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October
12, 2001
Marketplace Radio explores a changing tide in U.S. foreign policy in
the Middle East and Central Asia in the post-September 11 political
climate.
Listen
to the Report
September
28, 2001
The United States has been making progress in counterterrorism talks
with Sudan during the past year and that the two governments have had
further discussions since Sept. 11, according to the Washington Post.
Read the article
September
24, 2001
The Bush administration's decision to ease economic sanctions on
Pakistan came as a much-needed boost today to
Pakistan's
government, steadying some of the nervousness that had been mounting
since Pakitan's military leader pledged his backing for American plans
for a military thrust into neighboring Afghanistan , according to the
New York Times.
Read
the article
September 20, 2001
Our enemy's selection of targets recognizes that America's might and
light emanate from our political, military and economic vitality. Our
counteroffensive must advance U.S. leadership across all these fronts.
America's trade leadership can build a coalition of countries that
cherish liberty in all its aspects, writes United States Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick in a Washington Post op-ed.
Read the article
September
9, 2001
President Bush named former senator John C. Danforth yesterday as a
special envoy to help broker a peace agreement in Sudan's civil war,
according to the Washington Post.
Read
the article
August 27, 2001
Over the past 30 years, the U.S. has threatened or imposed economic
sanctions against 73 countries from North Korea to Italy, in connection
with disputes over issues ranging from weapons proliferation to workers'
rights, according to Bloomberg News columnist Art Pine. Yet, critics
complain that imposing sanctions unilaterally -- without similar actions
by other countries -- rarely hurts the targeted country, and more often
backfires, putting American firms at a disadvantage instead.
Read the article
August 27, 2001
The Bush administration is moving on a broad front to strengthen
relations with
India, a nation it views as a neglected and potentially
important strategic ally and trading partner in
Asia, according to the
New York Times. The most dramatic step the administration will take,
according to the article, is the almost certain lifting of American
economic and military sanctions.
Read the article
August, 2001
There is general agreement that comprehensive, unilateral sanctions have
many shortcomings. In this month's "Issues in International Political
Economy," published by the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, Sidney Weintraub explores the differences in outlook between
supporters and opponents of unilateral economic sanctions and provides
alternatives to unilateral sanctions policies.
Read the article
August 15, 2001
The Bush administration is opposing provisions in the House version of
the Sudan Peace Act that would block oil companies doing business in
Sudan from raising money or issuing equity shares on
U.S.
capital markets, according to an article in the Washington Post.
Read the article
August 12, 2001
In a move aimed at strengthening ties between the world's two largest
democracies, the Bush administration will start working with Congress
next month to lift sanctions placed on India after its 1998 nuclear
tests, according to the Washington Post.
Read the article
August, 2001
The right American policy could encourage Iran's evolution in a
direction that would eventually benefit both countries, according to
Puneet Talwar whose article appeared in the July/August edition of
Foreign Affairs Magazine. It is therefore time for the Bush
Administration to abandon the containment strategy it inherited and
embark on a new policy of moderate engagement, according to Talwar.
Read a preview of the article
July 27, 2001
According to the Independent (UK), the House vote to liberalize travel
highlights the disarray into which US policy on Cuba has fallen over the
decades in which Mr. Castro has succeeded not only in holding on to
power, but in marshalling ever stronger anti-American sentiment among
Cuba's 11 million people.
Read the article
July 25, 2001
Alan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, denounced measures
proposed by U.S.
legislators that would bar companies active in the war-torn African
country from listing on U.S. stock exchanges, according to the Financial
Times.
Read the article
July 18, 2001
The Economist reports, “When the administration of President George Bush
took office, it promised to kick America’s addiction to economic
sanctions. But with Congress about to extend sanctions against Iran and
Libya, America is still hooked.”
Read the article
July 17, 2001
President Bush said today that he would not activate the harshest
sanction of a law that seeks to punish foreigners for investing in
property in Cuba that was confiscated by the Havana government,
according to the New York Times.
Read the article
July 16, 2001
The Spanish energy company Cepsa has agreed to terms with the Iranian
Oil Ministry for the rights to develop the Cheshmeh Khoosh onshore field
in central Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read the article
July 16, 2001
The Wall Street Journal reports that 15 European ministers publicly
stated their opposition to the extension of the Iran-Libya Sanctions
Act.
Read the article
July 14, 2001
The New York Times urges Congress and the Bush Administration to
"neutralize" sanctions laws in the form of secondary boycotts, like the
Iran-Libya Sanctions Act and the Helms-Burton Act, in favor of policies
that would encourage multilateral approaches to foreign policy with
respect to rogue states.
Read the article
July 12, 2001
As Congress gets ready to extend sanctions on Iran and Libya, the Bush
administration has decided it won't punish foreign oil and gas companies
that invest in those countries, according to a Wall Street Journal
article.
Read the article
July 9,
2001
Abbot Group, the
UK's
largest oil drilling contractor, said on Monday it had won its second
contract in Iran this year after being appointed as the onshore driller
for the Dorood field development on Kharg Island, according to the
Financial Times.
Read the article
July 9, 2001
Japan's National Oil Corporation (JNOC) signed a $10 million agreement
on Sunday to fund seismic analysis of Iran's giant Azadegan oilfield,
which is under negotiation to be developed by a consortium of Japanese
companies and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, according to a Financial
Times report.
Read the article
July 6, 2001
The Tehran Stock Exchange -- one of the world's top performing markets,
but not one for the faint-hearted -- will soon open its doors to foreign
investors with the announcement of new regulations, according to a
Financial Times report.
Read the article
July 5, 2001
Some members of Congress, while supporting multilateral economic
sanctions, say slapping unilateral sanctions on countries has gotten out
of hand, especially since these punishments often wind up hurting U.S.
farmers and manufacturers while failing to change a foreign country's
behavior, according to an Associated Press article. Unilateral sanctions
rely on "the belief that the United States has the economic leverage to
change other countries' policies without going to war, without costing
us very much," but "there is virtually nothing that a country like Iran
needs that it can't get from our competitors," Dan O'Flaherty of USA
Engage told the AP. The article sites USA Engage figures indicating that
unilateral U.S. economic sanctions target more than 75 of the world's
nearly 200 countries, including Canada, Italy, Japan and Taiwan.
Read the article
July 2, 2001
In signing a $920 million oil contract with
Iran, Eni, the Italian
energy group, may become the focus of concern for the U.S. which has
sought, with little success, to curb investment in Iran's energy sector,
according to the Financial Times. European companies appear confident
that President Bush will not risk a trade war by levying ILSA sanctions,
which have never been imposed since the act became law in 1996,
according to the article.
Read the article
June 29, 2001
Lukoil announced today that it would shift a planned share offer from
the New York Stock Exchange to the
London
exchange to avoid the threat of U.S. market sanctions on companies with
operations in rogue nations.
Read the Report
June 24, 2001
Activists in
Sudan
fear the loss of Western oil firms' influence, according to an article
in the Washington Post. Sudanese activists credit Western corporate
presence with the incremental freedoms Sudan's government has accorded
opposition parties over the last decade.
Read the article
June 22, 2001
The Financial Times reports that ENI, the Italian energy company, is
expected this weekend to sign an agreement to develop an oilfield in
Iran, in a test of the Bush administration's willingness to enforce US
sanctions on foreign energy groups doing business there.
Read the article
June 21, 2001
Europe's largest oil companies are about to test the Bush
administration's response to investing in Iran, which remains subject to
U.S. sanctions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read the article
June 19, 2001
Iran hopes the Bush administration will improve ties
between the two foes,
Iran's ambassador to
the United Nations said Tuesday, noting that a landslide win at the
polls should embolden his president to move forward with reforms,
according to the Associated Press.
Read the article
More
Sudan Econ Sanctions Will Hit People -Lundin Oil CEO
June 19, 2001
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Chief Executive of Lundin Oil,
Ian Lundin, said that proposed U.S. capital market sanctions, like the
Sudan Peace Act, actually stunt development and most damage the Sudanese
people.
Malaysia Deputy PM:
US Bill On Sudan "Unwarranted"
June 15, 2001
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Balawi describes proposed U.S. capital
markets sanctions, like the Sudan Peace Act, as “unwarranted,” according
to the Wall Street Journal.
June 10, 2001
Reelected with a more decisive vote than even his most
optimistic supporters anticipated, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
said his first priority as President of Iran is to foster democracy,
reports the Washington Post.
Read the article
June 8, 2001
As Congress moved Thursday to extend sanctions on Iran, a blue-ribbon
panel of former top U.S. policymakers called for ending the economic
embargoes that have characterized tensions between the United States and
the Islamic Republic for more than two decades, according to a report in
the Los Angeles Times.
Read the article
June 6,
2001
President Mohammad Khatami, who is seeking to be re-elected on Friday,
said today that the
United States
would have to change its policies toward
Iran
if relations are to improve.
Read the article
June 5,
2001
The Bush Administration hopes to persuade Congress to shorten the
renewal period for economic sancions on Iran and Libya from five years
to one year or two years, according to a Reuters report.
Read the article
June 5,
2001
President Bush is poised to send Congress a bilateral agreement
normalizing trade relations with Vietnam, according to the Washington
Post. Under the agreement signed last year in Hanoi, the United States
agreed to normalize trade relations in exchange for the communist-run
country opening its market to increased U.S. goods, services and
investment. Vietnam does not have normal trade relations with the United
States. As a result, U.S. tariffs on products from the country average
40 percent -- more than 10 times the level for most other nations.
Read the article
The
Caspian Basin and Asian Energy Markets: Regional Instability in Eurasia
May
24, 2001
Addressing the Brookings Institute in late May, Nebraskan Senator Chuck
Hagel expressed his opposition to unilateral sanctions policy, like
the Iran-Libya Sanction Act, and urged for an overall reformulation
of U.S. foreign policy in the Caspian Sea region.
The
sanctions issue poses a dilemma for the Bush Administration, reports
BusinessWeek.
Monday,
May 7, 2001
In his tenure as CEO of Halliburton, now-Vice President Dick Cheney
was an outspoken critic of the U.S. sanctions policy. In addition to
Cheney, Richard Haass, the recently appointed chief of policy planning
office at the State Department, has called for gradually easing sanctions
on Iran in exchange for better behavior, according to the article.
Council on Foreign Relations Urges Preparation for Post-Castro Era
November 29, 2000
Washington Post
A story in the Washington Post said the Council on Foreign Relations
is urging the next US President to prepare for the post-Castro era in
Cuba. The Council released a report urging a lifting of US travel restrictions
to Cuba, increased commercial ties, and ties with Cuba's military.
U.N.,
Cuba Urge U.S. To End Embargo
November
10, 2000
Washington Post
The Washington Post reported that on November 9, the United Nations
voted overwhelmingly in favor of a non-binding resolution urging the
U.S. to lift its embargo against Cuba. The resolution also criticized
a U.S. law that discourages foreign companies from investing in Cuba.
Deal
Reached to Allow Food Sales to Cuba
October 6, 2000
Washington Post
The Washington Post reported that House and Senate leaders struck a
deal that will allow increased food and medicine sales to Cuba, Iran,
Sudan, Libya and North Korea. The deal, reached as part of the agricultural
appropriations bill, represents a significant easing of the U.S. trade
embargo against Cuba, the Post reported.
New
Realism Wins the Day as Senate Passes Trade Bill
20 September
New York Times
The Senate's overwhelming vote to give permanent trade benefits to China
ended a clash between America's global economic interests and the notion
that the United States could use the annual threat of trade sanctions
to change Beijing's behavior.
House Dems Get
High Marks On Trade
8 September
Congress Daily
A story in Congress Daily reported that congressional Democrats scored
well in USA-Engage's annual report card, which evaluates members' voting
record on trade and engagement issues. "More than half the Democrats
who gained perfect scores were New Democrats such as Rep. James Moran
of Virginia and Calvin Dooley of California," the story said. It also
noted that both Republicans and Democrats would have scored higher but
for their opposition to amendments that would have increased trade with
Cuba.
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U.S. Papers to Set Up Havana Bureaus
8 September
Washington Post
A story in the Washington Post said that Cuba will allow two U.S. papers
to set up bureaus in Havana. The papers are the Dallas Morning News
and the Chicago Tribune. State Department officials said the news does
not alter U.S. policy toward Cuba.
Coming to Our
Senses on Cuba
4 August
Chicago Tribune
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."
Washington
Ballet to Dance in Cuba This Fall
3 August
Washington Post
A story in the Washington Post by Sarah Kaufman said that the Washington
Ballet will perform in Cuba this October, and will be the first U.S.
ballet troupe to perform at Havana's International Ballet Festival.
The performance marks another example of the increasing people-to-people
contacts between the U.S. and Cuba. "We feel like we're at the beginning
of this crack in the wall, in terms of the political situation in Cuba,"
said Washington Ballet Executive Director Martin Cohen, who added that
he sees the trip as "a dialogue between exceptional artists."
Cuba
Embargo Sows Division in Republican Ranks
1 August
Reuters
A story by Anthony Boadle of Reuters said the question of whether to
lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba is being hotly debated at the Republican
convention in Philadelphia. While many Republicans favor lifting the
embargo immediately, Reuters reports that the Republican platform says
that U.S. policy toward Cuba will change only after Cuba takes significant
steps toward democratic and human rights. "Softening the embargo has
won increasing adherents among Republican legislators from farm states,
where farmers hurt by low prices are eager to get into the Cuban market.
But the party stuck to the embargo in its platform for the Nov. 7 election."
Why Big U.S.
Cities Strive to Establish Cuban Sisters
1 August
Wall Street Journal
A story in the Wall Street Journal by Matt Moffett says U.S. cities
are competing with each other to establish links between themselves
and Cuban cities. Becoming "sister cities" is a way for U.S. cities
to prepare for the eventual opening of Cuba to trade and travel. In
addition to Philadelphia, PA and Oakland, CA, "[t]he movement has picked
up momentum in American heartland cities including Madison, Pittsburgh
and Bloomington, Ind. Madison has sent Camaguey antibiotics and other
medical supplies worth $50,000."
White
House May Back Cuba Trade
24 July
Washington Post
A story in the Washington Post said the Clinton Administration may support
legislation that would allow food and medicine sales to Cuban government
entitites and would also ease U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba. The
legislation was passed by the House and Senate last week.
First Step in
Place to End Cuba Embargo
24 July
The Oklahoman
An editorial in the Oklahoman argued in favor of lifting the U.S. embargo
against Cuba, and said recent House and Senate votes are the first step
toward this goal. "It's time for American goods and visitors to flood
Cuba with the subtle messages of freedom and free markets that Americans
hold so dear. Castro uses Cuba's isolation to control his people, while
blaming the U.S. and its embargo for his mistakes. Without the embargo
he would lose his scapegoat. And the injection of capitalism from U.S.
shores might just topple Castro's communism in the process."
Elian
Opens an Opportunity to Change U.S. Policy
22 July
Detroit Free Press
An editorial
in the Detroit Free Press said that recent votes in the House and Senate
mean parts of the U.S. embargo against Cuba could fall. The Free Press
said it is in favor of easing food and medicine sales to Cuba and lifting
travel restrictions there because the embargo has failed to bring about
real change to Cuba after more than 40 years. "Four decades of trying
to undermine El Presidente Castro by isolating Cuba has only propped
him up, giving him a convenient villain to blame for all that is wrong
on his troubled island, and denying U.S. business and agriculture a
potential nearby market that is now being gobbled up by Asian and European
interests."
Momentum
Grows on Hill To Ease Sanctions on Cuba
22 July
Washington Post
"Both chambers have now taken a strong position," said Sen. Byron
L. Dorgan (D-N.D.). "It is time to end this absurdity." Dorgan's amendment
to lift the food and medicine embargo against Cuba was part of an agriculture
spending bill that the Senate approved 79 to 13 on Thursday."
House Votes To
Lift Cuban Limits
21 July
Washington Post
"Despite a pair of decisive victories in the House, supporters
of removing sanctions against U.S. food and drug sales and travel to
Cuba say they are unsure what will get through Congress this year."
Senators Visit
Castro, Urge End to Embargo
17 July
Chicago Tribune
A story in the Chicago Tribune (by Anita Snow, Associated Press), reported
on a trip three U.S. Senators took to Cuba-Max Baucus (D-Montana), Daniel
Akaka (D-Hawaii), and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas). After their trip, the
Senators called for an end to U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba and
for improved relations between the two countries. The lawmakers said
lifting the embargo would help the Cuban people and also benefit U.S.
farmers, who are looking for overseas markets.
Congressional
Mood Shifts on Cuba Trade Ban
23 May
Washington Post
"Cuba ... is the only remaining communist country in the world except
for North Korea." With this quote, Senator Lott (R-MS), an opponent
of easing Cuba sanctions, inadvertently makes the best case for increased
engagement with Cuba. Every communist country the US has actively engaged
has responded by moving toward a market economy and allowing human rights
reforms. The only two countries the US has not engaged are Cuba and
North Korea.
We
Can't Have 50 Foreign Policies
13 May
Washington Post
An Op-Ed in the Washington Post criticized another Post editorial
in favor of the Massachusetts Burma law as "ill-advised and ill-informed,
since such state laws seriously threaten the ability of our country
to develop and implement a coherent foreign policy."
Dissidents
Back China's WTO Entry
11 May
Washington Post
In order to improve the human rights situation in China, prominent Chinese
dissidents are expressing their support for China's entry into the WTO.
"American consumers are a main catalyst for better worker rights in
China," said Zhou Litai, one of China's most prominent labor lawyers
who represents dozens of maimed workers in the booming southern metropolis
of Shenzhen. "They are the ones who pressure Nike and Reebok to improve
working conditions at Hong Kong- and Taiwan-run factories here. If Nike
and Reebok go--and they could very well if [the trade status] is rejected--this
pressure evaporates. This is obvious."
Panel Votes To
Lift Cuba Sanctions
5 May
New York Times
"Farm groups that want to sell food to Cuba have initiated a new battle
in Congress over weakening the four-decades-old U.S. economic embargo
on the island nation. A House Appropriations Committee subcommittee
approved legislation Thursday that would permit exports of food and
medicine to Cuba so long as they are not subsidized by the federal government."
Time
to Devise 'Smarter' Sanctions
28 April
International Herald Tribune
Reginald Dale of the International Herald Tribune called for the
reevaluation of sanctions policies in the wake of a new study showing
their historical inefficacy. "[S]anctions have never removed a dictator
and ... they are actually less likely to work against authoritarian
regimes than against democracies, where opposition to the regime can
be more easily aroused ... Sanctions have never succeeded in forcing
a country to act against what it considers to be its national security
interest; and arms embargoes, the measures most frequently imposed by
the Security Council, have always failed."
Americans of Two Minds on Sanctions, a Poll Finds
23 April
New York Times
According to a poll previewed in the New York Times, Americans who are
well-informed about international affairs prefer diplomacy over sanctions
for dealing with troublesome foreign countries. "Embargoes, they say,
not only isolate the nations at which they are aimed but also hurt American
business."
U.S.
Lauds Iran's Seizure Of Smuggled Iraqi Oil
6 April
Washington Post
In an example of the benefits of the heightened engagement with Iran,
the Iranian navy yesterday cooperated with international efforts by
impounding an illegal shipment of Iraqi oil. Earlier this year, before
the Administration's outreach, Iran had been accused of assisting Iraqi
smuggling efforts.
Is
the West too Quick to Sanction?
3 April
Christian Science Monitor
In its lead article,
The Christian Science Monitor declared that "sanction fatigue is setting
in." Because the US has been too quick to resort to their use, sanctions
are losing their effectiveness and appeal globally. "For [President
Clinton] sanctions have all but replaced diplomacy. He has called the
US 'sanctions happy,' and long with Congress, he has been responsible
for imposing more than half of the 125 or so cases of sanctions ever
imposed by the US."
Easing
U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Will Bolster the Reform Efforts There
31 March 2000
Post Tribune
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."
Capitalist
Tool: Lobbyists Becoming Web-wise
22 March
Washington Times
In an
article in the Washington Times, USA Engage's "multifaceted crusade"
combining traditional lobbying efforts with a non-traditional internet
strategy was credited as highly effective in directing the debate on
sanctions: "[I]t is clear public opinion, at least on Capitol Hill,
has already shifted. Many legislators have come to regard unilateral
sanctions skeptically. In many foreign policy circles, the notion that
the United States is suffering from a proliferation of unilateral sanctions
is gospel." The USA Engage web site (www.usaengage.org) was also praised
as "a sophisticated site with resources for journalists, for congressional
staff and for small- and medium- sized businesses nationwide to lobby
their congressmen in their districts."
U.S.
May Lift Sanctions on 3 Iranian Exports
7 March
Los Angeles Times
"In what would be a groundbreaking initiative to spur rapprochement
with Iran, the Clinton administration is close to a decision to lift
economic sanctions on Iranian carpets, caviar and pistachios, U.S. officials
said Monday. The gesture, one of several now being considered, would
follow the sweeping election victory last month by Iranian reformers,
ending two decades of domination by conservatives in Iran's parliament."
Representative
Gilman Calls for OPEC Sanctions
2 March
Washington Times
In a curious development, Representative Gilman is threatening to cut
off military aid to our OPEC allies in order to force them to reduce
the price of oil. US military aid to some of these threatened countries,
Saudi Arabia and Indonesia for example, plays a very important part
in the United States’ security policy goals.
Senate
Puts Condition on Space Station Aid
25 February
Washington Post
Yeterday, the Senate passed a greatly pared down version of a bill that
would have required the President to sanction countries that aid Iran's
missile program. The White House had threatened to veto the bill saying
that the broad sanctions complicated international arms nonproliferation
efforts. The amended bill gives the President waiver authority and discretion
in applying narrowly targeted sanctions.
Iran's
Reformers Weigh U.S. Ties
23 February
Washington Post
The overwhelming
victory by reformers in the recent Iranian elections has created an
opportunity for the United States and Iran to rebuild relations. The
leader of the Iranian reform coalition stated that the new parliament
"will consider a policy of détente" with the United States, and the
Clinton administration is looking for ways to engage with Iran.
Sanctions
'May Have Aided Hijack'
16 February
BBC
In a BBC report, a senior official of the International Air Transport
Association said the recent hijack of a Afghanistan airplane could have
been prevented if UN sanctions hadn't kept the airports in Afghanistan
from receiving the security equipment they'd requested. While USA Engage
does not oppose multilateral sanctions, this case highlights the fact
that sanctions almost exclusively hurt the most helpless while rarely
affecting the targeted rulers.
States’
Rights and Foreign Policy
January/February
Foreign Affairs
In the National Foreign Trade Council's suit brought against the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, the NFTC claims that Massachusetts' sanctions law
is unconstitutional because it directly intrudes on the exclusive power
of the national government to regulate foreign affairs. In the January/February
2000 issue of Foreign Affairs, Brannon P. Denning and Jack H. McCall
support the NFTC's claim.
Cubans Eating
Rice, But it Isn't Ours
1
February 2000
American Press
Farmers from all
over the nation are speaking out against the economic hardship that
US unilateral sanctions inflict on their farms and their families. An
editorial in the Lake Charles, LA American Press repeats what many other
farm communities are saying: "Southwest Louisiana farmers apparently
have a better perception of sanctions than the bureaucrats and elected
officials in Washington who make the decisions on such matters ... Area
farmers are acutely aware that the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is
doing more harm to American farmers than it is to Cuba."
Containment
Alone Not the Solution of the Cuban Problem
31 January
2000
Athens Daily News/Banner Herald
An Op-Ed in the Saturday, January 29 Athens Daily News/Banner Herald
of Athens, Georgia asserts that US sanctions on Cuba have delayed the
chance for a speedy conclusion to the dispute over Elian Gonzalez: "Nearly
40 years of economic sanctions have shown, however, that the containment
alone is not the solution of the Cuban problem. Boldly lifting the sanctions
and actively taking part in Cuba's nation building would perhaps be
a shortcut to establishing friendly relations with Cuba on the basis
of trust."
Senators Call
For an End to Cuba Sanctions
28 January 2000
Meet the Press
This week, both Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
called for the end to the US's sanctions regime against Cuba on NBC's
Meet the Press:
Sen.
Kerrey: "I think it's time for us to get over this embargo and end
the sanctions and try to establish a new pathway to normal relations
with Cuba."
Sen. Harkin: "I think Bob's absolutely right on that. We've got
to get over this thing we have with Cuba and normalize relations and
let our farmers start selling grain in Cuba."
Bush Pledges
No More Unilateral Sanction on Farm Exports
January 10, 2000
Associated Press
"Republican front-runner George W. Bush told the largest U.S. farm
group on Monday he would not impose any new unilateral sanctions on
farm exports-a sore point in farm country-if elected president ... 'We
are too good a people to use food as a weapon," Bush said by satellite
from New Hampshire to the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting.
'In my administration, we will end this practice.' ... A campaign spokesman
said, however, that Bush would keep the embargo on Cuba in place."
Free
Trade Transforms State-run Economies and Empowered the Individual
10
January 2000
"Free Trade has transformed state-run
economies and empowered the individual in countries where the individual
has no other source of power. Free trade is the road to democratic change.
As such it is one of the most powerful tools for weakening and changing
authoritarian regimes."
-- House Speaker
Dennis Hastert's Speaker's National Security Address Before the Mid-America
Committee (Chicago, IL).
Private and Religious Aid Agencies Criticize Clinton Sudan
Policy
6 January 2000
The Washington Post
The Washington Post reports that US private and religion-based aid agencies
are criticizing the Clinton administrations policy on Sudan as "one-sided
in its hostility toward the Khartoum government and insufficiently committed
to promoting a just peace." The agencies argue that a policy of constructive
engagement with the Sudanese government is more effective in achieving
humanitarian developments.
Putin Gets Little
Sympathy U.S. Campaign Pressures May Not Help Russia Ties
5 January 2000
The Washington Post
"McCain endorsed broad economic sanctions against Russia, including
a halt to loans from the International Monetary Fund. "I'd state unequivocally
that there would be no more Export-Import [Bank] loans, that the United
States would not support any further IMF funding until this thing is
brought to some kind of reasonable conclusion," McCain said aboard his
campaign bus Monday night."
India
Lukewarm as U.S. Trims N-Test Sanctions
3 January
2000
Reuters
The United States announced it would trim the
list of Indian government agencies and private firms hit by U.S. export
curbs after New Delhi's nuclear tests in 1998. India, while welcoming
the decrease in sanctions, calls the remaining sanctions "unjustified
and counter-productive" and wants them all dropped.
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