Reply #9: The article doesn't say what you claim [View All]

It doesn't say Bush honored their parents and their 'cubanía', it says the Estefans try to do it - and it has nothing to do with Bush. The Miami Herald is written for its audience. When you have the purchasing power of the Cuban community in Miami, then they'll change their editorial content.

But I'm curious, why do you think Obama is the prisoner of the Pentagon? If Chavez said it (I don't recall), then the statement is wrong. The Pentagon is a subset of the military industrial complex. And the US politicians are beholden to a series of powerful lobbies, some of which influence foreign policy to a large extent, and some do not.

For example, in the case of Cuba, the Ohio corn lobby (the one pushing the dumb ethanol industry Castro and I criticize) wants trade with Cuba -they want to sell corn. The Cuban lobby in Miami wants the embargo, but I heard younger Cubans are starting to change their minds. The military industrial complex just wants a big fat US military using bullets. Since there's no real possibility of a war with Cuba, the "Pentagon" doesn't really give a hoot about Cuba policy. What about the Israel lobby? This can be complicated. To them what happens in Latin America is a non-issue, as long as Latin Americans don't back Palestine or nations which support the Palestinian cause.

Patriot, and this is where Chavez goofed, because he started flirting with the Iranians. I should clarify, as an individual I'm pro-Palestinian, but one has to be extremely careful when leading a nation like Venezuela to time when and how one upsets the Israel lobby. And by siding with Iran (for no apaparent real benefit), Chavez just put himself, and indirectly the Castro regime, right in the crosshairs of this powerful lobby. The lobby knows Cuba is now Venezuela's client state, but Castro is also Chavez' Svengali, his Yoda, one may say. So the lobby, wanting to teach Chavez a lesson, will definitely be putting Castro in its crosshairs.

Which means the comment you quote is off the mark. Obama is the captive, in this case, of the military industrial complex and the israel lobby. The agricultural lobby is pulling the other way, the Cuban lobby is weakening and it's divided.

The others really couldn't care less. Go ask the Armenian lobby what they think. Or the big pharma. They don't really care. There aren't enough Cubans with cash to buy their drugs, the Cubans don't compete, and therefore they're a non issue in the pharmaceutical field.