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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama Renews US Embargo on Cuba
On Friday, White House officials published a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama extending the commercial blockade on the caribbean nation of Cuba.
In the memorandum directed to U.S. Secretaries of State John Kerry and Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew, Obama approved of extending the 64-year old embargo saying I believe that the extension of the embargo against Cuba for one year [is] for the national interests of the United States.
The ban limits U.S. companies from doing business with Cuba, which critics argue is an interventionist measure that has been detrimental to both countries.
Economic sanctions by the United States on Cuba are enforced by several U.S. laws, including the 1992 Torricelli Act that banned food shipments to Cuba.
Since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution opposing the embargo every year. The only two countries to consistently oppose the resolution are the United States and Israel.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Obama-Renews-US-Embargo-on-Cuba-20140906-0028.html
merrily
(45,251 posts)What, exactly, have the Cuban people done to us in the past 64 years that we find it necessary to embargo food shipments?
I'm sure the rulers of Cuba eat well, no matter what. Are we trying to force the people of Cuba to rise up and overthrow their government by force? Is that the point of embargoing food shipments?
KG
(28,751 posts)djean111
(14,255 posts)And we are still imposing economic sanctions on Cuba, for being Communists, while sucking up to China - for being Communists with Money.
B Calm
(28,762 posts)to go there twice in the navy.
strawberries
(498 posts)I flew over Cuba on my way to the Grand Cayman Island. I had a window seat and we were low enough for me to see the beautiful green country. I would love to visit Cuba
I was hoping Obama would lift the embargo when he became president, but he didn't.
We still have two more years of hope
newfie11
(8,159 posts)I guess 50+ years aren't enough.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)holding Cuba down to be ravaged by the corporatists.
Paladin
(28,243 posts)dembotoz
(16,785 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)While there is no evidence to suggest Qatars regime is directly funding Isis, powerful private individuals within the state certainly are, and arms intended for other jihadi groups are likely to have fallen into their hands. According to a secret memo signed by Hillary Clinton, released by Wikileaks, Qatar has the worst record of counter-terrorism cooperation with the US.
Then theres Kuwait, slammed by Amnesty International for curtailing freedom of expression, beating and torturing demonstrators and discriminating against women. Hundreds of millions have been channelled by wealthy Kuwaitis to Syria, again ending up with groups like Jabhat al-Nusra.
Kuwait has refused to ban the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, a supposed charity designated by the US Treasury as an al-Qaida bankroller. David Cohen, the US Treasurys undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, has even described Kuwait as the epicentre of fundraising for terrorist groups in Syria. As Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, an associate fellow at Chatham House, told me: High profile Kuwaiti clerics were quite openly supporting groups like al-Nusra, using TV programmes in Kuwait to grandstand on it. All of this is helped by lax laws on financing and money laundering, he says.
Saudi Arabia has beheaded 22 people since 4 August. Among the crimes that are punished with beheading are sorcery and drug trafficking.
Around 2,000 people have been killed since 1985, their decapitated corpses often left in public squares as a warning. According to Amnesty International, the death penalty is so far removed from any kind of legal parameters that it is almost hard to believe, with the use of torture to extract confessions commonplace. Shia Muslims are discriminated against and women are deprived of basic rights, having to seek permission from a man before they can even travel or take up paid work.
Even talking about atheism has been made a terrorist offence and in 2012, 25-year-old Hamza Kashgari was jailed for 20 months for tweeting about the prophet Muhammad. Here are the fruits of the pact between an opulent monarchy and a fanatical clergy.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/31/combat-terror-end-support-saudi-arabia-dictatorships-fundamentalism
heaven05
(18,124 posts)in this type of political stupidity. Maybe, just maybe he doesn't want to give RWers a wedge in the upcoming elections. I just don't understand the continuance of this embargo ect.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Can you imagine what our friends on the other side of the aisle would say on Fox News if this crucial legislation was not renewed?
We've worked too hard, for too long, to create today's atmosphere of bipartisan comity and trust.
Regards,
TWM
IDemo
(16,926 posts)The economic fallout is too hideous to ponder.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)leftstreet
(36,097 posts)How dare those people make health and education a priority!
ladjf
(17,320 posts)avebury
(10,951 posts)We made peace with Vietnam. Nixon went to China. And we still hold a grudge against Castro? They need to get over it. Continuing an embargo against Cuba just shows how petty the US can be.