I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Before her confirmation hearings, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton replied to a set of written questions from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) about specific regions and nation-states. The document provides interesting insight into how Pres.-elect Barack Obama will approach foreign policy.
For those interested in our long-standing embargo of Cuba, Clinton clearly stated that the Obama administration would lift restrictions on family visits and family cash remittances to Cuba (pdf, p. 73), which have been a significant hardship for Cuban-Americans and their families in Cuba:
President-elect Obama believes that Cuban-Americans especially can be important ambassadors for change in Cuba. As such, he believes that it makes both moral and strategic sense to lift the restrictions on family visits and family cash remittances to Cuba. We do not currently have a timeline for the announcement of such a new policy, and the Obama-Biden Administration will consult closely with Congress as we prepare the change.
She said that Obama doesn’t believe lifting the embargo in its entirety is the right thing to do though, because it provides leverage with the Cuban government. Obama indicated when running for office that he would be willing to engage in direct diplomacy with the Cuban government if the conditions were right — although what those conditions would be isn’t clear.
