Castro condemns new US sanctions

[Oceans11]

This old dog will never give up.
600 assasination attempts...?
80 yrs old in 2006...?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1203299.stm

------------------------------------
Castro condemns new US sanctions

Castro warned Bush against "crazy adventures"
Cuban President Fidel Castro has condemned new moves to tighten the US embargo on the island from next month.
Mr Castro told a rally of more than 200,000 people in Havana that the new US rules were "merciless and inhumane".

He accused Washington of planning an attack on Cuba, saying the move could spark a mass exodus from the island.

The new measures, which were published on 6 May, include tighter curbs on money sent home by expatriate Cubans living in the US.

The White House says it wants to limit the flow of dollars to Cuba, which it believes are being used to maintain Mr Castro's communist administration.

The new rules also tighten restrictions on travelling to Cuba and increase financial support for dissident groups.

"Our people will stand up to your economic measures, whatever they may be," Mr Castro told the cheering, flag-waving crowd.

Financial curbs

"Forty-five years of heroic struggle against the blockade have not weakened but strengthened the revolution," he said.

In remarks aimed specifically at US President George W Bush, the Cuban leader said: "Do not try crazy adventures, such as surgical strikes or wars of attrition using sophisticated techniques, because you could lose control of the situation."

Correspondents say Washington has repeatedly denied that it plans military action against Cuba, but the leadership in Havana is convinced that an attack is not impossible.

Under the new US measures, which take effect on June 30:


Family visits by Cuban-Americans will be limited to once every three years instead of the current one per year

Dollar transfers that Cuban-American families can send to the island will still be limited to $1,200 a year

Remittances and gift parcels will be limited to immediate family members - recipients may not include "certain Cuban officials and Communist Party members"

The authorised daily amount for a family visit will be lowered from $164 to $50.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3827703.stm

 

[WildBill]

I am sorry but I have to laugh at all these. The strongest country in the world with some of the most brilliant minds around and this is their solution to bringing about the downfall of Castro. Please boys (and girls), don't make me laugh. If the rest of the world ignores your silly embargo and gleefully cheers one last place on earth almost devoid of Americans, do you really think this will work?

I feel sorry for the Cuban-Americans who find it compelling to vote for politicians that do this. One day you will tell us all just how these rules and steps to maltreat those left behind in Cuba make you guys feel any better to the point where you will decide your vote on one solitary issue like this. It isn't like you are all really clamoring to go back and live there. I am sure even if Castro wasn't in power, at least 95% of you all would keep your lives and jobs in Miami, so why does the country get held hostage to the wishes of so few???

 

[Oceans11]

I think its because he won, and they lost.

And over the years every dirty trick in the book failed to oust him, and he's only 100 odd miles away.

Plus 40 years of sanctions so far.

Could be that sore-losers-r-us.com links directly to the White House.

Theres a lot of respect for him because of the David and Goliath situation Cuba has endured.
Its not as if the place is nirvana either...

Hes the modern equivalent of Spartacus...the evil empire will get him and his people in the end, and only history will record his rebellion.

 

[WildBill]

I am far from a fan of Castro and will be glad the day he goes, but the whole thing of patronizing maybe a million people in a country of almost 300 million is sheer lunacy. If we applied the same standards evenly we would have trade blockades on about 30 nations. Compared to the efforts against Castro, we didn't even give a half-assed effort to knock out Saddam until the invasion began. Even more stupid is at least on some of our other sanctions like Libya, we had some worldwide effort to do so. The rest of the world gleefully ignores our sanctions on Cuba making our efforts all that more puzzling and ineffective. And first and foremost they obviously aren't working and you would think anyone who went to Harvard Business School could figure that out and why it isn't working!

 

[Oceans11]

The rest of the world knows its just sour grapes.

Its increasingly popular for holidays by tourists and the curious because its stable, and untainted by western corporatisation.
And its not a poverty stricken hovel, like much of the Carribean.

This makes it a unique destination, that will not be repeated.

A sort of anti-disney world, and a real one too, with real human beings.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/caribbean/cuba/

Major Trading Partners: Western Europe, Latin America, Russia, China, Iran & North Korea.

[This message was edited by eek on June 21, 2004 at 09:47 PM.]

 

[PatPatriot]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>If the rest of the world ignores your silly embargo and gleefully cheers one last place on earth almost devoid of Americans, do you really think this will work?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh ah WB...what you fail miserarably to realize is that Cuba would be devoid of Cubans if they had any say in the matter...
By the way Castro going off just raised the number of voters in So. Fla. for Bush by his. rant

 

[jeffry22]

why should we trade with a country that opposes everything we try to do? we should expand the embargo to include a blockade of all energy imports into cuba - that ought to piss castro off.

 

[WildBill]

And kill thousands a month. Nice idea there, not like his people have any say in the policies of the government. I can just see this Adminstration though sending poor Powell to the UN trying to justify a blockade of a country that did nothing more than piss off some American citizens. That would be priceless...you ought to send your idea to the White House! Let me guess, if it works we go on and try to do the same to France?

 

[PatPatriot]

I am not for any blockade and either is anyone else (well france maybe).
Sanctions..yes why should we support someone that would use the trade to support terroism??
What evidence is there that he would try to help his people??

 

[xpanda]

Cuba is a wonderful vacation destination; I've been there a couple of times. Too bad you guys aren't allowed.

Go freedom.

 

[Oceans11]

They're not allowed to because they live in a free country where you can make your own choices....

Actually, with the number of safe overseas destinations for US citizens rapidly decreasing, Cuba could actually enjoy a bit of a renaissance.
But only after the old dog has popped his paws methinks.

 

[jeffry22]

bill - we should never agaain go to the UN for anything. in fact I advocate pulling out and telling them to find a new country for their building. Or maybe we should fly a plane into it, watch it collapse and blame it on bin laden.

 

[WildBill]

Oh another very classy idea there, everything must be revenge and suffering eh? Whatever happened to just ignoring people you don't like? Does Castro really do anything against the US? By my calculations all he does is oppress his own people, but surely he doesn't have a monopoly on that.

I don't think we have to support him or blockade him. Simple ignoring him would do just fine, as we do with a high number of regimes we don't like. He isn't exactly threatening us. If we paid him no heed he would lose his popularity quickly and his grip on power would melt away, for he would have no one to blame for a terrible economy than himself and his failed economic policies. It is just so frickin obvious to anyone that approaches the situation with a clear head and gets rid of the overflowing emotion that all those militants in Miami create. If you took the stigma away of Cuba few Americans that were not of Cuban descent would go there because it is a flat out dump and the romantic notion of Cuba and its sorry old revolution would die out soon after.