Posted by
Billy email MADBillyD@aol.com on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:45:56 PM
W ith Democrats in control of the White House and Congress, the Cuban American National Foundation is sitting pretty after wandering the political wilderness for eight years.
Jorge Mas Santos -- scion of the architect of U.S. policy toward Cuba before ultra-conservatives walked out of CANF in a huff in 2001 -- now has the ear of President-elect Barack Obama.
(The above is part of a column written by Myriam Marquez. More of her column is below.)
The result? With Fidel Castro all but dead and his brother Raúl in charge, the U.S. government has had no sway on the regime and the opposition is floundering.
With Obama's win CANF is positioned to have immense influence on Cuba policy. What to expect?
An aggressive policy to get more money to the opposition in Cuba. For years the U.S. government has handed millions of dollars to exile groups and academics for democracy-building programs on the island. But as past U.S. government audits have pointed out, most of that money never left Miami. The rules need to change so that money and equipment can reach the opposition -- just as it did during the Cold War for the Polish Solidarity movement.
(So what is ahead I am not sure and I have concern. Lets not forget Obama has said we should sit down with evil leaders around the world and also Obama is bringing people to DC. from the Clinton days. What happened when Bill Clinton was President a peaceful family had their home in Florida raided and a little boy taken so he could be sent back to be one of Castro's sons. It was a shameful night for America. Read the whole column right here.)
