@ ColdBlooded
- Thread starter nefar559
- Start date
I've been working and living life outside the computer, some people on here should try it.
Haven't seen bad boys 2, didn't like the first one so i didn't wanna see this one. Gilgi looked more interesting.
There is a concerted effort to paint Cuba as a drug trafficking nation. To those who have visited the island, with its strict laws on trafficking and drug consumption, this does seem a little excessive. Then you examine the source of these allegations in the Cuban exile community and remember that same community's prediliction for cocaine trafficking in particular... Perhaps they should pause and think before really getting going on this course lest they should wind up in the spotlight instead!
Cuban drug laws are harsh. I remember a woman i met in Cuba telling me about her neighbor's son who was at a club with his friends when the police came by. They had a joint they were gunna smoke later and the cops were like "who's is this" and so that his friend wouldn't get in trouble he was like it's mine, but then his friend was like no it's really mine. The cops said "oh so it's BOTH of yours" and arrested them both. For the joint they got 3 years.
Cuba constantly asks the U.S. to cooperate with them on stoping drug flow to both countries, but U.S. politics gets in the way.
Here's a quick one from CNN, of all places, for you:
From Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman
HAVANA (CNN) -- The same 4,200 keys that two centuries ago made the Cuban archipelago a paradise for pirates give cover today to drug traffickers.
Both Cuban and U.S. government officials say Cuba is increasingly used as a way station by narcotics traffickers to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
European countries have been cooperating with the Cubans to stop the drug trade, and Cuban officials have offered to cooperate with the Americans as well. But domestic politics in the United States have stymied that effort.
Conservative Republicans, such as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina), and Cuban-American political leaders have repeatedly blocked efforts to increase cooperation. They believe that Cuban officials are accomplices in the drug trade and shouldn't get access to U.S. intelligence.
However, the Clinton administration's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, says he sees no evidence of Cuban government involvement in drug running.
"It's my own view that at the senior levels of their government, they are apparently willing to confront those drug criminals," he says.
Death sentences for smugglers
Cuba has passed new laws against drug trafficking that are among the toughest in the region, including possible death sentences for smugglers. Cuban President Fidel Castro has made several private and public offers this year to work with the United States to combat the drug trade.
"It's nonsense, absolute nonsense, that the United States refuses to have a drug interdiction agreement for fear of the raving and ranting of a group of people in Miami, even though we're willing to do it in exchange for nothing," Castro says.
With just 40 patrol boats to cover more than 3,000 miles (more than 4,800 kilometers) of coastline, Cuban law enforcement simply can't keep up with the smugglers.
Low-flying planes drop up to four tons of drugs a month, Picked up by speedboats from Jamaica and the Bahamas, the shipments race north to the United States.
At Havana's airport, customs officials have beefed up efforts to stop smugglers posing as tourists traveling from South America to Europe.
Nearly 2 million tourists a year
Ten years ago, fewer than 200,000 people visited Cuba each year. Today, the number is nearly 2 million, making Cuba far more tempting for drug traffickers.
The British government has helped finance and train Cuban customs officials in the latest detection techniques. The French have helped train drug-sniffing dogs.
And Cuba has drug interdiction accords with 24 countries other than the United States. But Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo says the bottom line is that there cannot be an effective fight against drugs in the Caribbean without Cuba.
"In the battle against narcotics, we must put aside our differences because there is a bigger duty on the part of all governments to free our people of the scourge of drug trafficking," he says.
While drug use in Cuba is low compared to other nations in the hemisphere, narcotics are creeping in, spurring the Cuban government's desire to work even with old enemies in Washington.
Haven't seen bad boys 2, didn't like the first one so i didn't wanna see this one. Gilgi looked more interesting.
There is a concerted effort to paint Cuba as a drug trafficking nation. To those who have visited the island, with its strict laws on trafficking and drug consumption, this does seem a little excessive. Then you examine the source of these allegations in the Cuban exile community and remember that same community's prediliction for cocaine trafficking in particular... Perhaps they should pause and think before really getting going on this course lest they should wind up in the spotlight instead!
Cuban drug laws are harsh. I remember a woman i met in Cuba telling me about her neighbor's son who was at a club with his friends when the police came by. They had a joint they were gunna smoke later and the cops were like "who's is this" and so that his friend wouldn't get in trouble he was like it's mine, but then his friend was like no it's really mine. The cops said "oh so it's BOTH of yours" and arrested them both. For the joint they got 3 years.
Cuba constantly asks the U.S. to cooperate with them on stoping drug flow to both countries, but U.S. politics gets in the way.
Here's a quick one from CNN, of all places, for you:
From Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman
HAVANA (CNN) -- The same 4,200 keys that two centuries ago made the Cuban archipelago a paradise for pirates give cover today to drug traffickers.
Both Cuban and U.S. government officials say Cuba is increasingly used as a way station by narcotics traffickers to ship drugs to the United States and Europe.
European countries have been cooperating with the Cubans to stop the drug trade, and Cuban officials have offered to cooperate with the Americans as well. But domestic politics in the United States have stymied that effort.
Conservative Republicans, such as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina), and Cuban-American political leaders have repeatedly blocked efforts to increase cooperation. They believe that Cuban officials are accomplices in the drug trade and shouldn't get access to U.S. intelligence.
However, the Clinton administration's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, says he sees no evidence of Cuban government involvement in drug running.
"It's my own view that at the senior levels of their government, they are apparently willing to confront those drug criminals," he says.
Death sentences for smugglers
Cuba has passed new laws against drug trafficking that are among the toughest in the region, including possible death sentences for smugglers. Cuban President Fidel Castro has made several private and public offers this year to work with the United States to combat the drug trade.
"It's nonsense, absolute nonsense, that the United States refuses to have a drug interdiction agreement for fear of the raving and ranting of a group of people in Miami, even though we're willing to do it in exchange for nothing," Castro says.
With just 40 patrol boats to cover more than 3,000 miles (more than 4,800 kilometers) of coastline, Cuban law enforcement simply can't keep up with the smugglers.
Low-flying planes drop up to four tons of drugs a month, Picked up by speedboats from Jamaica and the Bahamas, the shipments race north to the United States.
At Havana's airport, customs officials have beefed up efforts to stop smugglers posing as tourists traveling from South America to Europe.
Nearly 2 million tourists a year
Ten years ago, fewer than 200,000 people visited Cuba each year. Today, the number is nearly 2 million, making Cuba far more tempting for drug traffickers.
The British government has helped finance and train Cuban customs officials in the latest detection techniques. The French have helped train drug-sniffing dogs.
And Cuba has drug interdiction accords with 24 countries other than the United States. But Cuban Justice Minister Roberto Diaz Sotolongo says the bottom line is that there cannot be an effective fight against drugs in the Caribbean without Cuba.
"In the battle against narcotics, we must put aside our differences because there is a bigger duty on the part of all governments to free our people of the scourge of drug trafficking," he says.
While drug use in Cuba is low compared to other nations in the hemisphere, narcotics are creeping in, spurring the Cuban government's desire to work even with old enemies in Washington.
