The Cuban American National Foundation would like to thank all the Presidential campaigns for their participation and cooperation in responding to our questions. The candidates’ responses to the Cuban American Voter Guide are arranged in alphabetical order, regardless of party affiliation.The complete guide can be found on the official website of the Cuban American National Foundation.
Presidential candidates were provided with a questionnaire containing 15 questions aimed at obtaining their views on an array of specific issues concerning U.S. policy toward Cuba. In addition, candidates were asked to submit a brief statement providing a vision of what U.S.-Cuba policy would look like under their respective Administrations. As you will note, some campaigns opted to respond to the questionnaire as well as provide the statement, while others submitted a statement only.
In the preceding posts on CubaLibreBlog.com responses from each individual candidate have been posted unedited and in their entirety. Our intent is to provide a forum to share, debate and question the Presidential Candidates and their positions on Cuba.
We encourage all those who share our desire for a free Cuba to participate and we hope you will all become regular visitors to CubaLibreBlog.com as we bring you posts from some of the most informed and educated individuals on the subject of Cuba and it’s people’s strife for democracy and freedom.
21 comments:
This is some great information. Thank you for putting this together and I definetly plan on being a frequent visitor to the blog.
Adelante!
It's great how you guys managed to get responses from almost everyone. The other thing that kind of struck me is that, while the candidates say some great things, no one has any real specific policy recommendations. Hopefully the two left after the primaries will develop a real plan on how to help bring democracy go Cuba.
This a step nobody has taken before to inform the Cuban Americans voters on candidates’ visions on US policy towards Cuba.
Good for you!!!
This grouping of information is much easier to follow than having to go to each candidate's website and fishing things out. Thank you for the work.
I was on the fence trying to decide between Republican candidates before Tuesday's primary but now i know! Thanks for the info.
As an Independent voter this helps me out-i guess i had the wrong impression about some of the candidates views, particularly the Democrats, on Cuba. It's good to know they aren't all interested in negotiating with a tyrant.
very helpful and timely information- thanks
Congrats to CANF for preparing this voter guide and for maintaining the issue of Cuba as part of the American political debate. It is great that, prior to the Florida primaries and Super Tuesday, all of the leading Presidential candidates have had to take a formal written position on Cuba. The strong positive impact that the development of a robust democracy in Cuba can have on the entire region, at a time when opportunistic populist regimes have been gaining influence, should make the issue of Cuba's freedom one of high priority for the U.S.
CANF is biast towards Republican candidates. They have twice as many Republican candidates than Democrat candidates.
I find this offensive that such an organization will promote one party over another. CANF is misrepresenting the "survey", due to the fact they do not include all views express by each and every candidate on the ballot. Ignoring the fact that other candidates do exist.
CANF is sending a message that they do not recognize the other candidates and do not care what their views on Cuba policies are. CANF wants to endorse a selected number of candidates and not give the other candidates a fair option to express their views.
I find it insulting that CANF calls themselves American. If they do not even practice the right of fair speech. CANF is practicing the same policies that they are so called against. It will only be fair that CANF offers the candidates they left out a option to express their views on Cuba policies. After all some of us might want to hear them.
why would you think that cuba is still an important issue? even if fidel dies, his non-democratic ruling party will stay the way they are......it is my opinion that we should forget about cuba and focus on the country that we live in. and since i have 2 cubanito kids and a cubana esposa, i am allowed an opinion on the subject
saludos
I agree with Doleca in the sense that there are more important issues, particularly those of us who live in South Florida and have to deal with balooning property taxes, horrible roadways and traffic, skyrocketing property insurance, etc. But Cuba does remain an important issue for many of us, particularly those of us who may have been born here, but have family there.
I am on board with there being more important issues in this country. But a lot of us Cuban-Americans have an affinity for Cuba and it's people still living under oppression.
It's important, especially for the younger generation of Cuban-Americans to stay informed on these issues. There will come a time, probably more than once, that the U.S. will look to us, the exile community, for guidance on what to do in regards to Cuba.
While Cuba is not a pressing issue now, it's proximity to our shores makes it important to national security and illegal immigration issues. It's also key to the stability of the region, particularly now with Chavez trying to lead a comunist revitalization in latin america. And as for our local economy in Miami, a democratic, capitalist Cuba would be a great business partner.
So I think Cuba will once again someday be a hot topic issue in the US even though it isn't at the present moment. And when that days comes an educated and informed excile community will help shape US policy towards the island.
Open discussions and the sharing of information that takes place over cafesitos at the countertops of cafeterias across Miami should also take place in forums like these where more Cuban-Americans and especially a younger generation of Cuban-Americans can participate.
billy,
I don't see how CANF's survey was biased in anyway.
All of the candidates were given the same questions and allowed to submit written statements.
There are more submissions from Republican candidates because they have more candidates than the Democrats do.
Kudos to CANF for setting this up and making great efforts toward educating the Cuban-American electorate!
Hopefully this will set the record straight and prevent the vast amounts of misinformation we've been subject to in the past.
As in previous years, CANF is leading by example in a bipartisan fashion.
Good Job Amigos!
xcuba
Good to CANF for this guide. It was a good thing Hillary clarified her position about the cruel travel restrictions againts Cuban-American families. It is nice to her she would lift or modify those. Now I can vote either for her or Obama. She is now in the same track the majority of the Cuban-american communuity is. Lift the travel restriction for humanitarian family travel to Cuba!!
The problem is that all the candidates who responded refuse to face te fact that early 50 years of embargo and similar policies have failed abysmally. And the Cuban people suffer, both from lack of political freedom and from externally-derived goods shortages and hardships. CANF itself is partly responsible for this ostrich-like unwillingness to face reality and seek a more promising approach. Pobre Cuba! Pobre Estados Unidos!
Lets me realistic on the issues of Cuba; the US government really don't care nor ever have about Cuba. For many years, republicans and democrats, have been telling us Cubans what they know that we would like to hear, but, have done any thing about it. One of the thing that it should be change as the so call "policy", is the fact that we Cubans should have the right to visit our country and our family more than one time every three years. As Cubans-Americans we have that right by the constitution of this great country. After those "new policies" against Cuba, we not only have Castro dividing our family, but yet, the government of this great country is helping him to do the same thing. Gracias.
The Best Choice in the Florida Primaries Today
The Democrats are fortunate in Florida; they can choose between two candidates (and an also-ran) and have it count for nothing in the end. The Republicans are only half as lucky, though they have made that half indivisible, which means that they will anoint one and only one candidate with their halved votes.
In the Republican primary, some are bad and some are worse, but none is good. For the cause of a free Cuba, which is the only cause that concerns us, the best that could be hoped for regardless of who wins is to maintain the (still unacceptable) status quo. I don't think that any of the Republican candidates will do even that. Their unanimous refusal to say anything concrete about their future Cuba policy, limiting themselves, instead, to the same rhetorical commonplaces that are no longer just stale but putrid, indicates that their real agenda is immediate and complete appeasement.
My advice to Cuban-Americans in Florida is to boycott this election which offers us no choice but to become complicit in assuring the survival of Castroism in a post-Castro Cuba.
The best choice when there is no choice is no choice.
http://reviewofcuban-americanblogs.blogspot.com
I am one of the volunteers that handed out the Cuban American Voter's Guide and have to say that the response to the guide was very positive. People of all ages not only thanked CANF put asked that they print another Guide with the response of each of the federal political races involved with Cuban policy.
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