To the Point

President Carter-s Visit to Cuba

On his first day in Havana, the first US President to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in the 1920-s has already met with dissidents and toured a bio-technology lab. Jimmy Carter also has cast a spotlight on the chasm that exists between the current President and the Congress, whose Senate and House majorities both want to ease the trade embargo imposed on Fidel Castro-s Cuba during the Eisenhower administration. We get an update on the Carter visit, then discuss trade and travel, freedom and democracy, and their impact on midterm and Florida politics, with Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake, representatives of the Cuban American National Foundation and the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, and a Cuban-American columnist in South Florida. Newsmaker: US Ready to Seal Nuclear Deal with Russia President Bush has announced that he-ll sign a treaty with Russia that will -liquidate the legacy of the Cold War- by reducing both countries- nuclear arsenals by two thirds. Mary Dejevsky, who has reported from Moscow and Washington, and now serves as diplomatic editor for the Independent of London, says that while it won-t greatly alter global politics, it-s hard to be critical of a treaty that slashes two such substantial nuclear arsenals. Reporter's Notebook: Likud Embarrasses Sharon Rejecting Palestinian State This weekend, as 50,000 Israelis staged the biggest peace demonstration in almost two years, the Central Committee of Ariel Sharon-s Likud Party humiliated its own Prime Minister by condemning the very idea of a Palestinian state. Yossi Klein Halevi, senior writer for the Jerusalem Report, looks at the discredited ideologies of Israel-s contradictory political factions, and the failure of the ongoing peace process.