Putting an End to the Sham

Full disclosure: while I have nothing but contempt for Fidel Castro and his minions, I oppose the US Embargo against Cuba. It is little more than a convenient scapegoat for the powers that be to blame the US for their failed economy.

To the best of my knowledge, no other country has an embargo against trade with Cuba. Cuba is free to trade with every country in the Americas save the USA, the European Union, China, India, Japan, etc. This is precisely why the embargo is both ridiculous and is not harming Cuba:

“Cuba does have problems,” said Kirby Jones, a business consultant, stating the obvious at the start of a meeting last week that brought American travel industry executives and Cuban government officials to Cancún to strategize on what might, and what might not, play out in the years ahead.

Mr. Jones urged potential investors to banish certain words from their minds — Bay of Pigs, dissidents, Elián González, hijackers and socialism, for instance — and to focus on the fact that the Cuban government had already joined more than 200 joint ventures with foreign corporations, none of them American.

“Everyone is there, except us,” he told the travel agents, hoteliers, tour operators, charter companies and others with an eye on Cuba. “There are offices and representatives of over 500 companies around the world. Nobody knows when it will open up for Americans, but it will.”

There are only two groups who benefit from the embargo: the old guard anti-Castro fanatics who believe it's doing any good and the ruling powers in Cuba. Get rid of it.

Comments

[Akaky]

"There are only two groups who benefit from the embargo: the old guard anti-Castro fanatics who believe it's doing any good and the ruling powers in Cuba. Get rid of it."

Exactly, Randy, and do it now, do it unilaterally, so Fidel can't find a way to throw a monkey wrench into the works. The embargo justifies the Cuban national security state. How does Fidel explain the police state when the gringoes make it clear that they aren't coming over the hill to depose the Revolution?