Democrats differ on Cuba policy at Iowa debate

Democrats differ on Cuba policy at Iowa debate
Sat Dec 1, 2007 11:28pm EST
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other
Democratic presidential candidates disagreed on Saturday during a debate
in Iowa on whether the United States 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 Sen. Chris Dodd backed an immediate end to the U.S.
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
normalized without a significant change in Cuba.

"I think that has to be a precondition," the New York senator said of an
improvement in Cuban human rights policies. She said there was "a
tremendous pent-up desire" for fundamental democratic reforms among the
Cuban people.

Obama, an Illinois senator, said he would favor immediately loosening
some aspects of the embargo, including restrictions on visits to Cuba
and remittances to families. "Those two shifts in policy would send a
signal that we can build on," Obama said.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is Hispanic, said, "The embargo has
not worked" but that lifting it would require some immediate democratic
reforms in Cuba.

President George W. Bush has rejected any easing of sanctions against
Cuba without a transition to democracy there, saying it would bolster
the government's grip on power. His administration has tightened the
embargo, including restrictions on visits to Cuba and remittances to
families.

The 81-year-old Castro is recovering from a series of intestinal
operations that forced him to temporarily hand over power to his brother
Raul in July 2006.

TIGHT THREE-WAY RACE

Clinton is locked in a tight three-way race in Iowa with Obama and
Edwards, a former North Carolina senator. All the candidates spent much
of the day battling an ice storm that disrupted several events and
closed the Des Moines airport until late afternoon.

Biden, a senator from Delaware, made it to only half of the debate after
driving from Chicago.

Clinton, delayed in arriving in Des Moines until late in the day, spoke
to an afternoon candidate forum by telephone and heard scattered boos
from the crowd of 5,000 during an exchange on immigration policy.

After stating her support for a path to citizenship for illegal
immigrants, Clinton made reference to the difficult process of getting a
bill through Congress.

"You've got to get the Congress to pass the legislation. The president
can do as much as possible, which I will do," Clinton said as some in
the crowd began to boo.

Clinton opened the evening debate with a brief reference to the hostage
situation at one of her campaign offices in New Hampshire on Friday,
which ended peacefully, and noted all her rivals had called to offer
support and encouragement.

"We were very relieved at the way it turned out," she said.

(Additional reporting by Kay Henderson; Editing by Peter Cooney)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales
from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3029785820071202?sp=true