Archive for the ‘Russia’ Category
Cuban-American Travel Restrictions Lifted - Long-Range Bombers May be Based in Cuba
According to the Miami Herald, Bush era Cuban-American travel restrictions have all but ended.
Cuban Americans are now free to visit relatives on the island once a year and stay as long as they like, using a new license issued by the Obama administration. The rules now allow:
- A trip every 12 months with a general license that does not require an application process.
- Passengers wanting to travel again within the same year can apply for ‘’specific licenses.” Approval will be given case by case.
- A broader definition of who qualifies as family and can be visited.
- A per diem spending of $179.
Russia Considers Cuban Air Bases for Long-Range Bomber
As if we need another reason to move forward in normalizing relations with Cuba, General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force’s strategic aviation is considering placing air bases for Tu-160 bombers in Cuba. According to AFP:
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday.
“This is possible in Cuba,” General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force’s strategic aviation staff, told the Interfax-AVN military news agency.
The comments were the latest signal that Moscow intends to project its military capability in far-flung corners of the globe despite a tight defence budget and hardware that experts consider in many respects outdated.
Will President Obama Squander an Opportunity with Cuba
Will the United States squander another opportunity to allow the Cuban people to get a taste of freedom? Today Raul Castro arrived in Moscow for an eight day visit with Russian leaders to discuss increasing economic ties and the “situation in the Caribbean”.
It’s time for President Obama to act boldly and move forward in normalizing Cuban-American relations, otherwise Russia will again get a foot-hold in Cuba and maybe other nations Caribbean too.
Cuba Briefs: Latin America Blast Embargo, Russian Navy Visits, Cuba Offers Prisoner Swap
Latin American leaders blasted the US embargo while welcoming Cuba into the Rio Group:
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he hopes Obama will end the embargo. He says it no longer makes political or economic sense.
Cuba recently extended an olive branch by offering to release jailed political dissidents:
Answering a reporter’s question about political prisoners in Cuba, Castro said he would consider releasing some as a gesture to opening talks with the new administration. But he said the U.S. would need to reciprocate by freeing the so-called “Cuban Five,” who were convicted in 2001.
As Putie-Pute continues his communist quest for influence in Cuba by sending Russian Navy Ships, the Bush administration dead-enders near their last days. Their propaganda machine feels the need one last time to spew their hate for the Cuban people by giving a litany of failures of reasons for the embargo.
US Should Fill the Vacuum Before Our Old Nemesis
Power vacuums; why are they always filled by worst element? Take the aftermath of the Iraq War, we were unprepared for governing and Al Qaida filled the Sunni vacuum and the Iranian financed Muqtada al-Sadr filled the Shia vacuum. It took lots of blood, treasure and time to get us back on track.
And Vladimir Putin is no dummy, he sees the new opportunities in Cuba, so he’s moving a group of warships to visit his old pals:
A group of Russian warships will from December 19-23 visit the Communist island of Cuba, a long-time adversary of the United States and Moscow’s ally in the Cold War, the Russian navy said on Monday.
“This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the Soviet era,” the Russian naval headquarters said in a statement.
The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two other ships will visit Havana in what the navy described as a “significant practical step towards strengthening and developing ties between the two states’ navies.”