Cuban president Raśl Castro willing to hold no-limits talks with America
Source: Associated Press
Associated Press in Havana
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 July 2012 23.31 BST
Cuban president Raúl Castro said on Thursday that his government was willing to mend fences with its bitter cold war foe, the United States.
At the end of a Revolution Day ceremony marking the 59th anniversary of an uprising against dictator Fulgencio Batista's regime, Castro grabbed the microphone and made apparently impromptu remarks. He said no topic was off limits, including US concerns about democracy, freedom of the press and human rights on the island, as long as it was a conversation between equals.
Washington would have to be prepared to hear Cuba's own complaints about those issues in the United States and Europe, he added. "We are nobody's colony, nobody's puppet," Castro said. "Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels. If they want to talk, we will talk."
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Mike Hammer, assistant secretary for public affairs at the US state department, responded by saying that before any meaningful engagement, Cuba must institute democratic reforms, improve human rights and release Alan Gross, a Maryland native serving 15 years in prison for bringing satellite and other communications equipment into Cuba illegally while on a USAid-funded democracy-building programme.
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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/26/cuba-president-raul-castro-talks-with-america
= new reply since forum marked as read
As long as there's US campaign contributions to be made off of the standoff - for both sides of the issue (a strange mix of R's and D's)- then it will CONtinue.
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The Cuban people do.
To entertain another idea is an insult to the good people of Cuba.
Take a look ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x31936
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Thanks for putting the information there for people who've only listened to dictated corporate "news" on Cuba.
So many others take the time to start looking for the real answers themselves. They will appreciate how much you have laid out for us to consider.
It takes personal effort to get to the truth, and a need to not swallow slick yarns from the oligarchy. Eventually everyone will have a clue, Mika. Everyone with a functioning brain, that is. 
Can hardly wait for you to post the usual AI, HRW, RsF, Wiki links (most all of them are Cubanet/USAID/Scaife/Diaz-Balart paid-for "reports" from professional "dissidents"
...
(snips)
Osvaldo Dorticós served as the first President of Cuba after the Revolution of 1959. He was born in 1919.
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During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba was threatened by an American invasion. As a result, the Soviets had installed nuclear weapons, but kept the program secret. While giving a speech at the UN, Dorticós announced that Cuba now had weapons which "it had not wanted and hoped it would not have to use."
Dorticós remained President of Cuba until 1976, when Prime Minister Castro took over the job. Dorticós died in 1983.
Do yourself a favor ... you need to educate yourself a little before making uninformed commentary. No offense intended, but your posts are rather foolish and are lacking basic knowledge of Cuba.
Cheers.
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My prior comments, about your lacking correct information about Cuba, stand.
Take care.
Bye.
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