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By Gabriel Molina
BILL
Richardson, governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico,
responding on Wednesday to President George W. Bush’s
statements on Cuba earlier in the day, said that the U.S.
embargo of the island had failed.
Richardson, who is in the race to become the Democratic
Party presidential candidate, told the CNN network that if
he were to become president, he would get rid of the
measures adopted by Bush for strengthening the so-called
embargo. He added that, with the purpose of creating a
transition, he would remove the restrictions on travel to
the island and would encourage trade in order to open up a
dialogue with the Cuban government, because the punitive
measures of more than 40 years have failed.
Another Democratic contender, Democrat Chris Dodd, who
supports easing travel restrictions, said Bush "continues to
allow his fixation with the Castro brothers to stand in the
way of a sensible policy with respect to Cuba. Nearly 50
years of a failed Cuba policy must end."
President George W. Bush says he is seeking change in Cuba
and asking other countries to help by offering money and
political capital. In a speech at the U.S. State Department
dedicated exclusively to the subject of Cuba, the leader of
the powerful northern country indirectly showed concern
regarding recent successful initiatives of the Cuban
government. These include the thousands of Latin American
young people who are studying there on scholarship and have
graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM),
as well as the brigades of Cuban doctors who are bringing
medical attention for free to low-income people in the most
neglected areas of the Third World, the now-famous "Army of
White Coats."
During his speech, apparently aimed at his followers in
Miami and Latin America, Bush, who has offered Cuban doctors
encouragement to desert those contingents, proposed creating
an "international fund" to someday "help to rebuild the
country"; to give U.S. licenses for private groups to
provide Internet access to Cuban students, and to invite
Cuban young people to study under a scholarship program.
Granma
24-10-2007 |
