Time to rethink the Cuban embargo?
posted at 10:18 am on February 23, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Many expected the election of Barack Obama to bring changes to our foreign policy on Cuba, but the first volley for new thinking comes from a Republican. Richard Lugar, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has issued a report calling for a change in the decades-long embargo on Cuba and the Fidel/Raul Castro regime. Lugar says the embargo has “failed”:
The US economic embargo on Cuba “has failed” and should be re-evaluated, senior Republican Senator Richard Lugar argues in a report.
“We must recognise the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuba regime in a way that enhances US interests,” Senator Lugar says.
President Barack Obama has promised a new look at US policy towards Cuba, including easing travel restrictions.
But he has said he believes the embargo is an “inducement” for change in Cuba.
Well, if it is, it’s certainly taking a long time to show it. The US started the embargo shortly after Fidel Castro took power in 1959, and last time I looked, the Castros still run the show. For almost 30 years, the Soviet Union floated them as a rebuke to the US in Latin America, but even after the collapse of the USSR, the Castros have managed to remain in power — for an additional 20 years. Under any rational measurement, the embargo has failed to produce change in Cuba.
Would engagement have been a better policy? Consider China as an example. When Richard Nixon went to China, they were at least as oppressive internally and a bigger risk for metastizing communism around the world. They’re still oppressive, but have gradually begun to adopt the free-market economics that will eventually free their people. Without a doubt, the Chinese are more free now than in the early 1970s when Nixon met Mao, and engagement can get at least some of the credit for that.
I’m in favor of keeping pressure on the Castros, and in any event, they won’t be around much longer. Fidel stepped down a year ago today, and now lives in an undisclosed location, if he’s alive at all. His brother Raul is in his late 70s and won’t live forever, or even another ten years. What will replace them? The refusal to engage may allow a pristine democracy movement to come to power in Havana, but more likely it will be the army and people already in power, groups with no contacts to speak of with the US.
Lugar is correct. The embargo has failed and left us in a poor position for the eventual transition to a post-Castro Cuba. We need to find other ways to keep pressure on for change, but start looking towards the future.
Blowback
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I am all for ending the embargo–we’ve amply proved that what Castro tried DID NOT WORK, and would benefit greatly by moving goods into Havana. So would the cubans, methinks.
And of course, we could mostly benefit by sending our top doctors to their hospitals for training, right?
/
Bob's Kid on February 23, 2009 at 10:23 AM
The ball is in Cuba’s court. It’s not our fault that they (those who benefit from the power) want Communism. Give your people freedom, then give us a call.
perroviejo on February 23, 2009 at 10:26 AM
No.
Wethal on February 23, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Now I know how to weather the upcoming recession. I can open an auto parts store in Cuba selling hard to find parts for 1955 Chevy’s.
Epic fail on the embargo? Ya think?
turfmann on February 23, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I would also agree. An end to an embargo would likely satisfy a lot of the underlying demand for western goods down in Cuba, and even possibly embolden them under a decrepit old dictator.
MadisonConservative on February 23, 2009 at 10:27 AM
“Regime Change” would’ve been the best option, and if not for JFK/RFK cutting a “deal” during the Cuban Missle Crisis. It would’ve happened, instead we went to Vietnam and agreed to the Soviets that the United States would never remove Castro from power and not only that would take on the policy of stopping any local movement from trying again…….if you’ve ever wondered how he’s managed to stay in power for so long, while so close to the United States border and is basically a Huge Drug and Human Trafficing/smuggling base.
Trading with Castro, will only make him more powerful. He’s not going to open up business there, it will be all state managed, they already trade with everyone else in the world and nothing has changed.
The Castro Regime needs to be offed, period.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Bullet list ot topple Cuban regime:
- “free” medical care (already in place).
- Force banks to loan to Cuban citizens that cannot afford mortgages.
- Give a government guarantee to said loans.
- Government control of the economy (already in place).
- Government control of education (already in place).
- Expand welfare.
If
United StatesCuban government does this, the regime will fail.WashJeff on February 23, 2009 at 10:28 AM
until the Communist Bastards give up communism and stop being a bunch of racists towards blacks then I I say we keep the embargo.
Until they allow free speech keep the embargo. Until they stop executing Re-pats and stop their senseless torture of them keep the embargo.
Cuba deserves the embargo and they should never have it lifted especially considering the severe human rights violations that occur there.
theguardianii on February 23, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Sure, now that I quit smoking cigars.
hawkdriver on February 23, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Ed makes a reasoned argument for why engagement can lead to the change we seek in certain totalitarian regimes over the long term…and you make a simplistic call for giving people freedom. We engage Egypt…their people have to put up with sham elections. We engage Saudi Arabia, where there are no elections and women cant drive. We engage China to this day, their people are not free.
Double standards prove nothing. Its time to end the embargo. Cuba no longer presents a national security threat…as the spread of communism is no longer a geopolitical issue and Cuba is no longer a vassal of a serious enemy.
ernesto on February 23, 2009 at 10:29 AM
If lifting the embargo meant that every American dime going into Cuba was going into the pockets of the citizens, the Cuban middle class entrepreneurs, and not a dime would be going directly into the coffers of the Castro, the Cuban government and the Cuban ruling elites…if such guarantees were actually possible, then, sure, lift the embargo.
But, there are no such guarantees, and cannot be under the Castro regime.
Thus, on the backs of the Cuban people, and out of the pockets of American citizens, should we lift the embargo, the Castro Brothers will find a new way to fund their regime.
coldwarrior on February 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Wow Lugar… way to stand up for a position… when it’s nearly a foregone conclusion.
The embargo didn’t “fail”. The difference between China and Cuba is that China was isolationist and Castro was actively working to destroy the US (I don’t know why I need to even state that on a board like this).
Is it so hard to imagine that Castro would have had its own nuke making capability before Iran? Is it so hard to imagine that given a stronger economic base Castro would have spread his power throughout Latin America (ala Chavez)and harmed the US in the process?
Now if you want to argue that the embargo has outlived its usefulness, sure. We can work with Raul who has called for interactions. We can work with a Cuban government that doesn’t advocate our destruction.
Or would you prefer we lift the embargo on Iran now too because it’s just doomed to “fail”?
Skywise on February 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Maybe we should ask those in Little Havannah (Miami) who fled the current regime what they would think about us doing business with a brutal dictator. We don’t need Cuba near as much as Cuba needs us….w/ the noted exceptions of Cigars and Baseball Players
lm10001 on February 23, 2009 at 10:30 AM
http://therealcuba.com/
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:31 AM
I would argue a slightly different point. The embargo has left Cuba an economic basket case and as such largely contained. While Soviet sugar subsidies were enough to keep the country afloat they were not enough to support a broad agenda of revolutionary adventures had they had a more engaged and connected economy.
It may well be time to reevaluate our relationship with Cuba but its inability to trade with its northern neighbor kept it economically weak and largely contained, and that has been a good thing.
moxie_neanderthal on February 23, 2009 at 10:33 AM
This should have happened about 15ears ago – after the break-up of the USSR. At that point the strategic issues with Cuba as a Soviet base were not an issue.
exhelodrvr on February 23, 2009 at 10:34 AM
ed, i reject your argument. canada, china, japan, the eu, eastern europe etc. etc. have no such embargo with cuba, their combined economies are larger than ours, and …
… they’ve done nothing to change the regime either …
Buckaroo on February 23, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Exactly, Castro is not a rational actor.
Many people don’t know, thanks to the crap that happened under JFK, that Castro nearly pulled off the first Major Terrorist Attack in NYC and we got lucky and busted it up before it materialized.
There is a decent chance Castro is who had JFK killed, Oswald was seen a couple weekd before at a Cuban Embassy in Central America(can’t remember countries name). Of course JFK did try some James Bond type schemes to Kill Castro that backfired multiple times.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Funny, we do not seem to care about that with China.
Dropping the US embargo against Cuba would help speed up Democracy there. Actually I think that is what the Castros fear most, is that the US would drop it and be their boogeyman anymore.
And lets not forget, we are already their biggest seller of grain.
firepilot on February 23, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Air Canada flies non-stops to Havana.
A hotel management group from Spain runs the former Hilton and the Hotel Nacional.
I’m missing the part how there’s an “embargo” going on — apparently the embargo is only in effect for American companies.
DarthBrooks on February 23, 2009 at 10:36 AM
I tend to agree with this sentiment but how do you feel about China then?
Personally I feel our best weapons in fighting oppressive regimes like Cuba are our culture and money. As China is proving it is much harder to repress a wealthy, educated population.
While I agree with coldwarrior that I would want the money going to the people I’m a little more lenient about it also ending up in the hands of the government. Politically I think there’s a lot of ground to be made on this front for Republicans too.
bj1126 on February 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Free and honest elections. Send ACORN over as our first step. Show them how to do it right.
a capella on February 23, 2009 at 10:38 AM
What’s a few gulags between friends?
Bishop on February 23, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Chinese citizens are making plenty of money personally, the regime after Mao started opening things up, especially after the Soviets fell.
Castro trades openly with the entire world and still does not do this, he is an old ideologue hardliner and a thug, its not a parallel comparison. the Chinese are smarter.
there are actually many US businesses that actually DO trade with Castro and HAVE BEEN for a long time. They have to get special rights from Govt. to do it, but American Products and grain are being consumed in Cuba right now, meanwhile its open trade with the rest of the world.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Chavez is still supporting Cuba with an “oil for mercenaries” deal.
The cigars aren’t what they used to be, 50 years of Communism will do that.
I’m all for negotiating, but lifting the embargo and then hoping they change is foolish.
Make them work for it.
reaganaut on February 23, 2009 at 10:41 AM
also, Castro is actually a very Free Market regime in one area. Drug Smuggling and Human Trafficking, Cuba is a base location that alot of the Central American Drug Smugling rings go through, especially Columbian Cocaine.
Castro is also known to kill political dissidents, drain their blood and sell it…on the black market of course.
So as far as the Black Market items go, Castro is a full blown Free Market of the crony sort type of guy.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:42 AM
I can’t wait to fly down for:
Healthcare
Dental Care
A new car
Cigars
Rum
Nirvana
sabbott on February 23, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Who would a post-Castro Cuba rather have as a main trading partner? Venezuela, Russia or the United States?
albill on February 23, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Sure, right after they sign the trade bill with Colombia and drop price supports for sugar.
Tom
marinetbryant on February 23, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Castro has ruined the land/soil in Cuba, it will take decades to get it back after he’s gone and its opened back up again. State Run agriculture has ruined the Soil there.
Plus all the good Tobacco farmers and Cigar Rollers fled, like the Barcardi family to the Dominican Republic.
It all goes back to JFK’s weakness and how he got read and played like a fiddle by the Soviets, this has allowed Castro to remian in power all this time. Had we had strong willed leadership then, Castro would’ve been removed from power in the 1960′s, we probably never would’ve gone into Vietnam in a play against Soviet Communism.
Today, Cuba would be the hot spot in the Carribean, Las Vegas would probably not be near what it is, Havana would be the ultimate “Sin City”.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Admit it, Ed. You just want to legally smoke those overrated Cuban cigars.
Percy_Peabody on February 23, 2009 at 10:47 AM
You are missing the timeline. We did not wait until they opened up to allow trade, we started allowing trade with China well before then, and before Chinese citizens were allowed more freedoms and to make money from it.
Lots of Chinese still work in sweatshops for little pay too.
The worst thing for Castro, would be an influx of Americans and dollars, it would start to make him and communism irrelevant.
firepilot on February 23, 2009 at 10:47 AM
I love those Cuban pork sandwiches.
OmahaConservative on February 23, 2009 at 10:48 AM
If it ever does get opened up, need to go down there with a few hundred US Dollars and a way to ship it back to US and buy up some 55 Chevy’s in top shape to resell here. Probably make a living for awhile doing that.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Ending the economic embargo on Cuba may be fine with you and me, but what do we say to the Anti-Castro exiles in South Florida? While their political clout may be weakening they still are financially solid and will add to Obama’s woes. If trouble comes what will AG Holder do? He’s losing cred every week!
alternative failures on February 23, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Ahhh, John F. Kennedy’s Legacy lives on.
“Bay of Pigs”
stenwin77 on February 23, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Cuba is too big a sacred cow for common sense.
BL@KBIRD on February 23, 2009 at 10:50 AM
***
Read how the real Cuban people live–read Yoani Sanchez’s GENERATIONY blog before she is put into prison for her courage in telling the truth. It is available in English for the Espanol challenged.
***
Learn about the 2 tier system–the ruling communist leaders and the foreign tourists shop in special stores with special money–and eat well. The majority of the Cuban people live in a poverty that makes Mexico look like a rich country.
***
I asked the question on her site about getting rid of the embargo. Most of the respondents thought it would help the Cuban people. However, the average Cuban does not have internet access–this is another “special privilege” for commies and tourists. Yoani dresses up as a tourist and speaks another language and posts in an internet cafe!
***
She listed the drastic decline in diet from the Batista dictatorship to the Castro dictatorship. Poor Cubans–socialism and communism have ruined their lives. And our new U.S.S.A. wants us to become like them.
***
John Bibb
***
rocketman on February 23, 2009 at 10:51 AM
this would also be political suicide for the GOP, we would never carry Florida again if we supported this while Castro was in power. Without the Cuban vote, GOP has no chance in Florida.
without Florida, the GOP has no shot nationally, under current alignment it would be full blown Democrat rule for the foreseable future.
big picture, what should’ve been done is Regime Change, and a long time ago. Instead we are left with this hell hole in paradise to the south of us with no good options.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Ed, Cuba is a dictatorship that funds terrorism. The island is a safe harbor for FARC and Al-Qaeda terrorists to hide.
The same with Venezuela. Both countries train terrorists and fund them to harm America. Cuba is only 90 miles away. To think after we open our doors that Cuba will welcome us with open arms and never harm us is naive and irresponsible.
Castro only speaks of destroying America and those “damn Yanquis.” As Bush said, Cuba is part of the axis of evil.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 10:53 AM
I’d say definitely not without getting something for it. What, I’m not sure. But just doing it unilaterally would be yet another sign of weakness.
Count to 10 on February 23, 2009 at 10:54 AM
I agree with Lugar…right now the US is the Cuban government’s scape goat. They can blame all of their ills on us. Take the embargo away, and the local citizenry (that haven’t put it all together for themselves) can see that their current gov’t is unwilling/incapable of making their lives any better. What can it hurt to try?
search4truth on February 23, 2009 at 10:54 AM
The embargo was a mistake from the beginning. The effects of the embargo serve to prove true and reinforce Castro’s point to the Cuban masses. We didn’t create Castro, but we’ve managed to keep him in power.
Let the money flow; Castro (and his successors) will no longer have his rallying cry.
BobMbx on February 23, 2009 at 10:54 AM
How do the Castro’s maintain power when they are both so old? Why doesn’t some strongman in the military kill them and take over? Who’s supporting these two, besides canes?
JiangxiDad on February 23, 2009 at 10:54 AM
yep, see the Real Cuba link I put above for more on that stuff and pictures of the “Two Cuba’s”
Perhaps John Edwards could have a career as a politician/ruler in Cuba now that he’s ruined here.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Let me add this as well. Richard Lugar is an imbecile who is looking out for his re-election and getting funding from farmers who think they will get so much money out of Cuba. He really is a disgrace. Don’t come anywhere near Little Havana Lugar.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 10:55 AM
The doors are open, and have been since the beginning of the embargo. All a Cuban citizen has to do is get ashore in Florida (literally), and they’re here to stay, with open arms.
BobMbx on February 23, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Try this Marial Boat Lift. Jimmy Carter 1979 – 1980.
Barry O is just opening himself up for more and more comparsions to Carter. My advice to the State Dept employees, avoid that assignment to Iran. You could be there a while.
Just A Grunt on February 23, 2009 at 10:57 AM
The two maintain power because the military is getting luxuries of money, health care, ability to travel around the world, family could live outside Cuba with no problems with the Cuban government, and housing, while the rest of the nation suffers. All the military has to do is protect the geezers and beat the hell out of or kill opposition.
Also, many in the military are young and raised in the communist system. They don’t what it is to work hard and earn your piece. The government gives them everything.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Yep, Cuban cigars would be all the rage for a while, and the hip people would continue to pretend they were the best, but it would fade.
Heh – in a few years a 55 Chevy might be illegal if the eco-nitwits keep going. Better hurry.
reaganaut on February 23, 2009 at 10:59 AM
oh, they turned into Bautista. LOL.
JiangxiDad on February 23, 2009 at 11:00 AM
A slim distinction between China and Cuba, essentially a straw man, and a weak one as well. Goes to situational ethics in part, on both sides, too.
China has a growing middle class and upper class of entrpreneurs, and our policies toward China have enabled that new class to grow exponentially since Nixon went to Beijing.
Why screw up a good thing…works for both of us.
They’d not be buying Treasury’s, as Hillary has been coaxing them to do this week, had we not afforded them the development of a middle class. These are being traded in the Chinese markets.
Yes, the CCP is raking off a huge percentage, and a lot of it goes to the PLA. We may have to pay in money and blood at some point over the century for our largesse. Kto znayet?
Cuba…it is a family business, run by a family of Cubans who came out of the hills with Castro toppling Batista, and promising freedoms and equality and all sorts of goodies to the Cuban people…and have delivered none of it.
We may be the only nation that embargoes Cuba. As my grandma often said to an impetuous child, “If everybody was jumping off the bridge would you jump too?”
If lifting the embargo meant the end of the Castro Brothers, Inc., sure…lift the embargo. I’d prefer to have a Republican President or a Republican Congress take the lead on this one, when the time comes. End the subject once and for all for all parties concerned.
I’ve lived and worked with Cubans, the Little Havana types, and those working for Castro. Two different breeds of the same cat. To those in the Little Havana’s the embargo is not working well enough. To those Cubans working for Castro it is working too well.
[By the way, on a slightly related note...when we switch to full digital television here in the US, we will lose a major audience. Cubans for decades have been bringing in Florida television stations into their homes and offices by inventive use of coat hangers and curtain rods, and this has been received far far better by Cubans than the old Radio Marti and the present VOA. Watching Miami TV stations, especially the commercials, lets many Cubans know there is something better out there for them...if only.]
coldwarrior on February 23, 2009 at 11:00 AM
I’m talking about Cuba being friendly to the US. They don’t have our best interest at heart. Never have with Castro regime and never will.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Far left and far right aren’t opposites on a continuum. It’s a circle, and they meet.
JiangxiDad on February 23, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Chinese are NOT making plenty of money in the aggregate. China remains a 3rd world nation and will for many many years. Wealth is largely concentrated along the coast with massive dislocations occuring throughout China as tens of millions of laborers migrate to large cities in search of work. This trend has become retrograde over the last 6 months or so as workers are frequently being forced back to rural towns, where there are no jobs. There is a massive real estate bubble and a large equities bubble which need to be deflated. China is in fact increasingly unstable (both economically and politically), which is saying something.
moxie_neanderthal on February 23, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Batista wasn’t all that great either. Cubans weren’t huge fans of his as well.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 11:01 AM
I’m sorry to say Lugar’s my senator. What a POS. Lift the embargo on Cuba. What’s next? Direct dialog with Ahmadinejad? Uhhh, never mind.
I will actively campaign for anyone who opposes Lugar on the GOP primary ticket.
Takers??
Oink on February 23, 2009 at 11:02 AM
So Castro wins?
How will this set with Americans of Cuban descent?
Will Bammy risk those votes?
Talon on February 23, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I say we export a Marine brigade and the 4th Armored Division to Cuba for starters.
Akzed on February 23, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Heh. Don Francisco, el Libertador.
JiangxiDad on February 23, 2009 at 11:03 AM
It certainly is time to change our approach. We’ve embargoed a country that is less than a 100 miles from our shores for about fifty years. The people in power when the embargo started are still in power, while the average citizen exists in abject poverty.( I originally wrote “lives in poverty” but, that ain’t living.)
.
.We have been disengaged with the people of Cuba for half a century,to the point where the general population has no real feeling for who and what we are, or what we stand for. Their knowledge of the US is almost wholly based on the propaganda of the Castro regime.
.
.What’s the definition of crazy? Keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result? What is to be gained by continuing? The only ones affected are the average citizen while the ones on top still live in relative luxury.
.
.
.
.
.
Besides, I still enjoy a good cigar :-)
oldernwiser on February 23, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Keep the embargo. Only after the fall of the Soviet Union did it really start working so it hasn’t been some 50 odd years. There is a reason that most Cuban Americans are conservative and want to keep the embargo. Removing the embargo will only strengthen the current regime while keeping the poor people making $15 a month and it will distance the conservative Cubans further from the Republicans/Conservative Movement
bella710 on February 23, 2009 at 11:04 AM
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=10612
If Bin Laden was running a state controlled type country like Cuba, would you guys be open to “Free Trade” with him?
Want to trade with Iran too, we have an embargo with those Lunatics as well. Its why Frank Rich had to be pardoned.
jp on February 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM
I call it ‘Benign Assimilation’ either through commerce and culture by Americans, individually or collectively. Flood Cuba with American goods, religiously free people, and individualistic, self-reliant culture. In China, it took 3 US presidents after Nixon (Ford,Carter,Reagan) for chinese goods to flood US markets. Take out Carter, it’s less than a decade for China to become a capitalistic communist (if there is such a description). In Soviet Union, those communist trained athletes in tennis, gymnastics and (whatelse?) benignly assimilated American culture with their talent and skills and demonstrated to the politburo, more freedom is better.
atemely on February 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Obama missed the boat here. He should be on the vanguard of setting Cuba up to eventually become the 58th state.
whitetop on February 23, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Once the Castros are room temperature, like Che.
profitsbeard on February 23, 2009 at 11:08 AM
nah, prob. 57 still. Hawaii will probably be given independence during team Obama’s term. Hawaii for Hawaiians, and all that.
JiangxiDad on February 23, 2009 at 11:08 AM
It wouldn’t work. No self respecting Cuban would want their hard earned dollars going to subsidize the vagrants in the other 57 states. /s
coldwarrior on February 23, 2009 at 11:09 AM
For better or worse, the American culture (the 3Ms – McDonalds, Movies, Music) has been far more effective in establishing international relationships than any Secretary of State or diplomat.
cryptojunkie on February 23, 2009 at 11:09 AM
We haven’t we invaded that country yet?
Cr4sh Dummy on February 23, 2009 at 11:11 AM
How was democracy given a chance in Spain after Franco died.
Can we follow that model ?
moc23 on February 23, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Maybe Il Douche wants to make Castro a health-care czar.
Glenn Jericho on February 23, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Im all for ending the embargo………With Bay of Pigs II.
Dreadnought223 on February 23, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Unfortunately, it is a known fact that the life expectancy of rat bastards is amazing.
Blake on February 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Yes. Helms-Burton should be repealed but any agreement to end the embargo must include economic reparations to investors whose property was seized during the revolution.
Buy Danish on February 23, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Copying a mistake is a bigger mistake. And following Nixon’s lead on anything should be seen as a glaringly obvious mistake.
darktood on February 23, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Reparations? Buy Danish, you know full well that the only ones owed “reparations” have nothing to do with Cuba…unless they include Cuba as an entrepot for the slave trade way back when… /s
But, you do have a valid point…one heck of a lot of money (a lot more if you include 50 years of just simple interest) was taken unlawfully by the Castro regime when they decided to nationalize all of Cuba. Compensation is called for.
coldwarrior on February 23, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Why would Cuba even be an issue at this point? We have other pending issues that are of far greater importance. Engage them or not, any change down there has to come from the CUBANS, not us.
echosyst on February 23, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Any change would just mean we begin sending them money…not important right now.
right2bright on February 23, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Lifting the embargo does nothing to help Cubans or American business. In fact, the embargo has saved US businesses millions by requiring Cuba to pay cash up front for all goods. US businesses provide Cuba most of their medical supplies, including medicine that only reaches Cubans when they expire, along with huge amounts of agricultural products. Cuba has a nasty habit of deciding not to pay for things bought on credit. Companies that want to lift the embargo so they can “sell” more are fools. Seriously, if you can’t collect for what you’ve sold you aren’t selling. You’re donating.
But I guess the really important issue is that American men, like their European and Canadian counterparts, want access to underage prostitutes. We can’t deny our citizens that, right?
asartigas on February 23, 2009 at 12:05 PM
I would say that the embargo was a roaring success. Castro’s ability to influence the region was curtailed quite a bit because of it in my view. While Castro may still be in power, this embargo did more then just trying to remove him. Sometimes we look at only the obvious and miss the less obvious. The same is true with Vietnam. Our efforts there did help to halt the spread of Communism in SE Asia.
NotCoach on February 23, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Take a good look, Cuba is what we are becoming. The socialist government there has everyone so dependent on it they really do not know what to do without it. They get “free” education , “free” health care, housing (if you could actually call it that), food, pretty much you can do absolutely nothing and be provided for on a basic level. That seems to suit a whole bunch of people just fine.
Jamewah on February 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Um. No.
A free market is the consequence of a free people, not the cause of that freedom.
China does not have a free-market economy, although it is more privatized in such a way as to be more compatible with the free-markets of other nations. If anything China is adopting a model that is more akin to fascism wherein the government controls an otherwise privately held economy. Kinda like what Barney Frank and his ilk are trying to do to the U.S. economy.
Lawrence on February 23, 2009 at 12:18 PM
this is not the cuber of which you seek…move along
kanda on February 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM
+1
Cuba is not even vaguely relevant to the challenges the US faces today. It’s just another failed communist backwater that presents no threat to the US and has nothing to offer.
Ares on February 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Lugar has received lobbying money from US-Cuba Democracy PAC (an anti-Caestro PAC) in the past, according to Open Secrets. They wouldn’t give $1,000 to the senator without knowing his stance on the embargo, so I’m guessing this is a flip for Lugar.
I wonder if Cuba has lobbyists in Washington… :-/
Scranton on February 23, 2009 at 12:42 PM
What Embargo?
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/08/us-is-cubas-5th.html
U.S. is Cuba’s 5th-largest trade partner
“The United States has become Cuba’s fifth-largest trading partner, thanks to a $100-million hike in U.S. agriculture sales in 2007…”
There has NEVER been a real ‘embargo’. Under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid’, we have traded our a$$e$ off in Cuba, rising throught the ranks of her trading partners while we pretend to make things difficult for the oppressive regime.
Now, we’re only 3 steps behind China on the trading partner list.
heldmyw on February 23, 2009 at 12:48 PM
What, the Cubans need parts for their Chevy BelAires? Or has someone decided that Cuba is the ultimate collector car market?
unclesmrgol on February 23, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Here’s a radical idea.
Wait for the Castros to die, then offer statehood to Cuba.
Nethicus on February 23, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Back in the late 80′s early 90′s I dealt with some senior Cuban officials overseas and in a light mood of the conversations, being an old car buff, I mentioned the potential for marketing vintage cars to the US market.
One of the officials opined, in response to another’s mention that the Soviets had introduced Lada’s and the brother socialist states had even provided the Eastern version of the Yugo to Cuba, as there was embarrassment among the brethren as to all those American cars running all over Cuba. He stated that the Lada’s and Yugo just didn’t hold up, were junk. Said, with a slight twinkle in his eye, “When it comes to cars, you just can’t beat American workmanship.”
Guess he’d be shocked and disappointed should he view the American car market today.
coldwarrior on February 23, 2009 at 12:58 PM
The embargo has been failing for years. Few countries in teh world respect it, our farm belt sells tons to the Cubans, and foreign investment from LA, EU, and Asia has been there for Dropping the embargo will increase the rate of change in Cuba. The embargo is the built-in excuse the Castros use for their failures. More American presence and money will speed up the slow evolution of Cuba.
The horse trading (fugitive swaps) chips ought to be very interesting–a few bank robbers/hijackers down there will find the end of their “exile” status
okonkolo on February 23, 2009 at 1:15 PM
I have to question if Mr Lugar and the Capt really know much about the embargo. First of all there is no embargo from the rest of the world. Cuba is a shit hole because it is a shit hole–not because of “our” embargo. Secondly, as mentioned above, we embargo nothing important—food, medicine and the like. What we do require is cash on the barrel head–no credit of any kind. That has saved us billions as Cuba continually defaults on the world.
Thirdly we do prevent tourist travel to Cuba for the express purpose of preventing those dollars with funding the Castro brothers.
We allow Cubans living in the US to send money directly to their family members.
Everything else we embargo-military, computer tech etc Cubans can get anywhere in the world. The embargo is more symbolic than anything and it is very important we keep that promise to ex-Cubans and the 10′s of thousands of political prisoner rotting in its jails. We are the last beacon for those folks. Read their stories.
patrick neid on February 23, 2009 at 1:29 PM
Yes. The day I stood in an aisle at Wal-Mart and couldn’t see a single product not made in communist China was the day I realized that if we’re going to do business with communist China then we should do business with communist Cuba. (especially now that we’re well on our way to communism).
popularpeoplesfront on February 23, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Do you know what would enhance US interests? A couple of well-placed bullets or exploding cigars.
Grafted on February 23, 2009 at 2:09 PM
This embargo should end if for no other reason than for US tourists to be able to pour dollars into the hands of regular Cubans, destabilizing Castro’s grip on currency.
That might undermine his fascist empire faster than anything else…
LimeyGeek on February 23, 2009 at 2:26 PM
That is not really possible. If it were all the money from the countless Europeans and Canadians would have already made a difference. Cuba is first and foremost a police state. In many ways it has a lot in common with N. Korea in its effectiveness.
patrick neid on February 23, 2009 at 3:46 PM
Cubans are enterprising. And badly in need of new cars. Let’s sell them some shit. We could use the money.
Greek Fire on February 23, 2009 at 4:22 PM
I’m all for lifting the embargo and for removing economic sanctions against Cuba under the following eight conditions:
1. That all Cuban political prisoners and prisoners of conscience be released immediately and granted an unconditional amnesty.
2. That all Cubans be allowed to move freely within the country.
3. That the existing system of apartheid-like segregation be eradicated immediately, specifically that all Cubans be treated as equals to their foreign counterparts, such as “prominent scholars and artists” from abroad.
4. That all Cubans be granted access to all sources of uncensored information, whether in broadcast, print, or Internet immediately.
5. That all Cubans be granted the freedom to express their opinions freely without fear of repercussions.
6. That all Cubans be allowed to travel abroad freely.
7. That all Cubans be allowed to live, work, and seek a better life for themselves as they see fit.
8. That all Cubans be allowed to elect their leaders through verifiable, transparent democratic elections as allowed for in Cuba’s last legitimate constitution, the Constitution of 1940.
Not unreasonable, I think. Unless these conditions are met, there is no reason on God’s green earth to give fidel, raul and his mafia one dime of IMF and World Bank money to continue their fifty year reign of terror on the island.
The issue is not one of this policy or that policy; the issue, quite simply, is the freedom of the Cuban people. Are they any less worthy than Iraqis? And, to add to the folly being called for here and by the misguided Senator Lugar, as soon as the embargo is lifted, without a quid pro quo, the Cuban people, the dissidents, and the political prisoners, will be doomed forever to a system we helped create five decades ago.
I’m truly, deeply ashamed of faux conservative Republicans who have fallen for the claptrap mouthed by left in this country about Cuba. You have, effectively, joined hands with those who have had the blood of Cubans on their hands for decades.
universalspectator on February 23, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Limey -
Though Cuban citizens do sometimes directly receive foreign money it doesn’t generally help them. As Patrick metioned Cuba is a police state. You don’t understand the reality of this.
Even the black market in Cuba is very limited in what it sells. It isn’t like movies where you can get an anti-aircraft missile and an X-Box. On the black market in Cuba you find other luxury goods … like food. Or soap. Lifting the embargo will only allow the Cuban government access to more goods. They, as they always have, will sell it in stores that the average citizen doesn’t have access to. These stores are only for tourists and party higher ups. That’s what they did with recent hurricane aid. So, you can have a wad of Euros, but what are you going to buy?
If you did have a wad of Yen and you sudenly you manage to find something of value and take it home your neighbors may see it. Then the local CDR member will see or hear of it and report you. You then get arrested and could serve time, depending on current whim of el lider. My uncle spent 3 years in prison for having a $5 bill several years ago. At the time this was a penalty for possession of foreign currency. And laws there are tightened and loosened, seemingly at random. I guess it is to keep people guessing. fidel giveth, fidel taketh away. It must be maddening.
As others have mentioned, every other country on the planet trades with Cuba and it is an oppressive shit hole. I wouldn’t raise a dog there. Why would our sending tourists there help them?
Though, one reason to lift the embargo would be that it could make smuggling weapons there easier. That would be my only reason to support it.
asartigas on February 23, 2009 at 7:01 PM
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