President Obama has re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba after extensive negotiations with them. Makes sense to me.
During the Cold War, Cuba was an advance thrust of Soviet Communism into American sphere of influence, and they were quite dangerous, as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963 demonstrated. The USSR planted nuclear missiles on Cuban territory aimed at the U.S. Kennedy stared down Kruschev and had the missiles removed, and apparently Castro was furious, indeed his hatred of the U.S. was so extreme that he wanted to fire the missiles he had already in Cuba into the U.S. while he had the chance. Fortunately, Kruschev wasn't that stupid.
But, with the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Cuba has become a harmless and pathetic impoverished speck next to the U.S. They are certainly no threat to the U.S. now that communism has died in the rest of the world.
The notion that the best way to end a dictatorship is economic embargoes that only punish and weaken the populace has had a fifty plus year record of futility. Indeed, the only way dictator police states lose power is by a growing power of the people, and that includes economic prosperity and growth for the common folks. Economic sanctions can actually harm the power of the populace much more than it harms the tyrants in charge of the populace. Eventually, they see their interests being thwarted by despotism and overthrow, peacefully or violently, can occur.
So, I say good for Obama. Church bells rang out in Havana as Obama and Raoul Castro made their simultaneous announcements of the return of diplomatic relationships.
Also good for the Pope for his assistance in getting this done.
Time to move on to the actual realities of today and stop fighting a Cold War that we won fifteen years ago.
