I just saw this pop up on my phone. What exactly does this mean? Are the sanctions done? Can we vacation in Cuba now? Smoke some Cuban cigars?
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/cuba-alan-gross-deal/index.html I dont know, but lets start with opening trade relations or at least getting a relationship started and maybe a tourism business going. MUST TRADE CUBAN CIGARS FOR AMERICAN EXCESS
President Obama is also set to announce a major loosening of travel and economic restrictions on the country. And the two nations are set to re-open embassies, with preliminary discussions on that next step in normalizing diplomatic relations beginning in the coming weeks, a senior administration official tells CNN.
Wasn't there a Russian war ship parked there earlier this year? Still seems a fairly dangerous neighbor. I am all for free trade. I see more benefits than risks, but I am also not forgetting the time Cuba secretly secured Russian nuclear missiles 90 miles from United States.
Well, isolation certainly hasn't worked so why not try engagement. Look what happened to Communist China by letting them get a taste of Capitalism. Turned them from Maoistic warmongers into businessmen that see they stand more to gain via taking the capitalism route. A Capitalist leaning Cuba would be a great way to negate Venezuelan Socialism and down the road may even bring the Western Hemisphere closer in cooperation as the SA countries stop viewing America as an imperialist power but instead, a business partner. No need for another "bay of pigs" but instead, a day of openness. I wonder if the Cubans in Miami will take advantage of this and actually go visit their relatives. This could be huge for everyone. Like in an earlier generation, Only Nixon could go to China and only Obama could engage Cuba. Now will someone please remind Rubio and Cruz that the Cold War is over and has been for a long long time. It's not 1960 anymore.
This will be huge for Florida economically and the southeast U.S. also. The Cubans in Miami and elsewhere, as well as other non-Cubans, will absolutely take advantage of more open travel. Many here in Florida have been pushing for more open travel for years, it had started to open up the last couple of years but this should make it explode.
I had a neighbor a couple of years ago who held an Italian passport in addition to his US one. He loved Cuba, for vacations. He did say, though, that he was now and then followed around by their internal security people. They're going to have to lighten up on that dictatorship crap. Maybe they can work for the hotels and transportation industries. Heh.
Given Russia's current economic crisis I wonder if this isn't a strategic move to prevent such a thing. We now have a bargaining chip with Cuba. Regardless, good move IMO. Where do I book a flight?
That dictatorship crap happens all over the Arab world. Never stopped the US from having normal diplomatic relations with most of them. It happened all over the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Never stopped the US from having normal diplomatic relations with them. There are a small handful of countries around the world that the US does not have normal diplomatic ties with. North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Bhutan and Taiwan. Dictatorships is not a qualifier for having normal diplomatic relations with the US. Political liabilities are the only qualifier. We should have re-opened normal diplomatic relations with Cuba during the Reagan years. It was time then and we've wasted nearly 3 decades since.
