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| Senate Declares Castro Winner of the Test of Wills - votes to end Cuba ban |
| 2003-10-24 |
| The United States Senate has voted in favour of lifting a 40-year-old ban on Americans travelling to Cuba. In a major rebuff to President George W Bush, Senators voted 59 to 36 to bar the use of government money to enforce the travel restrictions. The vote follows a similar move by the House of Representatives last month. The White House has said Mr Bush will veto the bill if it is backed by Congress. Senators called for the travel restrictions to be lifted, saying it made no sense to ban Americans from visiting Cuba while they were allowed to go to countries like North Korea. Republican Senator Mike Enzi said: "For 40 years we’ve said ’sanctions’, and for 40 years it hasn’t worked," referring to the failure of the ban to unseat Cuban leader Fidel Castro. What does the senator believe the benefit for the Cuban people and the American people will be by increasing cash flow to Castro’s government? But the White House said it was premature to lift the ban. "The administration believes that it is essential to maintain sanctions and travel restrictions to deny economic resources to the brutal Castro regime," it said in a statement. Mr Bush has his eye on anti-Castro Cuban American voters in the key state of Florida in next year’s presidential election, but many senators believe that is too narrow a view, our correspondent says. About 160,000 Americans visited Cuba legally last year, as members of groups with special dispensation or travelling via Canada and Mexico. Cuba has said it expects about a million Americans to visit in the first year if the ban is lifted. The Senate vote was welcomed by the Cuban Government, which hopes American tourism will boost hard currency earnings to pay for food imports. I’m sure the Venezualan government and the FARC will be cheering as well. The same saps who keep whining that driving an SUV is supporting OBL can now fly to Cuba this providing cash for killers in Columbia. "This is further evidence that both chambers of the US Congress and a majority of the US people favour lifting the travel ban," said Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. "I wonder what new trick Washington will invent to stop this becoming law." Hopefully the trick in called a Veto. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #10 Just noticed another BBConline article: Who lobbies Bush on Cuba. - haven't read it yet. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-24 9:48:25 PM |
| #9 I think what you are seeing with Cogressional attitude toward Cuba is strictly votes and demographics. Cubans are a demographic factor only in Florida where they are very important. Senators from states other than Florida have little to lose from teeing off the Cuban ex-patriots. Bush needs Florida so I would think he will veto. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-24 9:25:18 PM |
| #8 big push by Agricultural sector states to get the ban on food (read grain and corn) sales to Cuba lifted. I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, but if we let the death of castro lead to a succession to other than a pro-democracy gov't we've failed |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-24 7:53:19 PM |
| #7 Seems like the Republican Congress has been telling Bush to stuff it recently. Any idea what if anything is going on? |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2003-10-24 6:58:48 PM |
| #6 That's a hell of a dumb plan. Fidel would gather the products, sell it to tourists, and use the money to finance revolution across the world. He has been doing it for forty years, he won't change now. |
| Posted by: Sorge 2003-10-24 5:28:21 PM |
| #5 That's a hell of a plan. |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-10-24 5:12:34 PM |
| #4 Personally, I think it's a good thing. If I were King of the Forest, I would have already crushed Fidel like a bug using the Might of America. I'm not talking about the military, I'm talking about consumer goods and tourists. Imagine fleets of high altitude bombers carpet bombing the island, not with incendiaries and high explosives, but with copies of the Sears catalog and this week's WalMart sale flyer. You'd get conversations like this: Lupita: Look Jose, washing machines. And blue jeans. And sneakers. Oh, and sewing machines are on sale. I always wanted a sewing machine. Jose: Shut up, Lupita. We are poor, impoverished Cubans, with sucky lives because we are fighting the Yankee Imperialists. How much is that fishing rod? The air assault would be followed by waves and waves of ninja tourists in bermuda shorts and hawiian shirts carrying cheap japanese cameras. Like Bob and Ethel from Flint, Michigan: Jose: You must be rich imperialist oppressors to be able to travel outside your country. Bob: Nah, I'm just a plain blue collar factory worker from Flint. This year we decided to leave the RV in the driveway and visit Cuba because the flight from Miami was only 50 bucks. Jose: You're not rich? But you own a recreational vehicle? And the government lets you travel? Madre de Dios! Socialism bites the Big One! I hate that *bleep*er Fidel. Ethel: Well, if you don't like Fidel, why don't you vote for someone else? Jose: Hey, now there's an idea! Communism wouldn't have a chance. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2003-10-24 4:33:10 PM |
| #3 With the number of leftists traveling to Cuba and kissing El Jeffes buttocks its hard to remember we still had a travel ban against Cuba. I'm also with Rafael except I don't think it goes far enough. I would: (i) Removing all sanctions from Cuba and force Castro to impose his own to stay in power. (ii) Reoopen the American Embassy in Cuba so that Cubans don't have to risk the straits to get to American property. (iii) Put a carrier or two off the coast in international waters and declare that any Cuban that makes it there will be given citizenship. (iv) Do it all in rapid succession to try to implode Castro's regime just as the flood of Germans caused the implosion of East Germany. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-10-24 4:00:19 PM |
| #2 I'm wth Rafael. Let the market do it's magic. If I thought the embargo would work I'd say stay with it.... but 30 years of evidence suggests that it is ineffective. Besides... I hate going through Canada. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-24 2:22:57 PM |
| #1 What does the senator believe the benefit for the Cuban people and the American people will be.. The Cuban people will surely benefit more than Castro by lifting this ban. The reason is that people travelling to Cuba, and especially Cuban-Americans, will make sure that the money they spend will go to the pockets of ordinary Cubans, and not some designated tourist area where the tourist dollars are skimmed by the Castro regime. If they don't already exist, watch Castro impose his own restrictions on people entering Cuba, if this ban is lifted. I do think though that the timing of lifting this travel ban is a bit off. Why couldn't they wait until Castro kicks the bucket and negotiate with whoever takes over; the carrot and stick approach. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-10-24 1:40:27 PM |