Kerry backs embargo and easing Cuba travel

[Feanorcurufinwe]

John Kerry reiterated his support Wednesday for easing travel restrictions to Cuba, a stance that puts him sharply at odds with President Bush -- who is expected today to embrace calls for even more controls.

Kerry's remarks, made in his first national Hispanic TV interview, came as he faces criticism for what some Democrats say is a dearth of Hispanics and other minorities in his campaign's inner circle and a lackluster effort to woo Hispanics, a key voting bloc in several battleground states, including Florida.

But softening the travel ban to Cuba could fare poorly with Cuban Americans, who have called for even greater barriers against Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In the interview, taped in California where Kerry marked the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo by rapping Bush's education policies at a mostly Hispanic high school, Univisión network anchor Jorge Ramos said Kerry supports the economic embargo against Castro, but backs increased travel as a means of hastening democracy.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8600828.htm

[mitchtv]

1. yes and no

I voted for it beforeI voted against it. He's not gonna get any Cuban Am votes any way so why bother following the misleader. The farmers want to drop the embargo along with manufacturers( you know -jobs?), How many jobs will the Cub-ams supply?. Why in hell is he supporting this kind of BS.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. Are you saying

that Kerry should change his position simply to pander for votes?

[mitchtv]

7. No , I'm saying he's pandering to the wrong group

nothing would bring Castro down faster than levi's and Chevy's.

[RafterMan]

3. It could also help with some Cuban Americans

The article mentions that a new Bush proposal would increase restrictions on travel to Cuba by Cuban Americans -- if they didn't want to go, why would we need new laws to restrict them?

The travel restriction is pointless and offensive, and I'm glad to see Kerry showing some spine by taking a stand against it.

[StephNW4Clark]

4. Why Kerry may be poised to do well with Cuban-American voters

Relying on the assumption that Cuban-Americans in Miami are monolithically conservative was part of Gore's mistake. In fact, the Cuban exiles are not, as a rule, conservatives. More often than not, they champion social issues linked to Democrats: support for Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug benefits, and bilingual education. They tend to be pro-choice and concerned about environmental issues. The Cuban connection to the Republican Party has hung mainly on one issue: support for a non-engagement policy with Cuba going back to Eisenhower. But there is also a lingering bitterness at Democrats over President Kennedy's refusal to provide air cover during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
But this passion is not shared by younger and newer arrivals from Cuba -- who now form a majority. About 60 percent of Cuban-Americans in the United States arrived after the 1980 Mariel Boat exodus. According to two recent polls, one conducted by Florida International University and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the other by Bendixen & Associates, this group tends to view themselves primarily as economic, not political refugees. For them, family comes first, then issues of freedom in Cuba. Unlike the first wave of exiles, these more recent immigrants reject any policy of confrontation with the island that could bring harm or added hardship to their families still in Cuba. High on their agenda is unfettered travel to Cuba, along with the ability to send unlimited cash to their families. (Some estimate that $1 billion annually is sent to Cuba.) True, they do not turn out to vote as strongly as first-wave exiles, but they make up one-third of the Cuban-American vote.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/001667.html

[Vogon_Glory]

5. Hard Right Cuban Exiles and Kerry

The hard right Cuban exiles, the ones who vote reflexively Republican, aren't going to vote for John Kerry anyway. The Cuban emigres who are likely to vote for Kerry are the ones who have made lives for themselves here in the US or who still have relatives on the island who would be hurt by the Boosh regime's latest proposals for tightening the embargo.

I'm glad that someone is standing up for the freedom to travel for American citizens, even if we don't have that freedom written into our constitution the way I believe that the Mexicans have written into their.

[Monte Carlo]

6. I find this encouraging.

Hopefully someone will ignore the extra-chromosone Cuban refugee crowd in Florida for long enough to realize the U.S. embargo of Cuba is a failure. If it hasn't gotten Castro out of power in 50 years, chances are it won't work at all. Democracy flows through open borders, not walls.

I realize Kerry may have to take a compromised position if he hopes to win against Bush, but I'm glad that hasn't stopped him from taking a step or two in the right direction.

[madfloridian]

8. I think this is good.

Not all of this community are so hard line on it. The ones who are will vote Bush no matter what. I don't think this will hurt him, and it might help him.