We The President

Bush to Warn Cuba on Plan for Transition

President Bush is planning to issue a stern warning Wednesday that the United States will not accept a political transition in Cuba in which power changes from one Castro brother to another, rather than to the Cuban people.

Really? I didn't know Cuba was one of the 50 States. And exactly what does Mr. Bush plan on doing should the US not get it's way?

The "article" is full of "nice" things like:

The speech, scheduled to be given at the State Department before invited Cuban dissidents, will introduce the relatives of four Cuban prisoners being held for political crimes. The relatives, who fled Cuba years ago for the United States, will attend the gathering. A senior administration official said the president wanted to “put a human face,” on Cuba’s “assault on freedom.”

Right..right....right. Like those people "renditioned" to various countries and tortured? Oh and those people termed "Enemy Combatants" and stripped of all judicial review until recently? Umm. Mumia Abu Jamal? Is this serious journalism?

The official said Mr. Bush would make the case that for dissidents and others pursuing democracy in Cuba, little has changed at all, and that the country has suffered economically as well as in other ways as a result of the Castro rule.

Ummm.. no. Actually Cuba is suffering economically because of things like Helms-Burton, not Castro's rules.

He will say that while much of the rest of Latin America has moved from dictatorship to democracy, Cuba continues to use repression and terror to control its people. And, the administration official said, Mr. Bush will direct another part of his speech to the Cuban people, telling them they “have the power to shape their destiny and bring about change.”

Ummm I know Mr. Bush is light on current events. That's OK, I don't expect better but for everyone else, I'll remind them that while the US says "Democracy=Good" it has attempted to ouster a democratically elected president, Hugo Chavez. I'll also remind the president that in recent elections the winners all have close ties to Cuba. Cuba exports doctors and the US exports...ummm..that's right Bombs to Israel and Marines to Iraq. Death...life...death...life...Hurrah for US Democracy, where you too can be arrested for standing on a street talking to your friends or tasered by the police for asking politically incorrect questions of government officials.

The senior administration official said that nothing in Raúl Castro’s past gives Washington reason to expect democratic reforms soon. And he said the United States would uphold its tough economic policies against the island.

Doesn't this contradict the earlier statement about Castro's rule causing economic ruin?

In recent months, Raúl Castro has made an open play for more business, suggesting his government is prepared to carry out reforms aimed at opening Cuba’s economy to further foreign investment.

I can't vouch for the veracity of this statement but given that Canada among other countries are doing trade with Cuba I can't see how this statement can be "true" since Cuba has been open to foreign investment. I gather that what the Cuban leadership is not interested in is foreign exploitation.

“The president will make the point that life will not improve for Cubans under the current system,” the senior administration official said.

Sounds like a threat of continued economic sanctions by the US. Is this even legal?

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