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12/06-06/07
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How Long Are We Going To Keep Cuba in "Time Out"?
There has been a trade embargo and travel restrictions placed on Cuba by the U.S. since 1962. I do not think they are going to learn their lesson.Many people remember the scare caused by the Cuban Missile crisis or like me they have read about it. Few people could tell you though why we initially placed the embargo on Cuba.
The new communist government under the leadership of Fidel Castro had claimed the property of United States citizens and corporations.
A terrible thing indeed but that was almost fifty years ago. My first thought upon learning that Fidel's brother Raul had assumed leadership was that perhaps we could lift the embargo.
Raul would like that and certainly the Cuban people would benefit. President Bush's response was no democracy, no talks.
I immediately thought of the many communist nations that we have always maintained relations with. Most notable of course is China. They are just as notorious for human rights violations. Yet we import billions of dollars of tainted and unsafe goods from them every year.
Cuba represents no harm to the United States unless you count the amount of Major League pitchers that will lose their spots in the rotation when Cuban ball players are allowed to come over. For goodness sake we maintain a naval base on their island what the hell are they going to do to us?
Despite our embargo on their goods we are Cuba's largest importer. Fair is fair. We should be allowing them to sell their goods to the U.S.
Nothing will get accomplished by ignoring the problem. An open dialogue could be nothing but beneficial. Lifting the travel restrictions would allow us to monitor any improvement in their human rights policy. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
For well over ten years in a row the United Nations has voted nearly unanimously against the US embargo on Cuba. The embargo did not work. The embargo will not work.
Is it really that much fun to pick on the little guy? Is it really that impressive to maintain this firm stance?
The right thing to do is to get over this. Many, many innocent people in this tiny, tiny nation will be helped if the US realizes that it may be time to try a different approach.
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