Russian warships dock in Havana on Friday for at least a four-day stay — the first Russian naval visit to Cuba since 1991.
The visit, along with a Russian warship’s visit to Venezuela and Nicaragua and passage through the Panama Canal earlier this month, comes in response to the announced American missile defense shield in Europe as well as the presence of American ships in the Black Sea during the recent conflict with Georgia.
Russia also announced that it plans to give 10 fighter jets to Lebanon as part of a defense cooperation deal, and is preparing to sell anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.
Christopher Sabatini, an expert on Latin America and senior director of policy for the Council of the Americas, speaks with Martin Savidge about the significance of the timing of the visit, Raul Castro’s proposed prisoner swap with the U.S. and potential changes to Cuba-U.S. relations under Barack Obama.
12/20/2008 :: 09:44:36 PM
John McAuliff Says:
The countries at the Latin America and Caribbean summit in Brazil were indeed diverse; even more remarkable then their unanimous appeal to Obama to end our unilateral embargo of Cuba.
Neither Cuba nor the US see the prisoners as morally equivalent; nor will they ever. The point is that both countries should stop posturing and claiming that all justice lies on their side.
Chris is seeking US victory rather than a solution that will benefit the prisoners and their families. Some in the US and Cuba prefer to keep symbols in place, regardless of the pointless human cost.
How about inviting an expert who offers an alternative to a policy which has failed for fifty years?
John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development
http://www.ffrd.org