HELIOLITH

Cuba spends on their military in one year what we spend in 12 hours… That was true under Clinton, how many hours do you think it’s been reduced to under Bush? If that’s not enough, for some odd reason, we are tightening sanctions against Cuba, the one country in Latin America with the lowest infant mortality, the highest rate of literacy, the largest number of doctors per capita, and the longest life expectancy. I’m not saying Cuba is utopia, clearly any nation that restricts their citizen’s travel and freedom of expression has plenty of room to grow, but are we (the U.S.) really a positive role model for a country that is nearly self-sufficient, and takes care of its own people remarkable well?

The counter-intuitive nature of our national mistreatment of Cuba has a history of course. Check out Global Exchange’s Factsheet on Cuba to understand some of the history behind the irrationality of U.S. blackballing of Cuba.

Read this brief article from the BBC to see what’s going on today:
“US travel cubs force Cuba exodus”

One possible explanation for this obvious election-year drama lies
in this article from the Washington Times.

Cuban-Americans are one of the most solid Republican voting blocs in the nation and their location in the nation’s largest swing state is likely to be key in the Nov. 2 presidential election.

If you read this article, it seems that by doing this, the administration pleased the vast majority of the ultra-conservative CANF (Cuban American National Foundation). The question in my mind is why on Earth did he (they) decide to grossly curb visitation rights for Cubans who have family in Cuba to once every three years? The CANF didn’t ask for that, and it can’t be seen as favorable to any group, as far as I’m aware. The only theory I can come up with is that it is a shill to make the deal appear more bitter than sweet for the conservative bloc in the oh-so-important-for-my-election southern tip of Florida.

As with much of modern US policy, intuition and common sense will not yield understanding. Read this humorous chain email (which I normally delete from my inbox) republished by jamiecotc on his or her weblog.: This is point #2 under “[15] Things you have to believe to be a Republican today,”

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

China has plenty of political prisoners, yet now enjoys “most favored nation” status. Is it because they’re too big to bully around?