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CUBA POLITICS SECTION - Havana Journal > US Embargo
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Maybe it is premature to declare the end of a US policy that is almost fifty years old but the Havana Journal is closely watching developments that appear to lay a path towards lifting the travel and/or trade Embargo against Cuba. We are listing events, although may not appear to be immediately related to changes in US Cuba policy, we think collectively the events below are related to the big picture of changing US Cuba policy.
We will update this article as events develop.
May 23, 2008: Presidential candidate Obama says he…
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AFP
The United States and Cuba will hold a second round of talks on migration issues in Havana at a yet undetermined date, a State Department spokesman said Monday.
“We are currently exploring dates that would work for both delegations to discuss the migration accords in Havana,” said Charles Luoma-Overstreet.
“This would be the second high-level meeting on migration issues during the Obama administration,” he added, referring to President Barack Obama’s stated intention of improving relations with Cuba’s communist regime.
An administration official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the second round of talks would take place next month.
The…
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BY RICHARD G. LUGAR and HOWARD L. BERMAN | lugar.senate.gov
U.S. law lets American citizens travel to any country on earth, friend or foe—with one exception: Cuba. It’s time for us to scrap this anachronistic ban, imposed during one of the chilliest periods of the Cold War.
Legislation to abolish restrictions on travel to Cuba has been introduced in both chambers of Congress. And on Thursday the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing examining the rationale for the travel ban.
This ban has prevented contact between Cubans and ordinary Americans, who serve as ambassadors for the…
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By DAVID GOLDSTEIN and LESLEY CLARK | McClatchy Washington Bureau
Republican Congressman Sam Graves, a farmer from a rural northwest Missouri congressional district, was once a consistent supporter of easing trade and travel restrictions on Cuba.
But a campaign watchdog group said he began accepting campaign contributions from an anti-Castro, pro-trade embargo political action group and eventually reversed field on Cuba.
Public Campaign, a nonpartisan, nonprofit reform group that backs public financing of campaigns, said in a report released today that Graves cast seven votes between 2003 and 2005 to…
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By LESLEY CLARK | McClatchy Newspapers
Opponents of opening Cuba to American tourists are touting a letter signed by 53 Democrats in the House of Representatives, saying it shows that they have the votes to derail an effort to lift the ban on travel to the island.
The letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urges the House leadership to maintain the current U.S. policy on Cuba, seeking to blunt the momentum that proponents of lifting the travel ban have claimed under a Democratic president and Democratic-led Congress.
“Any legislation that would seek to ease or lift sanctions ... would…
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Whither U.S.-Cuba Policy?
A Dialogue Between Policy Makers and Scholars
Opening Speakers: Senator John Kerry and Congressman Bill Delahunt
DATE: Friday, November 6, 2009
TIME: Guests to be seated by 1.15pm; Talk begins at 1.30pm
PLACE: Boston University Trustees Ballroom (9th Floor), 1 Silber Way (formerly 1 Sherborn Street), Boston, MA 02215
The conference will begin with opening speeches from Senator Kerry and Congressman Delahunt, which will be followed by a set of panel discussions on the future of U.S - Cuba relations featuring Jorge Dominguez, Mark Entwistle,…
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By Sebastian Smith | AFP
The UN General Assembly called overwhelmingly Wednesday on US President Barack Obama’s administration to end Washington’s Cold War-era trade embargo against Cuba.
This was the 18th year running that the UN General Assembly condemned US trade restrictions on the communist-ruled island.
The non-binding vote was backed by 187 countries, ranging from Latin American neighbors of Cuba to members of the European Union and other close US allies.
Only Israel and tiny Palau supported the United States, while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.
The margin of opposition to the US embargo has grown steadily since…
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BY JUAN O. TAMAYO | El Nuevo Herald
A powerful campaign to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba is rumbling through Congress, with both backers and opponents predicting eventual victory and a Cuban-American Senator holding a key vote.
Approval of the measures would have a profound impact on U.S.-Cuba relations, unleashing an estimated one million American tourists to visit the island and undermining White House control of policy toward Havana.
``There would be an explosion of contacts between Americans and Cubans . . . that would almost overshadow what the two governments are doing,’‘ said Phil Peters, a Cuba…
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CaliforniaChronicle.com
Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D – CA), and Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (GAO-09-951R), which they requested from the GAO, which outlines the steps President Obama and Congress can take to bring an end to the failed U.S. embargo of Cuba.
“It is our hope that this GAO report (on the Cuban Embargo) will serve as a road map to finally reject a failed and outdated policy that has not resulted in any advances for the Cuban or American people,” Rangel said.…
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By MATTHEW LEE and PAUL HAVEN | The Associated Press
A senior American diplomat has held unannounced, high-level talks in Havana with the Cuban government, three State Department officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday, raising hopes for a thaw in long-icy relations.
The talks were the first of their kind in years between representatives of the U.S. and Cuban governments, the bitter Cold War rivals among whom trust appears to be gradually building.
Bisa Williams, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez, visited an area affected by…
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