The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Obama Administration and Cuba

WASHINGTON

In the aftermath of the Summit of the Americas, which ended Sunday in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the relationship between Washington and Cuba has become one of the major bones of contention between the U.S. government and almost all Latin American and Caribbean leaders.

REESE ERLICH
Erlich, foreign correspondent and author of Dateline Havana: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Future of Cuba, said today: "Under tremendous pressure from leftist and rightist Latin American presidents alike, the Obama administration changed its rhetoric about Cuba. President Obama admitted that the U.S. policy towards Cuba has failed, but at the same time, administration officials in Washington say the U.S. won't lift its embargo of Cuba. The issue of Cuba is now front and center for Obama. Will he end the embargo and establish normal diplomatic relations - as the U.S. has with China and Vietnam - or succumb to the right-wing Cuba Lobby?"

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.