Monday, May 20, 2013

Kathy Castor: What I learned in Cuba

Cuba is changing, however, as I learned on my recent fact-finding visit. Cuba has embarked on meaningful economic reforms, which deserve encouragement by the United States, not continued isolation. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have a window of opportunity to engage and encourage reform in Cuba and should act now. These developments remind me of the historic economic changes in the former Soviet bloc countries. Indeed, I traveled to the former East Germany and Czechoslovakia in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution. The United States was directly engaged with those nations during their transition, and Americans were free to travel and interact with their people.If America officially acknowledged changes under way in Cuba, it would strengthen the hands of Cubans who want these reforms to succeed, and we could encourage Cuba to go further and faster.
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What They Are Saying
In Cuba, Fidel Castro is the last person to feel the pain caused by the U.S. measures...Cato Institute
The Cuban embargo may well be a case where America can truly declare victory and get out....Patrick J. Buchanan
the US - to take the first step by allowing unrestricted travel and repealing the trade embargo.....Jimmy Carter
The time has come for a fundamental change of direction in our Cuba policy. We can start by ending the embargo.....Chris Dobbs
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