Russell Chapman asked:
>
>> When Jimmy Carter was president, I was a teenager
>> with things on my mind other than politics and
>> foreign policy.
>>
>> But now, being a little older and better educated,
>> the more I read about Jimmy Carter, the more
>> respect I have him.
>>
> I have a couple of questions (genuinely - I'm not
> debating I am just curious)
>
> 1. Why didn't he do something about Cuba when he
> was in power (or is the current stand a result of
> the end of the Cold War) ?
>
Because he had _more_ urgent matters to deal with. [*]
He had to clean up USA's hands in countries where
severe human rights violations were happening _with_
the approval of the gov.us.
And he did a good job in this way. Those countries
are now stable democracies, after 20 years of
economical instability.
> 2. Why did he give away the Panama Canal Zone, which
> surely was of huge strategic importance to the USA,
> not to mention an incredibly expensive
> asset to acquire in the first place?
>
Because Panama Zone was rented for a limited time
period, like Hong Kong or Macau.
Alberto Monteiro
