Retired U.S. General McCaffrey: Status quo on Cuba a “loser”

Today’s Miami Herald (Wednesday June 24) publishes a column written by General Barry R. McCaffrey where he spells out a plan on Cuba for the Obama administration. He starts out by stating: “While President Obama’s incremental changes in policy toward Cuba are positive, they are also insufficient.”

McCaffrey is someone any president should listen to. He is a retired Army general and an adjunct professor of international affairs at West Point; he served as U.S. drug czar from 1996 to 2001.

In his article he continues by stating that “we’re still a lot closer to the status quo than to the decisive break from past policies, which is where we need to be. The status quo is a loser.”

Some of the general’s suggestions include:

• Remove Cuba from the State Department list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

• Repeal enforcement of the ”Helms-Burton” legislation.

• End the economic embargo on Cuba.

• End U.S. restrictions on travel by American citizens to Cuba.

• Close the detention facility at Guantanamo and return the base to Cuban sovereignty.

This is a must read article written by someone people in Washington should listen to. I hope Obama and his people do listen…

By Alvaro F. Fernandez

June 24, 2009

To read the column, click below:

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/inbox/story/1109984-p2.html