Tuesday, January 6, 2015

High-Ranking Democrat Blasts Obama’s ‘Secret Diplomacy’ With Cuba

High-Ranking Democrat Blasts Obama's 'Secret Diplomacy' With Cuba
Philip Wegmann / @PhilipWegmann / January 05, 2015

President Obama will have trouble appointing an ambassador to Cuba
following his decision to normalize relations with the Communist
government, predicts the outgoing Democratic chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.

On Sunday, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., told CNN that past actions on
the part of the Obama administration would make it "very difficult to
get an ambassador confirmed."

The senior Democratic lawmaker blasted the White House for independently
restarting diplomatic ties with Communist Cuba while keeping Senate
leaders in the dark.

Asked if he was ever consulted about negotiations with Cuba, Menendez
replied, "Absolutely not, I knew nothing about them."

A Cuban-American himself, Menendez argues the Obama administration
played into the hands of the Castro government without achieving any
lasting reforms for the Cuban people.

"We exchanged one innocent American for three convicted Cuban spies,
including one that was convicted for conspiracy to commit murder against
U.S. citizens."

"If you're going to make a deal with the regime," Menendez complained,
"then get something for it."

The senator argues that "10 million people in Cuba got a bad deal" while
the United States exchanged "one innocent American for three convicted
Cuban spies" and received "nothing in terms of democracy and human rights."

Indicative of a greater problem, Menendez said the Obama
administration's "secret diplomacy" has kept Senate leaders from getting
"straight answers" not only about Cuban but also Iranian negotiations.

He explained that these methods will make things "problematic for the
administration when it appears before the committee again."

video:
http://youtu.be/rizYdRN3tM4

Source: High-Ranking Democrat Blasts Obama's 'Secret Diplomacy' With
Cuba -
http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/05/high-ranking-democrat-blasts-obamas-secret-diplomacy-cuba/

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