Politics

SOTU: President Ignores Socialist And Communist Aggression In Latin America

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JP Carroll National Security & Foreign Affairs Reporter
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President Barack Obama highlighted in the State of The Union Tuesday his administration’s policy shift towards Cuba and his belief that the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with the country were good for nations involved.

The assertions made by the president contrast current security and human rights issues in the communist island’s dictatorship.

“Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That’s why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people. You want to consolidate our leadership and credibility in the hemisphere? Recognize that the Cold War is over. Lift the embargo,” Obama said regarding Latin America with an emphasis on Cuba.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that a dummy U.S. Hellfire missile that was sent to Spain as part of a 2014 military exercise, accidentally ended up in Cuba. En route to Germany, the missile was reportedly sent to France and then accidentally  Cuba. It was only in June 2014 that the missile’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, realized the piece of sensitive U.S. military technology had gone missing. Obama, however, did not discuss this event in his State of the Union.

Additionally,the president also did not discuss the nearly 300 Cuban protestors who were incarcerated by Cuban authorities, according to a Monday report. Of the 300, 50 arrested people were members of the country’s human rights group “The Ladies in White.” The protesters were “peacefully demanding the release of all political prisoners and their fundamental rights,” according to Mauricio Claver-Carone, the executive director of Washington, D.C.’s non-partisan organization Cuba Democracy Advocates.

Obama also made no mention of the ongoing controversy in Venezuela where the country’s Socialist Supreme Court ruled that any and all actions taken by the conservative National Assembly are void until it removes three banned legislators from office. The three legislators are alleged to have benefited from electoral irregularities on Dec. 6 national legislative elections, according to the Socialist Supreme Court.

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