Thread: Fidel Castro says Cuba could talk with Obama

Sweet! Heres to seeing the embargo ended!

"Fire and Brimstone, Dogs and Cats Living Together"
By Val Prieto • June 4, 2010 12:14 PM

I think I have just crossed over to some weird, psychedelic dimension. Surely, this must be a sure sign of the armageddon. The end must be nigh.

I find myself agreeing with this:

President Obama can give hundreds of speeches, trying to reconcile contradictions that are irreconcilable … dreaming of the magic of his well-articulated phrases. . . (Obama) makes concessions to personalities and groups totally lacking in ethics and draws fantasy worlds that only fit in his head and that unscrupulous advisers, knowing his tendencies, plant in his mind.

Written by none other than Fidel Castro. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...qPamQD9G38G8O0


I’m starting to think that maybe the Mayans were right.


Read the whole thing :
Fidel Castro claims Obama lives in fantasy world
By WILL WEISSERT (AP) – 3 days ago


HAVANA — Fidel Castro speculated Wednesday that a nuclear strike on Iran might help President Barack Obama win a second term in the White House and also suggested the United States could attack North Korea.

The former leader of Cuba, who has not been seen in public for nearly four years, also portrayed the U.S. president as a victim of fantasies planted in his mind by sinister advisers.

The column published by Cuban state media floated the idea that a nuclear attack on Iran — perhaps even without U.S. authorization — might help Obama win re-election in 2012.

"Could Obama enjoy the emotions of a second presidential election without having the Pentagon or the State of Israel, whose conduct does not in the least obey the decisions of the United States, use nuclear weapons against Iran?" he asked. "How would life on our planet be after that?"

It's a question he did not answer, nor did he elaborate.

Castro also referred to "the current danger North Korea could be attacked by the United States" because of "the recent incident that happened in that country's waters" — apparently a reference to allegations that North Korea attacked and sank a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.

Castro, 83, said China might be able to block such an attack by using its veto in the U.N. Security Council, implying that Washington was likely to seek that body's authorization before a move against North Korea.

The government of North Korea has denied involvement in the torpedo attack near the countries' sea border in March. During a visit to Seoul last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the North should face international consequences for the sinking.

Castro often has praised Obama in recent years, but painted him as a pawn of the global capitalist machine on Wednesday.

"President Obama can give hundreds of speeches, trying to reconcile contradictions that are irreconcilable ... dreaming of the magic of his well-articulated phrases," he wrote.

But Castro said Obama "makes concessions to personalities and groups totally lacking in ethics and draws fantasy worlds that only fit in his head and that unscrupulous advisers, knowing his tendencies, plant in his mind."

Originally Posted by dv8grl

Sweet! Heres to seeing the embargo ended!

4/9/2013


Beyonce and Jay-Z Had Official Permission to Travel to Cuba
Patterico @ 6:58 am


Why, it was part of a cultural exchange: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...93600V20130409

A visit by American pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay-Z to Havana last week was a cultural trip that was fully licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department, a source familiar with the itinerary said on Monday.

The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba prevents most Americans from traveling to the communist-led island without a license granted by the U.S. government.

Some lawmakers are not happy: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/p...-trip/2062471/

In a letter dated on Friday, reports Reuters, U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, asked Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, for “information regarding the type of license that Beyoncé and Jay-Z received, for what purpose, and who approved such travel.”

. . . .

“Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism, and the Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda,” the letter said. “We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents.”

. . . .

Sen. Marco Rubio also had strong words about the trip and issued a statement Monday accusing the Obama administration of not properly enforcing the law that bans tourism:

“U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime. Since their inception, the Obama Administration’s ‘people to people’ cultural exchange programs have been abused by tourists who have no interest in the Cuban people’s freedom and either don’t realize or don’t care that they’re essentially funding the regime’s systematic trampling of people’s human rights,” said Rubio.

I am not a fan of the policy of prohibiting people from traveling to Cuba. I understand the purpose of the ban, but I am generally for freedom. My default position is that we should be able to travel where we want to travel.

But if the ban should be lifted, it should be lifted for all — not just those who are friends with Obama.

http://patterico.com/2013/04/09/beyo...ravel-to-cuba/

comments:

3.I’m told that it isn’t particularly hard to gin up a “Cultural Mission” to Cuba, if you really want to go there. It used to be even easier, but Cigar tourists abused the system and that’s being cracked down on.

Personally, I’d favor invading the place and putting El Beard and his Marxist pals in a zoo, but I’m a grouch. I’m also in favor of airdropping any idiot caught wearing a Che t-shirt into North Korea.

I see signs that maneuvering to take down the ban is taking place behind the scenes. I read a lot of Bushwa about Raul Castro “not being the hardliner his Brother was”, which is nonsense. When Fidel dies – or when they are ready to admit he is dead – I think we will see a strong effort to end the ban, casting Raul as a reformer.

...

Gee, and pretty much EVERY photo of their trip shows him with a cigar. Hmmmmm

..

Our commander-in-chief would now like to quote the philosopher of our age, Eric Cartman:

“Sc--w you; I do what I want!”

..

Beyonce can’t go anywhere else in the Caribbean, except for the only police state ?

..

Remember when the “artistic community” sanctimoniously organized a boycott of South Africa during the apartheid days? Good times, good times. Apartheid is bad, but totalitarian Marxism is good.

But par for the course with this crowd. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...amily-20110225

..

It’s only a guess this was a cultural exchange visa. ... Because they are celebrities they probably automatically qualify, but apparently they didn’t do any performances in Cuba, meet with performers, or anything.

..

If the trip hadn’t been approved, we wouldn’t have been graced with that picture of Beyonce in a sundress, with her hair braided and done up behind her head.

As a joke, someone told Beyonce that she should style herself up like Carmen Miranda, in order to pay homage to the legacy of Cuban music and entertainment. She did her hair that way intending to find fresh fruit in Havana that she could nest inside of those braids, only to discover that Castro had closed down the private fruit growers and the state-owned ones had all mismanaged their farms and allowed the fruit trees to die.


We had a summer trip planned from our chuch to do mission work at our "sister church" outside of Havanna. Trip had to be cancelled because State did not approve our VISAs.

But if the ban should be lifted, it should be lifted for all — not just those who are friends with Obama.

ABC Fawns Over Obama's Rapper Pal Jay-Z as 'One of the Great Poets of Our Age' [Video] http://bit.ly/137MYki

The lyric on the image is just ONE line from one of Jay-Z's many crass rap "songs"..

Jay-Z writes vulgar, crude, sexist lyrics. He is NOT A POET, he is a foul-mouthed rapper who dines with Obama.

Remittances to Cuba: More questions than answers
By Alberto de la Cruz, on June 13, 2013, at 12:00 pm

Yesterday, The Miami Herald published a story http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/1...ns-abroad.html on how based on a recent report on remittances to Cuba, http://babalublog.com/2013/06/10/cas...llion-in-2012/ which claimed the island receives well over 2-billion dollars in cash remittances every year, this huge flow of money from outside island is driving the Cuban economy. However, a more careful analysis of this report and who is behind it is starting to raise more questions than it is providing answers.

Via Capitol Hill Cubans: http://www.capitolhillcubans.com/201...s-on-cuba.html

More Questions Than Answers on Remittances Report

The Havana Consulting Group (HCG) is a firm that markets and advises on business opportunities with the Castro regime.

In their own words:

"Our expertise ranges from understanding company operations, identifying local consumer preferences, pinpointing various products and services in the tourist sector, and positioning national and international brands and services in more than 32 categories, to the identification of niche markets across various sectors of the Cuban economy."

It is headed by a former Castro regime business executive, Emilio Morales, and a long-time academic proponent of travel to Cuba, Dr. Joseph Scarpaci.

HCG has just released a new report entitled, "Remittances Drive the Cuban Economy." http://thehavanaconsultinggroups.com...tances&lang=en

The report states that $2.6 billion in cash remittances were sent to Cuba in 2012.

There is no doubt that remittances to Cuba have increased in the last four years thanks to the removal of caps by the Obama Administration in 2009.

In conjunction, there's no doubt that the Castro dictatorship's income has also proportionally increased from the predatory fees it charges to receive and exchange these dollar remittances.

However, this report reads more like a marketing tool than an analysis based on reliable data.

It raises more questions than provides answers (or reliable figures).

According to HCG, their data is calculated from internal undisclosed figures and the Castro regime's official figures (through its National Statistic Office, ONE).

That's not very helpful.

No word on whether HCG's estimates are based on scientific surveys of remittance senders, recipients or are simply ad hoc estimates.

For example, how did HCG conclude that remittances reach 62% of Cuban households?

A recent national survey conducted in Cuba by the International Republican Institute (IRI) showed that 78% of Cubans did not receive remittances from abroad. In other words, only 20% stated that they received remittances (2% wouldn't answer). http://www.iri.org/sites/default/fil...%20version.pdf

(Not to mention the major geographical and racial disparities between those who receive remittances and those who do not.)

IRI's scientific survey had a margin of error of +/- 3.7% -- a far stretch from 62%.

Moreover, HCG's estimates have always been historically high.

Back in 2008, HCG estimated cash remittances were $1.45 billion. (Note in 2008 there was still a remittance cap of $300 per household, per quarter). http://www.thedialogue.org/page.cfm?...=32&pubID=1845

Even the most hopeful experts calculated 2008 remittances to Cuba at around $1 billion. Yet, the Castro regime agreed with HCG (or vice-versa) that they were above $1.4 billion.

Finally, HCG has estimated that "in-kind remittances" (non-cash merchandise) were worth an additional $2.5 billion.

Once again, no data to back up this estimate.

Plus, remember the Ana Cecilia? The famous cargo ship that opened with great fanfare last year as the first ship to carry humanitarian cargo to Cuba in five decades.

It ground to a halt just a few months later.

Bottom line: Remittances are inherently difficult to measure, so it's all the more important to fully disclose the data used in calculating them.

And if relying on the Castro regime's estimates, then what's the point of the report?

Just release the Castro regime's official 2012 "Economic and Social Outlook" instead.

Oh wait, the Castro regime just happened to do so this week as well. http://www.one.cu/panorama2012.htm

What a coincidence!

http://babalublog.com/2013/06/13/rem...-than-answers/