Hillary Clinton on Cuba

SECRETARY CLINTON ON CUBA SECRETARY CLINTON SUPPORTS ENDING THE CUBAN EMBARGO AND NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBA Secretary Clinton: “I Recommended To President Obama That He Take Another Look At Our Embargo…It Wasn’t Achieving Its Goals, And It Was Holding Back Our Broader Agenda Across Latin America.” “Near the end of my tenure, I recommended to President Obama that he take another look at our embargo. It wasn’t achieving its goals, and it was holding back our broader agenda across Latin America. After twenty years of observing and dealing with the U.S.-Cuba relationship, I thought we should shift the onus onto the Castros to explain why they remained undemocratic and abusive.” [Hillary Clinton, Hard Choices, 6/10/14] Secretary Clinton On The Cuban Embargo: “I Think It Has Propped Up The Castros.” “Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fusion’s Jorge Ramos that she thinks the Cuban embargo has been a failure. In an interview last Friday, the possible presidential candidate was blunt in her assessment. ‘I think it has propped up the Castro’s because they can blame everything on the embargo…everything is blamed on the embargo,’ she said. When Ramos asked Clinton if she would consider visiting the island for a ‘Nixon goes to China’ moment, she responded in the affirmative. ‘You know, some day I’d like to go to Cuba. I would someday, yes,’ she said.” [America With Jorge Ramos, Fusion, 7/29/14] MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald: “Clinton Tells [Jorge Ramos] The Cuban Embargo Was A Failure And That She’d Like To Visit The Country One Day.” [@aseitzwald, Twitter, 7/29/14] Secretary Clinton On Cuban Relations: I Would Like To See Us Move Towards Normalizing Relations Eventually.” [America With Jorge Ramos, Fusion, 7/29/14] Secretary Clinton: “Someday I’d Like To Go To Cuba.” [America With Jorge Ramos, Fusion, 7/29/14] SECRETARY CLINTON WORKED TO FREE ALAN GROSS AND ADVOCATED FOR HIS RELEASE Secretary Clinton On Alan Gross: “One Of My Regrets As Secretary Was Our Failure To Bring Alan Home.” “True to form, in December 2009, the Castros created new problems by arresting a USAID contractor named Alan Gross for bringing computer equipment to the small, aging Jewish community in Havana. Cuban authorities subjected him to a rump trial and then sentenced him to fifteen years in prison. One of my regrets as Secretary was our failure to bring Alan home.” [Hillary Clinton, Hard Choices, 6/10/14] Secretary Clinton: “I Spoke Out Publicly About Alan [Gross] And Asked Numerous Other Countries To Intervene With Cuba.” “The Department and I stayed in close touch with [Alan Gross’] wife, Judy, and his daughters. I spoke out publicly about Alan and asked numerous other countries to intervene with Cuba. But despite the direct engagement with Cuban officials and numerous efforts by third parties, the Cubans refused to release him unless the United States released five convicted Cuban spies serving time in prison.” [Hillary Clinton, Hard Choices, 6/10/14] Secretary Clinton: “Despite The Direct Engagement With Cuban Officials And Numerous Efforts By Third Parties, The Cubans Refused To Release [Alan Gross] Unless The United States Released Five Convicted Cuban Spies Serving Time In Prison.” “I spoke out publicly about Alan and asked numerous other countries to intervene with Cuba. But despite the direct engagement with Cuban officials and numerous efforts by third parties, the Cubans refused to release him unless the United States released five convicted Cuban spies serving time in prison. It is possible that hard-liners within the regime exploited the Gross case as an opportunity to put the brakes on any possible rapprochement with the United States and the domestic reforms that would require. If so, it is a double tragedy, consigning millions of Cubans to a kind of continued imprisonment as well.” [Hillary Clinton, Hard Choices, 6/10/14]