The NY Times calls for lifting the Cuba embargo

(My new American Thinker post)

It must be Friday the 13th because The NY Times wants to lift the embargo again:    

"The Castro regime has not helped. For the last four years it has imprisoned Alan Gross, a State Department contractor, for distributing satellite phone equipment to Jewish organizations in Cuba. Mr. Castro should release Mr. Gross and the numerous other political prisoners. But at the same time, Mr. Obama should press Congress to end the embargo and overhaul policy toward Cuba."  

Yes, Cuba has not helped even after President Obama relaxed some travel and remittance restrictions.   

So let's lift the embargo and get what?  Another editorial in four years that "....the Castro regime has not helped."  

I would be the first one to support lifting the embargo if it would improve the life of Cubans.  However, lifting the embargo today would simply send a life line to a regime "that has not helped" and continues to hold a US citizen for no reason at all.  

The Castro regime desperately needs access to credit.  They have plenty of countries to do business with but credit is an issue, as recently reported:  

"Cash-strapped Cuba has been feverishly trying to restructure its debt to jump start it's economy and attract investment.  

Three years ago it restructured $6 billion of its debt with China, and in 2012 Japan forgave about $1.4 billion, Reuters reports.  

Mexico recently forgave $478 million of Cuban debt, and Havana agreed to pay back $146 million over 10 years.   

In 2012 Cuba's debt was estimated by government officials at $13.6 billion.  

This debt is categorized as "active" foreign debt, and the other debts before its default in the 1980s is considered "passive", according to Reuters.   

Cuba defaulted on its debt to the Paris Club- a group of the world's leading economies-Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US - in 1986." 

Again, the US embargo did not stop Canada, France, et al, from selling to Cuba.  The problem is that they'd like to get paid and have not been.  

Maybe The NY Times should call for tightening the screws.  Maybe that would make the Castro regime "more helpful," such as releasing Mr Gross or calling for multi-party elections.   

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.  

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“El disco rayado”: It’s always about the embargo over at The NY Times!

(My new Babalu blog)   

No matter what happens in Cuba it is always about the US embargo over at The NY Times:

"Mr. Obama took some tentative steps to ease the embargo in 2009 by allowing Cuban-Americans to visit and send remittances to the island. He also cleared the way for telecommunications companies to establish licensing deals in Cuba. But the administration has not pushed publicly for any significant changes since then.

The Castro regime has not helped. For the last four years it has imprisoned Alan Gross, a State Department contractor, for distributing satellite phone equipment to Jewish organizations in Cuba. Mr. Castro should release Mr. Gross and the numerous other political prisoners. But at the same time, Mr. Obama should press Congress to end the embargo and overhaul policy toward Cuba."

CK.  So what has happened since President Obama took some "tentative steps" back in 2009?

The answer is the next paragraph:   "The Cuban regime has not helped......"

So let me get this straight.

We took some steps in 2009 and the result was Allan Gross and more dissidents imprisoned.

So we lift the embargo now and what happens?  Probably the same as the "Cuban regime has not helped...."

When are we going to get it?

The Castro regime needs to lift the embargo because no one wants to sell them anything on credit, or "son mala paga" like my mother likes to say.

The Castro regime does not pay their debts and they are hoping that some "come-m....a "  in the US gives them credit or bails them out.

We should be tightening the screws rather than relaxing anything!

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