Wednesday, July 8, 2009

No diplomacy, no problem

Rep. Burton of Indiana files a straightforward amendment to the State Department funding bill to bar any spending “to carry out official or unofficial contact with officials or representatives of the Cuban Government.”

If for nothing else – and there’s plenty else – those contacts are used to get Cuban visas for U.S. diplomats, including those who serve in the big U.S. consulate in Havana, which would mean that the staff would gradually reduce to zero, meaning no visas for Cubans to come to the United States as visitors or as immigrants. On the flip side, it would do the same for the Cuban consulate in Washington, which would mean no visas for Cuban Americans’ family visits.

The effect of the amendment would probably be to close the U.S. Interests Section. Legally and practically, it’s impossible to have a diplomatic mission that refuses all contact with the host government.

The idea may not be as popular in Miami-Dade as the Congressman thinks, but he does know how to make a point.

3 comments:

  1. the only point he has is on top of his head. how much CANF money is this a-hole getting

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  2. (WASHINGTON) - U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, offered an amendment to the State Department and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (H.R. 3081) to cut funding to the Organization of American States. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

    "The OAS is fast abandoning its founding mandate.

    "From its warm overtures towards the Cuban tyrants to its knee-jerk support of Manuel Zelaya, echoing the rhetoric and agenda of autocratic leaders like Chavez, Morales, and Ortega, the OAS is losing credibility as

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  3. good old Ileana et al. at least they are consistent. if you want to know what side rationality is on, take the opposite of what she says.
    but wait, is she saying OAS is irrelevant? Isn't that what fidel has been saying for decades. Course, credibility is all in the eye of the beholder.

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