Micro Lenders

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Pope 1, Obama 0: LatAm United vs Cuba Embargo

Posted on 10:42 by Unknown
I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven - Mateo 18:18

Here's yet another example of how the gringos are unwelcome in their own backyard: A few weeks ago, I discussed the skillful diplomacy the Vatican has conducted over the years with the brothers Castro, culminating in Pope Benedict XVI's open-air mass attended by hundreds of thousands in late March. This is the same Fidel Castro, let it not be forgotten, who jailed (or worse) countless Catholic priests. But His emissary has loosed the chains in dealing with Cuba, even denouncing the antiquated US embargo on the island nation. As Cuba appears poised to re-enter the mainstream of the global community, then, there remains that significant obstacle--as if the Cold War never ended.

By contrast, a still very influential coterie of Cuban-Americans refuses to change hardline attitudes towards Cuba. In turn, their policy influence has ensured that folks like one Barack Obama must carry on the same old tune. So, while the media has had a tawdry fixation on the whoring of Secret Service agents, I have been more captivated by the wretched reception Obama has received at the Americas Summit. The real story with geopolitical significance is that, while seeking to drum up commerce, what Obama has actually reaped is nonstop criticism over Cuba. Even the more US-friendly Colombian hosts hate their treatment of Cuba:
Latin America's militant opposition to the decades-old U.S. isolation of communist Cuba put more pressure on President Barack Obama at the Americas Summit on Sunday and threatened to sink a final declaration...
For the first time, conservative U.S-allied nations like Colombia are throwing their weight behind the traditional demand of leftist governments that Cuba be in the next meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Diplomats said the dispute could block the final declaration planned for Sunday at the closing of the meeting, and originally intended as a hemispheric show of unity."The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, looking the other way, have been ineffective," summit host and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said of the Cuba issue.
There may not even be another representative Organization of American States (OAS) summit if the US does not change its ways. They promised redemption for Cuba but have no delivered. Already, the more left-leaning nations vow to boycott OAS events unless Cuba is given representation (it bears remembering who came up with the OAS in the first place):
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa boycotted the meeting over Cuba, and fellow leftist Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua also stayed at home. The leftist ALBA bloc of nations - including Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and some Caribbean nations - said they will not attend future summits without Cuba's presence.
So it has come down to this. The Monroe Doctrine folks are so washed up nowadays that they can't even cajole their neighbours into inking a declaration that does not mention Cuba. Overall, the trend seems to be of the Anglophone US and Canada splintering off from the Latin American nations in regional diplomacy. That is, the real gathering of the Americas may no longer include those presumptuous to name themselves and their country after two vast continents inhabited by others with clearly diverse cultures and opinions.

If you can't even pacify a rebellion against US-organized events in your own backyard, what chance do you have elsewhere? Don't forget either, dear heathens, that it's His will.
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in Latin America | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Today's Resource Curse on Aussie Surfboard Mfg
    Little surfer, little one, make my heart come all undone...with your"Made in China" surfboard? Is there nothing sacred about beach...
  • Yay! Our LSE IDEAS, World's 4th Best Uni Thinktank
    Well here's a nice bit of news concerning LSE IDEAS , the research centre I am associated with. The good folks at the University of Penn...
  • Globocop No More: United States After Unipolarity
    LSE IDEAS has been churning out special reports at such a furious pace that I almost forgot to mention this one concerning The United State...
  • Fake Diploma? Be Ecuador's Next CenBank Chief!
    Ah, Ecuador...the archetypal banana republic. For a country that supposedly loathes the United States via its leader Rafael Correa and his a...
  • Egypt and the Elusive Interest-Free IMF Loan
    Back in the 80s, I loved Aldo Nova's one-hit wonder " Fantasy ." Instead of treating it as a catchy tune and nothing more, I...
  • Commercialism & Christmas in Non-Christian Societies
    Thailand features Christmas elephants, f'rinstance Your Asian correspondent--obviously Catholic with a name like "Emmanuel"--h...
  • How Scuderia Ferrari Improved a Hospital ICU [!]
    Longtime readers will know from my blog FAQs that I am most excited about the field of IPE borrowing from different social science discipli...
  • Lamborghini Aventador, US-Subsidized Supercar
    Now for one of my occasional Robb Report impersonations--albeit with an IPE twist. (We've got style, baby.) In 1998, Lamborghini becam...
  • Patrice Lumumba Friendship University Revisited
    Younger readers probably don't know what the USSR's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University was, so a short introduction is required. ...
  • The Myth of the Inflexible Chinese Communist Party
    Some of you may be familiar with the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) that was created by the American congress in 2...

Categories

  • Africa
  • Agriculture
  • Americana
  • Anti-Globalization
  • APEC
  • Bretton Woods Twins
  • Caribbean
  • Casino Capitalism
  • Cheneynomics
  • China
  • Commodities
  • Credit Crisis
  • CSR
  • Culture
  • Currencies
  • Demography
  • Development
  • ds Twins
  • Economic Diplomacy
  • Economic History
  • Education
  • Egypt
  • Energy
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Europe
  • FDI
  • Gender Equality
  • Governance
  • Health
  • Hegemony
  • IMF
  • India
  • Innovation
  • Internet Governance
  • Japan
  • Labor
  • Latin America
  • Litigation
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Microfinance
  • Middle East
  • Migration
  • Mining
  • MNCs
  • Neoliberalism
  • Nonsense
  • Religion
  • Russia
  • Security
  • Service Announcement
  • Socialism
  • Soft Power
  • South Asia
  • South Korea
  • Southeast Asia
  • Sports
  • Supply Chain
  • Trade
  • Travel
  • Underground Economy
  • United Nations
  • World Bank

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (183)
    • ►  December (15)
    • ►  November (17)
    • ►  October (19)
    • ►  September (21)
    • ►  August (14)
    • ►  July (17)
    • ►  June (16)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (9)
    • ►  March (13)
    • ►  February (14)
    • ►  January (20)
  • ▼  2012 (242)
    • ►  December (21)
    • ►  November (25)
    • ►  October (15)
    • ►  September (17)
    • ►  August (20)
    • ►  July (16)
    • ►  June (17)
    • ►  May (21)
    • ▼  April (16)
      • Globalizing Bad Taste in Cars, BRICS+Beckham Edn
      • Bad Habits Die Hard: On USAID "Relaxing" Tied Aid
      • 6/365 Egyptian Lawmakers Vote for IMF Rescue
      • Fight-a-Bully: Philippine, PRC Territorial Disputes
      • Why LDCs Won't Give the IMF More Money
      • IMF's (Shocking?) Endorsement of Procyclicality
      • Lingo Wars: Urban Dictionary v Academie Francaise
      • EuroPissants: Should Germany [!] Leave Eurozone?
      • Pope 1, Obama 0: LatAm United vs Cuba Embargo
      • I Knew It: 61% of Treasuries Purchased by the Fed
      • Developmental Authoritarianism: Burma's Turn?
      • EuroNasty II: Carbon Taxes on Maritime Transport?
      • Palace Coup? World Bank Vets Pick Okonjo-Iweala
      • A Parisian in America: Comic Stylings of IMF's Lag...
      • Got Fission? Debating Nukes 4 Development
      • Money Talks? Bahrain GP Still On (Fortnight to Go)
    • ►  March (20)
    • ►  February (26)
    • ►  January (28)
  • ►  2011 (75)
    • ►  December (23)
    • ►  November (21)
    • ►  October (27)
    • ►  September (4)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile