Questions over US-Cuba talks amid Venezuela dispute

[Judi Lynn]

Questions over US-Cuba talks amid Venezuela dispute
Mar 18, 7:22 PM EDT
By PETER ORSI and ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) -- It has been a strange few days for U.S.-Cuba relations that are meant to be on the mend.
First, the two sides emerged from surprise talks in Havana on Monday with nothing to say about progress toward reopening embassies after more than a half-century hiatus. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobsen returned to Washington as quietly as she arrived.

Cuban President Raul Castro, meanwhile, jetted off to a summit of leftist leaders in Venezuela on Tuesday to lambast U.S. policy toward Venezuela, his island's top ally. The U.S. recently declared the South American nation a threat to its national security and levied sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials.

The whole thing had some observers scratching their heads, wondering whether there is now an obstacle blocking the road to detente.

The two countries announced their intent to normalize diplomatic relations on Dec. 17, but progress has been slow going in the intervening three months. The next steps in the rapprochement are widely seen to be the reopening of embassies and the removal of Cuba from a State Department list of terror-sponsoring nations.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_CUBA_US?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-18-19-22-47

[Demeter]

1. Quite obviously, ONE side was only posturing for public opinion influence

Let's see, which side would it have been?

Which side is FAMOUS for saying things it doesn't mean, to trick the voters into believing better of the politician than is justified by his actions?

You get two more hints:

Which side is going to want a pound of flesh with that "relation" and thinks it is entitled and sufficiently powerful to get it?

Third hint: which side has been the aggressor from the start, with invasions, assassination attempts, relentless propaganda and occupation of sovereign territory?


Bad Faith Negotiation. We are famous for it, especially in this Administration.

[delrem]

2. I noticed the contradiction in C vs V rhetoric/action from the start.

I thought everybody did.
I thought the overtures to C were a ploy, sleight of hand, to diffuse negative reactions to the beginning of an overt war on V.
I remember the coup in Honduras. I assume that 99% of USians are unaware, or forgot.

I connect this with "Friends of Libya" and "Friends of Syria", both PNAC operations happening at the same time but in another part of the world. The correct identity is that so-called "moderate rebels" are identical in kind to "contras". Everyone should recognize and know this, but who does? Who is willing to say it?

I don't see any change on the part of the US, from Reagan onward.

I had hope with Carter. I thought a gradual change was on the move.
But Reagan killed that hope.

Now, under Obama I just "can't believe" it's happening this way, but it is. I know it is.
And on the part of the population, the denial! The pretence that it's all W's fault, or the R's fault, and that PNAC isn't operational and in control.
The lies that have to go with that pretence. The wilful ignorance required to establish and propagate those lies.

It hurts. It hurts now, deeper than it ever did.

[hack89]

3. Cuba is in a tough position

they know their economic future depends on the U.S. But they can't survive right now without the billions in annual Venezuelan subsidies.

This is why I doubt Obama is that worried. As Venezuela continues its self inflicted downward spiral all those countries will eventually look towards closer economic ties with the U.S.