Menu

02/01/13 - Washington Post - Cuba criticizes President Obama, says island is changing while US policy is not

"It's unfortunate that President Obama continues to be poorly advised and
ill-informed about the Cuban reality, as well as the sentiments of his own
people who desire normalization of our relationship," Vidal said in a
statement sent to foreign media on the island.

She said Cuba was "changing and advancing," a reference to economic and
social reforms enacted in recent years under President Raul Castro.

In an interview with the Spanish news channel Telemundo broadcast
Wednesday, Obama said his administration is open to better ties but that
"it's got to be a two-way street."

He said Cuban jails are still filled with political prisoners and that the
island's leaders are clinging to a failed model.

"It's time to join the 21st century," he said. "It's one thing to have
cars from the 1950s. It's another thing when your whole political ideology
.. is 50 years or 60 years old and it's been proven not to work."

In recent years, Cuba has allowed for limited capitalism and legalized the
real estate market, among other reforms, while insisting the changes did
not constitute a break from its socialist model.

Among the measures getting the most attention was last month's lifting of
a longstanding requirement that islanders ask the government's permission
to travel abroad.

Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez's request for a new passport was granted
on Thursday. Last year she was denied a "white card," or exit permit, when
she tried to travel to Brazil for a film festival, something she says has
happened to her about 20 times in recent years.

"Visas for (hashtag)Brazil and for the (hashtag)Schengen agreement nations
arranged, they will be delivered to me next week," Sanchez said on Twitter
on Friday. The "Schengen area" is a region in Europe within which there
are little or no border or visa controls between Belgium, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Germany and France.

But Sanchez and others bemoaned the denial of passports to two other
government opponents. Dissidents Angel Moya and Jose Daniel Ferrer were
turned down under a clause that lets the government withhold travel papers
to people facing legal cases, or for reasons of national security or
public interest.

The men were among the 75 activists jailed in the 2003 "black spring"
crackdown on dissent. While they were later freed, their release was
conditional and technically are still serving long sentences.

Mixed in with the mutual recriminations between Obama and Vidal were the
usual conditional affirmations of openness to dialogue.

In her rebuttal of Obama, Vidal says America "can always count on the
willingness of the people and government of Cuba to work to advance
bilateral relations."

Obama, in his Telemundo interview, said that he could foresee improved
ties during his second term if Cuba meets him half way.

___

Paul Haven on Twitter: www.twitter.com/paulhaven

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Original Source / Fuente Original:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuba-criticizes-president-obama-says-island-is-changing-while-us-policy-is-not/2013/02/01/b5deab52-6ca9-11e2-8f4f-2abd96162ba8_story.html