A government commission is recommending to President Bush a series of measures to cut U.S. dollar flows to Cuba as part of a broader policy to hasten the end of the country’s communist system, an administration official said Sunday night.
….Last October, Bush announced the creation of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba and set a May 1 deadline for completion of a report. The concept and the timing appeared to be linked to maintaining in the November elections the solid support Bush received in 2000 from Cuban-Americans in Florida. Without their backing, the election would have gone to Democrat Al Gore.
Four of the five chapters in the 500-page report deal with ways to assist a post-Castro government that seeks to establish democracy. The other chapter focuses on ways to end Castro’s government.
I don’t like the sound of this at all. The timing smells, and besides, haven’t we learned that trying to build nations in our own image is a dangerous business that can backfire on us big time?
What can we do to bring about regime change where it’s needed most, i.e., the US? Today I started looking into doing volunteer work for the Kerry campaign. I can’t just blog about it anymore, I have to contribute. The very idea of four more years makes me nauseous.
1
By boy
isn’t this all coming off the table of discussions about “The New American Century?”
That twisting of Leo Strauss’s ideas into a fascist cartel ideology?
May 2, 2004 @ 9:02 pm | Comment
2
By Tom
Go read this commentary at the carpet bagger report and there is the possibility that Bush is shooting himself in the foot with Cuban-American voters.
May 3, 2004 @ 5:13 am | Comment
3
By boy
the problem with bush is, he sees things in the colors of people’s flags and skin, and he doesn’t understand the human spirit.
May 3, 2004 @ 5:18 am | Comment
4
By richard
Tom, thanks for the link. But maybe the fact that Kerry is so well poised with Florida’s Cuban community is why Bush is taking such drastic measures. The question is, could Bush tip the scales, public relations-wide, by appearing “strong and determined” to neutralize Castro and change Cuba’s political system? Never mind whether this scheme would work or not; I’m just afraid it bolsters his image in the eyes of Castro-hating Cuban Americans.
May 3, 2004 @ 9:46 am | Comment
5
By Tom - Daai Tou Laam
As you’ve pointed out, there are plenty of PRC expats in the US. Whether they like the government of the PRC or not, they still tend to send money home to their families. I’m guessing that even those folks who are rabidly against the CCP might not be swayed by the idea that cutting off remittances is the way to cripple the CCP instead of just hurting their families back home. And people do tend to vote on issues that affect themselves and their families first.
May 3, 2004 @ 6:49 pm | Comment