Colombian FARC rebels at ballgame in Cuba attended

y Obama | Reuters
By Nelson Acosta

HAVANA (Reuters) - Colombia's leftist FARC rebel leader and U.S. President Barack Obama attended the same baseball game in Cuba on Tuesday, underscoring a message of regional cooperation that Obama took on his historic visit to the Communist-led country.

FARC negotiator Pastor Alape confirmed the attendance of a contingent of 40 members and said the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and a Cuban team was a "symbol of peace." A Reuters reporter also saw the rebels, who are in Havana for peace talks with the Colombian government.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia leader Rodrigo Londono looked relaxed wearing a baseball cap, blue Cuban team sweat jacket and sunglasses, and appeared to be enjoying the game with his fellow rebels.

The representatives are believed to be nearing an agreement after three years of talks, although the two sides are unlikely to meet a self-imposed March 23 deadline to sign a peace deal.

The U.S. State Department has designated FARC as a foreign terrorist organization and repeatedly accused it of drug trafficking.

In a speech on Tuesday directly addressing the Cuban people, Obama noted that the United States and Cuba had been on the different side of many conflicts in the Americas "but today, Americans and Cubans are sitting together at the negotiating table and we are helping the Colombian people resolve the civil war that has dragged on for decades."

U.S. Secretary of John Kerry met on Monday with the FARC negotiators and Colombian government officials at the talks.

After the meeting, the FARC issued a statement thanking the United States for "assisting at difficult moments in finding ways forward toward mutual understanding between the parties."

The FARC said the U.S. role had led to a sector of Colombian society beginning "to perceive the United States as a friend of a political solution" to the conflict, versus a military one.

The meeting highlighted the Obama administration's goal of using a new policy toward Cuba to improve its standing in the region and overcome long-running disputes.

The Colombian conflict is the last and longest guerrilla conflict in Latin America, leaving a trail of over 220,000 dead since it began in the early 1960s.

The United States has been an ally of the Colombian government over the years and has played an important role in militarily reducing the FARC presence in the country.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0WO30G/

Obama Does the Wave with Raul Castro During Baseball game today.

http://youtu.be/Wugy6JjP0w0/
00:00:10

Oh no worries....he says its all under control...he insists we are at a turning point in the war against ISIS...

"" n recent weeks, the president and his
administration have been trumpeting what they
insist has been a turning point in the campaign
against ISIS: Retaking 40 percent of the
territory ISIS captured in Iraq and Syria;
coordinating some 10,000 airstrikes, leaving
the leadership "hunkered down"; and reducing
the flow of foreign fighters transiting back and
forth between Europe and ISIS-held territory.""

....and still claims defeating ISIS is his top priority...

"" "It is the top priority of my national security
team. It is the top priority of our military. It is
the top priority of our intelligence officers. It is
the top priority of our diplomats," he said.
"But we are approaching this in a way that has
a chance of working — and it will work.""
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/barack-obama/after-brussels-terror-attack-obama-says-no-need-plan-b-n544586


.....so he does the wave with his new commie bestie...at a ball game also attended by a group his own country " has designated
a foreign terrorist organization and
repeatedly accused it of drug trafficking."...all after ANOTHER ISIS inspired attack in Brussels.

Again, no worries...we're in great hands! Lets all go flamenco dancing now!

Dancing Tango on the Volcano!

Maybe he got a couple balls when he was there...That is something he was lacking

wouldn't count on it!

10/10 post...I greatly approve.

Limpy!

Meanwhile, in Brussels....

washingtontimes.com

CAL THOMAS: Obama ‘apology tour’ comes full circle in Cuba

http://www.washingtontimes.com/

In Cuba, Obama once again sides with oppressors against America

At the beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama traveled to Cairo, Europe and the United Nations to “apologize” for past American actions and attitudes, which he claimed helped create divisions between countries. At a town hall meeting before a mix of French and German citizens in Strasbourg, France, on April 3, 2009, the president said the United States was partially to blame for increased tensions with Europe following the Iraq war: “There have been times where America [has] shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” toward Europe.

Mitt Romney and other critics quickly dubbed these and similar remarks his “apology tour.”

With the president’s visit to Havana, Cuba, that tour has come full circle. In response to a question about Cuba’s human rights policies during a joint news conference, Cuban President Raul Castro criticized the United States for what he asserted was America’s violation of human rights. Mr. Castro engaged in a form of moral equivalency when he asserted that the denial of health care and education for all and “equal pay” for women was somehow similar to the jailing of political dissidents. Mr. Castro claimed Cuba pays women the same as men. Yes, and it is called equally shared poverty, which is a good definition of the communist form of government and its economic policies.

In response to this smear, President Obama said, “I personally would not disagree with him.” Score another propaganda victory for communist Cuba.

Responding to a reporter’s question about political prisoners, Mr. Castro seemed to channel “Baghdad Bob,” the spokesman for Saddam Hussein, who claimed U.S. forces were not in Iraq as TV cameras showed them advancing on Baghdad behind him. Mr. Castro denied Cuba holds political prisoners, but then told another reporter, “Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately.”

The reporter didn’t have a list, but several human rights organizations do. Given Cuba’s record of oppression (an estimated 50 human rights advocates were arrested prior to President Obama’s visit and a “women in white” demonstration was broken up by police), the release of anyone from Cuba’s notorious prisons is about as likely as a democratic political system sprouting up in the country to challenge the communist dictatorship.

Mr. Obama promised aid to Cuba, from help in connecting its citizens to the Internet to trade. Business leaders who accompanied the president on the trip are anxious to build hotels and conduct other business in Cuba. The upside of this is that it might produce more openness in a society that has been closed for more than 50 years. The downside is that any prosperity will be used by the Cuban government to underwrite revolutions throughout Latin America; just as giving Iran its frozen assets will most assuredly facilitate the growth of terrorism throughout the world.

While the light of democracy can dispel the darkness of dictatorship, a light can be extinguished if its power source dims. So far, the United States has received nothing in return for the president’s initiative and his claim of a “new beginning” in the U.S.-Cuban relationship.

The “new beginning” Mr. Obama pledged for the Middle East in his Cairo speech has not reversed or even slowed the old turmoil that never seems to end. Will it be different in Cuba? From Raul Castro’s remarks and the president’s partial agreement with him, the signs do not provide cause for optimism.


http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/23/cal-thomas-obama-apology-tour-comes-full-circle-in/
* Embedded links *

"Hands up, don't shoot!"