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Obama should do for Mugabe what he plans to do for Castro
by Joseph Earnest December 17, 2014
Newscast Media HOUSTON—Today, President Barack Obama is announcing his intentions to improve relations with Cuba, and the possibility of lifting sanctions from the island nation.
The White House has acknowledged that decades of U.S. isolation of Cuba have failed to accomplish its enduring objective of promoting the emergence of a democratic, prosperous, and stable Cuba.
Obama is expected to say in his speech slated for noon this day:
-
"We
cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It
does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try
to push Cuba toward collapse. We know from hard-learned experience
that it is better to encourage and support reform than to impose
policies that will render a country a failed state. With our actions
today, we are calling on Cuba to unleash the potential
of 11 million Cubans by ending unnecessary restrictions on their
political, social, and economic activities. In that spirit, we should
not allow U.S. sanctions to add to the burden of Cuban citizens we seek
to help..."
Among the the proposals put forward that will help the Cuban economy, the United States plans to:
Authorize expanded commercial sales/exports from the United States of certain goods and services-
- The expansion will seek to empower the nascent Cuban private sector. Items that will be authorized for export include certain building materials for private residential construction, goods for use by private sector Cuban entrepreneurs, and agricultural equipment for small farmers. This change will make it easier for Cuban citizens to have access to certain lower-priced goods to improve their living standards and gain greater economic independence from the state.
Facilitate authorized transactions between the United States and Cuba-
- U.S. institutions will be permitted to open correspondent accounts at Cuban financial institutions to facilitate the processing of authorized transactions.
Update the application of Cuba sanctions in third countries-
- U.S.-owned or -controlled entities in third countries will be generally licensed to provide services to, and engage in financial transactions with, Cuban individuals in third countries. In addition, general licenses will unblock the accounts at U.S. banks of Cuban nationals who have relocated outside of Cuba; permit U.S. persons to participate in third-country professional meetings and conferences related to Cuba; and, allow foreign vessels to enter the United States after engaging in certain humanitarian trade with Cuba, among other measures.
The Vatican released a statement congratulating the breakthrough between the two countries after decades of difficult diplomatic relations. (pop-up)
If Obama can do this for Cuba, certainly he can do the same for Zimbabwe if he really wants to.
It is oxymoronic for him to say, "...It does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse. We know from hard-learned experience that it is better to encourage and support reform than to impose policies that will render a country a failed state," yet, using Obama's logic, one could substitute the word Cuba for Zimbabwe and say, "It does not serve America’s interests, or the Zimbabwean people, to try to push Zimbabwe toward collapse. We know from hard-learned experience that it is better to encourage and support reform than to impose policies that will render a country a failed state."
How can Obama be perceived as sincere and impartial, yet he favors lifting sanctions that affect a citizenry of one nation, but doesn't make efforts to lift those same sanctions that affect the citizenry of another?
Inasmuch as he has expressed concern for Cubans by extending an olive branch to the Castro brothers, he should use the same spirit and extend an olive branch to Africans, through Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe...unless of course his handlers have convinced him that the African has less value than the Cuban.
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