BARACUTEY CUBANO

Nota del Bloguista de Baracutey Cubano

Al leer los´nombres de los  firmantes y las responsabilidades que han tenido nos podemos dar cuenta de las razones de algunas acciones erradas de EE.UU.  hacia la tiranía de los Castro en Cuba; con esos amigos  no hacen falta enemigos  para la causa de la liberación y democratización de Cuba.

Solicitud para que el presidente Obama apoye la sociedad civil independiente en Cuba (Detlle).

Debate entre el ex preso político Luis Zúñiga Reyes y el banquero Carlos Saladrigas sobre carta de  ex funcionarios y otras personas destacadas de EE.UU.   sobre carta al Presidente Obsama para que SUPUESTAMENTE apoye la sociedad civil cubana.

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Tomado de http://www.voanoticias.com

 Exfuncionarios piden aliviar embargo a Cuba

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En una carta abierta al presidente Obama, exfuncionarios de ambos partidos, analistas y empresarios piden mejorar la relación con los cubanos.

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Voz de América - Redacción

19.05.2014

Unos cuarenta ex altos cargos políticos y militares en gobiernos demócratas y republicanos, analistas y empresarios destacados han difundido una carta abierta en la que piden al presidente Barack Obama suavizar el embargo a Cuba.

Las peticiones son muy similares a las que han hecho organizaciones de cubanoestadounidenses en el pasado, pero en este caso el reclamo viene de voces muy autorizadas, algunas de ellas hasta con responsabilidad reciente en el gobierno de Obama y con alto conocimiento y experiencia de la relación de EE.UU, Cuba y Latinoamérica.

Entre los firmantes hay exintegrantes de las administraciones de Obama, Bush hijo, Clinton y Bush padre. Sobresalen, entre otros, John Negroponte, un ex director de inteligencia, y Arturo Valenzuela, ex responsable del Departamento de Estado para el Hemisferio Occidental.

La carta huye del “debate ideológico” y le pide a Obama “acciones específicas” que puede aprobar mediante órdenes ejecutivas, esquivando al Congreso.

Entre la lista de peticiones se encuentran: expandir los viajes a Cuba, aumentar el apoyo a la sociedad civil, priorizar la relación en áreas de interés, aumentar las exportaciones e importaciones, y flexibilizar la venta de material de telecomunicaciones.

Los firmantes sostienen que Obama tiene una “oportunidad sin precedentes”, pero le advierten que esa “ventana de oportunidad” puede cerrarse y que Estados Unidos se está quedando, cada vez más, aislado internacionalmente en su relación con la isla.

Los senadores Patrick Leahy yJeff Flake, demócrata y republicano respectivamente, encabezan desde el Senado un esfuerzo incipiente en favor de un mayor acercamiento bipartidista con La Habana, pero las posibilidades de que una medida así sea aprobada en el Congreso es mínima por el momento.

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Tomada de http://www.martinoticias.com

 Cubanos reaccionan sobre la carta enviada a Obama

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Carta abierta al presidente Obama en la que se le pide tome medidas ejecutivas para ampliar "los cambios ya en marcha" en la relación con Cuba, provoca reacciones encontradas dentro y fuera de Cuba.

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 mayo 19, 2014

La carta enviada al presidente estadounidense Barack Obama por varias personalidades de la diáspora cubana para que éste tome medidas ejecutivas para ampliar la flexibilización de las sanciones al régimen de la isla ha provocado reacciones encontradas dentro y fuera de Cuba.

Al respecto, en el programa de Radio Martí Cuba al Día, Tomas Cardoso y Cary Roque conversaron con uno de los firmantes de esta carta, Marcelino Miyares, del Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Cuba y radicado en Miami, y con el periodista independiente Leonardo Rodríguez, quien habló desde la provincia de Artemisa, en Cuba.

La carta es apoyada por el Cuba Study Group CSG y el Consejo de las Américas, y reconoce los avances del Gobierno estadounidense para abrir los viajes a las familias cubanoamericanas y ampliar las remesas, pero le anima a que dé un paso más en un momento en el que señalan que la opinión pública es favorable a un acercamiento.

Marcelino Miyares, activista residente en Miami, aseguró que el documento es una agenda para el cambio entre cubanos.

Marcelino Miyares

Los firmantes sugieren que se extienda un permiso generalizado de viaje que incluya intercambios de organizaciones profesionales, incluidas aquellas especializadas en derecho, sector inmobiliario, servicios financieros y de crédito y cualquier área orientada a apoyar la "actividad económica independiente".

Leonardo Rodríguez, residente en Cuba, dijo que es absolutamente falso que el documento dirigido a Obama vaya a arrebatarle al régimen cubano la agenda, puesto que la agenda del régimen cubano no es otra que mantener en el poder por la fuerza y a toda costa.

Leonardo Rodríguez

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Tomado de http://www.as-coa.or

(Haciendo click en el enlace puede conocer a los firmantes)

Open Letter to President Obama: Support Civil Society in Cuba

May 19, 2014

Dear Mr. President,

Your administration has taken several important steps to support the Cuban people by opening travel for Cuban-American families, expanding remittances, and enabling purposeful travel for more Americans. Those policies have fostered direct contacts between the United States and the Cuban people, provided a lifeline for average Cubans, and empowered Cuban civil society. As a result, Cuban society and U.S. society are sharing more information and are more connected today than in the past fifty years.

Now more than ever the United States can help the Cuban people determine their own destiny by building on the U.S. policy reforms that have already been started. Such efforts would seek to provide openings and opportunities to support the Cuban people in their day-to-day economic activities, and in their desire to connect openly with each other and the outside world and to support the broad spectrum of civil society, independent, non-state organizations created to further individual economic and social needs irrespective of political orientation. Doing so not only promises to deepen the contacts between the U.S. and Cuban society, it will also help Cubans increase their self-reliance and independence. 

But timing matters and this window of opportunity may not remain open indefinitely. At the same time, the U.S. is finding itself increasingly isolated internationally in its Cuba policy. In the current political climate little can be done legislatively, but the Obama Administration has an unprecedented opportunity to usher in significant progress using its executive authority at a time when public opinion on Cuba policy has shifted toward greater engagement with the Cuban people while continuing to pressure the Cuban government on human rights.

The undersigned members—individuals from the private sector, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and foundations— acknowledge and appreciate the steps you have taken to improve U.S. – Cuban relations. We further propose the following recommendations that you, Mr. President, can take through executive authority to deepen the changes already underway by giving greater freedom to private organizations and individuals to directly and indirectly serve as catalysts for meaningful change in Cuba.

Download a PDF of the letter.

. Expand and safeguard travel to Cuba for all Americans

a. Expand general licensed travel to include exchanges by professional organizations, including those specializing in law, real estate and land titling, financial services and credit, hospitality, and any area defined as supporting independent economic activity.

b. Expand travel by general license for NGOs and academic institutions and allow them to open Cuban bank accounts with funds to support their educational programs in Cuba.

c. Authorize U.S. travelers to Cuba to have access to U.S.-issued pre-paid cards and other financial services—including travelers’ insurance—to expand possibilities for commerce with independent entrepreneurs and safeguard people-to-people travel.

2. Increase support for Cuban civil society

a. Allow unlimited remittances to non-family members for the purpose of supporting independent activity in Cuba and expand the types of goods that travelers may legally take to the Island to support micro-entrepreneurs.

b. Establish new licenses for the provision of professional services to independent Cuban entrepreneurs.

c. Authorize the import and export of certain goods and services between the U.S. private sector and independent Cuban entrepreneurs.

d. Allow U.S. NGOs and other organizations to lend directly to small farmers, cooperatives, self-employed individuals, and micro-enterprises in Cuba.

e. Permit family remittances to be used as credits or equities in Cuban micro-enterprises and small farms.

f. Allow U.S. academic institutions to issue scholarships for exceptional Cuban students.

g. Allow for Cuban entrepreneurs to participate in internships in U.S. corporations and NGOs.

h. Promote agricultural exchange studies between U.S.-based NGOs and private cooperative farms in Cuba.

i. Authorize the sale of telecommunications hardware in Cuba, including cell towers, satellite dishes, and handsets.

j. Authorize general travel licenses for the research, marketing and sale of telecommunications equipment.

k. Authorize telecommunications hardware transactions to be conducted through general license in the same manner as existing transactions for agricultural products.

3. Prioritize principled engagement in areas of mutual interest

a. The Obama Administration should engage in serious discussions with Cuban counterparts on mutual security and humanitarian concerns, such as national security, migration, drug interdiction, and the environment, among others. The United States should leverage these talks to press Cuban officials on matters such as the release of Alan Gross and on-going human rights concerns.

4. The Obama Administration should take steps to assure financial institutions that they are authorized to process all financial transactions necessary and incident to all licensed activities.

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Tomado de http://www.capitolhillcubans.com/

The Council of the Americas' Derelict Cuba Letter

Monday, May 19, 2014

This morning, the Council of the Americas released an open letter to President Obama lobbying him to bypass Congress in easing travel and financial sanctions towards Cuba.

A few observations regarding this letter:

1. Policy is not made in a vacuum. It's mind-boggling how this letter purposefully ignores major issues in Cuba policy, including the Castro regime's three-fold rise in political arrests during the last couple of years; its illegal weapons smuggling to North Korea; its subversion of democracy in Venezuela; and its taking of an American hostage to extort the U.S.

2. U.S. policy toward Cuba was specifically codified into law by the Congress. Yet, this letter is asking the Obama Administration to ease sanctions toward the Castro dictatorship by circumventing the rule of law.

3. This is a low information letter - full of theories, void of facts. The entire premise of this letter is that it seeks to help so-called "independent entrepreneurs" in Cuba. They use the terms "independent entrepreneurs," "micro-enterprise" and "self-employed individuals" inter-changeably and loosely. Yet, they don't define them. Who are the "independent entrepreneurs" they are talking about? What qualifies as an "independent entrepreneur"? Is it someone with a "self-employment" license? Licensees have no ownership rights -- property or intellectual. Moreover, they only have a license to perform a service -- there's no legal entity owned by them. The underlying owner is the regime. So who would the financial transactions they propose be with? The regime, which would then "trickle-them-down"? Click here for more on this issue.

4. It ignores a basic historic premise.  History has proven that the Castro regime only eases economic control when forced to, not as a "good-will" measure. That's what happened in the 1990s, when it was forced to create "self-employment licenses" as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, but then reverted and pulled the licenses once the Cuban economy stabilized -- courtesy of Chavez's oil in 1998 and the Clinton Administration's easing of sanctions in 1999-2000. This letter is (once again) reacting to Castro's bait.

5. There's an easier, legal and less costly alternative. The Obama Administration doesn't have to circumvent U.S. law to help "independent entrepreneurs" in Cuba. Rather than opening a financial spigot for the Castro regime, simply require all current U.S. travelers to stay at "casa particulares" and "paladares" -- "self-employed licensees" who rent rooms and host diners at their homes -- during their visits to Cuba. Currently, every single U.S. "people-to-people" traveler stays at a Cuban military-owned 4 and 5 star hotel and dines at its restaurants.  Thus, the biggest financial beneficiary of current U.S. travel to Cuba is the Castro regime's tourism conglomerates. Let's change this twisted dynamic. Click here for more on this alternative.