John McCain Panders Cuban American Voters
The presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, hits the Democratic front-runner Barack Obama for suggesting that the US should be willing to talk to Raul Castro of Cuba. In a speech scheduled this morning in Miami, Florida to mark Cuba’s Independence Day, McCain says Obama is misguided for wanting to ease the US trade embargo. Florida, of course, is the home to a large number of Cuban Americans who have fled Castro’s Cuba and McCain’s remarks are tailored to pander to this group of dissident voters.
The long term US policy towards Cuba under Fidel Castro has always been a punitive policy. The US trade embargo has probably caused as much hardship and suffering within Cuba as anything that Fidel Castro, and now his brother Raul, has ever done. Yet the US shows no signs of changing this failed policy.
Not that Fidel Castro was exactly an enlightened and merciful leader. The strong man maintained firm control of the population as dictators are prone to do and give harsh treatment to those who dared oppose him. But Castro did achieve some notable accomplishments under conditions made difficult by US policy.
Under Castro, Cuba developed a superb sports program as well as developing medical services to the degree that medical services are Cuba’s greatest export to Latin America. Teams of Cuba doctors and nurses blanket the region providing high quality health services at low cost or for free. The infant birth mortality rate in Cuba, one of the key factors in determining highly developed nation status, ranks ahead of the US.
Compare those accomplishments to those of the United States which has focused on being the world’s leading military power. The US is the number one arms dealer in the world. The US principal export has become war materials and the military to make sure that they are used as we garrison more than 800 bases around the world.
The fact is that the US government has never forgiven Castro his revolution and for taking out “our boy”, the corrupt dictator Batista, whom we supported despite his human rights violations and connections to the mob. The fact that Fidel Castro survived several US sponsored assassination attempts and his term in office outlived 12 US Presidents terms makes the right wing nut cases froth at the mouth.
John McClain is a dinosaur. His positions on Cuba have been completely discredited over the past 50 years yet he ferverantly clings to them like the rest of the American right wingers whose greatest dream is for America to rule the world.
John “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran” McCain would probably be an even worse President than Bush. That is a feat that borders nearly on the impossible but McCain could probably pull it off.
Obama prefers talk before bombs. Which position do you think is most effective in the world? Bombs or negotiations?
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