Obama Submits To Chavez, Begins Normalization of Relations With Cuba

Here we go on the second round of the "America Submits To The World Tour" as President Barack Obama is obviously working towards a plan to please Venezuelan henchman Hugo Chavez which means normalizing relations with the Communist regime in Cuba. Rumors are that Obama is going to relax travel restrictions for Americans traveling to Cuba and also, there's a hint that formal talks may be in the offing. Here's some excerpts on some of this from the article over at the WallStreetJournal, including this taunt from Chavez:

"Why does Cuba continue to be left out of the Summit of the Americas, if Cuba is a friend of Latin American and Caribbean countries?" Mr. Chávez said during a weekly television address last month.

President Barack Obama plans to tell Latin American leaders later this week that the U.S. is willing to discuss how to improve relations with Havana, but wants Cuba to take steps toward democracy before it is reintegrated into the Western hemisphere's economic and political institutions.

While the U.S. wants the meeting to focus on the global economic recession, Obama administration officials said the president is ready to engage on the Cuba issue if it's brought up by other leaders. "We won't duck it," said an official. The president is likely to ask other summit-goers to press Cuba on issues of democracy, including the release of political prisoners.
The U.S. willingness to engage on Cuba is another indication of a slow, tentative warming of relations between Washington and Havana. The administration is planning soon to lift longstanding restrictions on Cuba, a move that would allow Cuban-Americans to visit families on the island as often as they like and send them unlimited funds.
The White House is also considering whether to remove restrictions that limit travel to Cuba by Americans for non-degree cultural and educational purposes, administration officials said, a category under which many thousands of tourists could qualify. Another possibility is restarting direct talks with Cuba on immigration issues.

Okay, the obvious criticism here of the new American President is the Russian missile crisis that almost put this country into the middle of World War 3, the hundreds of thousands of Cuban citizens killed by the regime in Cuba, the prisons in Havanna full of political prisoners who fought for freedom, the property of millions of Cubans that was wrested from them by Fidel Castro and his lot and the list goes on and on. But you see, none of that matters to Barack Obama. What matters to this new leader of ours is apologizing for the "wrongs" that America has done in the past. Obama spent last week in Europe apologizing for American "arrogance." Then he bowed to a Saudi king to let him know that the new America is weak and subserviant. And now, he is willing to pay attention to a Communist thuggery like the Castro brothers in Cuba who the U.S. has successfully bottled up for decades.

Obama puts out this line that Cuba must move towards democracy but yet he's already played his hand - where in the world did this guy go to negotiation school? Who is advising this guy? Asking the Castros to embrace democracy and freedom for the Cuban people is a bit like asking Osama bin Laden and all of al Qaeda to embrace Christianity and Judaism.

Somebody...ANYBODY...stop this madness! Where is the outrage from Congress members about this lunacy? I wonder, has anyone pointed out to President Obama just how many Cubans have died over the past 45 years trying to reach the United States by rafts made of twigs so they could escape the horrors and tyranny of the land that Obama now wants to recognize?

Obama to Discuss U.S. Plan For Engagement With Cuba

President Barack Obama plans to tell Latin American leaders later this week that the U.S. is willing to discuss how to improve relations with Havana, but wants Cuba to take steps toward democracy before it is reintegrated into the Western hemisphere's economic and political institutions.
Cuba is likely to be at the forefront of discussions at the Summit of the Americas, a gathering of 34 heads of government that has always excluded Cuba, starting April 17 in Trinidad. Cuba's main ally, Venezuela, as well as other countries, have said they want to use the summit to press for closer relations between Washington and Havana. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stopped in Havana on Friday to coordinate pre-summit strategy with Cuban President Raúl Castro and his ailing bother Fidel.

The U.S. willingness to engage on Cuba is another indication of a slow, tentative warming of relations between Washington and Havana. The administration is planning soon to lift longstanding restrictions on Cuba, a move that would allow Cuban-Americans to visit families on the island as often as they like and send them unlimited funds.
The White House is also considering whether to remove restrictions that limit travel to Cuba by Americans for non-degree cultural and educational purposes, administration officials said, a category under which many thousands of tourists could qualify. Another possibility is restarting direct talks with Cuba on immigration issues.
It's unclear how far a rapprochement could go, given sensitive domestic politics in both countries. A significant segment of the 1.5 million Americans with relatives in Cuba are resolutely anti-Castro and oppose easing relations. In Cuba, the government has staked much of its legitimacy for nearly 50 years on casting the U.S. as an enemy and may be unwilling to make significant changes.