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posted by Blackmoore on Thursday December 18 2014, @10:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the pigs-flying-in-a-bay dept.

Peter Baker reports at the NYT that in a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, the United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century. In addition, the United States will ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking relations, and Cuba will release 53 Cuban prisoners identified as political prisoners by the United States government.

Although the decades-old American embargo on Cuba will remain in place for now, the administration signaled that it would welcome a move by Congress to ease or lift it should lawmakers choose to. “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,” said the White House in a written statement. "The United States is taking historic steps to chart a new course in our relations with Cuba and to further engage and empower the Cuban people."

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by q.kontinuum on Friday December 19 2014, @05:38AM

    by q.kontinuum (532) on Friday December 19 2014, @05:38AM (#127388) Journal

    Instead of worrying why many people around the world are more disappointed with US torture than with Cuba/China/North-Korean human rights problems, I'd be worried when they stop higher standards from the US. I am one of the people being deeply disappointed with the [lack of] consequences the torture during the past decade has in the US. Not because I expect Russia, China, Saudi-Arabia to be better and see US fall back in comparison, but because we were brought up to believe that western culture would be better, and now it turns out we can't be held to our own standards. That hurts. And it's sometimes quite difficult to *not* overreact and paint US as being equally bad or worse than the other countries mentioned.

    BTW: It's not only US at fault here. I'm from Germany, and our spying agencies and politicians worked together with the US, not only with the surveillance programs but also with the rendition-flights. I don't think our services or politicians are any better, only maybe less capable and less funded to pull it off by themselves.

    Unfortunately I'm not even convinced that the majority of Germans has a better attitude regarding torture. People are (often) intelligent. Masses of people are dumb and irrational. It would feel really good to lean back, point at the US in the comfortable believe to live among a nicer bunch of people here. But that would be a lie. We got work to do in our western culture. After that work is done we can go back to be proud of our culture, and then we can start the more pleasant task of acting as a beacon of humanity and preaching to those who lack these standards.

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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday December 19 2014, @08:28PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 19 2014, @08:28PM (#127574) Journal

    That's not quite what's going on. People are selfish. Cuba conducts international relations by sending doctors, the US by sending troops, so the people being related to prefer Cuba. (China isn't so simple. Lots of people don't like China because they conduct relations by sending merchants and workers. But the people in power tend to like them.)

    In case you haven't noticed, I oversimplified a lot, but that's the basic shape of it. Bullies are rarely liked, even when nobody dares to challenge them.

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    • (Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Saturday December 20 2014, @09:10AM

      by q.kontinuum (532) on Saturday December 20 2014, @09:10AM (#127703) Journal

      What you are saying is a different perspective, from outside the western alliances. Might be a valid point as well, but is not directly related to my point of view from inside these alliances. It's quite some time ago that the US invaded Germany, in a time when it was probably justified, so my feelings are not influenced by any supposed hard feelings because of US being a bully towards us.

      I also have the impression that many US-critical comments here come from western societies, probably from within the US itself. That's why I'd assume my position is not only mine, but relevant for many. Also I think it is the bigger threat for us all: We are losing our pride and our moral base from the inside. There is no relevant threat of our culture being attacked from the outside, but we seem to manage to destroy it from the inside.

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