State Dept. Press Briefing 4-28: Cuba Excerpts

[magbana]

From Karen Wald's Cuba Inside-Out List. Comment prior to transcript is from Karen.
magbana

TOPIC: : DOS Press Briefing (April 28): Cuba excerpts
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba-Inside-Out/t/e9c253c58a3020bd?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Apr 28 2009 5:18 pm
From: "Karen Lee Wald"


"we’d like to see some steps coming from the Cuban side in terms of, you know, releasing political prisoners, ending taxes on remittances...."
As noted before in Cuba-Inside-Out, the overwhelming "tax" on remittances from Cuban-Americans to family members on the island comes not from the Cuban government (which imposes a fee for changing dollars to Cuban Convertible Pesos that is 10% greater than it charges for Euros, Yens, Canadian dollars, etc -- NOT just on remittances --as a result of the US hostile policy against Cuba's receipt and use of US dollars which punishes banks and other financial institutions which deal with Cuba in dollars) but from the agencies inside the US that charge 20% or more for sending goods and money. If the US is really concerned that the Cuban recipients of this largesse receive a larger share, it should put a cap on how much these US companies can charge. What the Cuban government takes from these exchanges goes to benefit the entire population. What the agencies in Miami and elsewhere charge (including Western Union) goes simply to enrich the owners of these companies. klw



Western Hemisphere and Caribbean : Daily Press Briefing - April 28
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:12:58 -0500

Robert Wood
Acting Department Spokesman
Daily Press Briefing
April 28, 2009


QUESTION: On Cuba, do you have anything new on the conversations betwee n Mr. Shannon and the Cuban Interests Section?

MR. WOOD: You know, the only thing I can say is that Assistant Secretary Shannon met yesterday with the head of the Cuban Interests Section, Jorge Bolaños. And this, as I said yesterday, you know, was just part of, you know, our regular dialogue with the Cuban Interests Section on issues of concern either to us or to them or mutual concerns. And I’m not going to provide you with, you know, the details of, you know, a private diplomatic discussion, but, you know, there will likely – you know, there’ll be meetings in the future, should there be a need to meet. But I don’t have anything beyond that.

QUESTION: So they haven’t scheduled to restart these meetings they have every six months?

MR. WOOD: I’m not aware that they had meetings scheduled every six months.

QUESTION: Before this thing started.

MR. WOOD: No, they – look, they will obviously meet when they feel the need arises. But nothing beyond that.

QUESTION: Well, there is this contradiction between what Raul Castro said and Fidel Castro said, and Secretary Clinton (inaudible) in the hearing last week. Has this helped at all to clarify this apparent contradiction?

MR. WOOD: Well, look, I can’t speak for the internal processes within Cuba with regard to this issue, but we’ve made very clear that we wanted to take some steps in terms of remittances and travel of family members. We’ve done that. And we’d like to see some steps coming from the Cuban side in terms of, you know, releasing political prisoners, ending taxes on remittances, that sort of thing. We still await to see what the Cuban Government decides to do on that score.

QUESTION: Is it fair to say that that was brought up at the meeting yesterday?

MR. WOOD: I wasn’t in the meeting, so I don’t know. It co uld very well have come up. But as I said, I don’t want to get into the details of what was discussed.

QUESTION: Just out of curiosity, what was the mutually convenient location that you guys came up with?

MR. WOOD: Well, look, the important thing is they met. I mean, it wasn’t like having a meeting at some secret location.

QUESTION: Did they go for lunch or something? Did they go for a drink? Did they meet in an office? Did they meet in a hotel? Did they meet under a tree?

MR. WOOD: They met. They met.

QUESTION: The Rosslyn parking garage? (Laughter.)

MR. WOOD: I don’t think it was the Rosslyn parking garage, but --

(Note from Magbana. If the last exchange doesn't make sense, the reference to a Rosslyn parking garage refers to the location where WaPo reporter, Bob Woodward met with Deep Throat in the early 1970's to get all the scoop on the Watergate break-in and then some.)


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PERTIERRA & TORO, P.C.
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Phone [phone]

[Mika]

1. Ms. Wald's angle is correct.

The USA (the richest "best" country in the world) - that doesn't have universal health care nor universal higher ed - is demanding that Cuba, a small poor nation that has world class universal health care and education, cut taxes for the rich (and better off, from US remittances).

Milton Friedman style disaster capitalism continues to be the impetus behind US/Cuba policy.