Have any of the candidates said anything about Cuba, Haiti or Venezuela?

[AP]

If I had a litmus test -- no, if I had one issue that I thought mattered more than almost anything other than building up middle class wealth in American -- it would be allowing foreign countries to build up wealthy middle classes.

I was just wondering, have any of the candidates spoken up about Bush's fascistic policies towards those countries?

(Incidentally, if you want to know the truth about Haiti, start here: http://www.flashpoints.net/ -- scroll down to today and yesterday's shows, to which you can listen via mp3).

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. kick

this is definitely worth talking about and something that's crossed my mind several times over the last month or so!

thanks for bringing it up.

[ott]

2. Kucinich: Cuba Policy a Failure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2003

Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich today released the following statement:

"Even though both houses of Congress had passed identical amendments eliminating funding to enforce the ban on traveling to Cuba, the ban remains in place. This is because a conference committee meeting behind closed doors overruled the Congress and took out the language which would have removed the funding that enforces the ban.

"The United States' Cuba policy is a failure. The unilateral embargo must be lifted The persistently hostile and aggressive rhetoric must cease. We must lift not only the trade embargo. We must also lift the travel ban. We must cooperate with Cuba on issues of national security.

"It is time to create a new era in Cuban-American relations."

http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_111403.php

Kucinich, 28 Members of Congress Call for Hearings on US Role in Venezuela Coup

Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), joined by twenty-eight Members of Congress, today, sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate International Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs calling for Congressional hearings into the United States' role in the attempted overthrow of the Hugo Chavez government in Venezuela.

http://www.house.gov/kucinich/press/pr-020613-venezuelacoup.htm

[BigMcLargehuge]

4. thanks!

I knew at least one of the candidates would have brought it up, and so well too.

[HuckleB]

3. Speaking of Venezuela...

how is it that we're still not investigating U.S. participation in the coup that didn't hold?

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. because they are still trying to effect it

They are pretty candid about their displeasure with Chavez

[HuckleB]

6. Yeah, I know.

But why is the Democratic Party sitting on its hands on this one?

[corporatewhore]

7. since when has the dem party cared ?

[DuctapeFatwa]

9. The differences between the two parties on foreign policy are

more cosmetic than substantive. Neither party would want to associate itself with anything that is not supportive of business interests.

[AP]

12. Chavez was able to build up a democratic government while Clinton

was president. Clinton probably didn't do much to actively help, but he probably did give him enough breathing room to create relatively strong fortifications against the Bush onslaught.

Clinton also declasified tons of doc's on Chile that really put a few things into perspective. It's better than nothing.

[HuckleB]

18. We're also talking about an election year issue.

It makes no sense not to take this one to the bank, regardless.

[AP]

11. Because there's a real fear that the CIA operatives taking head shots

of anti-fascist Venezuelan citizens might take a shot at one of them?

I'm only half kidding.

[genius]

25. Every once in a while, the Bully George Comic has Bush talking

about setting up a war with Venezuela. The kids who do the comic are apparently expecting Bush to go after Chavez in the near future.

[TexasMexican]

8. I'd definately like to know

what thier policies on the rest of the Americas are.

[DuctapeFatwa]

10. The policy is pretty evident from events in the region over the decades

a poco no sabes?

[bigtree]

13. Two out of three

Expand U.S. Efforts to Train Health Care Personnel. Under the Kerry plan, greater attention and increased resources will be dedicated to training health care professionals and community health care workers. In many countries, the lack of health care workers is slowing efforts to expand access to HIV/AIDS treatment. Programs in Haiti demonstrate that individuals from the community who are trained to recognize the symptoms of AIDS, TB, and malaria, can help support patients and administer drugs. Because there will never be enough doctors in many of the most affected countries to provide all of the care that is needed, new efforts must be initiated to train more nurses and other care givers who are not formally trained medical personnel.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/aids/international.html


Bring about a Democratic and Free Cuba: John Kerry condemns Fidel Castro’s human rights abuses. As President, Kerry would work with the U.N., the nations of our hemisphere, and all the nations that trade with Cuba to force change through every diplomatic channel. Kerry has supported limited trade of food and medicine with Cuba so that people in Cuba are not punished for Castro’s crimes, but he would support multilateral economic sanctions targeted at the Castro regime if diplomatic efforts fail.

Open Trade with Latin and Central America: During the 1990s, trade with Mexico and Central America skyrocketed, fueling strong economic growth across the country. Kerry supported the Caribbean Basin Initiative and supports additional expansions of trade with Central and Latin America that fosters respect for workers rights and environmental protection at home and abroad.

http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/latinos/record.html

[AP]

14. I'm not talking about TRADE. I'm talking about DEMOCRACY. Talking about...

criticizing Bush for trying to help the fascists take over those three countries.

[bigtree]

15. Sorry to waste your time

[AP]

16. Looks like Kucinich is the only one passing this litmus test.

[John_H]

17. Didn't Dean make some comments about Bermuda a while back?

i mean, hey, it's in the neighborhood...

[Osolomia]

19. Candidates on the issues: Cuba

All of the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates except Kucinich are defying the will of the majority of Americans and pandering to the extremist right wing minority instead but that doesn't seem to bother DUers much:

Candidates on the issues: Cuba
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=338191

[joshcryer]

21. Dean's position is different enough to be excluded from that.

You could work with Dean better than you could any of the other candidates.

[Osolomia]

27. Supporting the embargo against Cuba is akin to supporting war against Iraq

The objectives are the same but use food and medicine as weapons, and keep Americans travel banned from seeing and judging the “enemy” for themselves. Now what was that Dean was saying about "human rights"?

Shame on any “Democrat” who supports this internationally condemned policy for a second.

[goodhue]

20. Kucinich: Cuba policy has failed

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/immigrant_rights.php

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/cuba.php

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/cuban_embargo.php

Our policy toward Cuba has failed. More than four decades of a unilateral embargo and persistently hostile and aggressive rhetoric and actions from successive administrations have created only misery for the Cuban people and have hurt, not helped, U.S. interests at large.

Common sense dictates that we pursue a policy of normalizing relations with Cuba. A Kucinich Administration will work for repeal of the Helms-Burton Act and the immediate lifting of the trade embargo.

A Kucinich administration will take several steps to restoring a more humane and effective policy toward this important neighbor:

* Support normal bilateral trade with Cuba. Farm communities throughout the U.S. are being denied a natural market in Cuba, and Americans are being denied products from Cuba.

* Restore Americans' freedom to travel to Cuba. Our government's travel ban violates the Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of movement.

* Work to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, which has encouraged smuggling and put lives at risk -- and has reinforced arbitrary and unequal immigration policies.

* Support increased national security cooperation with Cuba.

[Bombtrack]

22. Fascistic? claims like that require proof.

And they are 3 separate policies for the countries. With Cuba, we're basically waiting till that bastard Castro dies, with Haiti, we're basically watching Aristide do a piss-poor job of running his country, and with Venezuela, you could make a case that numerous powerful globalists, not just american, are doing their best to oust him, but that is not an official american policy

[AP]

24. Bombtrak, meet JudiLyn. Fascistic is exactly the right description for

what Bush is trying to promote in this hemisphere.

[genius]

23. Kucinich has. He wants to end the embargo on Cuba.

He is opposed to free trade and that Venezuelan's opposition is part of why Bush is trying to kick out Chavez. I think most of the Kucinich people are strong supporters of Hugo Chavez.

[NV1962]

26. here's "anything" from "any of the candidates" Google yourself, next time

John Kerry:

• Venezuela mentioned:
  http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1216.html
  
• Cuba mentioned:
  http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/latinos/record.html
  
• Haiti mentioned:
  http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1216.html

[AP]

28. He uses the words "haiti" and "venezueal" but doesn't seem to have

an opinion about them, and this repeats what's noted about Cuba above.

Thank's for the tip about google. Just thought candidate advocates here would like to weigh in with their thoughts.