European Union Ignores U.S., Scraps Cuban Sanctions
Getting more and more isolated on the world stage....heckuva job, Bushie.
European Union states agreed on Thursday to scrap sanctions against Cuba but will insist the Communist island improves its human rights record, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
The decision, taken despite U.S. calls for the world to remain tough on Havana, will be reviewed after one year, EU sources said.
"Cuban sanctions will be lifted," Ferrero-Waldner told reporters after foreign ministers of the 27-nation bloc clinched agreement at a summit dinner in Brussels.
"Of course there is clear language on human rights, on the detention of prisoners and there will have to be a review also," she said, referring to statement to be issued later. [..]
Unlike the 1962 U.S. embargo, the EU sanctions do not prevent trade and investment. Lifting the sanctions will put the EU at odds with Washington, which wants to maintain a hard line against Cuba.
"We certainly don't see any kind of fundamental break with the Castro dictatorship that would give us reason to believe that now would be the time to lift sanctions," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Thursday.
"We would not be supportive of the EU or anyone else easing those restrictions at this time."
There was a time -- not that long ago -- that we were respected enough that the EU would have acceded to our position. Of course the whole notion of our embargo against Cuba is way past any kind of relevant threat they may have posed and to claim now that it's due to human rights violations would be the worst kind of double standards on our part.
I think any respect America earned through its actions in WW2 tapped out decades ago. I find it cute that Americans keep harking back to the late 1940s-50s.
Non-Americans respect you as much as they respect their own leaders. You're not exceptional. Get that into your heads.
Boycotted since black and white television!
Not that I'm for sanctions, but you can't have it both ways. You either are against the way their government works, or you believe that punitive measures accomplish nothing. That's what makes all of us look so hypocritical with China.
when can i get some of those cuban stoogies for a reasonable price?
Improve its human rights record? Is the Cuban government isn't running the torture camp at Guantanamo?
FINALLY.....the world is growing it's own mind and it's called reason.
i think we might be on the verge of a new age of reason.
The United States is no longer relevant in the world community...thanks to eight years of Bush&Co., we are simply viewed as the big bully on the block that goes about stamping his feet and talking tough with nothing to back him up.
It is about time.
Tequila @ 3:
It's why we hate Stephen Harper (Canada) for wanting to be a bush lap-dog. If Cuba should be sanctioned, so should the USA. You torture people and run secret prisons. You deny habeas coprus. You break international laws.
We're probably just mad at Cuba for letting them let us use Gitmo where folks are tortured.
Cuba has one of the best health care programs, together with Costa Rica, in Latin America. Fucking embarrassing!
I assure you. Cuba is back from the cold.
Well good for them! The ongoing blockade of Cuba by the United States has long since outlived any value it may once have had; it's point has been lost in the mists of history.
Does anybody remember that WE supported the rise of the Batista regime to power there?
True facts.
Ah engagement. Something the USA forgot how to do. If we really want to see communism fall in Cuba, lift the bloody sanctions. Let us Americans enjoy Havana, latin jazz, and mojitos and spread freedom through our magical presence. That will tear the regime down.
I'd like to go to Cuba. To me it's just another island in the Caribbean. Nice beaches, history, and great Cuban food.
But my "free country" won't let me.
By lifting sanctions, the human rights would be greatly improved if Cubans can make a decent living with new jobs and better economic conditions.
Hallelujah,
It's about time the EU grew a pair. If only they held the Bush administration accountable to such lofty standards in relation to human rights........hang on a second...."human rights", "detention of prisoners"? Is this the EU's way of criticising Bush-Co over Guantanamo? Doubt it - don't even have the cajones to be that forthright.
Juanito
Gotta beat the Chinese to all that oil folks. simple as that.
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius.... Let's all sing
Or was it the age of Impeachment?
Although prostitution is frowned upon by the revolutionary government of Cuba, it recognizes the necessity for the Jineteria, as it is called. Girls as young as 12 sell themselves for currency - educated girls of high intelligence. It is the result of the US blockade. Family values in action.
Don't be alarmed. George W. Bush will probably invade a country and make it all better.
Dhalgren @ 13:
Defiantly not, one of the main reasons I like going there is because it hasn't been Americanised and American tourists aren't flooding the place in the typical manner. Nope, keep the US sanctions I say.
carefulwiththatAXEeugene @ 6:
The "world" always has, it was only Europe and the sanctions were less, and we could still travel there.
Attila the Appeaser, Trollop Despot @ 5:
Fair point, that is 100% the US.
Tequila @ 3:
Indeed and lets rate a few things in Cuba against the US ......... education, healthcare, self sustainability ....... let alone where I like going on holiday !
pastormaker @ 1:
Indeed a very VERY long time ago, regardless of that they've been using the same line for the last 60 years (and mostly wrongly as well), of the $$ they made from it and it's basically where the military industrial complex came from that got the country as rich as it has .......... and ironically is the one running it into the ground now!!
I don't believe most are capable to be honest, you're talking about the population of a country that screams "We're number #1" in a mirror in the world play ground while all the other kids are watching and thinking "wtf" ..... it's a country where humble, self-aware and respect have been torn out of the dictionaries, not that schools there have many of them any more as they are the worst in the western world ( http://perotcharts.com for details on that).
karl @ 4:
Indeed.
yaybush @ 21:
He's already given his middle east friend permission & all the toys they need :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7465170.stm
Mickxotic @ 20:
100% wrong, it's illegal not "frowned upon". Just as with many other places where it is illegal though still happens.
yaybush @ 21:
My favorite cartoonist :
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/shared-blogs/ajc/luckovich/entries/20...
So we'll have trade and relations with the thugs in Beijing but not withg Cuba? Oh wait, Chinese-Americans dont concentrate in one politically important state.
Gotta love how America thinks the world still revolves around them. Get the fuck over yourselves and get in line.
Why the hell should the EU listen the the US? Because of some old WWII debt? Sorry, but the statute of limitations ran out on that years ago. That bill has now been paid in full.
Chimpy is a complete embarrassment....and the US is paying the price for twice electing that douchebag. America's role on world stage is shrinking fast. Deal with it.
At the risk of getting flamed, can you please retire the "heckuva job, Bushie" line? Nicole, you have used this line (or a derivative) repeatedly in your postings. Let's try a little more substance. It starting to sound like Sean Hannity around here with all the repetition.
Even a simple "Bush sucks" if you don't know how else to end the posting -- just a little variety please...
The Truth Hurts @ 27:
"Fuckingbush" has become one word in most of the world, and we now blame everything on America. We no longer care what you think. I'm just saying. That's what I get from my Asian friends, my European friends, and my Australian and Canadian friends.
This is going to create a sharp decline in the number of 1950's Chevy's that run on washing machine parts.
Jerry @ 24:
Oh - picky, picky...yes; of course it is illegal - we don't want to compromise our revolutionary ideals - do we? Governments and ideologies are vain things, aren't they? But the point is that it is tolerated to the extent that it, indeed, is - is the recognition that the great, moral US of A has forced them to tolerate this.
Or maybe you prefer to think that they hate us for our freedoms.
The embargo states that the US will not trade with Cuba or any country found to be trading with them.
It's our move now.
BTW I don't find cuban food all that great. I hope that one thing they pick up if the embargo is lifted is fish tacos. that will increase tourism significantly.
Yes, this is O.T.
Conyers has said, that they(Bush/Cheney) will impeach themselves.
By Cheney's own hand... IMPEACH!
.
Che's Lounge @ 32:
If we stop trading with the EU it won't be much longer before all the International Corporations move off shore.
Dhalgren @ 13:
The Cuban people, according to independent polls, want their healthcare, educational, agricultural (mainly organic, the only country in the world I know of that is virtually self sustaining), bio tech industry, amongst other institutions in tact. They've accomplished what they have as a poor country without getting a single cent from the IMF or World Bank. There's no way they could keep those system as they are, available to all, if they got distracted by the shinny objects of consumerism, the same mentality that gets people to be functioning sociopaths in this country. I, personally, don't want Cuba to turn into Haiti, and apparently neither do Cubans. Many of the ills of the past have been reversed, not all, but many.
Cultural and economic exchange? Great. Using that as a way to allow the destruction of the accomplishments of the Cuban Revolution or for the elites here to carve Cuba up, no way in hell. If they do Cuba will be Haiti or Honduras within a decade.
First of many things that will change in the future. The US Bush Administrations dictatorship had ended for everyone but the American people. Every country is backing away from the US Bush Policy and moving on. As Americans are still told propaganda and believe it. Israel is acting like they will bomb Iran knowing Russia would protect Iran by any means necessary. Americans thought the US/Saudi 9/11 attack was bad it will seem like small stuff if the US/Israel bomb Iran. Yes the US has stupid Law Makers who follow orders by getting kick backs from the White House and the Oil companies but bombing Iran would finish the US off. As Israel will tell the Middle East their family and family forgives.
Right! Complain about human rights violations in Cuba held by the Cubans while our criminal government violates human rights on the part Cuba held by us, q.v. Guantanamo.
The Chinese, now when they use torture point to us as the guiding light.
I haven't heard of the Cubans openly emulating us yet, but maybe…
Nice work Bush you !@#$ing BARBARIAN.
Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar. You're gonna go far.
Best fuckin news of the day. I've been waiting for this shit to be done with since the 60's. the early 60s. And I was a little kid then.
thank you Europe. I love you more each day.
That wasn't respect. That was out of being blinded by bullshit, extorted by fear, or being consciously complicit with the bullshit of sanctions -- anywhere -- for monetary gain or an increase in state's power.
Hahahahaha US Stooges for criminals, all around. Always go with the worst of the GD worst, the lowest of the low. And that whole Christy preaching has only been a gauzy rag that barely covers your venality. They're starting to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
It's no longer profitable to hang with you, in other words
Thank You EU. I for one am overjoyed. It feels like a load off.
I'm sorry it's taken so long. It's been a lifetime.
[FIFY-Site monitor]
This doesn't come as a surprise to anybody but us. Ever since the Saudi royal family, who owe their very existence to the U.S. in general, and to the Bush family in particular laughed in Bush's face when he went over there to beg them for more oil, it's obvious that the U.S. is no longer the alpha-male of the world. Anybody who used to be in the American sphere of influence, either through respect, ambition, or hegemony is feeling liberated now, and doing whatever they want to do, no matter what the U.S. may think.
When Obama and the others talk of how the U.S. should be 'leading by example,' he's right, but only because that's literally the only thing we still have the power to do.
That picture is just nog complete without an oil rig....
That picture is just not complete without an oil rig….
(Corrected)
This is cool, altho I was really hoping the Europeans would all insult Bush to his face when he was overseas last week
The world is sick and tired of U.S. Corp/Gov and its fascism. This week the European Central Bank pushed back against the inflation that we are exporting worldwide. It took 8 long years.. they finally see "The Emperor Has No Clothes".
Edwin Hussein @ 9:
The USA doesn't need to be sanctioned by governments because a very large number of people all over the world will not buy products manufactured in or on behalf of companies in the U.S. They do this simply because this is their only means of hitting back at the bully that the U.S. has become.
Of course there is clear language on human rights, on the detention of prisoners
roh roh..... are EU sanctions against America coming? Wouldn't blame then any.
The Bush Crime Family wants their casinos and brothels in Havana again.
Ain't gonna happen.
The People of the US cheered when Castro brought down Batista.
Castro received a ticker tape parade in NYC.
That all changed when Castro went to Washington and was told to re-open the Mob's playgrounds in Havana - and he refused.
He left immediately and flew directly into the Soviet's waiting arms.
And the Mob built Las Vegas to replace Havana.
The problem is that after sucking up to the anti-Castro counterrevolutionaries for fifty years, most people have forgotten that these "victims of communism" were the ruling class that subjugated the people of Cuba before Castro kicked their asses out!
MountainMan23 @ 47:
The timeline is spot on.
mudshark @ 49:
And once again, George Jr. is cast in the role of Fredo Corleone. But wasn't it supposed to be Michael (ie-JEB) who ended up running things?
When, and if, the Chinese find lots of OIL under CUBA, I'm sure the US will find a reason to "liberate" the Cubans and occupy their country.
pastormaker @ 1:
If it wasn't for us, you'd all be speaking German!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvP5GtIRVA
it makes absolutely no sense that we trade with china, yet continue the embargo with cuba
fuck the cubans in florida...
its time to open trade
MountainMan23 @ 47:
vegas woulda been built anyway
and as much you can hate the mob, when they were in control of vegas, it was great place to visit
cheap rooms, cheap food...and you just had to blow a few bucks at the tables
now it costs just as much to stay in vegas as it does in nyc...and its nowhere near as fun in the corporate casinos
and anyway, they dont need to control cuba, they have full control of iraq....and oil brings in more money than gambling and sex shows
Sadly, the U.S.' reach extends well into the confines of the E.U., as this news story from a couple days ago shows:
Lloyds TSB has written to customers who have dealings with Cuba saying they will have take their accounts elsewhere, apparently in the wake of threats by the US government, which operates an embargo against Cuba.
The US has said it will prosecute any businesses that have any dealings with Cuba and also have a branch in the US.
The Cuban embargo makes as much sense as McCains foreign policy, that is none. It's a cool island and we're the only ones not there.
Everything that you read or hear about Cuba that emanates from Washington is the exact opposite of reality. Castro is a true hero.
The Truth Hurts @ 27:
Actually more that full, though the americans will never understand that as they think the world revolves around them. The sooner it comes crashing down and they have to figure out what they are, the better I think.
moondancer @ 56:
Actually it's a cool island because your not there.
Mickxotic @ 31:
I'm not sure if your trying to be smart or you are just that moronic.
It is no more tolerated that any other country in the world that has tourist. The "US of A" has no authority on morals what so ever, especially when it comes to prostitution, as with any western city if you go to the right areas. Your point is a meaningless as is it soundless.
They don't hate you for the freedoms you think you have, that's just the typical mindless americon rubbish that keeps you isolated in the world, and part of the reason you are as hated as you are.
Though if you are as americon as you sound, what are you doing in Cuba surveying the hookers anyway ....... or is this just more typical ignorant jingoism ......
I hope Cuba turns the tables and keeps americans out, to keep the island as cool as it is, the last thing it needs is a McDonalds every 20 meters and americans shouting about how great they are, and how everything is so much better at home ......
Oh the irony of an "embargo" against Cuba, it's been protected from the greatest social evil in the world to some degree.
Neo-classical secular humanist @ 57:
Not too sure about that, though the lies and crap that comes out of the US, yes, a lot of it isn't true.
The U.S. is not becoming an international joke, it is an international joke.
If we were not so dangerous to the worlds survival people all across the planet would be laughing out loud.
China has executed and murdered more dissidents in the past, and isnt too human rights friendly NOW.
Yet China is Americas most favorite trading partner and money broker.
Cuban sanctions were mostly in revenge for the Mafia (Republican donors, supporters and members) losing their casinos and hotels, and the missile crisis to some minor extent.
Funny ol world aint it.
JerryO @ 7:
Until the oil and Chinese money dries up, then we bring back ALL the US troops from the 700 odd military bases dotted around the world.
odanny @ 60:
Actually both points are true, unfortunately. And if the US wasn't killing so many people, more people would be laughing, though they can't ....... as they are dead, orders of Uncle Sam(e) ....... Though the ones that aren't as pissed off as a human can get, are laughing.
I have the luxury of travelling around the world and I see the typical american abroad getting laughed at, though in the last 8 years that laughter has turned to more inclination of violence opposed to humouring and pity, you get what you give it seems and the backlash against the US is going to be immense.
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 62:
Yup, when China calls in that debt ....... and the Euro is the foreign reserve currency ...... and the US is the 3rd world nation of the west by it's own doing ......... "Funny ol world" indeed.
Jerry @ 59:
Yeah, it is a bit of an overstatement but truth is that Castro took on the mafia-supported dictator Batista who was a bum-boy for the nouveaux-riche American pseudo-aristocrats and layabouts and put into place an egalitarian society based on socialist principles that has raised literacy rates, installed universal healthcare and improved education for all Cubans. Admittedly, one can't do this without coming down hard on attempts to undermine such major changes in a nation-state. Witness the Cuban Missile crisis -- a trumped up near catastrophe orchestrated by those shining knights of Camelot (JFK, RFK) who played the victim card when Castro was forced to acquiesce to the Soviets who were retaliating against the US for installing nuclear missiles in Turkey. Krushchev was the hero in that nightmare. And witness that the former prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau was both an admirer and a friend. Pretty good company.
McCain, at the Economic Club of Canada in Ottawa today:
No one has told him Canada does about a billion dollars in trade, annually, with Cuba. I bet he also doesn't know where most US energy actually comes from...
The loss of Cuba is hardly the low point of Bush's presidency. History might even come to regard it in a positive light since it had left every other president stymied. This at least resolves the situation.
All sanctions, except a few restrictions on diplomatic travels were lifted years ago by the EU. They did this formally today only to piss off the Bush administration (yea... thats what EU officials actually said).
The joke is on the US. There already are sanctions against American goods in Europe, because people look at labels and if the label says "American made" they reject it with disgust. Such an episode occurs in the new foreign movie "Edge of Heaven", which I saw yesterday. And in the movie, the person rejecting the T-shirt is homeless and needs clothing. Christ, we sure have plummeted into the depths. Any nation that burns people to death in a crematorium (at Abu Ghraib) deserves all the rejection the world can muster.
xoites defends Constitution @ 34:
they haev been doing it for sometime. the rotting husk of america's remains will be viewed from a distance as it crumbles. there will then be a fire sale of everything from infrastructure to air and water.
mystic @ 68:
since america doesn't inspect anything, do you blame anyone, european or Korean for not wanting to buy anything originating from this country?
If it was left to "enlightened" west european liberals central European countries like Poland, Chech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and many other would still be under the dictatorship of proletariat, that is a bunch of murderous commie bosses, the "great Germany" would still be divided by the Iron Courtain and the Soviet Union would still be the superpower. But then the west european liberals - the "useful idiots" as Lenin once called them always wanted the communism to take over Europe that is why they hate America so much. President Bush is just an excuse not the cause of this hate. Europeans better look at their own disintegrating societies and progressively rapid takeover by islamic fascists.
signed; former European
kablooie @ 43:
they still understand diplomacy. he did not understand that they were playing him off until he left.
Edward @ 71:
poor dear, does it hurt much?
Terrible @ 46:
we've snatched up a few thousand europeans of the fifteen thousand or so that we renditioned. I'd think they're pissed. Eventually, we'll be replaced in the great 8 by russia.
Edward @ 71:
Oh la la, mon dieu! You mispelled "ignorant redneck."
So all those trolls pretending to be Hillary supporters are now pretending to be "former Europeans" LOL
THIS is world leadership.
The Sociopaths running the US look like the pandering idiots that they are.
Go on world - leave the US in the dust diplomatically -- we have been BEGGING to be shown up for the fools we are by other nations.
I'm thrilled about this.
*
Mickxotic @ 8:
Amen, way over due. Typical US Government still looking for a boogie man. When the cuban crises came, Russia had around 50 to 60 war heads... the US had over 400. It was almost a nuclear war, but now that is over. Russia has collapsed. The US has a new boogie to find reason to stock pile its defenses against... war on terror. It is refreshing to see other governments looking at Cuba favorably. The US are a bunch of hypocrites. Like it was mentioined above, There should be sanctions against China.
I think since the Euro is stronger, The European union is starting to flex its muscles. The American dollar is going down the drain.
Some interesting information :
The sanctions lifted now were established in 2003 (because of a wave of arrests of dissidents in Cuba) and suspended in 2005. They consisted in a limitation of bilateral governmental visits, and systematic invitations for dissidents in the UE embassies for the various national celebrations. It's just official now.
Frankly, I find it difficult to consider this sanctions. I almost fell from my chair when I learned what they were. I wasn't, before that announcement, aware that we had any sanction against Cuba : I'm French, living in Caribbean, and I know so many people who have been to Cuba, including my mother and my young sister (who met so many Germans there they said it was like being in a tropical Germany), I have met so many Cubans in my island (I even sold my old computers to one of them), we have had commercial, cultural contacts.
Oooh...I bet that pisses the neocons off. Heh, heh, hehhh....
Did your banker ever list to you, when you suggested how to run the bank? That's America's problem, no one listening to her, as she try to tell them how to manage their affair with both of her hands out trying to borrow.
yakfitguy @ 14:
It's a great country to visit. I things are really going to improve for Cuba from here on out. I love the Cuban people!
Paul @ 80:
Any one found a response to it ?
I'm thinking the word "appeaser" is going to come up a lot and Chamberlain-esq comments etc.
Involved @ 81:
Any with no actual track record of doing anything apart from war and feigned actions of self interest.
Pleas US, get your head out of your rears. It never was any better then anyone else.
WW2 was no act of kindness towards anyone but to save it's own darn necks.
It took the proverbial gun to the head for it to do anything long after the war had already started.
Much like the support of Saddam and Osama and countless others, it was a question of coming out on top and nothing else.
The US never cared who killed and tortured how many people unless they could gain something out of it.
And if that meant supporting the worst oppressors and thugs, then so be it.
Ever wonder why countries like Iran are how they are and do not like the US? Because when they democratically elected a government, the 'pro-democracy' loving US came in replaced it with a dictator. Speaks volumes, huh?
Similarly in other countries like post WW2 Greece that was leaning towards communism and wound up with a decades long US-supported dictatorship.
Are you on medications that you cannot see this?
Don't cast yourself as the heroes you never were.
How 'bout that.
Now even the EU says...Fuck you America!
That just about covers everyone now.
Good !
The sanctions against Cuba are disgusting and any american supporting them is an idiot. It doesn't help anyone. Not americans nor cubans.
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