Thursday, February 28, 2013

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The old order changeth.

1.  A new vice-president in Cuba.
(Happening now)

2.  The more things change, the more they stay the same?
(From 2009)

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Raul Castro Regime

Havana Times has this analysis of Cuba under Raul Castro's administration.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I wrote the prior post the day before I left for Boston to begin a long-planned trip with our grandson, Cameron, who graduated from high school in Rochester, NH in June.  We began talking about such a trip a few years, but it became a commitment about two years ago, and we began planning the particulars early this year.

We wrote about that adventure together in our joint blog called Cam And Bobs Euro Trip, regularly and often at first, more sporadically later.  It tailed off on October 16 to zilch even though we had five days of Europe left to go through before heading home.

I returned to Key West alone on October 22.  I was gone for 47 days in all and I thought little about what I had been doing before I left.  Oh, I read the Key West newspapers, and kept up with some e-mails, and visited FaceBook to post photos, as did Cameron.  We even used Skype sometimes to keep in touch with friends and family through audio and video chats.  But we tried to live in what some people call the here and now, the things that were in front of us rather than the things back home.

Since coming back to Key West I've been embroiled in matters having to do with the land trust of which I have been a board member for the past six years.

Follow up on Cuba Visit

The Boston Globe reports on the aftermath of the Congressional visit to Cuba.

This is the Wikipedia report on the Alan Gross affair.

And here's a report on the Cuban Five.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

CUBA STUDY GROUP

"vii) Authorize the Reestablishment of Ferry Services to Cuba: Current U.S. regulations allow both “aircraft and vessels” to serve Cuba as an exception to the U.S. embargo against the Island.xxii The use of chartered aircrafts to transport Cuban-Americans and other licensed U.S. travelers to and from Cuba has long been authorized by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The next step should be to reestablish safe and secure chartered ferry services to transport the same categories of passengers to and from Cuba. Ferry service offers an affordable alternative to airline travel to Cuba and would allow an increase in the amount of goods that Cuban-Americans and other licensed travelers may legally take to Cuba to support their families and micro entrepreneurs."
I've mentioned the Cuba Study Group before.  The paragraph above is from their latest post, entitled Restoring Executive Authority Over U.S. Policy Toward Cuba.

The web site also includes another white paper titled Lifting Restrictions on Travel and Remittances to Cuba:A Case for Unilateral Action.  First released in December 2008, the white paper begins with this:

The Cuba Study Group recommends that the United States unilaterally lift all restrictions that limit the ability of U.S. persons (citizens and residents) to travel to Cuba. We also recommend the elimination of restrictions on remittances to Cuba in order to authorize all U.S. persons to freely and without limitations send remittances to individuals on the island, with sensible exceptions. We believe such steps are not only consistent with the values of the United States, but also that they will allow U.S. nationals to help the long-suffering people of Cuba and will strengthen the internal pro-democracy movement.   

It was a good idea in 2008, and it still is today.

An Opening?

Reading the signals:

1)  Raul Castro meets with US senators

2)  Seven Steps the U.S. President Can Take to Promote Change in Cuba by Adapting the Embargo 

3)  Restoring Executive Authority Over U.S. Policy Toward Cuba

It feels like something might be up.