Obama and Spain's Zapatero Meet Oct. 13

Obamas and the Zapateros at G20

Obama and Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will meet today and make statements to the press around 1 pm, according to Politico. I'll post video when it's available. Surprise! Relations with Spain under George Bush were not so good. Expect republicans to be watching closely because Zapatero is--gasp--a socialist, and apparently a prickly one at that. A little background:

Zapatero has tried, and failed, for several years to get some one-on-one face-time with a U.S. president. Zapatero, who is arguably the most anti-American leader in Europe today, was until now one of the only such Europeans never to have been invited to the White House.
Zapatero is the Prime Minister of the socialist government of Spain who just after his first election victory in 2004 recalled the Spanish troops from Iraq.
In 2003, when Zapatero was still the opposition leader, during the parade on Spain’s National Day on October 12th, he conspicuously remained seated when the American flag was passing by, and said “Why should I stand up? It’s not my flag?”
The flag incident was not merely an offense to the Bush administration at a time of a heated argument over the war in Iraq, but an insult to the American people as a whole.
Zapatero’s government also made efforts to sell aircraft and patrol boats to Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and adopted a very soft policy on Fidel Castro’s Cuba.
Last March, the Spanish socialist government also announced that it would withdraw its 630 troops from the NATO-led KFOR force in Kosovo. Americano

Castro Speaks on Obama

Mr Castro described President Obama's admission that the US had been too slow to act on climate change as a brave gesture.
But he added that the American capitalist system was incompatible with a clean planet.
Mr Castro has long been a fierce critic of US presidents.
In his latest editorial, published in all the state media, Mr Castro quoted widely from Mr Obama's address to the UN.
'Aggressive foreign policy'
He praised the American president for saying that the US had been slow to act on climate change and that richer countries had to take the lead since they had caused much of the damage.
No other US president, he said, would have had the courage to make such remarks.
But the 83-year-old revolutionary criticised what he called America's aggressive military foreign policy which threatened the survival of our species.
These comments come just a week after President Obama extended the decades old US trade embargo for another year. BBC

Tea Bagger Dick Armey on Meet the Press

Congressman Harold Ford makes the case for government spending, answering Dick Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks. Ford asked Armey what is your alternative--nothing is not an alternative.
Too bad they cut to commercial cause I would've loved to hear Armey's response.
Ford also suggested that the tea baggers and the rest stop calling Obama a socialist and questioning Obama's intentions. In other words, let's all grow up and debate in a civil manner.
Armey is a much more reasonable and likable man on TV, even though off camera he engages in the socialist rhetoric and his organization uses fear tactics, inciting the already fearful. His website says "Congress could sneak through socialized medicine."
His wife calls him "honey."

Take Two on Cuba and Hugo and Guns. Why on Earth would anyone need an assault weapon. This gun issue strikes me as ironic. All the people who cling to their guns tie it to freedom. But they're all so afraid, walking around with their guns in their holsters, living in fear that they'll have to defend themselves. That's not freedom.

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Poll: Most Favor Normal Cuban Relations

CNN: A new poll shows that two-thirds of Americans surveyed think the U.S. should lift its travel ban on Cuba, and three-quarters think the U.S. should end its five-decade estrangement with the country.


Fidel Castro led Cuba's communist revolution in 1959 and recently handed over power to his brother Raul.

According to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted April 3 to 5, 64 percent of the 1,023 Americans surveyed by telephone thought the U.S. government should allow citizens to travel to Cuba.

And 71 percent of those polled said that the U.S. should reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, while 27 percent opposed such a move.

Both questions had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Obama administration has signaled that new rules on family travel and remittances to Cuba may be announced before President Obama goes to the Summit of the Americas on April 17.

A group of senators and other supporters unveiled a bill March 31 to lift the 47-year-old travel ban to Cuba.

"I think that we finally reached a new watermark here on this issue," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, one of the bill's sponsors. Read the rest.

Republicans Rip Normalizing Relations with Cuba

Of course republicans would be against normal relations with Cuba. The GOP is so predictable and stodgy. They are the party of most resistance. Their argument doesn't even hold up because we have normal relations with many countries that have a history of human rights abuses.
See more about the delegation to Cuba who met with Raul Castro and Fidel Castro here.

CNN: A pair of Republican congressmen ripped Congressional Black Caucus members for ignoring Cuba's "myriad gross human rights abuses" Thursday, saying this week's caucus trip to the island nation ignored the plight of political prisoners under the Castro regime.

Democratic Reps. Mel Watt, left, and Barbara Lee, speak during a breefing in Havana, Cuba, April 6.

They also urged the Obama administration to refrain from easing trade embargo or travel restrictions until the Cuban government releases all "prisoners of conscience," shows greater respect for freedom of religion and speech, and holds "free and fair" elections.

The call from Reps. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, came three days after the administration signaled that new rules on family travel and remittances to Cuba may be announced before President Obama goes to the Summit of the Americas on April 17.

It also followed statements from several Black Caucus members Tuesday arguing for consideration of an end to the trade embargo and other diplomatic restrictions placed on Cuba for five decades.

"Yes, we have history -- we have good history and not-so-good history," said Rep. Laura Richardson, D-California. "But the point is it's history, and we need to move forward."

Cuban exiles are in favor of normal relations with Cuba:

MIAMI — The leading organization for Cuban exiles here is calling on the White House to expand relations with Cuba’s government, and funnel much more public and private American money to the Cuban people.

A 14-page proposal from the group, the Cuban American National Foundation, lays out what the document calls “a break from the past” that would “chart a new direction for U.S.-Cuba policy.”

It is the basis of an ongoing discussion with the Obama administration, White House and foundation officials said, and it amounts to the group’s most significant rejection of a national approach to Cuba that it helped shape and that has been defined by hostility and limited contact with the island. NYT

Read the Cuban American National Foundation's report here.

Fidel Castro Un Bushed

Obama plans to lift travel restrictions but not the trade embargo, which requires congressional action:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to lift longstanding U.S. restrictions on Cuba, a senior administration official said, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit families there as often as they like and to send them unlimited funds.

The gesture, which could herald more openness with the Castro regime, will fulfill a campaign promise and follows more modest action in Congress this year to loosen travel rules.

The president has authority to loosen the restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba on his own. The new rules will affect an estimated 1.5 million Americans who have family members in Cuba. Other Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba but only if they qualify through certain cultural, educational and other programs.

President Obama doesn't intend to call for lifting of the trade embargo against Cuba, which would require congressional action, nor is any specific diplomatic outreach contemplated, the official said. WSJ

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Raul Castro Serious about Normal U.S. Relations

Update: The congressional leaders who met with both Raul Castro and Fidel Castro said in a press conference that the Castros are open and ready for normal relations with the U.S. They met with Raul for 4 hours. Bobby Rush said Raul Castro, president of Cuba, had a sense of humor and was down to Earth. He had a modest home, Rush said. He said that Americans have been lied to about the threat of Cuba for way too long.
They said that Fidel Castro asked: how can we help Obama? Fidel Castro was sharp and engaging, they said.
The leaders concluded that the ban on travel and trade needs to be lifted.
During the Q&A, the delegation said no demands of apologies were made by the Castros.

HAVANA – President Raul Castro met with six visiting members of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than four hours, his first face-to-face discussions with U.S. leaders since he became Cuba's president last year.
State television showed images of Castro, who holds the rank of four-star army general, wearing a business suit instead of his trademark olive-green fatigues and sitting down with Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, and other members of the American delegation behind closed doors late Monday.
"I'm convinced Raul Castro wants a normal relationship with the United States," Lee told The Associated Press after the meeting adjourned. "He's serious." Read more at the AP

Cubans crave better relations with the U.S. Students say they miss friends and relatives that have left Cuba. A must-see video:

Castro Opposes Obama's Call for Continued Sanctions

i think it's interesting that castro calls obama the "most advanced" candidate. i know those who like having enemies won't appreciate that sentiment. but i'd like to see the u.s. have better relations with cuba.
of course, castro then goes on to bash obama's policy. i'm wondering how mccain will spin this.
what's most interesting about this story is the comments. they are argued illogically from both the obama supporters and the hillary supporters. we've all lost it! hoping for blowouts in puerto rico, south dakota and montana!

cnn: Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.

In a column published Monday by government-run newspapers, Castro said Obama was "the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race," but noted that he has not dared to call for altering U.S. policy toward Cuba.

"Obama's speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country," Castro wrote, referring to Obama's remarks last week to the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.

Obama said he would maintain the nearly fifty-year-old trade sanctions against Cuba as leverage to push for democratic change on the island. But he also vowed to ease restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to Cuba and sending money to relatives.