Lindsey’s service to the region deserving of kudos
I would like to publicly acknowledge Sen. Uvalde Lindsey for his long-time service to Northwest Arkansas and the citizens of the area. Thank you Senator!
TIM SUMMERS
Bentonville
North Korea, Cuba aren’t the places for Americans
I’m amazed at the number of Americans who want open trade and travel with Cuba. Cuba is a dictatorship, one party/state that doesn’t value or protect basic human rights. Yet Americans want to vacation, trade soy beans and rice to Cuba, which will increase business and American farmers’ profits into the hundreds of millions. This will financially bolster a communist regime.
After the 2014 Beyonce and Jay Z visit to Cuba under the “people-to-people” education program, our government said, “All of these activities serve the U.S. foreign policy goal of helping the Cuban people by facilitating exchanges with them and supporting the development of independent activity and civil society.” Americans sanction and boycott U.S. businesses that produce products in sweat shops in the U.S. and foreign countries. How can we justify financially supporting a regime that doesn’t value human rights or citizen participation in government. It’s not the responsibility of the U.S. to do this for the Cuban people or develop a civil society in Cuba, but it’s the Cuban government that has the responsibility for doing this for its citizens.
My heart breaks for the family and friends of Otto Warmbier, the American student who traveled to North Korea on a sightseeing tour. He was detained for taking down a propaganda poster related to Kim Jong Un. Warmbier was tried and sentenced to 15 year of hard labor, and then tortured and beaten until he was unresponsive. He was returned to the United States where he died a few days later at home. Make no mistake, the U.S. didn’t get his release. The North Korean regime turned him over to the U.S. because of his condition. CNN recently reported that currently there are three U.S. citizens and a Canadian pastor still being detained in North Korea.
President Trump is now calling for restricted trade/travel to Cuba and a travel ban for U.S. citizens to North Korea. However, our news media puts U.S. citizens on the air who state it’s not the president’s or government’s role to say where Americans can travel. I beg to differ. The United States government has a responsibility to protect its citizens and the power to restrict them from traveling to foreign countries where their lives may be in danger.
North Korea is supported by China and China is ramping up its military and nuclear arsenal. China now spends the second largest amount on military, just under the U.S. Soon they will surpass the U.S. in military spending. So, in the near future the U.S. will have no leverage against North Korea for the return of detained Americans or anything else. So, I say, go ahead to all those who want to travel to foreign nations where their lives may be in danger. Exercise your rights as Americans. Be the first to have the bragging rights to say I went to North Korea. But keep in mind, if you are detained there may not be anything the U.S. government can do to get you back.
TERRY STEWART
Springdale