Cuba policy: another self-inflicted wound of the Bush Administration
Carol J. Williams reports today from Cuba for the Los Angeles Times, and finds further evidence that the latest Bush sanctions --which, among other things, limits travel by Cuban-Americans to their motherland only once every three years as of June 30-- are sparking "more improvising than uprising:"
With a household income of $16 from a daughter still living with them, Soler and Rodriguez have been receiving about $200 more each month from their emigre children via Cuban American travelers. With more than 115,000 of them visiting the island nation last year alone, a thriving network has developed to relay cash to needy loved ones around the country, enabling the providers to avoid transfer charges that can amount to 15% of wired remittances....But if the sanctions are having little of its intended effects in Cuba, it's great news for Democrats in Florida:
The couple's children are responding like most relatives in the U.S.: They're searching for ways to get around the restrictions by sending money through third countries and vowing to visit whether the sanctions allow that or not.
A poll last month of Cuban American voters in four southern Florida counties showed a significant drop in support for President Bush among the community that gave him 82% of its vote four years ago and provided the deciding edge in his razor-thin victory in the state. Only 66% of Florida Cubans now support Bush, according to the poll commissioned by the William C. Velasquez Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Latino voter research group.
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