The fight over U.S. policy toward Cuba intensified in November. Hardline U.S. lawmakers demanded that the Obama administration take stronger and more effective action to speed the transition to democracy in Cuba. Their critics called for an end to U.S. Agency for International Development programs that are carried out on the island in violation of [...]
October roundup
U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba are of no concern to the United Nations, American ambassador Ronald Godard told the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 25. He said: The U.S. economic relationship with Cuba is a bilateral issue, and is not appropriately a concern of this Assembly. The embargo represents just one aspect of U.S. policy [...]
Florida lawmaker criticizes USAID budget increases
Budget increases at the U.S Agency for International Development are “just not feasible” in light of continued trouble in the U.S. economy, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., testified Wednesday. The agency’s budget rose by 147 percent from 2001 to 2010, and 57 percent from 2008 to 2010, said Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the U.S. House Committee on [...]