Is This the Moment to Normalize US Relations With Cuba?

[Judi Lynn]

1. Don't forget we've had Ileana Ros-Lehtinen running the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, too.

Last edited Thu Apr 17, 2014, 02:00 AM - Edit history (1)

This is so obnoxious. When will the normal population get a chance to register a vote on this very important matter, normalizing relations with Cuba, ANYWAY?

There should be movement on Cuba NOW. This IS the time.

The latest news on his equally dirty Miami friend doesn't look as if it will be easy to duck this time, one would hope.

Another interesting area within the article:

The Cuban-born Menendez is a fierce lifetime opponent of any easing of tensions with Havana. As a top fund-raiser and the Democratic chairman of the key foreign relations committee, Menendez is an obstacle to Obama and Senate liberals on a range of national security policies. He favors regime change through military or covert means in Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and of course Cuba. He has the power to set bills, hold hearings, and approve or deny administration nominations. Menendez is becoming Obama’s chief domestic obstacle in normalizing relations with Cuba. Even on an administration priority like immigration reform, Menendez (and Senator Marco Rubio) have pledged their votes only on the condition that their hardline position on Cuba is heeded.

Now that Menendez’s grip on power is weakened, the only question is by how much.

Only a few years ago Menendez, chairing the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee, raised hell when one of the party's biggest fund-raisers, Hollywood’s Andy Spahn, tried raising funds for candidates who supported a new Cuba policy. Spahn, who travels often to Cuba with American politicians and Hollywood producers like Steven Spielberg, was demonized by Menendez and shut down. But Spahn today remains as one of Obama's top fund-raisers, and actively supports lifting the embargo.

This year an even sharper split erupted in the Senate between Menendez and Senator Patrick Leahy who is making a top priority of achieving a new Cuban policy. Leahy, who engages in steady, behind-the-scenes dialogue with Cuban officials, obtained sixty-six Senate signatures on a December 2013 letter to Obama calling on the president to "act expeditiously to take whatever steps are in the national interest" to obtain the release of American citizen Alan Gross. Gross is a contractor for the US Agency for International Development serving a fifteen-year sentence in Cuba for covertly smuggling high-tech communications equipment into the island. A rival letter sent by Menendez and Rubio calling for Gross' "immediate and unconditional release" garnered only fourteen votes, an embarrassing setback for Menendez. In the opaque culture of Washington, the Leahy letter was interpreted as political cover for Obama to negotiate diplomatically for Gross’ release, whereas the Menendez letter was a dud.

Thanks for posting this Nation article, Mika. Good for us to see.