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Majority of Americans Favor Ties With Cuba, Poll Finds

Moreover, I'm jealous that only the Chinese and Venezuelans are able to sit on Cuban beaches sipping piña coladas.

And virtually every single other country on the planet besides the US
 
This isn't much of a surprise poll if you are politically attuned. I haven’t the slightest of ideas why we still have trade embargoes and travel restrictions on Cuba. Although I'm certain that we might be able to tease out some DP posters who believe this is a bad idea.

My only concern is - as the NYT article mentions - human rights in Cuba. Yetl I find it strange that anyone would believe that the US (and Cubans) is better at increasing respect for human rights by isolating the Cuba. All that type [of diplomacy] achieves is an echo chamber for the Cuban government. Free trade, American tourist dollars and free movement are much better at spreading ideas and (given Cuban censorship) sharing restricted materials deemed to be dangerous.

Moreover, I'm jealous that only the Chinese and Venezuelans are able to sit on Cuban beaches sipping piña coladas.

I understood the embargo and isolation of Cuba and thought it was the right policy. Especially when Cuba was exporting revolutions by supplying their soldiers to Central America and Africa to do the USSR's bidding. But the fall of the USSR sort of made Cuba irrelevant on the global scene. Yeah, go ahead and normalize relations.
 
... which is a grand total of 4. Two of which are "communist" in scare quotes.

To condense the following's spacing:


The US fought a proxy war in Vietnam, the Russians tried to beat us to the moon and Reagan assailed the Iron Curtain; I don't see how any of that OR Cuba's history has any relevancy to today's current political climate beyond informing us of how to approach Cuba. Castro is [almost literally] on life support and the vast majority of the world has moved on from the Cold War.

What's done is done, and there's nothing we can do to time travel and "fix it". All of it sorely needs to be relegated to the past's memory, in order to allow us to deal with today's current issues.

Well, now I'm primarily talking about Raul Castro, however time and time again Cuba has always been the "communists safe house and confidant" meaning Raul Castro welcomes any comrade to use his Island for any reason...

Working with Cuba would just not be worth it because they cant be trusted and the risk is not worth the reward.

I don't have a problem with getting rid of the embargoes and start small with trade, but Cubas unconditional loyalty to communist states must end.

IMO, I think Cuba would make a great manufacturing hub, a nice vacation spot or even a nice place to live if it wasn't for the communist authoritarianism.
 
I'm very skeptical of this argument of yours. When has the US ever wanted to miss an opportunity, however small? It's a country 90 miles away that's near to massive American ports and has a population of 11 million people, who have hundred of thousands of their relatives living within our country. We've got great leverage and opportunity in Cuba that most other countries simply do not have.


Central African Republic, Egypt, Ukraine, China, Myanmar, Nigeria, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran.

All breaking news countries with recent and egregious violations of human rights. How come we don't embargo and isolate them? The only difference is that isolation is not the status quo for these countries; that's only an incredibly limited tradition with Cuba. Quite frankly, in all other circumstances, we in the Western world seek diplomatic solutions within the country. We seek to improve the nation and empower its people through humanitarian aide and foreign investment. I simply am not sold on "isolationism" being the solution for Cuba, when we pursue complete different paths with almost all other countries.


In terms of nice beaches.


BAH! What, are you looking for a miracle? I'm about as confident in that as I am in Russia changing its national anthem to Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out," or China dismantling its one-party state and creating a independent Tibetan state. Democratization and economic liberalization takes time; it's a rare circumstance that a government completely changes its tune and dissolves itself. Not to mention, when that does happen, it usually means flames, riots and general social unrest.

Cuba is an autocratic echo chamber. It restricts free movement, and its censorship of ideas and "dangerous" material puts China to shame. The EU is doing us liberals in the West a big one, and conditioning their negotiations on human right reforms. With trade and travel restrictions gone, it'd be an absolute boon to the Cuban dissident movement to better share information and ideas among themselves and with the larger world. I believe it is a disappointment that the US cannot bring itself to do the same.

We simply disagree.
 
The truth is Iranian ships have no business even coming close to the US - they have no assets here. The only reason why we have ships on their turf is because they threaten to wipe out a nation everyday.... I know talk is talk but sometimes you gotta take some of that talk seriously....

IMO, the only reason why Iran hasn't gone bat**** crazy yet while making good on their words is because we have a military presence there.

Remember, we're not the ones threatening to wipe Israel off the map or collaborate with terrorist organizations to instill a revolutionary coup in hopes of an Islamic empire ruled by Sharia.
 
The truth is Iranian ships have no business even coming close to the US - they have no assets here. The only reason why we have ships on their turf is because they threaten to wipe out a nation everyday.... I know talk is talk but sometimes you gotta take some of that talk seriously....

IMO, the only reason why Iran hasn't gone bat**** crazy yet while making good on their words is because we have a military presence there.

Remember, we're not the ones threatening to wipe Israel off the map or collaborate with terrorist organizations to instill a revolutionary coup in hopes of an Islamic empire ruled by Sharia.

We have elected officials talk about attacking Iran all the time.
 
We have elected officials talk about attacking Iran all the time.

Yeah but the US doesn't threaten attacks - they discuss potential attacks IF the US or our assets were attacked.

Iran literally threatens attacks...

When the US starts making threats we unusually make good on them....

If the US really wanted to we could vaporize Iran and no on would do anything about it. other than frowns by the UN... China, Russia and India would never get involved.

Russia isn't even ready for a war - at least not with the US.
 
Yeah but the US doesn't threaten attacks - they discuss potential attacks IF the US or our assets were attacked. Iran literally threatens attacks... When the US starts making threats we unusually make good on them.... If the US really wanted to we could vaporize Iran and no on would do anything about it. other than frowns by the UN... China, Russia and India would never get involved. Russia isn't even ready for a war - at least not with the US.
The USA has the upper-hand and is controlling Iran's domestic programs. If the situation were reversed, I don't have a doubt in my mind that Lindsey Graham would be nattering about initiating an attack against Iran.

Other than that, nuclear war is not desirable in for any reason. Anyone who makes threats of violence - be they hardline American or hardline Iranian - ought be immediately removed from office.
 
The USA has the upper-hand and is controlling Iran's domestic programs. If the situation were reversed, I don't have a doubt in my mind that Lindsey Graham would be nattering about initiating an attack against Iran.

Other than that, nuclear war is not desirable in for any reason. Anyone who makes threats of violence - be they hardline American or hardline Iranian - ought be immediately removed from office.

We could wipe Iran off the map and no one would do a damn thing about it....

Now Iran is getting cofmfy with weak ass Obama....

Obama is an idiot for the 1,000 time - the only hate he understands in for the US..

Like I said in a previous post - Obama is a joke to the ego-community.

Given Onama's lack of skills hes an easy pushover.

The idiot was too stupid to practice law... Has no experience running a business and this clown wants to play geopolitics? sorry to Obama geopolitics don't work like a community organizing event.
 
That would be a good one for the courts. Was Batista the rightful leader or not? I do not think that you would be able to make the argument that the US had been a colonial master in the European sense during the 1940s and 50s. While it might have been quasi legal to disposes nationals after the revolution Castro's property grab of third nation assets was not.




Opening page of the Platt Amendment
Despite recognizing Cuba's transition into an independent republic, United States Governor Charles Edward Magoon assumed temporary military rule for three more years following a rebellion led by José Miguel Gómez. In the following 20 years the United States repeatedly intervened militarily in Cuban affairs: 1906 - 1909, 1912 and 1917 - 1922. In 1912 U.S. forces were sent to quell protests by Afro-Cubans against perceived discrimination.
By 1926 U.S companies owned 60% of the Cuban sugar industry and imported 95% of the total Cuban crop,[11] and Washington was generally supportive of successive Cuban Governments. However, internal confrontations between the government of Gerardo Machado and political opposition led to his military overthrow by Cuban rebels in 1933. U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles requested U.S. military intervention. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite his promotion of the Good Neighbor policy toward Latin America, ordered 29 warships to Cuba and Key West, alerting United States Marines, and bombers for use if necessary. Machado's replacement, Ramón Grau assumed the Presidency and immediately nullified the Platt amendment. In protest, the United States denied recognition to Grau's government, Ambassador Welles describing the new regime as "communistic" and "irresponsible".[3][12]
The rise of General Fulgencio Batista in the 1930s to de facto leader and President of Cuba for two terms (1940–44 and 1952–59) led to an era of close co-operation between the governments of Cuba and the United States. The United States and Cuba signed the Treaty of Relations in 1934. Batista's second term as President was initiated by a military coup planned in Florida, and U.S. President Harry S. Truman quickly recognized Batista's return to rule providing military and economic aid.[3] T

Cuba sounds pretty colonial to me.

What you need to bare in mind here is the land in question was held by the Spanish, then held by a corrupt ruling class, largely of Spanish descent, kept in power by force by the U.S after much of this land was transferred to American interests it wasn't uncommon to find an entire town run by the United Fruit company. The U.S has no more of a right to demand repayments then Spain does.
 
Cuba sounds pretty colonial to me.

What you need to bare in mind here is the land in question was held by the Spanish, then held by a corrupt ruling class, largely of Spanish descent, kept in power by force by the U.S after much of this land was transferred to American interests it wasn't uncommon to find an entire town run by the United Fruit company. The U.S has no more of a right to demand repayments then Spain does.

More dominant than colonial.
And with a high probability it would make sense to repossess the original owners. Money would pour in. Jobs would be created en masse. The plight of the average Cuban would improve rapidly after the initial stalling we saw in eastern Europe after the Cold War.
 
More dominant than colonial.
And with a high probability it would make sense to repossess the original owners. Money would pour in. Jobs would be created en masse. The plight of the average Cuban would improve rapidly after the initial stalling we saw in eastern Europe after the Cold War.

Well the unemployment rate is Cuba is 3% so it seems a strange priority, but besides that I don't see your model working any better than it did under Batista. And unemployment has risen in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, why do you think they need to go to Western Europe to find jobs?

And whats the difference between the relationship between the U.S and Cuba during the first half of the 20th century and a the relationship between the British Empire and an Indian princely state? If anything the Princely states had more autonomy. But whatever you call it, land was taken and held by foreigners, and this relationship was maintained by force.
 
I'm going to come off ignorant when I say this... but I thought cuba was famous for drugs and crime? and the travel restrictions were to keep the american people safe.... But I don't know much about cuba :/


... ah, that's Mexico...
 
We could wipe Iran off the map and no one would do a damn thing about it....

Now Iran is getting cofmfy with weak ass Obama....

Obama is an idiot for the 1,000 time - the only hate he understands in for the US..

Like I said in a previous post - Obama is a joke to the ego-community.

Given Onama's lack of skills hes an easy pushover.

The idiot was too stupid to practice law... Has no experience running a business and this clown wants to play geopolitics? sorry to Obama geopolitics don't work like a community organizing event.

...says someone that thinks "wiping Iran off the face of the earth" is a legitimate option.
 
Well the unemployment rate is Cuba is 3% so it seems a strange priority, but besides that I don't see your model working any better than it did under Batista. And unemployment has risen in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, why do you think they need to go to Western Europe to find jobs?

And whats the difference between the relationship between the U.S and Cuba during the first half of the 20th century and a the relationship between the British Empire and an Indian princely state? If anything the Princely states had more autonomy. But whatever you call it, land was taken and held by foreigners, and this relationship was maintained by force.

The unemployment rate in the Soviet Union or East Germany was officially 0. Economists sometimes speak of hidden unemployment, when labor is employed to keep it out of trouble.
 
My hope for the Cuban people would be that Castro would embrace capitalist aspects so that some sort of agreement could be reached for the Cuban people. Tourism, Tobacco, and other industry through American investment could greatly help this country so that we don't see another generation try and turn 55 gallon drums into flimsy boats, and drown as shark food in the Atlantic.
 
...says someone that thinks "wiping Iran off the face of the earth" is a legitimate option.

See, we hear this all the time here in America. Yet look at what we hear when its claimed that Iran says the same thing about Israel. Only difference is, the US actually could wipe Iran off the face of the earth.
 
See, we hear this all the time here in America. Yet look at what we hear when its claimed that Iran says the same thing about Israel. Only difference is, the US actually could wipe Iran off the face of the earth.

Really? Our president speaks of wiping another country off the map? Show me this that you claim.
 
Really? Our president speaks of wiping another country off the map? Show me this that you claim.

I never said the pres, it was Mr. Nick I was referring to that suggested we wipe Iran off the face of the earth.
 
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