Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RIODEJANEIRO91
2009-04-20 20:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Cable title:
JORNAL DO BRASIL, OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US AND CUBA
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHRI #0091 1102037 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 202037Z APR 09 FM AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4838 INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1155 RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO PRIORITY 5247 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
UNCLAS RIO DE JANEIRO 000091
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD XM XR BR
SUBJECT: JORNAL DO BRASIL, OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US AND CUBA
OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US AND CUBA
Editorial in April 19 issue of center left Jornal do Brasil (page
A8) states: "The statement was so surprising that it took
international diplomacy off guard. The simple confession of errors
by the Cuban President... To admit that officers of the Cuban regime
are human beings who make mistakes is far from the
habitual...justifications for excesses during the eternal battle
against so-called capitalist imperialism. Raul Castro's statement at
the Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad and Tobago, was received
with a relative endorsement by the USG, which made it a condition
for a window of dialogue for a series of initiatives and political
openings demanded from Havana. It was not a gesture consistent with
what has been said by a leader of a country conflagrated by decades
of isolation, especially when globalization is advancing - an era in
which China has already shown the way for [economic] opening without
changing the political model.
While Ral Castro said that Cuba and the U.S. could talk as equals,
President Barack Obama made it clear that there are those that are
more equal than others. The White House spokesperson mentioned the
release of political prisoners in Cuba, more free press and freedom
of speech, in addition to the end of screening of mail from people
who send money to relatives as important indicators of how true
Castro's intentions are. This remark, despite sounding like a sign
of arrogance by the U.S., is a careful move to pave an approach
without hostile acts or internal sabotage. There is an important and
powerful community who could lose it all if the economic embargo to
the regime was halted as a result of a negotiation initiated by a
confession of weakness. The anti-Castroists who live in Miami became
such a powerful domestic force...the invasion of the Bay of Pigs
showed the size of this movement. They would be the sharks
inspecting the foundations of this new bridge.
It is necessary to dismantle such a scenario with extreme caution,
and this is why the U.S. cited conditions without making them
formal, despite already loosening the ties for everyday practices -
measures such as reducing restrictions for traveling from the U.S.
to the Caribbean island, as well as money transfers, which were
prohibited by former President George W. Bush. It also allowed
companies such as AT&T to offer data transmission services or
telephone services to Cuba. The optimistic manifestation by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton follows the model of foreign
policy in the Obama era, which considers the sum of seemingly
superficial acts as a safe path to finally put an end to five
decades of isolation.
Bringing Cuba closer to the U.S. would be a huge event for the
continent and would end a rhetoric discussion that during all these
years was the justification, for both sides, for sustaining
decisions which always brought seclusion. May the warm weather in
the Caribbean bring this historical result for world politics. The
future will be thankful."
MARTINEZ
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD XM XR BR
SUBJECT: JORNAL DO BRASIL, OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US AND CUBA
OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US AND CUBA
Editorial in April 19 issue of center left Jornal do Brasil (page
A8) states: "The statement was so surprising that it took
international diplomacy off guard. The simple confession of errors
by the Cuban President... To admit that officers of the Cuban regime
are human beings who make mistakes is far from the
habitual...justifications for excesses during the eternal battle
against so-called capitalist imperialism. Raul Castro's statement at
the Summit of the Americas, in Trinidad and Tobago, was received
with a relative endorsement by the USG, which made it a condition
for a window of dialogue for a series of initiatives and political
openings demanded from Havana. It was not a gesture consistent with
what has been said by a leader of a country conflagrated by decades
of isolation, especially when globalization is advancing - an era in
which China has already shown the way for [economic] opening without
changing the political model.
While Ral Castro said that Cuba and the U.S. could talk as equals,
President Barack Obama made it clear that there are those that are
more equal than others. The White House spokesperson mentioned the
release of political prisoners in Cuba, more free press and freedom
of speech, in addition to the end of screening of mail from people
who send money to relatives as important indicators of how true
Castro's intentions are. This remark, despite sounding like a sign
of arrogance by the U.S., is a careful move to pave an approach
without hostile acts or internal sabotage. There is an important and
powerful community who could lose it all if the economic embargo to
the regime was halted as a result of a negotiation initiated by a
confession of weakness. The anti-Castroists who live in Miami became
such a powerful domestic force...the invasion of the Bay of Pigs
showed the size of this movement. They would be the sharks
inspecting the foundations of this new bridge.
It is necessary to dismantle such a scenario with extreme caution,
and this is why the U.S. cited conditions without making them
formal, despite already loosening the ties for everyday practices -
measures such as reducing restrictions for traveling from the U.S.
to the Caribbean island, as well as money transfers, which were
prohibited by former President George W. Bush. It also allowed
companies such as AT&T to offer data transmission services or
telephone services to Cuba. The optimistic manifestation by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton follows the model of foreign
policy in the Obama era, which considers the sum of seemingly
superficial acts as a safe path to finally put an end to five
decades of isolation.
Bringing Cuba closer to the U.S. would be a huge event for the
continent and would end a rhetoric discussion that during all these
years was the justification, for both sides, for sustaining
decisions which always brought seclusion. May the warm weather in
the Caribbean bring this historical result for world politics. The
future will be thankful."
MARTINEZ