Saturday, June 29, 2013

More signs of change in U.S. Cuba policy???

Third item on the possible change in U.S. policy toward Cuba since Sec. of State John Kerry took over the helm. Cuba should no longer be designated a state sponsor of terrorism was the first back in March. The second was bilateral talks on direct mail and now the State Dept. confirmed  that U.S. and Cuban officials will meet  to resume long-suspended talks on migration. State Dept. said that the talks do not represent a change in U.S. policy toward the island. “Obama administration officials  have said repeatedly that there can be no significant improvement in bilateral relations until Alan Gross is freed.  Havana has offered to swap him for four convicted Cuban spies in U.S. prisons, but Washington has rejected that deal.” Alan Gross,  an American Jewish subcontractor  for the U.S. government who was jailed in 2009 and later convicted  for entering the country as part of a USAID team distributing  communications equipment  to the island’s Jewish community . Gross was sentenced to fifteen years in a Cuban jail. Organizations, such as the American Jewish Committee, have called on Cuba to release Gross on humanitarian grounds. Check out my chapter on Cuba in “The Scattered Tribe,” (Globe Pequot Press). http://amzn.to/J3Z47T Blog at www.bengfrank.blogspot.com “I Travel the World.” Follow me on twitter @bengfrank   
 

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