Cuba leaves talks on US ties insisting it won't make major changes to its system

The Canadian Press ^ | 1/25/2015 | Michael Weissenstein

[Zenjitsuman]

HAVANA - The start of talks on repairing 50 years of broken relations appears to have left President Raul Castro's government focused on winning additional concessions without giving in to U.S. demands for greater freedoms, despite the seeming benefits that warmer ties could have for the country's struggling economy. Following the highest-level open talks in three decades between the two nations, Cuban officials remained firm in rejecting significant reforms pushed by the United States as part of President Barack Obama's surprise move to re-establish ties and rebuild economic relations with the Communist-led country. "One can't think that in order to improve and normalize relations with the U.S., Cuba has to give up the principles it believes in," Cuba's top diplomat for U.S. affairs, Josefina Vidal, told The Associated Press after the end of the talks. "Changes in Cuba aren't negotiable."

[bunkerhill7]

Obummer is Castro`s caged chicken, just the chickens Fidel brought to NY City from Cuba when Castro visited the UN for a speech. He liked to kill & cook his own chickens in his hotel room in NYC so no one would poison his food.

[roadcat]

He’s probably pushing for homo marriage.

Maybe. He does have an agenda, and it's the following. He wants to close Gitmo - Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. But the U.S. has dutifully paid annual lease payments for decades, which haven't been renegotiated at all because of the old stalemates in relations. So if Obama opens relations with Cuba, then one of the first items to come up will be a termination of the lease arrangement for Gitmo. He'll get his wish to have the base shut down. That's why Congress needs to get off it's butt and block Obama. Too bad we have Boehner running things.

[yldstrk]

Ah’m shocked, shocked I tell ya

[jocon307]

Obama can’t do ANYTHING right.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Raul will eat barry alive. Obama is counting on a deal too much, Raul won't do anything foolish from his viewpoint. He will wait until barry gets hungry.

The Castros are combat hardened, barry is a squish.

[Thumper1960]

Invading Cuba would make Grenada look like a major battle. Cuban “militias” would fold and collapse like a cheap Ollie’s tent. The question is why would we want to waste brass on that squalid little shiitehole?

[boop]

You forgot the China "environment" deal from Obama.

Yeah, SURE Mr.President, we'll stop building coal plants in 2030.

I tell ya, that Obama feller is one hard-ass "negotiator".

Screw over America and our allies to the hilt, and get NOTHING in return.

Oh, Ziggy, will you ever win?

[enduserindy]

They know his goal is closing Guantanamo and he will cave.

[SoFloFreeper]

Just like Obama planned all along.

More money for the dictators, less freedom for the oppressed of the nation, and pissing on the hope and dreams of Cuban exiles who remember their nation as a beautiful place.

Mission accomplished.

Obama hates the three Cs: Christianity, the Constitution, and capitalism.

[Stand W]

Exactly. Just like a government union employee, Castro is bargaining with himself, basically.

[HotHunt]

Well, I didn't exactly "forget" about the China climate change deal or many others ODumbo has "negotiated". It's just that are so many incidences of this kind of dumb foolery with him, that I didn't want to write a book as my comment.

I tend towards long-winded commentary in my comments as it is, so including all of OIncompetent's great deals with our enemies, would have probably been read by very few. :-)