American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
Silvio Canto hosted, Jason Poblete dropped by and talked how Lawlessness on U.S.-Cuba Policy, the New Normal
Wednesday 7pm CT: Doing business in Cuba plus US-Latin America stories of the week……… https://t.co/Nguu2PJb2m
— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) January 27, 2016
Washington, D.C. lawyer Jason Poblete reports that Congress Knew About Hellfire Missile in Cuba, A Year Ago (emphasis added):
Yesterday I was contacted by several Congressional sources who told me that the Obama administration read in several Members and staff, House and Senate, on the incident. No surprise there. With something as serious as losing a missile to a state sponsor of terrorism, the administration is obligated to share with the Congress.
If this turns out to be true, and I have every reason to believe these people, why did Congress sit on the information? Did the administration ask them not to share? Granted, it could be an ongoing law enforcement matter or other investigation; however, with the many and significant Cuba policy changes last year, sitting on this information was not an option.
As I posted yesterday,
And Congress knew.
Poblete adds,
Why did the story surface now? Read the Wall Street Journal story. It is clear as day that it was a leak designed to put a spin out there that this was a mistake. Someone is selling the mistake malarkey. Let’s hope more rational heads in Congress are not buying.
TWO years after the fact, and this is the first time we hear about this.
Outrageous.
UPDATE:
It gets worse, State Department WON’T DENY that the U.S. sold Hellfire missile to Castro regime
Yesterday Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was tear-gassed and roughed up by the police, was taken to a military hospital where he was held for several hours. From the start, Correa referred to the incident as a coup,
He was later rescued by the military following a gunfight during which reporters covering the story in the hospital had to take cover:
The trouble began early Thursday when some members of the military and national police walked off the job, protesting wage cuts proposed by the government. Members of Ecuador’s air force stormed the international airport in Quito and blocked the runway.
Protests quickly spread to other cities, leading to roadblocks and rioting. Banks were closed after several were robbed. In the country’s two other principal cities, Guayaquil and Cuenca, police took over government buildings, burned tires and set off tear gas, according to local media reports.
Following the incident Correa addressed a crowd gathered by the presidential palace (video in Spanish),
What provoked this incident, which Correa has blamed on everyone from his predecessor, to the media, to (what’s new?) the USA?
Correa had pushed a law that would cut salaries and terms of employment to the police and armed forces.
had gone to the barracks to address the police complaints in person. A shouting match ensued, and at one point, he loosened his tie and opened his shirt as if to show that he was not wearing a bulletproof vest. “If you want to kill the president, here he is,” he said. “Kill him, if you want to. Kill him if you are brave enough.”
The Washington Post reports that, following the coup (emphasis added), the message did not fall on deaf ears,
he also called for the law that provoked the unrest to be “reviewed or not placed into effect so public servants, soldiers and police don’t see their rights affected.”
The law, approved Wednesday by a Congress dominated by Correa loyalists, has not taken effect because it must first be published. It would end the practice of giving members of Ecuador’s military and police medals and bonuses with each promotion. It would also extend from five to seven years the usual period required for a subsequent promotion.
Ecuador has a long history of coups as a revolving door:
This poor Andean nation of 14 million people had a history of political instability before Correa, cycling through eight presidents in a decade before he first won election in December 2006. Three of those presidents were driven from office by street protests that plagued the oil-producing country.
The police chief has resigned and the country is in stage of emergency.
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