cubans on the island have been severely punished for the past half-century in the guise of hurting the soon-to-be 90-year-old Fidel Castro. While Mr. McCaul is bad-mouthing Cuba, Cuba says it has both a sovereign right and a civic duty to try to control it borders.

Cuba's powerful diplomat, Josefina Vidal, says, "In earnestly trying to normalize relations with the United States in the remaining months that the Democrat Barack Obama is President, Cuba has bent over backwards to be fair in negotiating this new frontier. We have allowed a vast array of American government officials to visit our country so they can meet with our officials or with the regular Cuban citizens. We also are aware of some who have harmed our people...been unkind to us...in the past and probably seek to do the same in the future. If Cuba brought peace to the entire world and also cured cancer in the same day, there are those in the United States Congress who would ignore all that while finding or manufacturing things to use against us. We...I myself...trust almost all Americans. But there are some that we have reason not to fully trust. Even if some people don't agree with that assessment, I believe everyone should be able to easily understand it."

America's 7-foot-1 basketball legend, Shaquille O'Neal, is not in Cuba to bad-mouth Cubans or the Cuban government. The U. S. State Department has appointed Shaquille O'Neal as its first-ever Sports Envoy to Cuba. He will lead basketball workshops and clinics on the island. The State Department release said he will visit historical sites in Havana and "encourage positive ties between the United States and the Cuban people" in keeping with President Barack Obama's historic efforts to normalize relations with Cuba. After giving a clinic in Havana, Shaquille O'Neal said, "We share a lot of things in common. We just want to come over here and extend our friendly hand and just start smoothing things out. It was great for President Obama to reopen the door and make these strides to regain a better relationship with this beautiful island."