RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA

WB,
This article captures some of my reservations and the need for caution.
These are some of the facts to note. What is the point of isolating Russia and
Venezuela with sanctions, while playing nice with Cuba?

GE
............................................................................
One Step Forward, One Step Back in US-Latin America Policy
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/227648-one-step-forward-one-step-back-in-us-latin-america-policy

Alexander Main
Friday, December 19, 2014,The Hill


President Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba has grabbed headlines and drawn plaudits from around the world. In a short but historic speech, Obama announced a breathtaking series of measures including the reestablishing of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the significant easing of restrictions on travel to the island nation. He also made a plea to Congress to undo the 54-year-old embargo against Cuba.

But at the same time, Obama has supported a significant hardening of policy toward one of Cuba's closest allies in the region.

Venezuela has just joined Cuba as one of only two countries in the Western Hemisphere subject to U.S. sanctions. Legislation mandating sanctions against Venezuelan officials was approved by voice vote in the Senate on Dec. 8 and then sailed through the House on Dec. 10. On Dec. 18, just one day after his speech on a "new course" on Cuba, Obama signed the sanctions bill into law. Cuban-American Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who authored the legislation, called it "a victory for the Venezuelan people."

The trouble is, the people of Venezuela don't seem to agree with Menendez. A survey<http://venezuelablog.tumblr.com/post/91270642089/datanalisis-releases-polling-data-on-venezuelans> [1] carried out by independent pollster Datanalisis showed that nearly three quarters of Venezuelans oppose U.S. sanctions. The Caracas-based human rights organization PROVEA — a frequent critic of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — also vigorously rejects<http://www.derechos.org.ve/2014/07/11/provea-rechaza-posibles-sanciones-de-eeuu-contra-funcionarios-del-gobierno-venezolano/> [2] the measure. Other Latin American governments oppose the sanctions as well. At a May summit, South America's heads of state strongly voiced their opposition<http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140524/unasur-rejects-intended-us-sanctions-on-venezuelan-officials> [3] to the Senate bill and its House companion, authored by Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

The stated purpose of the bill is "to impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of human rights of antigovernment protesters" that took to the streets between February and April of this year demanding Maduro's departure. The bill's promoters mention that over 40 people died during the protests but don't acknowledge that a large number of these deaths included state security forces and pro-government activists<http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new> [4] and were caused by the protesters<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html> [5] themselves. Moreover, as human rights organizations have noted<http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web_0.pdf> [6], Venezuelan authorities have carried out investigations of abuses and apprehended at least 17 security agents allegedly implicated in violent acts against demonstrators.

Troubling reports of impunity still surround some of the killings and abuses perpetrated during the protests. But does Venezuela's human rights situation really justify sanctions? If so, then why hasn't the U.S. government sanctioned authorities in Colombia, where the army reportedly executed at least 5,763 innocent civilians<http://forusa.org/content/report-rise-fall-false-positive-killings-colombia-role-us-military-assistance-2000-2010> [7] between 2000 and 2010? Why hasn't it sanctioned Honduras, where security forces regularly commit extrajudicial killings<http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-honduran-police-accused-death-squads-235203072.html> [8] with impunity? Or what about Mexico, where 43 students recently disappeared, most likely all killed, with the alleged complicity<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/missing-students-mexico_n_6321866.html> [9] of both local and federal police? Instead of penalizing the governments of these countries, the U.S. continues to send them hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance.

So where do the sanctions against Venezuela come from?

For years, a handful of members of Congress with ties to far-right Cuban exile groups has sought to harden U.S. policy toward Venezuela and other left-leaning Latin American governments with close relations to the Cuban government. In 2007, Ros-Lehtinen and three other South Florida representatives sent a letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to declare Venezuela's democratically elected government a "dictatorship" and grant temporary political asylum to Venezuelans who had overstayed their U.S. visas. In 2008, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Mario Díaz Balart (R-Fla.) and five other legislators sponsored a resolution calling for Venezuela to join Cuba on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Though these and other efforts didn't gain momentum, the sanctions legislation, introduced in both houses in March, benefited from intense media coverage around the 2014 protests and an unprecedented mobilization of opposition-aligned Venezuelans in the U.S. It passed the House in May but was held up in the Senate until early December. The administration, meanwhile, announced that it opposed sanctions since, in the words of a U.S. official, it "would reinforce the narrative of this being about the Venezuelan government standing up to the U.S."

A group of Democratic legislators applauded<http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/Colombia/Labor/VenezuelaLetter05272014.pdf> [10] the administration's position, noting that "unilateral U.S. intervention and sanctions have caused deep resentment throughout Latin America." This is perhaps especially true in Venezuela, where people still remember how the U.S. government supported a short-lived military coup<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/17/usa.venezuela> [11] against late President Hugo Chávez back in 2002.

Nevertheless, the administration began carrying out minor, unofficial sanctions — first revoking visas of Venezuelan officials and then barring U.S. exports of equipment with a "military end use" to Venezuela. Then, in late November, Antony Blinken, Obama's nominee for deputy secretary of State, told Sens. Menendez and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that the administration was now fully supporting sanctions.

The administration clearly dislikes President Maduro but is well aware that an aggressive unilateral measure like sanctions could undermine the divided Venezuelan opposition and further isolate the U.S. regionally. So why is it now supportive of sanctions?

When Obama announced the dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba, he knew it would trigger outrage in the ranks of Cuban-American members of Congress. Though some of these legislators have fringe viewpoints on Latin America, they happen to have powerful committee positions and could make it even harder for the administration to achieve anything in Congress. The president apparently felt he should throw them a bone to try to appease them; the bone was a promise to back their Venezuela sanctions bill.

Such trade-offs may make sense from a Beltway perspective. But allowing legislators stuck in a Cold War mentality to steer U.S. Venezuela policy is dangerous and risks wrecking the good will that the administration's Cuba detente is generating throughout the region. In the words of President Obama, it's time to fully "cut loose the [policy] shackles of the past." Not just with regard to Cuba, but on policy toward Venezuela and other left-leaning Latin American governments as well.

Main is senior associate for international policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Links:
[1] http://venezuelablog.tumblr.com/post/91270642089/datanalisis-releases-polling-data-on-venezuelans
[2] http://www.derechos.org.ve/2014/07/11/provea-rechaza-posibles-sanciones-de-eeuu-contra-funcionarios-del-gobierno-venezolano/
[3] http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140524/unasur-rejects-intended-us-sanctions-on-venezuelan-officials
[4] http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/venezuela-who-are-they-and-how-did-they-die-new
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/americas/crude-weapons-help-fuel-unrest-in-bastion-of-venezuelan-opposition.html
[6] http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/venezuela0514_reportcover_web_0.pdf
[7] http://forusa.org/content/report-rise-fall-false-positive-killings-colombia-role-us-military-assistance-2000-2010
[8] http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-honduran-police-accused-death-squads-235203072.html
[9] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/14/missing-students-mexico_n_6321866.html
[10] http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/Colombia/Labor/VenezuelaLetter05272014.pdf
[11] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/17/usa.venezuela
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora

________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of William Bangura [william.bangura17@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 5:06 PM
To: dialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA

Professor Gloria Emeagwali,

What "facts" do you need? Raul Castro would not have pursued this rapprochement with President Obama without the blessings of his older brother Commandante Fidel Castro. President Obama is the "Moses" for Fidel Castro, his revolution and his Cuban people.
Obama was born on August 4, 1960 and two months later on September 4, 1961 the United States Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act on September 4, 1961.
Sister Gloria, I am an African and a GENUINE Pan-Africanist who does not believe in coincidence.

WB

On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 9:10 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>> wrote:
Well there are pros and cons. This could be a ploy to isolate Russia further
and divert attention from the sordid CIA torture record on the news.
Once Russia and allies are routed, Cuba will be a sitting duck.
Fear the" Greeks" bearing gifts. These are treacherous times.

On the other hand, it could be what Bangura and others dreamt for, and a real horse rather than
a Trojan carving. Should that be the case, congrats I say, but
I need to get an endorsement from Fidel, before I bring out the
champagne glass.




Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net>
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora

________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of william bangura [william.bangura17@gmail.com<mailto:william.bangura17@gmail.com>]
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 5:15 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CUBA: THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA

The normalization of full diplomatic relations with Cuba was one of the salient reasons why I had campaigned for the then Sen. Barack H. Obama in the Democratic Presidential Primaries in Alexandria, Virginia and against Sen. John McCain in the General Elections that he will normalize full diplomatic relationship with Cuba before Fidel Castro dies.
As a young boy living in Freetown, Sierra Leone I supported all the liberation movements in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Rhodesia, South Africa and South West Africa. But I was very fascinated with the struggle in Angola because of the heavy presence of Cuban troops who were not only equipping and training the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) but were also involved in the fighting.
In 1975 Cuban intelligence in Luanda, Angola's capital intercepted a signal that the South African Defense, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) will invade southern Angola at Quinfangondo.
President Fidel Castro telephoned Soviet President Leonid Breshnev and requested Aeroflots and Russian military transport planes to carry Cuban troops from Havana to Luanda. But there was a problem of refueling, and consequently, he called President Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone and requested if the planes will refuel in Freetown--which is closer to Luanda--and that SOB (Stevens a faux supporter of the liberation struggle) demanded money. Castro then advised him to "fly a kite".
Castro then called Sekou Toure of neighboring Guinea who accepted. The Guinean army will establish a five mile circumference around l'aeroport Gbessia in Conakry hours before the Russian planes were refueled en route to Luanda.
On the eve of the battle at Quinfangondo the Cubans launched"Operation Carlota"<http://www.afrocubaweb.com/carlota.htm> and they were in the line of attack,
operating the Russian tanks and flying the Russian Migs.
Castro's admiration and fascination with Africans originate from his relationship with Juan Almeida Bosque<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/nyregion/13almeida.html?_r=0>. Castro had said Bosque was the greatest warrior he had ever seen. He also said that the difference between Bosque and Guevara was that the latter was more philosophical. During a pivotal battle in the Sierra Maestra after they--Fidel, Raul, Bosque, Che and the various rebels--had been ambushed and outnumbered by by Gen. Fulgencio Batista's troops Bosque commanded that, "Here, nobody surrenders". This directive became the mantra of the Cuban revolution.
The Cuban victory in Angola <http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/42294/pamela-s-falk/cuba-in-africa> culminated to the liberation of South West Africa, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
President Obama has not only rewarded Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for liberating his (Obama's) people from colonialism, but, he is also fascinated with her social and political enhancement in education, medicine, the arts and in sports.
In Themne, my people will say "Obai Obama "Moemoe O" which translates to Thank you very much, King--it was British colonialism that devalued our Sierra Leonean Kings to Chiefs--Obama


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