The wingnuts are going to go crazy, but HuffPost is reporting that the Obama administration made history today when Dan Restrepo gave the first White House briefing in a language other than English.
Perhaps more important than the history of the actual briefing, the announcement, coming shortly before the Summit of the Americas, marks a considerable shift in our policy toward Cuba and is a wonderful first step at breaking down the barriers that divide us and our neighbor. The White House blog has some of the text of the briefing.
Today, President Obama has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights and to freely determine their country’s future. The President has directed the Secretaries of State, Treasury and Commerce to carry out the actions necessary to lift all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit family members in Cuba, and to send them remittances. He’s further directed that steps be taken to enable the freer flow of information among the Cuban people and between those in Cuba and the rest of the world, as well as to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian items directly to the Cuban people.
This was followed by the Spanish version:
Hoy, el Presidente Obama ha ordenado que se tomen ciertas medidas, ciertos pasos, para extender la mano al pueblo cubano, para apoyar su deseo de vivir con respeto a los derechos humanos y para poder determinar su destino propio y el destino de su país.
El Presidente ha dado instrucciones a los secretarios de Estado, Comercio y Tesoro para que pongan en marcha las acciones necesarias para eliminar todas las restricciones a individuos para que puedan visitar a sus familiares en la isla y mandar remesas. Además ha dado instrucciones para que se tomen pasos para permitir el flujo libre de información entre el pueblo cubano y entre quienes están en Cuba y el resto del mundo, y para facilitar la entrega de recursos humanitarios enviados directamente al pueblo cubano.
Al tomar estas medidas para ayudar a -- cerrar la brecha -- la brecha entre familias cubanas divididas y promover el flujo libre de información y artículos de ayuda humanitaria para el pueblo cubano, el Presidente Obama está esforzándo por cumplir los objetivos que fijó durante la campaña y desde el asumio del cargo.
Todos aquellos que creen en los valores democráticos básicos anhelan una Cuba que respeta los derechos humanos, políticos, económicos, básicos de todo su pueblo. El Presidente Obama considera que estas medidas ayudarán a hacer realidad ese objetivo. El Presidente - El Presidente alenta a todos quienes comparten este deseo, que sigan cometidos a su firme apoyo para el pueblo cubano.
Personally, I like this for a couple reasons: 1) I think that nothing will help the Cuban people more than normalized relations with the island, and 2) This is going to drive the xenophobes crazy.
Cheers to President Obama and Dan Restrepo for making history.
Edit: video is at CSPAN for anybody who wants to sit through the entire briefing.
Update: be sure to read the translation (from google) that nsfbr put in the comments below. Thanks.
Update 2: changed the text to read "language other than English" instead of "foreign language" in response to comment, thanks tellmenolies.