[Marxism] A bit more on Obama's inauguration

[Walter Lippmann]

Obama took the oath of office with his FULL name:
Barack Hussein Obama.

For those who wish to study the text of Obama's address:
http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/international/2009-01-20/greatness-is-never-a-given-it-must-be-earned/

Even the gusanotistas know that the travel limits against
Cuban-Americans and the remittance limits are history. 
Check today's Miami Herald.


Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba
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ELI STEPHENS wrote:
His Master's Voice ---a Poem by Ifti Nasim
                      ------------
Washington is rejoicing
The inauguration of the president
Barack Obama
Minus his middle name

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TRAVEL AGENT CENTRAL
Travel to Cuba

    * Jan 19, 2009
    * By: Joe Pike

http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cuba/travel-cuba

Political change may make it a reality


It was supposed to be when Fidel Castro stepped down. Then it 
was supposed to be when a new U.S. president was elected.

Now, with Raúl Castro leading Cuba and President-elect Obama from 
being sworn in as the 44th president of the U.S., traveling to Cuba 
from the U.S. seems closer than it has been since the U.S. embargo
 against Cuba was imposed in 1962.

During the 2008 presidential election campaign, Obama indicated that 
he supports changes to U.S. policy toward Cuba, including a suspension 
of restrictions on family remittances, visits and humanitarian care
 packages from Cuban-Americans.

But many in the travel industry are hoping that is one step toward
 ultimately lifting all travel restrictions from the U.S. to Cuba.

“There’s a lot of hope that Obama will begin a new dialogue with 
Cuba and ease travel restrictions,” says author Christopher P. Baker, 
who has written five books on Cuba. “So far, he has committed himself
 solely to lifting restrictions on visits to Cuba (and remittances) 
by Cuban-Americans with family [there]. There’s a sense, though, that 
he may go further.”

As far as agents, such as Terry McCabe of Altour, are concerned, 
travel to Cuba couldn’t come too soon, especially as the industry 
heads into desperate times.

“There is a great deal of curiosity about Cuba,” says McCabe. 
“It’s basically an island caught in time, which will be very 
intriguing for a lot of travelers…It’s time-warp tourism, if you will.”

Baker told us earlier last year that if sanctions were lifted, 
3 million U.S. citizens annually would visit Cuba within five years.
 Travel Agent first reported on the possibility of travel to Cuba 
back in April 2007, citing an Associated Press study that showed 
62 percent of Americans thought the U.S. should reestablish 
diplomatic relations with Cuba and that 40 percent would travel to 
Cuba if the ban was lifted.

“I think that we are getting closer to being able to sell the 
product. We’ve been inching toward it for a while now,” says McCabe. 
“And Americans [who] really want to go have been circumventing 
the restrictions for years now.”


ASTA’s Plea

In fact, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) is calling 
on Obama to permit Americans to travel to Cuba. According to a 
statement issued at the end of the year, “ASTA believes that 
Americans would best be served by an elimination of current 
restrictions on travel to Cuba.”

Further, Chris Russo, ASTA’s president and chair, continued, 
“ASTA has long supported the principle that Americans ought to 
be allowed to travel across the globe without restriction. 
While the U.S. government plays a legitimate and valuable role 
in exercising travel advisories to provide up-to-date information
 concerning the conditions in foreign countries, to use travel 
freedom as an instrument of foreign policy manipulation ultimately 
does harm to the very citizens it purports to protect.”

A Tale of Two Presidents

In a letter dated December 4, 2008, ASTA and a host of organizations 
from across the business community formally requested that the 
incoming Obama administration make immediate changes to U.S. 
policy toward Cuba, including a removal of the travel ban.

“Alas, [Obama has] publicly stated that he believes in maintaining
 broader restrictions as leverage to pressure Cuba to reform,” Baker 
told us. “I’d like to think that he’ll see common sense and lift 
travel restrictions entirely, but nothing hints that that’s in the 
cards yet.”

In fact, it was reported by Reuters back in July that Raúl Castro, 

during a speech commemorating the 55th anniversary of the start of 
the Cuban revolution, warned citizens of his country “to get 
accustomed to not receiving only good news.”

Castro also said during the same speech that Cuba’s military would 
remain strong in the face of the U.S., no matter what the outcome 
of the then-upcoming presidential election.

However, Baker does note Cuba’s plans to build 30 new hotels by 2010.
 “That can only be in anticipation of travel restrictions being lifted,” 
he says.


Competition in the Caribbean

On another level, the first of several golf course/marina/residential
 projects with villas and condos for sale to foreigners seems to be
 moving ahead. The first project, The Carbonera Club, will be outside
 Matanzas. The second will be at Bahia Honda.

But whereas agents might welcome Cuba travel with open arms, some 
tourism destinations may not want it to come anytime soon. After all,
 tourism for many destinations will be challenged in 2009 with the
 economic struggles still at full strength. The last obstacle certain
 destinations need is another vacation spot stealing their business.
 Specifically, the Dominican Republic and some parts of Mexico have 
a little to worry about if Cuba becomes an option.

“I believe that it will probably impact the entire region—certainly
 initially—but especially the Dominican Republic and, to a lesser 
extent, Cancun—two destinations that probably attract [that] type 
of tourism [and] tourists,” McCabe says.

However, if and when Cuba travel becomes a reality, it will still 
take the destination some time to become a viable luxury destination. 
And only when it enters that competitive market will it become a true
 threat to the rest of the Caribbean.

“The biggest impact on the rest of the region, in my opinion, won’t 
come until after there is a real government change and the luxury
 companies move in,” McCabe says. “I think until that happens, the
 destination will be more mid-market. But once the luxury hotels move 
in, along with American-owned hotels and tour companies, that is when 
we will see the biggest impact on the rest of the region.”

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Havana, Cuba
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
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