Brace Yourself For A Castro White House Visit

At a press briefing Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Josh Earnest flat out refused to count out the possibility of a visit by Cuban dictator Raúl Castro to the White House. Earnest contended that heads of state from other countries with dubious human rights records regularly meet with Obama.

Earnest’s cryptic comments came after Wednesday’s surprise announcement that Obama had decided to “normalize” relations with Cuba, softening the near-fifty-year embargo.

Earnest said Obama has also expressed openness to visiting Cuba in the near future.

“The analogy that we’ve tried to draw—or at least identify—is that there are important national security reasons for the president to travel to other countries that have what we would describe, at best, as having checkered human rights records,” Earnest said, citing recent official visits to both Burma and Communist China.

“Having an open relationship, in which the president engages with the leaders of other countries, can actually serve as a useful way to shine a spotlight on the shortcomings of other countries’ records as it relates to human rights,” he added.

“So I guess the point is, that the president has had the leaders of both Burma and China to the United States,” Earnest concluded. “And for that reason, I wouldn’t rule out a visit from President Castro.”

Some Cuban-American’s are apoplectic over Obama’s decision to open up relations with Cuba. Some are even calling Obama’s actions a “slap in the face.”