Senate Foreign Relations chairman kept in the dark on Cuba negotiations

Senate Foreign Relations chairman kept in the dark on Cuba negotiations
By Megan R. Wilson - 01/04/15 11:14 AM EST

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the outgoing head of the Senate's foreign
relations committee, on Sunday blasted the Obama administration's
decision to normalize relations with Cuba and said it would be
"difficult" to confirm an ambassador.

Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been critical of the deal,
which relaxes a 55-year-old policy of U.S. travel and commerce
restrictions with the island nation, since it was announced last month.
He told Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union" program on Sunday
morning that while the United States has "an operating interests
section" that could be "easily" converted into an embassy, "I would
think it would be very difficult to get an ambassador confirmed."

Menendez says he knew nothing about the talks, which reportedly took
place for a year and a half, adding that the "secret diplomacy" was
"problematic."

"So we subverted, in my view, the standards that are important for us to
uphold globally in a way that we could have -- if you're going to make a
deal with the regime, then get something for it," Menendez told Bash.
"But at the end of the day, they got absolutely nothing for giving up
everything that the Castro regime wants to see and has lobbied for."

President Obama said in the Dec. 17 announcement about the change in
U.S.-Cuban relations that the decision came because isolation "hasn't
worked." He said that Cubans should not face harassment or arrest for
expressing their views, and that he would monitor the country for human
rights violations.

A planned demonstration in Havana on New Year's Eve brought a heavy
police presence and resulted in the early morning arrests of at least
four dissidents and independent journalists before the event even began.

The "performance," which came with the slogan #YoTambienExijo – which in
English means #IAlsoDemand – would give Cubans a chance to speak for one
minute about what they envisioned for the country going forward.

"So, here you are, you know, a week or two after the president's
announcements, in which human rights activists and political dissidents
are arrested for simply speaking about what their vision of Cuba should
be tomorrow," Menendez said.

Source: Senate Foreign Relations chairman kept in the dark on Cuba
negotiations | TheHill -
http://thehill.com/policy/international/228436-foreign-relations-chairman-in-dark-on-cuba-deal