Report: Snowden ended up stuck in Russia because US pressured Cuba to block entry

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I’m sure you already know this, but since it’s Putin’s quasi-official propaganda outlet, RT is an even less credible source than Fox News is.

How the hell did the US government pressure the Castro government into doing anything? I’m sure they could ask nicely, but the Cuban government is just going to do what it wants anyway. I have no idea what kind of leverage the US government would try to offer the Cubans. Anything that makes sense would be political suicide because Florida is a swing state and is full of voting Cuban expats with a grudge against the Castro name.

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That really depends on the story. You just have to keep in mind their biases. Much like Fox News or any other news source.

Don’t let Snowden on the plane or we shoot it down?

If you know anything about Cuba, you know that they’re in the middle of a slow transition from Castrism to a more approachable Chinese model, with private ownership being progressively reintroduced. Normalisation of relations with the US is high on the agenda; the death of Castro will have to be managed carefully if established powers want to avoid trouble, and relaxed access to Miami is something they’d really like to offer the population in order to keep the peace. I wouldn’t be surprised if a general or two had already agreed with US diplomats a protocol to follow right after the big man finally kicks the bucket.

At this point in time, it is quite credible that Cuban leadership wouldn’t risk compromising their political outlook for the sake of a random American troublemaker. It would go a long way to explain why Putin took such a long time to let him in the country, after authorizing his passage (and even then, he likely granted asylum to Snowden only as retaliation for the hardening of US positions on Syria).

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RT is about as credible as Press TV

Does that mean American tourists will be allowed to visit Cuban resorts at some point? But where will Canadians go to avoid them?

That’s a very good question, and one I cannot answer :smile: When I went to Cuba a few years ago, I was actually surprised by the amount of Canadians we met.

But yeah, I suppose normalisation of US relations will bring US tourists back to their old stomping grounds, which is something the regime needs if it wants to survive.

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