U.S. Offers Cuba `Solidarity' Pledge, $50,000 After Hurricane

[Poiuyt]

The Bush administration offered Cuba $50,000 in aid and a pledge of ``solidarity'' after Hurricane Charley passed through the island nation en route to Florida.

more -

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=ai.A.70X8kyM&refer=latin_america

Gee, do you think we can spare it?

[arcos]

1. $50,000?!?!

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[soothsayer]

3. sorry, it's all we had left after halliburton's last bill n/t

[mom cat]

18. Are any liberal groups gearing up to help?

[struggle4progress]

23. ! eom

[Massacure]

2. $50,000 only???

Isn't that a slap in the face?

[bluestateguy]

4. "Communiist Appeasement"

That's what Jorge Mas Canosa and his group of 1961 Cold Warriors would be bitching and pissing and moaning about if the Clinton Administration did such a thing.

[SoCalDem]

5. Gee.. the price of a used Hummer... how generous..

what a SLUG we have in the whitehouse

[Darranar]

6. $50,000? n/t

[alittlelark]

7. $50,000 ????

My last car cost almost that much!!


F*in' pile of shit offer. :puke:

[xray s]

8. Once again Bush tries to make America look like an asshole

People do not want their country to be an asshole. That is why Bush is gone November 2.

[steely]

9. He could spare more from his own pocket.

The guy's a prick.

[candy331]

10. This must be some kind of sick joke isn't it? n/t

[TaleWgnDg]

11. so Dumbya is passing around the hat . . .

so's to placate the Cuban-American vote w/ $50,000???

Now, THERE's a scholar for you!!!

Hot damn, this guy canNOT think past square one. How the hell did he ever get to be pResident? OOOooooohhhhh, yeah. Don't remind me.

[murray hill farm]

12. How thoughtful!

Castro will probably tell them to just shove it! I am sure that if the USA would ever pay the money it owes Cuba for the long term lease of Guantano then that would be appreciated though...something that has not been paid to Cuba from day one. Did you folks know that when the USA had the hugh outbreak of the mosquito bred equilivant of Dung disease that is prevelant in Cuba and Mexico..the outbreak in louisana a few years back, that Castro offered the cure to the usa and that it was rejected by our leader because it came from Castro....guess he didnt want to save his own people if it meant admitting that Cuba was so advanced medically as to have such a cure.

[guajira]

15. This article says US pays, but Castro Doesn't cash checks

The agreement holds further that the U.S. will pay 2000 gold coins (about $4000 in today's money) each year in rent. Since coming to power, Fidel Castro has steadfastly refused to cash the American rent checks because he views the base as illegitimate. The U.S. agreed to return fugitives from Cuban law to Cuban authorities and Cuba agreed to return fugitives from U.S. law, for offences committed in Guantanamo Bay, to U.S. authorities.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Guantanamo-Bay

[Mika]

16. Castro this Castro that. What is it with this?

Listening to Americans talk about Cuba you'd think that Castro is responsible for EVERYTHING bad in Cuba and EVERYTHING good in Cuba.


JEEZUZ.Just how myopic a view of Cuba do Americans have?



Why can't just a little due credit (and due blame) go toward the people and government of Cuba.

Ummm..... do y'all know that Cuba actually has (((gasp))) a government?



Y'all have Castro on the brains.


Maybe this will satisfy the itch that seems to cause so many Americans to ignore the fact that Cuba actually has a government......

Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that Castro does this Castro does that Castro did this Castro did that


We can do better than this. we can do better than the bushies, can't we?


OK, can we now move along and recognize that there is more than just one Cuban in Cuba.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi mexicoxpat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sandnsea]

13. Oh man, get me a bag

Are we starting to feel like Chargers fans or what? My face is red and nobody can even see me. $50,000. What an ass.

[aquart]

14. But relatives still can't visit or send money to their families?

Thanks for nothing.

[Dangerman]

17. Yeesh!

Bomb one country and oust and capture its' dictator, send aid to another country and appease THAT nation's dictator.

Bush is Mr. double standard, ladies and gentlemen.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Here's something to refresh your memories

of how the Republicans jammed up Clinton 24/7. Found this looking for info. on what Clinton did when Cuba was slammed by a hurricane. This snip concerns a different part of Latin America and hurricane aid:

Clinton's hurricane relief package becomes shameful exercise in partisan politics: In February the Clinton administration proposed a nearly $1 billion emergency aid package to assist Central American countries devastated by Hurricane Mitch which struck the region in late October (see CAMR, Vol.19, No.1, Feb.). The proposal was supposed to have been put on a fast track in Congress in order to respond to the desperate need for assistance created by this catastrophic event. But as CAMR went to press the House and Senate versions of this bill continued to linger in conference committee mired in a battle of budget offsets with the threat of a veto dangling overhead.

~~~~ link ~~~~

Also, here's something a lot of us don't know or remember, which is very important, from the same source:

U.S. confronts its complicity: The 1954 US-backed military coup in Guatemala ushered in a dark era of close collaboration between US intelligence and military agencies of the Guatemalan army, one of this hemisphere's worst human rights violators, ever. When President Bill Clinton, in a speech in Guatemala City on March 10, cited as "wrong" US support "for military forces and intelligence units which engaged in violence and widespread repression," he was, for the first time on the part of any US official, at least publicly acknowledging the involvement of the US in one of Latin America's darkest chapters.
(snip/)

I'm still looking for material on Clinton's actions towards Cuba after they were clobbered by a hurricane during his legally elected Presidency.

God bless Bill Clinton for making this statement. I really respect him for doing this.

[progressivebydesign]

20. 50K, what would that replace? Half a h ouse? Insulting! N/T

[Judi Lynn]

21. Here's what the U.S. offered after Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba (Clinton)

In a November 6 statement, the U.S. State Department offered humanitarian assistance to victims of the storm.

"The United States expresses its sympathy to those who suffered personal loss and stands ready to assist those in the region who have been hardest hit by this natural calamity," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "The United States is prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to those most affected by this terrible disaster, as we have already done for Honduras."

Boucher clarified the U.S. aid offer a day later in a Wednesday press briefing, saying the United States was ready to provide assistance as long as it can be done "in a way that ensures that the Cuban people will benefit, not the Castro regime."

And again Thursday Boucher said, "If we can be of assistance in helping them recover from the hurricane, we'd offer assistance through international and other intermediaries to ensure the Cuban people benefit and not the government."

Michelle made landfall in Cuba last Sunday as a powerful Category Four storm with winds of 135 mph, killing five people before crossing into the Florida Straits. The storm caused severe damage in eight provinces and Isle of Youth, areas that account for over 45 percent of the country's land mass and 53 percent of the population, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage said on national TV.

The high winds devastated the country's telecommunications system, knocking out Cuba's main communications tower, disrupting phone service. Michelle also caused extensive damage to the country's electrical infrastructure and wiped out tens of thousands of homes.
(snip)

http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/americas/11/09/cuba.usaid/

Cuba's response:

HAVANA (CNN) -- Cuba's Foreign Ministry on Thursday asked the United States to temporarily lift embargoes so the island can import emergency supplies in wake of a deadly hurricane.

The request came in response to an offer of U.S. aid following the devastating impact of Hurricane Michelle.

"We appreciate the kind gesture especially taking into account the tense relations between our countries," a statement from the foreign ministry said. "We do not require the kind cooperation that has been offered but instead in an exceptional period we ask that the U.S. government allow our government to purchase immediately the food and raw materials for medicines needed for the reconstruction of the country."
(snip)

That's when we started our very limited trade with Cuba for certain food products. The offer had been on the table since earlier in Clinton's LEGALLY ELECTED Presidency, although Cuba had declined until directly after Hurricane Michelle.

[daleo]

24. Sounds like some smart diplomacy on both sides

If I interpreted that correctly.

[Judi Lynn]

27. I think you're right.... n/t

[leesa]

25. $50000?? What an insult. I hope Castro tells him to shove it.

[Endangered Specie]

26. a penny pinching $50,000?!?... well, at least it isnt Canadian dollars...

;) cheap sob.