"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Senator Slams Spending Bill that Eases Restictions against Cuba

Cuban-born Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.(picture left), is working behind the scenes in a bipartisan way to kill the massive spending measure now wending its way through the Senate because of provisions that loosen decades of restrictions against his native land.The senator took to the floor in a blistering speech ticking off a host of examples of human rights abuses committed by the dictatorship, formerly led by Fidel Castro and now by his brother, Raul, including the flaunting of international law and the cozying up to other authoritarian regimes throughout the world that sponsor terror, like those in Iran and Venezuela.The omnibus spending bill, which funds most government agencies through September 30, eases restrictions on travel and extends credit for increased trade to the island nation, all moves that Martinez says will not benefit the Cuban people as the measure exacts no positive actions in return. "As we consider changing U.S. policy toward Cuba, why are we doing this without asking anything?" Martinez implored his colleagues, suggesting that the U.S. should, for example, demand the release of political prisoners.The bill does not lift the decades-old embargo against Cuba, but it would allow the nation to buy U.S. goods on credit from groups like U.S. farmers, who have long clamored for the opening of this marketplace. But, Martinez sees this as a recipe for disaster in these hard economic times, noting that Cuba "owes $29 billion to the Paris Club (an informal, international financing group) ... in fact, Cuba has the second worst credit than any nation in the world."Cuban American Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has also decried the change in policy. He has even placed a hold on two of President Obama's nominees to government posts, attempting to use this as leverage to get the Cuba policy changes stripped from the bill, this according to a senior Democratic leadership aide. The Washington Post first reported this move.Menendez, on Monday, said the Cuba changes are "so deeply offensive to me, and so deeply undemocratic, that it puts the omnibus appropriations package in jeopardy, in spite of all the other tremendously important funding that this bill would provide.''
By Trish Turner
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