[Peace-discuss] Fw: Thank You, President Obama, for Engaging Venezuela and Cuba

[Stuart Levy]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 02:56:23PM -0700, Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
> Okay, guys, put yr pesos where yr bocas are :-)
>  --Jenifer

Delighted to see (from Just Foreign Policy's web site) that Tim Johnson 
*is already* a cosponsor of this bill allowing Americans to travel to Cuba.
He signed on three weeks ago.  So we have to thank him!  The site makes this
easy to do, too.

> --- On Mon, 4/20/09, Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org>
> Subject: Thank You, President Obama, for Engaging Venezuela and Cuba
> To: "Jenifer Cartwright" <jencart13 at yahoo.com>
> Date: Monday, April 20, 2009, 4:40 PM
> 
> 
> Thank You, President Obama, for Engaging Venezuela and Cuba
> 
> Dear Jenifer,
> 
> In the last week President Obama made historic steps to improve U.S. diplomatic relations with Cuba and Venezuela.
> But the Right is already attacking the president for his diplomatic outreach.[1]
> Republican Senator John Ensign said it was "irresponsible" for President Obama "to be seen kind of laughing and joking with" President Chavez. [2]
>  
> Newt Gingrich said the Obama Administration "has reached out too much to ease relations with Cuba." [3]
>  
> The goal of the Right is to stop U.S. diplomacy from continuing to move forward-including keeping the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba.
>  
> Can you support President Obama by asking your Member of Congress to support legislation to lift the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba? Click the link below.
>  
> http://www.just foreignpolicy.o rg/act/cubatrav el.html
>  
> What this right-wing criticism is really about is trying to stall the Obama Administration's moves towards a new diplomatic engagement in Latin America, an engagement that has already yielded results, with Venezuela announcing that it is returning its Ambassador to Washington. U.S. allies in the region are urging the Obama Administration to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
>  
> The Obama Administration has taken a good first step by lifting the Bush Administration's restrictions on travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans. Many Members of Congress are ready to take the next step: they've introduced the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act [4], which already has 124 co-sponsors in the House and 20 in the Senate.  According to a recent poll, seven in ten Americans think we should all be allowed to travel to Cuba. [5]
>  
> Can you add your voice to those Americans calling for a lift of the travel ban to Cuba?
>  
> http://www.just foreignpolicy.o rg/act/cubatrav el.html
>  
> By taking action you can help add your voice to the demand for change.
>  
> Thank you for everything you do to support a just foreign policy.
>  
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> 
> Please support our work. 
> Your financial contribution helps us create opportunities for Americans to advocate for a just foreign policy. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate..html
>  
> References:
> 1) "Thank You, President Obama, for Shaking Hands with President Chavez," Robert Naiman, Huffington Post, April 20, 2009, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/thank-you-president-obama_b_188895.html
> 2) "Obama says reaching out to enemies strengthens US," Ben Feller, Associated Press, April 19, 2009
> 3) "Gingrich raps Obama on Chavez summit greeting," Associated Press, April 20, 2009
> 4) "Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act," http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.874:
> 5) "Americans Favor New Approach to Cuba: Lift the Travel Ban, Establish Diplomatic Relations," WorldPublicOpinion.org, April 14, 2009
>  
> If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here. 
>       
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss