On Wednesday morning President Obama announced plans to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba following the release of Alan Gross, who had been held in prison in Havana for five years. Obama spoke with Raul Castro for 45 minutes on Wednesday, and announced he’d use his executive powers in an unexpected move to both reinstate normal diplomatic relations and ease travel restrictions to Cuba. It’s a giant, historic move that represents the first thaw of relations between the U.S. and Cuba since 1961. The question remains: Why? The release of Gross is all well and good, but the U.S. has had plenty of prisoners released from abroad without it heralding a major shift in international diplomacy. Take North Korea’s 2009 release of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling at the behest of Bill Clinton, for instance—it did nothing to normalize relations with North Korea. So what is this really all about? My guess: Russia. For months, since Russia began its hostility in Ukraine, the U.S. has been looking for ways to neuter Vladimir Putin. Obama touted economic sanctions imposed on Russia but they didn’t seem to do much, until recently. Over the last week the value of the Russian ruble has plunged to half of what it was in July. Some of this has to do with the sanctions but also with the plummeting price of oil, which accounts for a large amount of Russia’s exports. Whatever the case, Russia is now in crisis mode. Imported goods are suddenly twice as expensive as they were in July, as is the price tag of Russia’s outstanding sovereign debt. It’s not good news. But still, Putin may not be as embarrassed as you’d think. His power in Russia is bolstered not necessarily by overseeing a good quality of life for citizens—the man is adored for his own tough-guy personality. He’s seen as the little guy standing up to the bully of the West. The sudden economic crisis in the country could even be framed as part of an American propaganda campaign against Russia. So what can hurt Putin, if not hitting his economy? Hitting his image. Russia’s long friendship with Cuba has long been a demarcating line for national identity. The Cuban missile crisis pit a Soviet-Cuban axis as the one thing that ever truly terrified America. And the countries have retained their strong alliance. As late as July, Putin visited Cuba and announced plans to strengthen their relations further by cutting Cuba’s debt to Russia and investing in Cuba’s oil industry. Obama swooping in and becoming Cuba’s new best friend is straight out of the “Mean Girls” playbook. The timing couldn’t have been better—one day after the ruble plummeted to a new low despite Russia’s effort to prop it up with an historic 7% interest rate hike. Obama just kicked Putin while he’s down, and he hit him where it counts—right in the pride. Which makes it extra ironic that idiots like Marco Rubio, who seem to take the whole announcement at face value, are reacting this way: “It’s absurd and it’s part of a long record of coddling dictators and tyrants. [Obama is] constantly giving away unilateral concessions … in exchange for nothing,” Rubio told Fox News, and then called him”worst negotiator since at least Jimmy Carter.” Far from coddling a tyrant, Obama is doing the opposite—crippling a real tyrant by embracing Raul Castro, leader of a country whose problems pale in comparison to Russia’s transgressions. Rubio also said Congress would not support lifting the embargo. Probably because the Congress is now comprised of a majority of idiots. Which is why it’s a good thing Obama has that executive power, and he’s not afraid to use it.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:14:40 +0000
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