Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Rouhani meets Fidel & Raul

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We just learned that Iranian President Hassan Rouhan visited Cuba. My guess is that he is not scouting any Cuban pitchers for an upcoming Iranian baseball league.    
This is from the Global Times:
Cuban leader Fidel Castro and visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani talked about bilateral cooperation and challenges on Monday, according to a government statement. 
“In a fraternal exchange, the distinguished visitor expressed satisfaction with his visit to Cuba and made clear his admiration for the struggle, achievements and assistance of the island to other nations,” said the statement. 
The two leaders also discussed the “complexity” of the international situation. 
“Fidel and Rouhani agreed on the analysis of food production in a world threatened by climate change, the relentless growth of the world population and dangers that threaten the preservation of peace,” it said. 
The pair concluded the friendly meeting with a sincere wish for collaboration between Iranian and Cuban people, it added. 
Rouhani met with Castro at the latter’s residence in western Havana prior to a meeting with his brother and President, Raul Castro. 
Rouhani arrived in the Cuban capital earlier in the day for a short visit to boost economic cooperation between Tehran and Havana. 
He kicked off the visit after participating over the weekend in the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela.
Admiration  for the struggle, achievements, and assistance of the island to other nations? Wonder if he called for the U.S. to return Gitmo and pay reparations for its isolation of Cuba?   
The Rouhani trip comes at an interesting time in U.S.-Iran and U.S.-Cuba relations.    
The Iran nuclear deal has emboldened Tehran. Just check out what Iranian boats are doing in the open seas. It looks like the lesson of the Iran nuclear deal is that the U.S. is a paper tiger that will actually pay for the return of hostages. And, will not retaliate when its Navy ships are confronted in international waters.  
The U.S.-Cuba relationship is looking more and more like a one way street benefiting the communist regime, even from the Washington Post:
If you think the president’s policy will “empower” the fledgling Cuban private sector, as opposed to the overbearing state, think again. Easy money from expensive visas is a relatively minor example of the regime’s so-far successful efforts to reap direct benefit from the new relationship with the United States. 
Even more important is the fact that the Cuban armed forces own the country’s dominant tourism companies, and those firms are expanding their role in anticipation of an American influx.
So Fidel, Raul, and Rouhani are celebrating U.S. weakness. The word is out that President Obama is down to 120 days and it’s time to get whatever you can.  
So far, Iran and Cuba are doing just that! Iran gets closer to a nuclear bomb and the Castro regime gets an infusion of U.S. cash that no one was willing to lend to them.    
Remember the one about people following the strong horse? A strong horse we are not at this point in the presidency of “hope and change”!
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