*OT* The U.S. government is not needed (to aid the resistence) in this fight....did the U.S. help the Czechs or East Germans (to any large extent?)...
When the many tens of thousands that left Cuba for Miami from 1960-1980 and after, the people who could have enacted true change and, ultimately, revolution left.....those who stayed, and I'll use another harsh term, are more "sheep" than revolutionary...that's why there is no major dissatisfaction, and why half a million show up for Elian rallies...ng
The embargo is stupid. Uni-lateral embargoes never work anyway. American foreign policy is duplistic (China is as bad/worse than Cuba ever was). The best way to promote freedom is with freedom. The embargo gives Castro his "raison d'etre".
Regardless of anyone's intent on punishing Castro, the Cubans in Cuba need to be prepared for the democracy and openness that is to come (sometime after Castro dies). The best way to do this is to end the embargo, and encourage better relations and dialogue. That will get the wheels turning in Cuban minds that have been stunted by the last 40 years.
When democrary and open capitalism comes to Cuba, it is going to be incredibly overwhelming to the average Cuban, and we risk setting up another fiasco like what has gone on in Russia (ultimately, that may just be seen as "growing pains" of a young democratic, capitalist country...but your average Russian was simply not prepared for what has transpired.). We can help that situation some by opening up now.
Either way, Castro is going eat his steak, enjoy his air conditioning, etc....(got that off the 60 minutes piece, didn't know they were showing it before I wrote the 1st post!). Castro is irrelevant, let's focus on what is best for those living there over the next many years... |
