Today (January 1, 2009) CNN reported that President Obama intends to lift the blockade on relatives traveling to Cuba – not such a bold move and least likely to offend the older Cuban Americans in Miami who have held a grudge against the Cuban government outlasting 10 US presidents. |
Ten years ago CNN also reported on the US embargo on medicine to Cuba that remains in place today. The US State Department claimed that the shortage of medicines in Cuba is not due to the US embargo but due to Cuba’s “failed economic system”. Last year the US government learned about our failed economic system. President Obama should lift the blockade on medicines to Cuba immediately without any precondition. This would be a bold move because it would, in effect, acknowledge the US attack on the health of the Cuban people for over a decade and it would signal to the world that the Obama Administration intends to turn over a new leaf as promised: .... 4-minute CNN video June 13, 1997
Anthony F. Kirkpatrick, MD, PhD Tampa, Florida USA January 1, 2009 l |