Castro puts on friendly face for U.S.-Launches "charm" offensive

Chicago Tribune ^ | January 24, 2002 | Laurie Goering

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HAVANA -- Fidel Castro, who rarely wastes an opportunity to take a political jab at the United States, has been pulling his punches lately.

When the United States announced it was moving Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners to its Guantanamo naval base in eastern Cuba, Castro--who normally would have pummeled the U.S. by reflex--raised no objection, telling U.S. visitors he was going along as a "goodwill gesture."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

LIBERALS want so much for this communist dictator to please be nice, so they can praise and admire his communist island free from any lingering guilt and their twisted defense of his cruel oppression. Here is a man who has destroyed the lives of millions of people for over 40 years, killing and imprisoning those who oppose him. He uses the Cuban people as cogs in his communist wheel. They are his property to do with as he pleases. Now we are so happy he is pleased and we want to rush down there and take his IOUs and boost his aging grip on his enslaved workers. How greedy can these companies be? How cold and disinterested are the American people?

Oh, and about this Sally Grooms Cowal, ["Until I went to Cuba this last time, I was always ambivalent about whether the Cubans really welcomed any change" in American policy, said Sally Grooms Cowal, head of the reform-minded Cuba Policy Foundation, which led a U.S. congressional delegation to the island earlier this month.]

Back in February of 2001 she was set up with money to head this "Cuba Policy Foundation" by Smith Bagley (BIG DNC fundraiser-remember the "Elian" D.C. fundraisers?) . She previously was head of the Youth for Understanding and she "housed" Elian in D.C. until he was sent back to Castro. I don't find her claims of ambivalence very convincing, do you? Americans visit as Cuba hopes to renew U.S. interest in trade--… Seven U.S. Representatives were arriving here later Thursday with Sally Grooms Cowal..

NIGHT OUT: Security agents surround Elian Gonzalez as he
leaves a Washington, D.C., party Saturday evening at Smith Bagley's home.

Left Wing Stooges create another front for Castro--[Excerpt] --In April, the "neutrality" of the CPF was questioned when it was honored by the officialist propaganda organ of the Castro dictatorship, Radio Havana. Radio Havana in its report ended up praising Grooms Cowal's efforts in starting the Cuba Policy Foundation by stating the following: "The Cuba Policy Foundation has challenged the ultra-right-wing Cuban-American National Foundation to a public debate concerning the merits of Washington's blockade of Cuba."

Snip

The CPF is bankrolled by the Arca Foundation.

For those of you who don't know about the Arca foundation, it passes itself as a philanthropic organization that gives millions of dollars annually to organizations that fight for social justice around the world. Unfortunately a grand majority of these organizations are of a far leftist nature, like in 1998 when it gave $1,000 to an obscure contingent called Fondo Del Sol which helped surviving members of the Stalinist Abraham Lincoln Brigade view a photo exhibit on the Spanish Civil War! Among the pro Castro groups Arca has funded have been the Pastors for Peace ($10,000 in 1999), Global Exchange ($50,000 in 1999), and the TransAfrica Forum ($100,000).

Communist Cuba is the main focus of Arca's Foreign Policy grants list, and although it gives money to other international and domestic institutions, it annually gives a substantial amount of funds to causes dealing with communist Cuba. In 1999 alone, the Arca Foundation gave to over 19 organizations that are sympathetic to revolutionary Cuba. [End Excerpt]

(January 17, 2002) American Women Meet With Castro-- ``It was certainly exciting to meet with him. He is a very charming and eloquent man,'' said Jeffords, who traveled here with the university's Center for Women and Democracy……``I've had the chance to meet some amazing women here. Some I will remember for the rest of my life,'' Jeffords said.

Connie Niva, head of the Washington State Transportation Commission, said she will also remember meeting Castro, who chuckled when she shared a joke learned here about Cuba's huge buses, known as 'camels' for their unusual shape.

The common form of public transport is formed by two connecting trailers and drawn by a tractor. They are typically overcrowded, resulting in frequent disputes among passengers and complaints by women about groping men. ``How are camels like American movies?'' goes the joke. ``Sex, violence and bad language.''

I guess they were having too much fun delighting in the dictator that they didn't have time to visit the women's prison.

Fidel's Nobel Prize winning Prison for Women--[Excerpt] She says that the massive detention of innocent people in Cuba for the single reason of disagreeing with Castro's regime must stop. Citizens are thrown, without trial, into inhumane dungeons where they are physically and psychologically tortured. The women political prisoners in Black Mantle as well as in other prisons throughout the island are forced into the same dungeons with dangerous common criminals. The fact that the Castro regime does not allow international inspections of their jails must stop. It is time to stop denying the nightmare that has been going on for 42 years.

Maritza's is not an isolated case. About a million people have gone through Castro's gulag and those who survive tell stories that are much the same. But after 42 years the world still is not listening, especially the American people, just 90 miles away from the most brutal and repressive regime in the history of the Americas. It is a frustrating shame that because the U.S. media, which has failed to report the facts to the American people, must take much of the blame for Castro being and staying in power. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

With all the world to trade with, why is Cuba so destitute? I'll offer up an answer, it's communism. Now why would we want to give it a transfusion?

President Fidel Castro, right, speaks with Illinois Gov. George Ryan, second left, through an unidentified translator, left, in the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002. (AP Photo/Matt Ferguson)

Ill. Gov. Pitches Medicines to Cuba [Excerpt] In Havana on Thursday, the head of Minnesota-based agricultural giant Cargill Inc., Warren R. Staley, announced the arrival of 27,500 tons of corn his company sold to Cuba after the hurricane.

Staley said he hoped ``the success of this initial commercial transaction will lead to a further improvement in U.S.-Cuban relations,'' adding that ``Cargill would hope to sell everything that Cuba would buy if the financing restrictions are lifted.''

Pedro Alvarez, head of the Cuban food import company Alimport, suggested Cuba would buy more U.S. food if the restrictions are removed.

``We will respond from our side to a positive gesture,'' he said. [End Excerpt]

"Lifting financing restrictions" means WE get stuck with IOUs! No way Castro!
Why do you think other countries have pulled the plug on Castro. Because he stiffed them!!

Don't subsidize a tyrant --Miami Herald--(Excerpt) -- While the embargo restricts most U.S.-Cuba trade, it does not impose a humanitarian burden. Cuba frequently has bought wheat from Canada, rice from Vietnam, and medicine from Europe, Asia and Latin America. Donations of food and clothing and the licensed sale of U.S. medical products are permitted.

The real cause of Cuba's hardship is not the embargo but the state's Soviet-style economy. Traditional exports such as sugar cost the regime more to produce than they sell for on the global market. Tourism brings in hard currency but not nearly enough to provide for Cuba's needs. Debt payments are so uncertain that major trade partners often must extend new loans.--(End Excerpt)

Friends of Fidel--Washington Times--(Excerpt) Louisiana rice and Illinois wheat producers should not assume that selling to Havana is synonymous with getting paid. U.S taxpayers should be wary. Mr. Castro desperately needs credits and subsidies, and Washington is being pressured to provide them.

If the United States begins to subsidize trade with Cuba estimated at $100 million a year five years from now, U.S. taxpayers could be holding, or paying off, a $500 million tab. That´s real money.

Before extending Mr. Castro credit, grain growers should visit any street corner in Manhattan and observe a game played there. Called three-card monte, it consists of convincing the player that he knows exactly where the card carrying his money is. Until it disappears. In this game, the gambler takes his own chances. Where trade with Mr. Castro is concerned, the U.S. taxpayer will be left holding the losing card. --(End Excerpt)

[RAY]

Early to work are you. Very interesting post. Thanks!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Thank you RAY.

[uglybiker]

Castro puts on friendly face for U.S.-Launches "charm" offensive

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Oddly bleeding heart LIBERALS don't seem to mind that Castro wears military garb or imprisons gays. His orderly society is something they dream of.

Delighting in the Dictator--- [Excerpt]In the late 1970s the American writer Sally Quinn returned from Cuba having found it an Isle of Eros. Said she of the country that then housed thousands of political prisoners in dirty cells and torture chambers, "an attitude of sexuality is as pervasive in Cuba as the presence of Fidel Castro. You can feel sex in the atmosphere." Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern bounced around the Cuban countryside with Fidel in a jeep and survived to tell of it. Said he of a man who even then was sending arms and soldiers around the world to support Communist terror and oppose American policy, Fidel is "soft-spoken, shy, sensitive, sometimes witty….I frankly, liked him." And Senator Lowell Weicker, the Republican ever on the prowl for a presidential nomination, launched this line certain to illuminate his presidential qualifications. "Castro's been known to snow people but he didn't snow me," Weicker asseverated. He spoke of Fidel's "enormous intellect and idealism" -- yes, idealism! He questioned why the United States did not take Fidel's side, the side of progress. [End Excerpt]

[f.Christian]

537 votes!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Now you've managed to stump me. What are 537 votes for?

[f.Christian]

The Total Prez Dubyah won by in Florida---Elian!

[backhoe]

Cross-link:

Castro, the Carribean, and Terrorism

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Oh!! How could I forget!?

Wait until 2004!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Goodmorning backhoe!

[kattracks]

BTTT

[backhoe]

Good Morning Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Should Cuba Be on U.S. Terrorism Blacklist?-- The real reason for Cuba's inclusion on the list, Smith said, is the political muscle of the anti-Castro Cuban American community in Florida.

``It has often been said that while there are no convincing reasons to keep Cuba on the list of terrorist states, it is best left on since removing it would offend elements of the Cuban American community,'' said the open letter signed by the 16 U.S. groups involved in Cuba issues, including some moderate Cuban American organizations.

Sally Grooms Cowal, president of the U.S.-based Cuba Policy Foundation, a centrist organization that opposes the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, said the United States now has a self-defense incentive to ease its hard-line policy toward Havana and remove it from the list of rogue states.

______________________________________________________________

Without fail, every article about this CPF is prefaced with "centrist" or "moderate,"

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Miamian will help Bush administration oversee Cuba policy-Emilio Gonzalez--

Friends praised Gonzalez as a soldier-intellectual with extensive knowledge of the region under his supervision and a good sense of the tortured U.S.-Cuba relations that have existed since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

``Emilio is a very intelligent and patriotic military officer, up to speed on issues of the Western Hemisphere and national security,'' said Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, a Miami Republican. ``Ambassador Maisto made a wise choice.''

Jaime Suchlicki, the University of Miami professor who supervised Gonzalez's doctoral thesis, called him ``a very, very bright, very disciplined, very organized guy.''

[Cincinatus' Wife]

FYI

[AdvisorB]

Bleeding heart liberals have a soft spot for the psychopathic cuban communist caudillo. There is just something about el jefe that causes the leftist heart to flutter. My cousin, who graduated from UVA and also received a juris doctorate from there, hates the US and everything it stands for. Yet on a number of occassions he has remarked what a great man castro is. To the left (rats) the US is the problem, and poor little castro is the victim. What idiots.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

What idiots.

Indeed!!