Most of you quickly figured out how Obama’s new amnesty plan creates more Democratic voters. Did you know his new Cuba policy does too? To wit:
First off, Obama did not “lift the Cuba embargo.” Instead he further loop holed it with executive orders, a process that started when he first took office. The Helms-Burton Act of 1996, you see, codified some of the vital economic sanctions against Cuba into U.S. law so a full and genuine “lifting of the embargo” requires a Congressional vote.
But the required votes to lift them are not there. Every year for the past 20 or so the Castro lobby takes a Congressional head count for a lifting, finds it short, and starts lobbying for executive action. With Obama in office the Castro lobby has met with the most success.
The vital codified sanctions prohibit outright tourism to Cuba by U.S. citizens and the purchases of Cuban products by U.S. entities. Obama’s relentless loop holing allows almost unlimited cash remittances from people in the U.S. to Cuba plus travel to Cuba for family visits, educational and cultural exchanges and a multitude of other specifically licensed activities under the rubric of “people to people” travel. This rubric’s rationale is to channel the interaction of Americans to the Cuban people, rather than to regime officials.
But amazingly, (except to everyone familiar with Castroism) under this arrangement every American visitor to Cuba is closely chaperoned and mentored by regime officials (tour guides.) These guides (as anyone half-way familiar with communism should know) are tasked by the Stalinist regime with relentlessly evangelizing on the “glories of Cuba’s healthcare, education and on the wickedness of the U.S. blockade blah…blah.” As if the visiting Americans don’t get enough of that from the U.S. media and their professors.
Bottom line: under Obama’s loop holing thus far the cash flow –from the U.S. to Cuba (remittances, travel expenses) is estimated at $4 billion annually--whereas during the 1970’s The Soviet cash-flow to Cuba was estimated at $3.8 billion annually. And last year well over half a million people visited Cuba from the U.S. --whereas during the 1950’s an average of 200,000 people visited Cuba annually from the U.S.
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The further loop holing announced last week will license even more forms of “non-tourist,” “people-to-people” and “educational” (i.e. indoctrinating) travel from the U.S. to Cuba and further raise the cap on cash remittances from U.S. citizens and residents to Cuba. Much of the cash making up these remittances, by the way, comes on the U.S. taxpayers’ dime.
You see, the U.S. issues 20,000 visas to Cubans annually. And amazingly (except to everyone familiar with Castroism) the Castro regime is in charge of which Cubans get them. So Castro’s apparatchiks make sure to issue the exit permits to the type of “refugee” who will get to the U.S. via comfy commercial flight and immediately start sending a portion of his U.S. refugee welfare benefits back to his family Cuba, where the regime promptly skims off 20 percent in various “transaction fees.”
Then the “refugee’s” family spends the rest in regime- owned stores or deposits it in the regime’s Central Bank, between the “refugee’s” frequent visits back to Cuba on the HUGE Obama-opened “family-travel” loophole. On these frequent visits the “refugee” spends most of the rest of his U.S. welfare benefits.
In brief the U.S. is issuing refugee visas to Cubans who the Castro regime makes sure aren’t political refugees by any stretch of the term. Then the U.S. pays these de-facto regime-collaborators “refugee” welfare benefits which mostly benefit the Stalinist regime. The entire time these refugees” are automatically on the fast track to U.S. citizenship..
So has the mainstream media informed you that among the most notorious “Welfare Queens” under Obama’s almost universally –hailed (especially by “taxpayer champions” like Jeff Flake and Rand Paul)) are the Castro brothers? Didn’t think so.
And you’ll never guess which political party these regime-sanctioned Cuban immigrants to the U.S. tend to vote for after their fast track-to U.S. citizenship. For a good clue think typical “Hispanic” voter. Nice work if you can get it, Castro snickers.
Interestingly its Republican Cuban-American legislators themselves who exposed this racket and want it corrected.
Over at The Huffington Post a “Cuba-expert” and prominent member of the Castro-lobby named “Arturo Lopez-Levi” quickly mounted an attack against this Republican initiative to expose this Casrtroite scam. Needless to add Lopez-Levi is beside himself with glee over Obama’s latest executive order on Cuba.
But in fact this gentleman’s real name is Arturo Lopez-Callejas. He’s a “former” Cuban intelligence analyst who is also Raul Castro’s nephew–in-law. His first cousin, Maj. Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas, owns Cuba’s tourism industry. These fully-documented items, needless to add, are never made explicit either in the Huffington Post, The New York Times, CNN or the multitude of other media outlet who frequently quote “Lopez-Levi’s” “expertise.”
Meanwhile the U.S. Coast Guard intercepts desperate half-dead Cubans on rafts in the Florida straits – (i.e. genuine anti-communist refugees) and returns them to Castro, where many are promptly jailed.
The above explains why after Obama’s latest executive actions the Castro regime is jubilant, and Cuba’s dissidents and democracy activists overwhelmingly despondent (as recognized even by the New York Times!)
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