It’s Time to Make Cuba Our Friend

Why do we continue to practice punitive actions against Cuba? This nation that still drives the same cars that it purchased from the United States in the fifties is not a real threat to us. The problem with Cuba is not that it is a big threat, but it is not a big enough threat.

During the cold war, President Nixon reached out to the Soviet Union with friendship and trade agreements when they were considered public enemy number one to the world. We are opening trade agreements with China in spite of huge human rights issues. We have even resumed a relationship with Viet Nam. Cuba still languishes ninety miles from Key West, Florida as a major personal enemy to the United States.

Cuba’s main big man, Fidel Castro, no longer holds the reigns of power. His brother only maintains the appearance of wielding a big stick because Fidel is still alive. Cuba is such a minor threat that we keep a lightly staffed military base on one end of the island that the nation inhabits. We feel safe enough to house the terrorists netted from Iraq in a prison on that base. We know that Cuba is not going to attack and set them free.

What incentive do we have not to open up full diplomatic relations with a neighbor so close to our soil? Cuba makes a good whipping boy. When politicians and presidents feel that they are slipping a bit in the public eye, they can point to Cuba as a fierce communist threat to the south. Castro made one mistake by allowing the Soviet Union to try to install ballistic missiles almost a half century ago. The people of Cuba have been punished ever since.

Even our own people are being punished. Cuba was a vacation hot spot for decades before Castro came to power. They have exports like sugar cane that we could benefit from. Their citizens are ripe to exploit as a market for American goods. But, this cannot happen. They are too powerful of an enemy to become a source of revenue.

It is time to revisit this with a serious look. We have enough Cuban immigrants to justify making it possible for them to have the opportunity to see their relatives again before they all die off. There is money to be made in Cuba. Cruise ships and all-inclusive vacations are just waiting to make this island another destination in paradise.

Opening up Cuba for business is the surest way to begin the collapse of a communist regime that has stood long enough. With nearly every other Latin American country adopting some for of democracy, how long do we really think it will take for Cuba to fall into line with diplomatic and economic opportunities made available? Let’s move this train on down the tracks and make Cuba a friend of the United States again.