Odds and ends
- Off the reservation: Former GOP Congressman Bob Barr, President Clinton’s famous nemesis during the impeachment proceedings, calls for Obama to make an opening toward Cuba. And Patty Khuly, niece of one of the men killed in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, hs changed her mind about the American approach toward Cuba. Interviewed by journalist Reese Erlich, she said: “In retrospect, Helms-Burton is one of the silliest pieces of legislation. It’s one of these ‘big stick’ laws that do nothing but get the rest of the world angry at us…Cuba needs to have as much influence from the outside as possible,” she said. “The embargo needs to die as quick a death as possible.”
- The Louvre has arrived in Havana with an exhibit of 100 high-resolution photos of paintings in its collection. The exhibit, “Images of the Louvre: Six Centuries of European Painting,” is on display outdoors through May 18 in Old Havana near the Castillo de la Real Fuerza. AP article here; a note from the Havana city historian’s office is here.
Bob barr finally got some education.
ReplyDeleteTempering my comments (above) with some oputright cynicism might prove counterproductive, so let me just make plain the context:
ReplyDeleteHuman rights in Cuba is paramount. I believe in ending the embargo with Cuba on this basis.
I do, however, believe that the Castro regime is the primary fault-holder in the 1996 downing of the Brother's to the Rescue Cessnas.
Indictments for murder are sought. None of my comments towards lifting the embargo should be construed as a softened stance on the legitimacy of indictments against rulers who commit murder.