Megan R. Wilson
The Hill
1/4/2015
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the outgoing head of the Senate’s foreign relations committee, on Sunday blasted the Obama administration’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba and said it would be “difficult” to confirm an ambassador…
…Menendez says he knew nothing about the talks, which reportedly took place for a year and a half, adding that the “secret diplomacy” was “problematic.”
“So we subverted, in my view, the standards that are important for us to uphold globally in a way that we could have — if you’re going to make a deal with the regime, then get something for it,” Menendez told Bash. “But at the end of the day, they got absolutely nothing for giving up everything that the Castro regime wants to see and has lobbied for.”…
Read the complete article at The Hill.
Update: How Obama’s Cuba Deal Hurts Cubans
President Obama’s decision to make nice with Cuba’s repressive, anti-American regime creates a great number of losers.
Topping the list, of course, are the people of Cuba. They are starting from a bad place, lacking fundamental freedoms. And Obama negotiated no promises from the Castro brothers to ease up on the repression.
That leaves Cubans saddled with the second-most-repressive economy in the world, according to “The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom,” published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal…
