Obama: The Circus That Went To Cuba

Cuban dissidents rounded up as Obama’s arrival snubbed by Castro bros - Raul Castro did not greet President Obama and his family at the Havana airport on Sunday afternoon. For the record, President Gerardo Machado did meet President Coolidge duringt he presidential visit of 1928. He also met the Pope and other heads of state who have visited the island, such as President Hollande of France.   In other words, Raul can get a ride to the airport if he really wants to go meet the visitor!  Castro made a couple of points about President Obama and the U.S.-Cuba relationship by staying home on Sunday afternoon:

1) He does not respect Obama; and,

2) It was Obama, not Castro, who was desperate to make this trip happen.

 

We've been asking a simple question for months: What's the point of this trip? We got the answer on Sunday. It was President Obama who really wanted this.Jeb Babbin got it right yesterday:.....Read more

Raul to BO: I've got a few minutes Monday morning for - Prior to President Obama’s arrival in Havana yesterday, Cuban authorities actually cracked down on dissidents.  Alan Gomez in USA Today:

Just hours before President Obama landed Sunday in Cuba for his historic visit to the communist island, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 dissidents who were marching to demand improved human rights. Members of the group, known as the Ladies in White, are used to the routine. They march each Sunday after Mass at a church in a suburb of Havana called Miramar and usually get arrested and detained for hours or days.Some in the group thought Cuban authorities would back off this Sunday out of respect for Obama's visit. Berta Soler, one of the founding members who has been marching since 2003, said while walking to the church Sunday morning that maybe they would be allowed to protest without getting arrested. "Everything looks good so far," she said.  Despite dozens of international reporters in town for Obama's trip, the group was quickly rounded up in buses and police cars.

The treatment was brutal, as Jonathan Watts reported in the leftist Guardian:  Read More

My Take - Presidential historian Douglas Brinkly claims Obama's trip to Cuba is as important as Nixon's trip to China.  Horse pucky!  If for no other reason - both wanted the trip, it wasn't some stupid ego pumping clabber as this is.  Obama once again demonsrates why Jimmy Carter must love him.  Now Carter won't be the dumbest President to ever occupy the White House. 

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• Cruz: Obama's Cuba Trip Signals Abandonment of Political Prisoners
• Obama Proudly Labels Cuba Visit 'Historic'