President Barack Obama met with Cuban dictator Raúl Castro at VII Americas Summit
Obama lied about relations with Castro’s Cuba
Manuel Castro Rodríguez
January 21, 2017
How much did Obama lie during his presidency? How quickly the newspapers forget about Obama’s lies. How many lies the U.S. administration said about of Obama’s normalization policy?
For example, Panama’s Government insisted in invite to the well-known narco-trafficker Raúl Castro to the Summit of the Americas because it knew that it had Obama’s approval, although the U.S. administration said otherwise. I invitate you to read the statements of Ms. Jen Psaki, Spokesperson of the United States Department of State. In Daily Press Briefing on September 2, 2014, a journalist asked to Ms. Psaki,
The Secretary is meeting with Panama’s vice president. Panama recently extended an invitation to Cuba to attend the Americas Summit in 2015, and this is the first such invitation for Cuba in a number of years. Does the State Department have any response?
Ms. Psaki answered (emphasis mine),
Well, as I understand it, it was an announcement of intention to invite. I would refer you to the Government of Panama for any questions regarding formal invitations.
We – from here, our view is that at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, all participating governments agreed to consensus that “The maintenance and strengthening of the rule of law and strict respect for the democratic system are at the same time a goal and a shared commitment and are an essential condition of our presence at this and future summits.” So we should not undermine commitments previously made, but should instead encourage – and this is certainly our effort – the democratic changes necessary for Cuba to meet the basic qualifications. But of course, we look forward to the day when all 35 countries in the region can participate in the summit process. (emphasis mine)
However, seven months later, on April 10, 2015, President Obama met with Cuban dictator Raúl Castro at VII Americas Summit, in an obvious violation of Inter-American Democratic Charter and Declaration of Quebec City, which explicitly state that non-democratic states can not participate in the Summit of the Americas.
It is convenient to remember that two years before, on January 28, 2013, serial killer Raúl Castro justified the use of the death penalty in Cuba while speaking in Santiago de Chile with fellow members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) (emphasis mine),
“Our laws allow the death penalty. This action has been suspended, but it’s on the books, because one time we suspended it and all this did was to stimulate acts of aggression and sabotage against my country.”
This action of President Obama was illegal and against the democratic principles. I am very upset with this conduct, especially if you take in consideration that the Summit of the Americas has among its top goals promoting democracy in the region. I think that it was an insult to the Cuban people, because it strengthened the communist dictatorship. Will continue the physical destruction and the anthropological damage caused to my homeland, and will continue the exodus of my compatriots, because they do want their children born in a free country not a police state.
I remind to President Obama these words of Martin Luther King,
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”