Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week, I had the opportunity to visit two island nations near our shores, Cuba and Haiti. Each is facing enormous problems--in Cuba, how to reform a Communist dictatorship of over half a century into a modern democratic member of the community of nations, and in Haiti how to rebuild from a devastating earthquake of 2 years ago in a nation already one of the poorest on Earth. I concluded the trip more optimistic about Haiti, despite all its challenges, than Cuba, which quite simply appeared frozen in time in an ideology which should be cast aside for a more modern view of how to progress in the 21st century. Let me start with Cuba. I am no fan of the Castro regime, but I am also no fan of the foreign policy of the United States. When I look back at what we tried to achieve for over 50 years in Cuba, any honest, objective analysis will have to tell you we did not achieve our goal. Fidel Castro is not a casualty of our own foreign policy; he is a casualty of old age. He is still there, and his brother now reins as his successor in Cuba. Despite some notable achievement in this nation of Cuba, in areas such as health and education--and I saw firsthand as I traveled around some of these achievements--the government has maintained a grip on this island which is unfair to many of the people who live there. Political opposition is swiftly and harshly repressed, often with severe prison sentences and deeply troubling harassment.…”