The Summit of the Americas this April 17 poses an Opportunity for President Obama to show America and the rest of the world that he really does stand for change. That was what he promised and I believed him, with the usual grain of salt given to campaign promises. That he would be elected seemed too good to be true so up until the election I didn’t get my hopes up. After eight years of everything taking the worst possible turn it just didn’t seem possible that something could actually go right anymore. Ecstatic does not describe how I felt when I realized he had actually won. We won. We won. We won. No election anytime, anyplace has had quite the same impact; and I knew it wasn’t just me; it was people all over the world. It was literally the end of a nightmare.
While I’m not happy with the banking bailout and a few other things all in all things seem to be going in a positive direction. But one thing that I am truly, truly disappointed with is Cuba policy. There is no legitimate reason not to completely normalize relations with Cuba. The reasons are a few moss-brained people in the State Department and congress, or possibly a few larcenous sugar growers that rob me a little every time I buy a bag of sugar. As to why there is no change in policy this from the BBC:
"US President Barack Obama has taken a less confrontational approach to the communist nation than his predecessor, George W Bush, our correspondent adds. But his administration continues to insist that there must be progress towards democracy and on human rights before the trade embargo can be lifted."
Democracy? Human rights? What absolute crap. He could have said there is opposition to normalization from interests from within our own country and that these issues must be worked out first. But no, they had to use the same old business as usual dishonesty. It would be absolutely fitting if other Latin and South American leaders would come to the podium to speak and do nothing but name and list by date the American interventions in support of repressive, undemocratic governments for the last two centuries. Wait; actually it’s now three centuries.
We are the ones violating human rights. Our policy response after the Cuban Revolution was not only short sighted but against the precepts that America is supposed to stand for. Other countries better not say or do what they think. Corporations that basically said hey they’re not going to let us exploit these people anymore dictated our policy. They screamed this would never do. If they get away with that everyone down that way will think they can.
The government that Castro overthrew was as democratic and respectful of human rights as Attila the Hun. Any repression that followed we surely had a great deal to do with. When very close neighbors send spies, support invasions and try to send exploding cigars to the leadership it’s bound to create a highly paranoid leadership. As for their alliance with Russia what were they supposed to do, sit and starve quietly?
In response to the President’s words about better relations with Iran the Iranian leadership responded that America so far seems to be following all the same old policies. There could be no better way for America to show the world that a new day has come than to reach out to Cuba and amend for the damage we have caused to the people of Cuba. We could stop violating their human rights and the President does not need the congress to do it.