Top Dem Senator Slams Obama Over Plans To Normalize Cuba Relations

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, leads lawmakers in drafting legislation that would show support for the people of Ukraine and send a get-tough message to Russian Presi... The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, leads lawmakers in drafting legislation that would show support for the people of Ukraine and send a get-tough message to Russian President Vladimir Putin for taking over the Crimea region, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2014. Before a planned meeting with acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, Menendez said Putin has miscalculated by playing a game of Russian roulette with the international community. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-NJ) attacked President Barack Obama on Wednesday over news that the administration was planning to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba.

The revelation dovetailed news of an agreement with Cuba that included the release of U.S. contractor Alan Gross by the regime, in exchange for three Cuban spies who were arrested in Miami in 2001.

“Let’s be clear, this was not a ‘humanitarian’ act by the Castro regime. It was a swap of convicted spies for an innocent American,” Menendez said in a statement. “President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.”

He added: “Trading Mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent. It invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans serving overseas as bargaining chips. … This asymmetrical trade will invite further belligerence toward Cuba’s opposition movement and the hardening of the government’s dictatorial hold on its people.”

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Notable Replies

  1. Dear Sen Menendez,

    STFU. This move is 50 years over due. The best disinfectant is sunlight, and the US policy has been to keep Cuba in a dark closet. Let’s open the door.

    That is all.

  2. Menendez doesn’t even know what Obama plans to do in “normalizing” our relationship with Cuba.

    Until the details are laid out, he’s just engaging in political masturbation—messy and unsatisfying.

  3. Avatar for enon enon says:

    yep… like the good little toadies they are… rubio just made the same points. guess they got those talking points in order real quick… lol

  4. That won’t stop him and other hand-wringers from uniting with the Republicans to pass a law forbidding the President to change US/Cuba Relations without a vote of Clowngress, or some other knee-jerk bullshit.

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