Speech: Bush Refuses to Lift Cuba Embargo

Fomenting Freedom - Circumventing Castro to reach the Cuban people***Engaging Cuba, in fact, has the unavoidable consequence of propping up the Communist dictatorship. European money that flooded in starting in the early 1990's after the fall of the Soviet Union was vital to the survival of the regime, and it gave Castro a financial shot in the arm.

European cash almost solely lines Castro's pockets because of the way the dictator has fashioned the terms of engagement. Foreign companies must establish joint ventures with the Cuban government, with a cut of the profits going to Castro. But the despot nets more cash from the labor arrangement: Workers are not employed by foreign companies; they are rented.

Companies pay Castro's machine approximately $1,000 per month per worker, in hard cash. The regime, in turn, shells out less than $20 - per month - to each worker, in pesos. In other words, 98 percent of all wages paid by foreign companies in Cuba are funneled straight to Castro.

Because Castro has been denied American cash from such joint ventures and for several other reasons, the embargo has worked, even if it hasn't dethroned him. The embargo has put Castro in a box, and has robbed him of resources to fund his extracurricular activities. As a senior administration official noted, "If Castro has to spend $40 million on food, that's $40 million he's not spending to develop biological weapons."

Despite the morally despicable conditions for joint ventures, a large number of Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing for engagement with Castro. In fairness, many simply don't understand that the communist dictatorship relies on foreign cash for its very existence, but ignorance should not be an excuse for ignorant policy.

Bush's speech may pave the way for expunging Congress's blissful ignorance, and likely will be cheered on Capitol Hill in the long run.***

You're exactly right!!!

Here's a report on the speech with the usual media bias

Front Page Editorializing: "Bush holds line on Cuba" *** MIAMI -- Playing to a constituency that was crucial to his White House win and may be key to his brother's re-election, President Bush vowed Monday to block efforts to ease restrictions on Cuba until its longtime leader Fidel Castro institutes major economic and political changes.

….. But Bush never mentioned Carter's outreach in a speech that was intended to reassure a vocal element of the Republican base in this politically important state. At the rally, Bush was introduced by his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is depending on the strong support of Cuban-Americans in his re-election campaign this November. After the rally the president attended a $25,000 a couple fund-raiser sponsored by the state Republican Party that will primarily benefit Jeb Bush's campaign.

The event, which was expected to raise $2 million, was held at the home of Armando Codina, a former business partner of the governor. A number of Democrats are vying to face Jeb Bush, the most prominent being Janet Reno, President Clinton's attorney general.

President Bush also is indebted to Cuban-Americans for their support in his narrow victory in Florida that enabled him to claim the White House. About 82 percent of the state's estimated 400,000 Cuban-American voters went for Bush over Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 race.

And since his election Bush has rewarded this constituency by appointing Cuban-Americans to influential posts. He picked Mel Martinez as secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Otto Reich, an anti-Castro hard-liner, as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric Affairs. ***

Great article; thanks for pointing it out.

I'm amazed at those joint venture terms. I wouldn't have believed how starkly bad they were, but I've read the same thing from more than one source.

Tell me, do the Cuban workers hit up the European employers for more money when they're "rented"? I can't see how anyone could survive on $20 a month, even in Cuba with a minimalist cost of living.

Tell me, do the Cuban workers hit up the European employers for more money when they're "rented"? I can't see how anyone could survive on $20 a month, even in Cuba with a minimalist cost of living.

I think that's the going rental rate. The money goes through Castro before it gets to the workers. $20 is bad. It's even worse because it's paid to them in pesos. Some people run small low profile enterprises on the side to add to their income and I imagine a lot of bartering goes on. Then there is the meager care package Castro hands out every month with rice, beans, tooth paste and soap.

You stop and think. Saudi Arabia, China, and Pakistan are all as dictatorial as Castro yet because we need their oil, cheap labor, or some other commodity, we trade freely with them. Why not with Cuba?

Could it be that its because Cuba is right off the coast of Florida? With a dictator like Castro, he can basically deal with whomever he wants (like Al Queda) to facilitate a WMD launch with absolutely no time to defend. China has to worry about Russia, Pakistan has to worry about India and Saudi, well they're idiots because they have let things get to the point where their own people are more of a threat than Saddam.

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