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| @ Mandela's funeral |
It is hard to believe the United States has been
boycotting Cuba for a half century. It is also astonishing that the normalization of relations between the the Cold War adversaries was facilitated by Pope Francis I. Altogether fitting since he is the first New World pope. Eighteen months of secret talks culminated with a secret meeting at the Vatican between delegations last October. Francis personally followed-up with both leaders. In a statement released today, the Vatican said it was pleased that the US will drop its economic boycott and political isolation against Cuba and congratulated both sides on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations. Both Raul Castro and Obama
[photo] thanked the Vatican for its support of the negotiations. Obama said the Pope's support "gave us greater impetus and momentum to move forward." A prisoner exchange is part of the deal including an
important US spy that spent two decades in Cuban prison. The President admitted when announcing the agreement, "...isolation has not worked". In fact the policy also isolated the United States; no other country in the world supported US sanctions against Cuba.
Congress will have the final word on whether economic sanctions actually end.
There are many conservative lawmakers, beholding to the Cuba Libre lobby, that will want to keep punishing the island's communist regime.
US Person thought it was his desire to go bird-watching in Cuba with the Audubon Society that thawed the ice. You just never know what kind of
clownit takes nowadays to score a diplomatic triumph. After 10 presidents, fair play at last for Cuba! Smoke a 'Cuban' to celebrate, Lee?
