Former Secretary of State and presumed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton backed President Barack Obama’s decision to open diplomatic relations with Cuba, noting that she had called for a new direction during her time in the administration.
“It is great news that (U.S. prisoner Alan Gross) is finally home with his family, where he belongs,” she said in a statement. “As Secretary of State, I pushed for his release, stayed in touch with Alan’s wife Judy and their daughters, and called for a new direction in Cuba.”
“Despite good intentions, our decades-long policy of isolation has only strengthened the Castro regime’s grip on power,” Clinton continued. “As I have said, the best way to bring change to Cuba is to expose its people to the values, information, and material comforts of the outside world.”
“The goal of increased U.S. engagement in the days and years ahead should be to encourage real and lasting reforms for the Cuban people,” she said. “And the other nations of the Americas should join us in this effort.”
As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent noted, Clinton wrote in her recent memoir of her time as Secretary of State that she had urged Obama to consider lifting the Cuban embargo.
Smart. Further confirms that POTUS made a smart political, as well diplomatic and humanitarian, choice.
You bet! She is smart enough to have learned from her years with Obama on foreign policy. She was such an automatic hawk before her time as SOS, but it looks like she’s learned the values of diplomacy and negotiation over guns.
Waiting for someone to come on to trash the new Cuban policy because Hillary supports it–even though they supported it just yesterday!
Rubio and Cruz and J Bush and other Republicans made fools of themselves yesterday. They don’t know that yet, but they’ll find out soon enough. Good!
Bring 'em on! Let 'em run headlong in the wrong political direction!