While Obama will not shy away from discussing human rights, “the difference here is that in the past, because of certain U.S. policies, the message that was delivered in that regard either overtly or implicitly suggested that the United States was seeking to pursue regime change . . . or the United States thought we could dictate the direction of Cuba,” Rhodes said.
Fernando Gonzalez, Cuban intelligence officer goes free on Feb. 27.
A man named Fernando Gonzalez is scheduled to walk out of an Arizona prison on Thursday, and the Cuban Five, a group of Cuban intelligence officers convicted of espionage in 2001, will be down to three, since another defendant, Rene Gonzalez was released in 2011.
The Cuban 5 have been lionized by the government in Havana and demonized by the media in Miami. Their ordeal embodies the tortured relationship that has governed U.S.-Cuba relations since the presidency of John F. Kennedy.
While Obama will not shy away from discussing human rights, “the difference here is that in the past, because of certain U.S. policies, the message that was delivered in that regard either overtly or implicitly suggested that the United States was seeking to pursue regime change . . . or the United States thought we could dictate the direction of Cuba,” Rhodes said.
