Ease
Cuba Embargo
Indianapolis
Star
December 11, 2000
An editorial in the Indianapolis Star urged the US government
to begin working toward an easing of the US embargo against Cuba. "Lift
the U.S. embargo of Cuba and Fidel Castro will be history in two years,"
the editorial said. "Once the Cuban people realize that Castro is to
blame for their problems, they will finally demand the freedom that
has beckoned so many of their compatriots to Florida's shores in rafts."
Time
to Change Course Toward Cuba
Indianapolis Star
December 7, 2000
An editorial in the Indianapolis Star urged the US government to begin
working toward an easing of the US embargo against Cuba. "Lift the
U.S. embargo of Cuba and Fidel Castro will be history in two years,"
the editorial said. "Once the Cuban people realize that Castro is
to blame for their problems, they will finally demand the freedom
that has beckoned so many of their compatriots to Florida's shores
in rafts."
Unilateral
Sanctions Don’t Work Cuban Embargo A Good Example
ChamberBiz
October 2000
In the latest issue of uschamber.com, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO
Thomas Donahue called for an end to unilateral sanctions. In addition
to being ineffective, unilateral sanctions prevent targeted countries
from growing economically and socially, he said. "Washington must
understand that by dropping all unilateral sanctions, our government
not only will increaes prosperity in this country, but will also facilitate
political, economic and social change in unfriendly regimes across
the globe."
Free
Cuba -- Bush Backs Failed Policy; Why Not Change?
Fayetteville Observer
August 29, 2000
An editorial in the Fayetteville Observer called the U.S. embargo
against Cuba a "failed policy," and urged Republican Presidential
candidate George W. Bush to consider lifting the sanctions if elected
president. "Sanctions don't work. The truth is, the sanctions aimed
at Castro have been devastating to the Cuban people, not to their
dictator, who has used the embargo as a tool to generate national
unity."
Help
People, Hurt Castro
Palm Beach Post
August 23, 2000
An editorial in the Palm Beach Post argues that once Congress returns
in September, it should resume consideration of lifting elements of
the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Allowing increased food and medicine
sales to Cuba, and permitted more travel to Cuba, is the best way
to foster change on the island. "The flawed policy of embargo penalizes
all the wrong people. It makes lawbreakers of American citizens whose
crime is visiting family members and denies Cubans the mundane comforts
that humanitarian trade would bring."
Scrap
Unwarranted U.S. Sanctions Against India
Houston Chronicle
August 20, 2000
An editorial in the Houston Chronicle argues that U.S. sanctions against
India should be dropped, as they have failed to influence India to
stop nuclear testing. The piece urged the Clinton Administration to
remove all sanctions against India before Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee vists the U.S. this fall. "The time has come to lift
all remaining economic and dual-use technology sanctions against India.
Such a gesture would tie another knot in the two countries' renewed
relationship."
Coming
to Our Senses on Cuba
Chicago Tribune
August 4, 2000
An editorial in the Chicago Tribune said the recent vote in the House
to allow food and medicine sales to Cuba and to increase tourism there
is a significant step in the right direction. "[B]usinessmen and farmers
see trade opportunities in a new relationship with Cuba. Human rights
and other groups see a chance to ease the wretched plight of the Cuban
people and, by adopting a policy of engagement, to weaken the dictatorial
hand of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro."
The
Boy and the Embargo
The Washington Post
July 28, 2000
An editorial in the Washington Post by William Raspberry argues that
after nearly 40 years, it is time to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Raspberry says that the Elian Gonzalez story played a significant
role in convincing people that it is time to change U.S. policy. "You
don't have to be a fan of Fidel Castro to suggest that it's time for
a change. And you don't have to be a prophet to see that it may be
about to happen."
Cuba
Blockade Dying?
The Charleston Gazette
July 28, 2000
An editorial in the Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) praised the
U.S. Congress for taking steps to ease the U.S. embargo on Cuba. The
piece said that easing the embargo is the best way to bring change
to the island nation. "Cuba is more than President Fidel Castro. Cuba
is 11 million impoverished people who deserve a chance to enjoy better
relations with the affluent United States."
Rethinking
Cuba Policy?
Corpus-Christi Caller Times
July 26, 2000
An editorial in the Corpus-Christi Caller Times welcomed moves by
Congress to allow food and medicine sales to Cuba. "The Elian Gonzalez
case has heartbreakingly demonstrated the need for some adjustments
in Washington's attitude toward Havana. Just as important, there is
no reason to believe that continuing U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba
will speed the end of the brutal, inept rule of Fidel Castro."
End
to the Embargo Will Unleash Free Enterprise Forces
Dallas Morning News
July 20, 2000
An editorial in the Dallas Morning News urged the U.S. government
to end its embargo on Cuba, and stressed that taking this step is
the best way to advance U.S. interests there. "Recently, the United
States concluded a trade agreement with Vietnam; the agreement awaits
Congress' consideration and is expected to pass. The United States
also relaxed its trade sanctions against communist North Korea. And
the Senate is expected to follow the House's lead in granting permanent
normal trade relations to communist China. All of these agreements
are popular because they would spread free enterprise and democracy.
If them, why not Cuba?"
Vietnam
Watershed
Los Angeles Times
July 14, 2000
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times welcomed the landmark trade
agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam, and said the U.S. must continue
to engage Vietnam on other fronts. "For U.S. companies, this opens
new export and investment opportunities and provides greater copyright
protection for filmmakers, musicians and others. For the people of
Vietnam, the deal offers a way out of economic isolation and the best
hope for radical changes in the government's rigid economic policies."
Vietnam:
Symbol and Substance
Boston Globe
July 14, 2000
An editorial in the Boston Globe said the Vietnam trade agreement
is a sign that the U.S. will only seek further engagement with Vietnam
in the future. "The trade accord with Vietnam that President Clinton
announced yesterday represents, for America, an overdue recognition
that there is no longer any reason to prohibit normal relations with
the only country to defeat the United States in a war."
A
Counterproductive Approach to China
Washington Post
July 10
An editorial by Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, urged Congress to reject legislation that calls for unilateral
sanctions against China when weapons systems are transferred to that
country. "If it wants to advance America's national security, the
Senate should pass permanent normal trade relations for China, which
will bring the Asian giant under the world's rules-based trading system
and broaden our engagement and our ability to bring about positive
change."
It's
Time to Do Unto Cuba as We Do Unto China
Wall Street Journal Opinion
July 5
An editorial in the Wall Street Journal argued that the U.S. should
pursue an open trading relationship with Cuba, especially because
it is doing so with China. The editorial concluded that "human-rights
problems in totalitarian countries are not best addressed through
sanctions and protectionism." The piece was written by Father Robert
Sirico, president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion
and Liberty.
After
Elian: the US and Cuba
The Age
July 4
An editorial in the July 4 The Age.com recommended that the US lift
economic sanctions against Cuba. "It is time for the US to stop punishing
the Cuban people for their leaders' policies. Last week, congress
agreed to lift sanctions on the export of food and medicines to the
island. The Clinton administration and its successor should accelerate
the process begun by this tentative move towards normal relations
with Havana."
Cuba:
Lift the Embargo
Detroit
News
30 May
Yet another newspaper, this time The Detroit News, called on Congress
to apply to Cuba the same principles of engagement that were recently
approved for China.
Time
to Reassess Cost of Economic Sanctions
Seattle
Times
28 May
The
Seattle Times' May 28 lead editorial outlines a strong case for re-examining
the United States' failed sanctions policy. "[Sanctions] haven't worked
in Iraq, Iran or Libya. They have clearly failed in Cuba. We had sanctions
for 20 years on Vietnam, and they achieved nothing that could not
have been achieved without them. Since they have been removed, there
has been hardly a peep of regret. It is time to review America's 40-year
web of economic sanctions - all of them - and begin removing those
that make no sense."
Easing
Sanctions a Correct Step
News
Sun & Evening Star
26 May
An editorial
in the News Sun & Evening Star urged Congress to ease sanctions on
food and medicine sales to Cuba. "This is a step in the right direction.
As Tom Donohue, US Chamber of Commerce CEO says, "Unilateral economic
sanctions make heroes of people we're trying to contain and keep American
ideas and business out of countries we want to influence."
Welcome
Trend on Cuba Policy
Los Angeles Times
25 May
In an editorial last week, the L.A Times called for the end of US
sanctions against Cuba. "Momentum is building in Congress to ease
Washington's longtime economic isolation of Cuba and resume trade
in food and medicine. This is a welcome trend. For humanitarian reasons,
food and medicine should never have been subject to trade sanctions.
As a practical matter, the policy of slapping unilateral embargoes
on countries out of favor with Washington has been largely discredited."
Economic
Sanctions and Moral Standards
Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA )
8 May
In a Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA ) Op-Ed, Kenneth Brooks denounces the
use of sanctions because they violate basic human rights. "Americans
should stop those sanctions from a sense of self-preservation if not
from compassion. I'm sure that the despair those families feel watching
their children starve is only exceeded by the horror of knowing their
enemies starve them intentionally. Imagine the hatred they feel toward
those overfed Americans who use starvation as a weapon of mass destruction.
Those policies are counterproductive because starving people are less
likely and less able to revolt successfully against the dictator.
However, each day many of them probably plot their revenge against
those rich foreign oppressors whose policies kill their children."
Reno
for President
New York Times
25 April
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman has joined those calling
for a new Cuba policy in the wake of the Elian Gonzalez dispute. "Our
best tool for shaping post-Castro Cuba is letting more Cubans study
in the U.S., training their technocrats in managing a modern state
and, yes, opening the way for greater U.S. investment in Cuba, and
for money flows, trade and family visits. At best, this will create
much greater internal pressures on Castro to open his regime, and
at worst it will help ensure that whoever succeeds him will have to
change."
Our
Obsolete Cuba Policy . . .
Washington Post
24 April
In a Washington Post opinion column, William Raspberry states that
it is past time for the US to rethink its "obsolete" Cuba policy.
"The policy, whatever its Cold War anticommunist value, hasn't made
sense for years. The rationale for clamping down on communist Cuba
was that its international sponsors were using the island to spread
communism in the hemisphere. Well, one of those sponsors, China, is
now our trading partner. The other, the Soviet Union, has ceased to
exist, and its chief remnant, Russia, has abandoned communism. In
what conceivable way does Cuba remain a threat to our interests?"
Easing
U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Will Bolster the Reform Efforts There
Post Tribune
31 March 2000
Another US newspaper has expressed its support of the Adminstration's
recent move to ease sanctions against Iran. In an editorial, the Gary,
IN Post Tribune writes: "U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s
announcement lifting the ban on non-oil exports and promises of increased
efforts to return assets frozen since the 1979 revolution, are a welcome
development that will bolster the reform movement led by Iran President
Mohammad Khatami."
It's
About the Constitution, Not Burma
USA*Engage
March, 2000
What is at issue in this case is more than the ability of American
companies to pursue international opportunities without being subjected
to a patchwork of state and local sanctions. The issue boils down
to whether U.S. international relations should be subject to the actions
of 50 states and thousands of municipalities -- or whether we are
better served when our country speaks with one voice.
Wise
Gesture on Iran
Detroit News
27 March, 2000
An editorial in The Detroit News commends the Clinton Administration
for partially lifting sanctions against Iran. "[I]t is crucial that
this administration - and the next - looks for opportunities to expand
trade ties with Iran. Bringing Iran back into the international fold
will do more to end the choke-hold of the theocrats than keeping it
isolated."
State
Imposed Sanctions Unconstitutional
New York Times
15 March, 2000
A recent Op-Ed by ExxonMobil in the New York Times discusses the unconstitutionality
of state sanctions laws: "[I]f 50 states and thousands of cities attempt
to legislate international policies and commerce, the U.S. will be
unable to conduct a coherent foreign policy. This danger was recognized
when the Constitution was written - in fact, state and local interference
in commerce was one of the core reasons the Articles of Confederation
were abandoned and our current Constitution adopted."
Sanctions
Don't Hurt Dictators
Bergen Record
10 Febraury
In an op-ed for the Bergen Record (NJ), Holger Jensen states that
recent events prove that sanctions don't hurt dictators.
United
States' Sanctions Policy Ineffective and Inhumane
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
27 January 2000
In a January 23 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
op-ed, Richard Foster calls the United States' sanctions policy ineffective
and inhumane: "An embargo is intended to cripple the economy of a
target country, and to the extent that it makes people poor, it erodes
their ability to buy food and medicine, however available they may
be in theory. The wealthy and powerful, of course, can buy what they
want; it's just ordinary citizens, especially the poor, who are hit
... These embargoes are creating misery, not democracy; they are weakening
the health of ordinary people, not the iron grip of those who rule
them. It's no wonder that doctors have cause to oppose them. They
are not just bad economic policy; they are public health menaces."
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