This article by John McAuliff in the Havana Note does a great job of catching provocative and problematic statements recently made by Secretary Clinton.  The public tends to accept such assertions  as undisputed truth,  but in fact they badly misrepresent the circumstances:

I well remember when those two small, unarmed planes doing nothing more than dropping pamphlets were shot down by the Castro regime. And I believed then, and I think you said it well today, it was done to prevent us opening. But it was also an act of such aggression

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From My Perspective, April 23, 2009

Since the Obama Administration announced on April 13 that the excessive and cruel restrictions on travel and sending of remittances imposed on Americans with relatives in Cuba were being lifted, expectations that U.S.-Cuban relations are about to improve have run very high.

As Obama traveled to Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderon, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting the Dominican Republic, all in preparation for the Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17-19, Cuban president Raul Castro was in Venezuela to…

With the summit coinciding with the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, this author reflects on the longstanding hubris of the US government in attempting to dictate Cuba’s development.  Gomez asserts that that is problematic in and of itself, but it is compounded by a complete failure to understand the nature of Cuba’s struggle to maintain its sovereignty.

A transition is already happening in Cuba, make no mistake. It is happening in the context of its own history and will be led by Cuban actors, not by commissions in the US, and

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A Sun Sentinal (South Florida) editorial praises the recent changes but argues that the remaining travel restrictions barring non-Cuban-Americans from travel are unconstitutional.  It also criticizes the embargo an anachronism and quotes Reagan’s Secretary of State, Ed Schultz, calling the embargo “insane”

Yet, well into the 21st century, the United States is stuck with this anachronism.

That’s because Florida, the nation’s fourth most populous state, possesses 27 electoral votes, and politicians from both major political parties have been reluctant to antagonize a Cuban-American voting bloc that can swing presidential elections.

The electoral calculus,

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Ricardo Gonzalez

From My Perspective April 13, 2009

The news today was indeed good.  President Barack Obama’s Administration announced that all restrictions on travel and sending remittances to Cuba by Cuban Americans would be eliminated.  This is precisely what candidate Obama promised during his long campaign for the presidency and he is to be thanked and congratulated.  We have waited nearly thirty years for this!

As much as enabling Cuban families to visit and restore their family ties is a most welcome first step, it does remain to be seen whether the President will continue…

The Boston Globe takes a rational and pragmatic stance arguing political, humanitarian, security and economic benefits to ending the embargo.  It’s well worth reading in full, although here is an excerpt:

The unilateral US embargo of Cuba has not supported democracy there; it has created a useful piece of propaganda used against us. It has not isolated Cuba’s government from the rest of the world; it has isolated the United States from Latin America. Though it has undeniably strained the Cuban economy, the strain is disproportionately harder on the Cuban people than the government. Persuasive

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Ricardo Gonzalez

From My Perspective April 12, 2009

On April 17, the Fifth Summit of the Americas will begin in Trinidad and Tobago.  This event will bring together the leaders of 34 countries in the Western Hemisphere whose chief common characteristic is that they are democratically elected.  When these summits began in 1994, the United States still held sway over its Latin neighbors; it was then to be expected that Cuba, isolated for 35 years and expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS) since 1962, would be excluded from the initial Summit held at…

Ricardo Gonzalez

From My Perspective April 7, 2009

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc, all eyes turned to Cuba wondering if its Communist government would also fall.  Especially after the Nicaraguan elections in 1990, when the Sandinista government lost to Violeta Chamorro’s coalition, many people felt certain that it was only a matter of time before the Cuban Revolution would bite the dust:  any day now, they thought.

Then came the “Special Period,” the odd name given to the time immediately following the end of the relationship with the Soviet…

A  Las Vegas Sun Editorial notes the changing attitudes toward the embargo and encourages the administration to support a fresh approach:

A bipartisan group of senators, seizing on that momentum, introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow all Americans to travel to Cuba except in cases of war or threats to travelers. The legislation is backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Farm Bureau and other industry groups that advocate free trade with Cuba.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a co-sponsor of the bill, said Americans can travel to communist China and Vietnam,

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Ricardo Gonzalez
April 1, 2009
There has been great expectation about changes in U.S.-Cuba policy under the new administration of President Barack Obama.

Indeed, the President has encouraged congressional leaders to begin a process of liberalization of the draconian restrictions on travel to Cuba imposed by former President Bush in 2004, by signing the Appropriations Bill last month which included an amendment that permits Cuban Americans to travel once a year instead of once every three years, without time and money restrictions. Furthermore, the amendment makes easier the licensing process for Americans…