Cuba Says Obama Is Misinformed and Poorly Advised on the Affairs of the Island

By AFP

Published Saturday, February 02, 2013

 

A senior Cuban official lashed out at President Barack Obama on Friday. Josefina Vidal, who heads the North American affairs office at the Cuban foreign ministry, said Obama was poorly advised if he believed that no change had come to Cuba in recent years.

"It is regrettable that President Obama continues to be poorly advised and misinformed about the Cuban reality and the feeling of the people themselves, who want to normalize ties," Vidal said in a statement.

And in a reference to reforms launched under President Raul Castro, Vidal said "Cuba is a country that is moving ahead."

In a bid to revive the island's economy, Raul Castro has undertaken a series of cautious reforms since taking over from his ailing brother Fidel in 2006, including legalizing the private real estate market and allowing more private businesses.

Cuba has also allowed citizens to travel abroad for the first time without a reviled and costly exit visa.

While US-Cuban ties slightly improved since Obama took office in 2009, they are currently frozen over the fate of American Alan Gross, a US State Department contractor arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba for crimes against the state.

Cuba has made clear that it is ready to negotiate Gross's release in exchange for granting freedom to five captured Cuban spies held in the United States.

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JG: Barack Obama continues to be a rather mediocre president when it comes to the Cuba issue. He continues to surround himself with sycophants, like Robert Menendez, who constantly kiss his ass. He has been a great disappointment, and I did not vote for him the second time around. I did not like Romney. I voted for a third party.