Discussion for article #231277
Wonderful news. Fantastic. Why we’ve let a small band of right-wing dead-enders control our relationship with Cuba over the years mystifies me. Our policy was bad for us, and worse for the Cubans.
Though I hope this doesn’t mean that Cuba will soon be overrun by, say, McDonald’s.
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It’s time to do this. I just hope that Cuba is able to keep US corporations like McDonald’s and Starbucks the F&*k out of their country. I’ve visited there once a few years back and have not desire to see it turned into a little piece of Americana.
It’s a wonderful enough place as it is and will better if living standards can be raised without trashing the place.
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What I worry about is the second- and third-generation descendants of Cuban refugees from 50+ years ago who’ve lived their entire lives in the United States, never set foot on Cuban soil, now demanding to have “their” property in Cuba returned to them. The Cuban people who actually, you knoww, live in Cuba were fncked over by Bautista, fncked over by the Castros, and now they’ll get fncked over by the Little Havana crowd.
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My thoughts exactly. In ways I cannot state here completely because it would be the world’s longest post.
One of my main issues deals with who actually came to the U.S. from Cuba when Castro initially took over in 1959. In the 1960s the Cubans who immigrated predominated among the upper (and near-white) classes of individuals, leading to a vastly distorted notion of the makeup of the Cuban population, which has far more African ancestry in their overall population than, say, Puerto Rico. The “Mariel Boat Lift” of the early 1980s featured more diversity but this was overshadowed by the presence in this group of individuals with severe criminal and mental health issues.
The normalization will open American eyes to a more balanced view of the Cuban population. In addition, the Cubans themselves will be more likely to have outlooks which conform more with those of other Latinos, as opposed to persons like Cruz, Castellanos and Rubio.
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Change We Can Believe In.
I echo all the positive sentiments in this thread.
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Obama is leading. Again.
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The real tragedy will be that they finally get some new cars. The wonderful parade of lovingly-preserved 1950’s American land yachts on the streets of Havana is a great sight.
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In a half century of the Cold War we didn’t break off relations with the Soviet Union or China, but this little island we did. A ridiculous and ineffective policy that only hurt the Cuban people, the ones the right-wingers supposedly care so much about. I’m just surprised Sen. Robert Menendez didn’t pipe up. He usually opens his trap any time there’s the possibility of normalizing relations with Cuba.
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Wait for it. The right-wing freakout hasn’t been properly “directed” yet.
I spoke too soon. Here ya’ go: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bob-menendez-obama-cuba
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Oy. Well, I guess it was only a matter of time, I just thought he would have tried to get in the initial story, but I suppose he had to coordinate his talking points with Miami.
Ooooh, I can’t wait for Papa Cruz to blow a gasket!!!
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Bravo, Obama! Keep it up. You’ve won against Putin/Russia, you’re stopping ISIS’ advance, and now you have righted an idiotic policy with a close neighbor. Well done.
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Great news. And pretty well kills Rubio’s presidential aspirations.
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Just give Cruz and Menendez a Cuban cigar, and they’ll be totally on board with opening up trade with Cuba again.
In typical GOPer dysfunction Cubano Marco Rubio is against normalizing relations with his homeland 90 miles south of Miami, but has nothing to say about trade with Communist China half a world away.
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The cars will be gone, but think about the cash infusion the Cuban economy will get from American collectors. I’m not sure the Cubans themselves are all that nostalgic about V-8s and tailfins.
How do you kill something that was never really alive?
“It’s time to do this. I just hope that Cuba is able to keep US corporations like McDonald’s and Starbucks the F&*k out of their country.”
I visited a Pizza Hut in India. The people couldn’t be happier to work there. Why? It provided a stable wage that was many times higher than the local average.
Worrying about “gentrification” – Rich white people problems.
Obviously, the Cuban people would be better off living hand to mouth peddling gum and panhandling rich American tourists marveling at how “untouched” Cuba is. Poverty is so quaint.
Silver bullet? Stake through the heart? I forget what kind of horror creature Rubio is…