President Obama and President Castro ending Cuban-Cold War
Well, this is good stuff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/world/americas/obama-cuba-summit-of-the-americas.html?_r=0
This is one thing I wanted to see done for a long time. This negotiation has been going on for a while with Cuba. It is nice to see it culminate into this. Congrats and thanks to Obama and the Obama administration for doing this.
Discuss your thoughts. Am I being silly for thinking this is awesome? Is this good? etc.
I think it's definitely a start. Cuba will probably not change much until after both the Castros are dead. If Venezuela is any indication, socialist regimes in Latin America built around personality cults start to struggle once the personality of that cult dies. Castro's likely successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, looks to be another Nicolas Maduro--someone chosen for their loyalty to the socialist cause rather than by their merit or charisma. Now that Cuba can no longer look to the USA as an excuse for all their miseries, there will be more pressure on Diaz-Canel to reform the country. Best case scenario, the embargo comes down, both Castros die before 2020, Diaz-Canel shows himself to be a cautious reformer, and by 2030 Cuba is a democratic country with a burgeoning economy heavy with foreign investment and entrepreneurship.
Worst case scenario, the embargo doesn't come down, Marco Rubio becomes president, Raul somehow lives to be 95, and nothing changes for the foreseeable future.
Originally posted by |King Joker|
What's so great about Cuban cigars? lol
Absolutely nothing.
What's great, for me, is the fact that someone can choose to smoke them if they wish. It's a metaphor for 2 things:
1. The ability to make personal choices about what you want to consume.
2. The relaxation of embargo rules and the improvement of Cuban-American relations.
Originally posted by Tzeentch
And Obama lets another terrorist win.It's like he just doesn't give a shit about this country at all.
The word 'terrorist' really has no meaning for you other than 'someone I don't like,' does it?
Cuba has done jack-squat to America in my lifetime, or the lifetime of most Cubans.
Also, wouldn't 'winning' be 'make them not-hostile to the US so they don't even have a reason to go against us'? That sounds like the US winning to me.
It sounds to me like you'd rather have both sides lose than have the US win where it's also good for the other side.
Originally posted by Q99It sounds to me like you just want Cuba's communistic influences in America.
The word 'terrorist' really has no meaning for you other than 'someone I don't like,' does it?Cuba has done jack-squat to America in my lifetime, or the lifetime of most Cubans.
Also, wouldn't 'winning' be 'make them not-hostile to the US so they don't even have a reason to go against us'? That sounds like the US winning to me.
It sounds to me like you'd rather have both sides lose than have the US win where it's also good for the other side.
Originally posted by Tzeentch
It sounds to me like you just want Cuba's communistic influences in America.
One, we're so vastly huger than them. Two, they've been shifting away from communism. Three, you really are a little bundle of paranoia aren't you?
Cuba can't threaten us, they'd be even less threat and more asset if we traded with them, and the 'once someone is an enemy we must treat them as an enemy forever,' thing is short-sighted and serves no practical purpose for us.
Originally posted by Omega Vision
I think it's definitely a start. Cuba will probably not change much until after both the Castros are dead. If Venezuela is any indication, socialist regimes in Latin America built around personality cults start to struggle once the personality of that cult dies.
Cuba and Venezuela are very different beasts, Chavez had a virulent internal opposition and was never able to counter the violence and corruption in his country. Compared to Venezuela even Cuba isn't that corrupt.