[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Griff

I think folks should visit these places. The American embargo is counter-productive. We sort of believe in free enterprise the current administration not with-standing. It is very easy for Castro to tell his people they have a superior system without a lot of well-heeled Americans circulating around the country. The Americans they see now are mostly sympathetic leftists who'd trade nationalized health care for any other political good. We don't really know the situation there either and it would do us good to see it. Definitely approach your vacation the Tonchi way if you can get around your government handlers and spend your money in a helpful manner.

I agree. Our normalizing relations and trading with Vietnam has done more towards moving that country forward than all of the troops we placed there in the 60's.

Castro definitely has to go. He's no better than Pahlevi, Noriega, Pinochet, Marcos, or any of the other strongmen and thugs who have taken power over the years. However, his main selling point is the same one President Bush is using to justify his executive power - security. Cubans are probably afraid of becoming a US possession with no real national identity, like the Philippines pre-WWII or a non-state like the Virgin Islands. Every argument GWB has used here has been used by Castro for 46 years. The big difference is that people are constantly reminded that the US is only 90 miles away. The US did sponsor the Bay of Pigs invasion. Imagine how much power Bush would have if a known terrorist state were only 90 miles from the US border.

The opening of trade with Cuba would weaken Castro more than support him. The reasons for not doing so have as much to do with the threat to the sugar oligopoly in the US and political support from Cuban exiles as it does with any coherent foreign policy strategy.