US Democrats differ on Cuba at Iowa debate
Monday, 3 December 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec 2 (Reuters): Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other Democratic presidential candidates disagreed Saturday during a debate in Iowa on whether the United States (US) should immediately end a 4-decade-old embargo on Cuba.
At a 'black and brown' debate focused on issues of interest to minority voters, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd backed an immediate end to the US embargo but other candidates differed on how quickly it could be ended without changes in the Caribbean island nation's government or human rights policies.
"I think we make a huge mistake by not normalizing relations with Cuba," Dodd said, adding the embargo had benefited the communist government established in 1959 by Fidel Castro.
The polite debate, which featured few policy disagreements or confrontations, came barely one month before Iowa kicks off the state-by-state battle to pick the Democratic and Republican nominees for the November 2008 general election.
Clinton, the front-runner among Democrats in national polls, and rivals Obama, John Edwards and Joseph Biden said relations could not be normalised without a significant change in Cuba.
At a 'black and brown' debate focused on issues of interest to minority voters, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd backed an immediate end to the US embargo but other candidates differed on how quickly it could be ended without changes in the Caribbean island nation's government or human rights policies.
"I think we make a huge mistake by not normalizing relations with Cuba," Dodd said, adding the embargo had benefited the communist government established in 1959 by Fidel Castro.
The polite debate, which featured few policy disagreements or confrontations, came barely one month before Iowa kicks off the state-by-state battle to pick the Democratic and Republican nominees for the November 2008 general election.
Clinton, the front-runner among Democrats in national polls, and rivals Obama, John Edwards and Joseph Biden said relations could not be normalised without a significant change in Cuba.