Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Cuba, diplomacy, and U.S. security

My testimony in a House hearing today on Cuba security issues.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you P. ! Inspiration to objective thinkers on cuba, right and left. :)

HavanaJournal.com said...

Great testimony. Congratulations.

Anonymous said...

for the most part agree and if that helps move the conversation along towards normalization its a good thing. very US-centric, i guess that can't be helped.

anonimo

Anonymous said...

Raul Castro reiterated today that he is open to talk for the sake of talking, and no actions are required from Cuba. Pres. Obama, and the State Department have said they like the freeing of political prisoners and some liberalization of political control in Cuba, and that the US is not willing to talk for the sake of talking. Posturing, dissembling, or continuation of status quo?

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

Hey Phil, just watched your testimony on the webcast from Havana (the video was a bit choppy). Good Job!

Possibly dumb question, what was the purpose of this hearing? Is it in the context of the recent bills introduced or something completely separate? What can we expect to come from it?

Anonymous said...

what possible interest does the Castro regime have in any of these categories?

Drugs -- you think regime officials lie awake at night worrying about drugs skirting Cuba entering the US?

Immigration -- the regime needs as many discontented Cubans to leave Cuba as possible since it cannot provide any opportunities for them at home.

Environment -- a communist regime interested in the environment? ask the East Europeans about that one.

No, these all are excuses by regime apologists for the United States to sit down at the table with U.S. officials to send the signal to the Cuban people that the Raul regime is here to stay and, even better, be the lead-in for U.S. economic concessions without first there being any internal reforms on the island.

chingon

Anonymous said...

chingon and vecino -- typical.

the cubans have to do this, they have to do that, and then maybe we'll talk. negotiations is talking at the table, demands prior is dictatorial. anyone who tries to discount the potential as meaningless, etc is simply afraid normalization might result in having the two sides talk

the us would like freeing of political prisoners, so unless these pre-conditions are met the US shouldn't talk? and then you have the propaganda that its the cubans who have no desire to normalize relations.

what business is it of the US to interfere with internal matters of another sovereign country? because they never considered cuba sovereign and they want this wayward child back under their control.

should the cubans demand americans stop torturing (oops, enchanced interrogation methods, thank you mr orwell)

nice try though, but heard it all before

anonimo

Anonymous said...

Anonimo,

Are you Raul Castro or just a surrogate? No need to repeat his speech. At least I read it. Going forward, what do you think the current pronouncements mean: Posturing, dissembling, or continuation of status quo?

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

no, im sorry who is raul castro?

all im saying is let the talks go forward, quit putting your spin on it, end the stupid pre-talk demands. the only one who should be demanding things prior is the cuban side, but the power politics don't work that way, the weak always has to bend to the empire

i'm not psychic, who cares if its posturing, dissembling or status quo. you got money on this?

let the two sides talk, and call each other sides bluff. but to presuppose the end game before it starts it counter-productive and suggests fear of success.

anonimo

Anonymous said...

Anonimo,

If you have a problem with pre-conditions, I strongly suggest you email Pres.Obama or Secretary Clinton. The pre-conditions are their not mine. You keep ascribing motives when there are none.

Now that you mention it, maybe we should start a pool. In this economy any additional cash is always welcome. So what's bet guess: posturing, dissembling or status quo?

I'll repeat it here as well: Chill out dude! Take a pill! It is time to sit back and enjoy it because sure as hell the course of history is out of our hands!

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

je je je -- old vecino is getting a little ruffled. can't stand someone standing up to him. love poking the bear, or in this case the worm is turning (I said worm)

i've always wanted to know about the 60s, chill out dude, take a pill. man that's harsh.

anonimo

Anonymous said...

Anonimo,

You were standing up to me? So that's what you were doing. Like I said elsewhere, it's not about you and me. What's the title of your book, professor?

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

Phil, who's 3:15 from anyway? Sherritt's man in Havana?

do you disclose your relationship with Sherritt before such proceedings? Seems that would be relevant, no? Or do just continue to bet that your audiences don't know enough about the issue to call you out?

chingon

Anonymous said...

oh, and while you are contemplating answering the above, will you also tell us who financed your recent trip to Cuba with that young, impressionable staff member from Senator Lugar's office? was it the ARCA Foundation or another pro-Castro group? sorry to be a bother but these are questions that your media friends never seem to ask you...

chingon