E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Raul Castro seeks negotiations with US
HAVANA - Cuba’s communist interim leader Fidel-Lite Raul Castro, in a shift from the tack of his ailing brother Fidel Castro, on Saturday pushed for negotiations with the United States to end decades of tense ties. “Let me take this opportunity to express our willingness to settle the long US-Cuba disagreement at the negotiating table,” Raul Castro told troops at Cuba’s first military parade in a decade.

“Of course, that is, as long as they accept that we are a country that does not tolerate any reduction of its independence, and based on the principles of equality, reciprocity, non-interference and mutual respect,” Raul Castro said, speaking before Communist Party and military leaders.
We don't respect you and you don't respect us, I suppose that is mutual.
“Until that happens, after almost half a century, we are prepared to wait patiently for the moment when common sense takes root in the halls of power in Washington,” added Raul Castro, who is also the defence minister.
We've been waiting patiently for your brother to kick off, and it won't be too many more years before you yourself join him at Himmler's permanent Monday night card game in Hell.
In Washington, the US response was firm. “The dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban regime and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island. As we have consistently stated, any deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends on that dialogue and the Cuban regime’s willingness to take concrete steps toward a political opening and a transition to democracy,” said Janelle Hironimus, a State Department spokeswoman.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=173818