Summit of the Americas

[kounty]

of course we trinis hold this summit so dear to our hearts as we hosted the last one (Fifth) and smile and had a good time. Chavez shake Obama hand and give him the special book: "Open Veins of Latin America".   But as I always ask my father when I talkin to him - Trinis believe in anything? Trinis will ever really stand for anything? When it all said and done I sure trinis will be at the front talking bout how much we always supported cuba...but only when it all said and done.

Ecuador's president to skip Summit of the Americas
ReutersBy Alexandra Valencia | Reuters – Mon, Apr 2, 2012
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Monday he will not attend this month's Summit of the Americas in Colombia, nor any other gathering that excludes Cuba or fails to address what he calls the region's most pressing issues.

So far, Correa is South America's only left-leaning leader to confirm he will not attend the summit, which begins on April 14 in Cartagena. Leaders from 34 countries, including U.S. President Barack Obama, are expected to be there.

"After some reflection I have decided that while I am the president of Ecuador, I will not attend any Summit of the Americas until it begins to make the decisions required," Correa said in a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.

"There has been talk of lack of consensus, but we all know that this is the veto of foreign powers, the intolerable situation in our 21st century America," said the letter, which was read aloud by a spokesman at Ecuador's presidential palace.

Santos has said the issue of Cuba's exclusion, and Cuba's position in general, will be discussed at the summit.

The United States has said Cuba should not be invited because it is not a member of the Organization of American States, which is backing the event.

.. more

I also like this quote from another article:
http://news.yahoo.com/fidel-castro-mocks-obama-over-guayabera-diplomacy-164935451.html
The United States and Canada have opposed Cuba's participation in the meeting, which brings together 34 heads of state and government to discuss regional cooperation and a reduction of physical barriers to integration.

[Bakes]

We tend to lionize Castro looking on from the outside, but many Cubans/Cuban-Americans will tell you otherwise.

[kounty]

We tend to lionize Castro looking on from the outside, but many Cubans/Cuban-Americans will tell you otherwise.

your comment remind me of this: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-suspend-ozzie-guillen-5-142857607--mlb.html... but let me not get caught in the personification of cuba into castro. As a trinidadian, what am I supporting? How do I deal with cuba? what policy do I support? is there anything I vehemently oppose? or am I perpetually going to sit on the side and wait for the outcome.

[Bakes]

We tend to lionize Castro looking on from the outside, but many Cubans/Cuban-Americans will tell you otherwise.

your comment remind me of this: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-suspend-ozzie-guillen-5-142857607--mlb.html... but let me not get caught in the personification of cuba into castro. As a trinidadian, what am I supporting? How do I deal with cuba? what policy do I support? is there anything I vehemently oppose? or am I perpetually going to sit on the side and wait for the outcome.

It is precisely with Guillen's comments as a backdrop that I said what I said.  I have long held somewhat similar sentiments as Guillen.  That is decidedly a product of our hemispheric bias.  Make it worse ah cyah stand dem SoFla Cubans.  However Dan LeBatard make a very very compelling statement in the wake of the latest imbroglio.  His father is an emigre and he said that while for him and the younger generation it's not a big deal... for the older folks there's no brooking talk of supporting Castro.  We tend to think of those displaced post-Revolution as rich property holders, but what LeBatard said is that for many of the older generations, they were the ones chased thru the streets with chains by the Castro secret police, imprisoned and tortured.  They lost relatives to the same and who had friends and family on the firing squad.

I think these are the stories that tend to get lost in the reactionary rush to 'support' Castro.  And incidentally, by sheer force of his personality you cannot avoid "the personification of cuba into castro".

[kounty]

We tend to lionize Castro looking on from the outside, but many Cubans/Cuban-Americans will tell you otherwise.

your comment remind me of this: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-suspend-ozzie-guillen-5-142857607--mlb.html... but let me not get caught in the personification of cuba into castro. As a trinidadian, what am I supporting? How do I deal with cuba? what policy do I support? is there anything I vehemently oppose? or am I perpetually going to sit on the side and wait for the outcome.

It is precisely with Guillen's comments as a backdrop that I said what I said.  I have long held somewhat similar sentiments as Guillen.  That is decidedly a product of our hemispheric bias.  Make it worse ah cyah stand dem SoFla Cubans.  However Dan LeBatard make a very very compelling statement in the wake of the latest imbroglio.  His father is an emigre and he said that while for him and the younger generation it's not a big deal... for the older folks there's no brooking talk of supporting Castro.  We tend to think of those displaced post-Revolution as rich property holders, but what LeBatard said is that for many of the older generations, they were the ones chased thru the streets with chains by the Castro secret police, imprisoned and tortured.  They lost relatives to the same and who had friends and family on the firing squad.

I think these are the stories that tend to get lost in the reactionary rush to 'support' Castro.  And incidentally, by sheer force of his personality you cannot avoid "the personification of cuba into castro".

so the question would be what numbers fall into that latter category. Does it warrant the prolonged collective punishment of the people of cuba? (castro). I think I have been here long enough to finally figure out how this US foreign policy thing works: That Florida is an important state (almost swing?) for the elections and so these So Fla cubans basically dictate cuba policy - right or wrong (cuz they could potentially determine the outcome of the whole election if you piss them off).  same way the Zionists dictate US policy on .... almost everything in the middle east.  I get that. But really though, Trinidad's reality is nothing like that.  what if anything is driving our policy?

[kounty]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/14/world/americas/colombia-summit-secret-service/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Secret Service agents relieved of duty in Colombia amid alleged misconduct
From Dan Lothian, CNN White House Correspondent

    An undisclosed number of Secret Service agents are sent home, an official says
    The Secret Service declines to identify the nature of the misconduct allegations
    The Washington Post reports the accusations relate to prostitution

Cartagena, Colombia (CNN) -- Secret Service agents sent to Colombia ahead of President Barack Obama have been relieved of duty and returned home amid allegations of misconduct, officials said.

The incident in Cartagena was one of two security issues -- the other involved bomb blasts -- that overshadowed the start of the sixth Summit of the Americas, where the president was to focus on trade, energy and regional security with 33 of the region's 35 leaders.

The president arrived in the coastal resort city Friday, a visit that will mark the most time a U.S. president has spent in that country, where security concerns had limited previous presidential trips.

Within hours of the president's arrival, an undisclosed number of Secret Service agents were relieved of duty and replaced, said Edwin Donovan, an agency spokesman.

"There have been allegations of misconduct made against the Secret Service in Cartagena, Colombia, prior to the president's trip," Donovan said in a statement.

"Because of this, those personnel are being relieved of their assignments, returned to their place of duty, and are being replaced by other Secret Service personnel. The Secret Service takes all allegations of misconduct seriously."

Donovan declined to identify the nature of the alleged misconduct, saying only the mater was being turned over to the agency's internal affairs.

But Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, told The Washington Post that the accusations relate to at least one agent having involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena. 

CNN could not immediately confirm the claim.

Amid the reports that Secret Service agents were being replaced, two small blasts occurred nearly back-to-back in Cartagena.

The explosions, one near a bus station and another near a shopping mall, occurred well away from where the world leaders were gathering for the start of the summit, said Alberto Cantihho Toncell, a spokesman for the Colombia National Police.

There were no casualties, and only minor damage was reported, Toncell said.

The explosions came on the heels of a similar one earlier in the day near the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Bogota, authorities said.

The blasts were a reminder of the violence that has gripped Colombia as it battled powerful cocaine drug cartels. Violence has significantly fallen off in recent years as the Bogota government, aided by U.S. extradition efforts, has successfully picked apart the cartels.

[Swima]

                       what if anything is driving our policy?                                 

Money! Legitimate and otherwise!

[Conquering Lion]

                       what if anything is driving our policy?                                 

Money! Legitimate and otherwise!

So if we take that stance is Cuba then an untapped market that is soon to embrace the free market?

[Swima]

                       what if anything is driving our policy?                                 

Money! Legitimate and otherwise!

So if we take that stance is Cuba then an untapped market that is soon to embrace the free market?

Remember under Ken Valley we tried, and even provided an unprofitable air link which began the sinking of BWIA.