Under the Table - Is it going to be Business as Usual for Obama, Yoani Sanchez and Cuba?

Yoani Sanchez has written that she is in direct communication with Obama. She claimed yesterday to have sent him written questions and that Obama has responded. That was fast. She says the White House drafted the Spanish Translation of Obama's response. The White House has not denied it.

In a Spanish video. Juanita Castro, Fidel and Raul Castro's exiled sister, has declared that the CIA asked her (after the end of the cold war) to start saying that things in Cuba weren't so bad. The CIA has not denied it.

Elsewhere Juanita Castro wants to petition her brother Raul for democracy in Cuba. Given family ties, it's understandable that she does not seem to consider her brother an assassin and that you don't ask such people for anything, let alone democracy. Obama and the Cuban people should also have understood this by now. That does not mean that they should be removed by physical force. But it does mean that they should be removed, not engaged in plans for democracy for Cuba, as is apparently happening.

In response to one question by Ms. Sanchez, Obama allegedly wrote:

The U.S. government regularly talks with groups and individual s inside and outside of Cuba that have an interest in our relations. Many do not always agree with the Cuban government; many do not always agree with the United States government; and many do not agree with each other. What we should all be able to agree on moving forward is the need to listen to the concerns of Cubans who live on the island.

Obama does not mention the concerns of Cubans in exile. Why?

Could Obama's preference for 'Cubans on the island' have anything to do with the fact that many are former communists turned into moderate leftists? Yoani's husband was a correspondent for one of Castro's newspapers and Yoani has even praised Castro's first years even though hundreds of thousands of Cubans were forced into exile and hundreds executed without a real trial. Do Yoani Sanchez and Obama believe anyone should face a trial for these crimes or are they far more content with a new leftist government and impunity? Could it be that Obama and Yoani want to steer economic and political power in Cuba towards the new left while marginalizing Cuban exiles, specially the ones who left in the 1960's, 1970's and Mariel? Is that what all of this really means?

Does Obama want and expect 'Cubans' to define their future but under the table? Who does he deem Cuban or capable enough to accomplish this? Evident from his alleged response is that he has included some unelected exiles selected by his administration, but is primarily interested in working with unelected Cubans on the island (selected by his administration) and, of course, the unelected tyranny which Obama, Yoani Sanchez and others insist on legitimizing by calling it 'The Cuban Government'?

In her second question Ms. Sanchez even asks Obama:

"Should your administration be willing to put an end to this dispute, would it recognize the legitimacy of the Raul Castro government as the only valid interlocutor in the eventual talks?"

Obama's answer leaves little doubt that he considers Cuba's government to be the one led by Castro. Should he Mrs.Sanchez? Should he recognize an assassin as the legitimate leader of Cuba? Isn't that what you do?

So is this not then business as usual?

UPDATE BELOW - NOVEMBER 20, 2009 - 12:20 A.M.

Notwithstanding my disagreements and doubts about Yoani politically, I couldn't help but sympathize with her after seeing this video (Spanish) evidently produced with the help of the tyranny. They didn't think twice about violating Yoani's right to medical privacy. Nor about getting 3 doctors, supposedly concerned about her health, to publicly characterize her as a liar.

Yoani is a highly intelligent person and if she had invented the facts of her beating she wouldn't have gone to a hospital to seek help and establish a medical record.

In addition, Cubans report (at great personal risk) getting beaten up by the political police regularly and frequently. The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming.

RELATED:

Where's Fidel Castro?

Surprise! Castros Won't Respond to Accusations by Yoani Sanchez

Preguntas para Yoani Sanchez (In Spanish)