The Poblete DC Dispatches

Chinese Government-Owned Banks Open U.S. Branches

Jason Poblete — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:16:06 +0000

One wonders why …

According to the Hill newspaper: “U.S. lawmakers have been unusually silent about federal regulators’ decision to allow a Chinese bank to take over 13 bank branches in New York and California, suggesting that they think American banks have much to gain.

Members of both parties usually relish the chance to bash [...]

Spain’s Conservative Government Gets Jello Knees

Jason Poblete — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:32:35 +0000

Spain’s conservative government has called for an end to U.S. sanctions on Cuba. They’re wrong, however, with high unemployment and several Latin American leftist regimes expropriating Spanish companies, the announcement is not a surprise.

As a regional Western Hemisphere power, try as it may, Spain has been a nation in decline for decades. The [...]

Cuban Regime Supporters Lobbying Members of Congress and Staff

Jason Poblete — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:32:49 +0000

The Babalu Blog reports that a group pro-regime Cuban-Americans were in DC recently lobbying in favor of easing U.S.-Cuba sanctions. The eclectic group with a quixotic mission even recorded a (propaganda) video of the visit. Raul Castro’s nephew was among the participants.

The Left-wing Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) had a representative tagging [...]

Colombia’s President Santos Misses the Mark

Jason Poblete — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:39:13 +0000

Prostitutegate aside, there were other, more pressing things that happened at the Summit of the Americas two weeks ago. We can tinker with a lot of things. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, for example, sideswipe of U.S.-Cuba policy: “The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, and looking the other way, have shown their ineffectiveness” and the policy [...]

Obama’s Wonderful Latin America Journey Reinforces Failure, Fitting for this Administration

Jason Poblete — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:54:14 +0000

The Obama Administration had an opportunity to talk trade and economic growth during the President’s most recent trip to Latin America. Our ever salacious media delivered a suitable distraction: prostitutes. It is what we did not see that matters, right?

The President’s national security staff prepared a series of well-orchestrated stops that reinforced the administration’s [...]

Transitional Justice, the Coming Case of The People of Cuba v. The Castro Regime

Jason Poblete — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:45:09 +0000

Although Pope-bashing by pundits on his recent trip to Cuba may have generated web traffic for the chattering class and headlines for the politicians, its time to move on to more constructive commentary on U.S.-Cuba policy matters. There are a few prickly issues that US-Cuba policy planners need to start discussing in a more focused manner. [...]