Clinton on Castro, Cuba: No Meetings Without Progress
by Aaron Bruns
Campaigning in the Clinton-friendly commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Hillary
Clinton waded into choppier political waters today — chastising Cuba for
failing to institute Democratic reforms and pledging that, as president,
she would not meet with its leaders until it did so.
While it was not a new policy approach for the Senator, her comments
come just days after Barack Obama and John McCain sparred over whether
the President of the United States should meet with new Cuban leader
Raul Castro without preconditions. Obama argues for such top-level
meetings; Clinton sided firmly with McCain.
"I think we must see evidence of reform before we allow the current
governor of Cuba to benefit from the prestige and power of a
presidential meeting," she told a group of Cuban expatriates at Casa
Cuba in Carolina. "They must show their good faith and we will work with
them if they do."
Clinton called for large scale progress to justify large scale talks.
"We have seen, since Raul Castro formally took power, some small
measures that may improve the lives of people in Cuba," she said. "These
first steps, however, are minor compared with the giant leaps that must
be taken in order to achieve genuine political reform in Cuba."
"I would call on the new leadership in Cuba to take immediate action to
demonstrate its good faith and understanding. Release political
prisoners, permit free assembly, and host open and competitive elections
like you have right here in Puerto Rico," she said — vowing to work for
"a free, open, democratic Cuba."
Clinton never mentioned Barack Obama during her remarks, a pattern
that's developed since her chances at winning the nomination dropped to
next to nil. But her direct opposition to Obama's diplomatic policy is
the closest she's gotten to attacking her Democratic rival in weeks —
hinting, at the very least, that she's not quite ready to forego her
strong opinions for the sake of party unity against John McCain.
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/05/25/clinton-on-castro-cuba-no-meetings-without-progress/
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