If he can normalize relations with Iran and Syria, then Cuba must also be a fair game.

Thus, I have no expectation whatsover. This is just part of Obama’s “feeling good” character as a President.

The fact that the Obama Government is now bordering from Socialist to Communist, it would be silly for Obama to try promoting capitalism in Cuba. Capitalism is just not his cup of tea.

with your snarky, patronizing tone. Why post here if you have no respect for your readers?

That said, I think there is potential for good things to come from normalizing relations with Cuba. I just don’t trust this administration to accomplish them. Remember “Only Nixon could go to China”?

Tell me specifically.
I’ll address your question.
I am rather snarky sometimes.That is true.
That’s my thing.
I’m a smart ass.You’re not the first one to tell me.
I’m a blast to go drinking with though.
Come on….. I’ll buy the first round.
Cut me some slack.
I’m a good guy.
Can you tell yourself that you have truly tried to understand and reach out to me…?
I am an open vessel waiting for your input.
Fill me.

Dear NeoKong,

I guess it’s easy to comment on things with which you only have a passing acquaintance. Let me try to educate you on a few things.

First the ancient history. That little missile crisis wasn’t a quaint little thing from the history books. There were not only strategic missiles in Cuba but also tactical nukes that Fidel Castro was trying to convince the Russians to use in the event of a U.S. invasion. He was willing to destroy his country. Krushchev freaked out and JFK made it easy for him to withdraw the nukes by withdrawing our nukes from Turkey. Castro was livid. But the point is that even though this happened a LONG time ago, the regime is still ruled by that same generation. Yes, 10 U.S. administrations have passed but the same old Castro brothers that would have incinerated Washington D.C. are still in power in Cuba.

But beyond that let’s talk about more recent history. Did you know that in February of 1996 the Cuban air force, on the orders of Raul (that’s the way spell it) Castro shot down two U.S. civilian aircraft over international waters? That the action resulted in the deaths of 3 U.S. citizens and 1 U.S. resident? Try telling their families that it’s ancient history.

Did you know that 10 days after 9/11 the FBI arrested a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst that was about to be made privy to battle plans for Afghanistan? She was a Cuban agent. They had been accumulating evidence on her for some time but had to pull the trigger on her arrest because they couldn’t allow her to see plans that Cuba might sell to the Taliban. That agent’s name is Ana Belen Montes and she’s serving 25 years in prison. Look it up. That was 2001. Is that ancient history?

Let’s talk about the embargo. We’re not going to democratize Cuba through trade. If that were possible Cuba would already be democratic given all of the international trade it does with every other country in the world. The embargo protects us the taxpayers from bailing out castro, inc. when they default on payments for future sales of goods if the embargo is lifted. Cuba owes billions to every country it trades with. Do you want America to join that list of suckers? And what about the American assets Cuba has already stolen? You know the ones that caused the embargo to begin with? That was the largest expropriation of U.S. business assets before or since. Isn’t it reasonable to have some sort of settlement on that before more American corporations fall pray to a capricious and arbitrary dictatorship?

I’m sorry that the embargo infringes on your right to frolic on the beautiful beaches and have your way with Cuban women. Sometimes being morally correct requires a little bit of sacrifice.

By the way, the regime has been involved in every guerrilla war in the hemisphere for the last 50 years. Now that its destitute you want to give them the money to go back to their old ways?

How about this? When the regime introduces TRUE reforms including the privatization of large segments of the economy then we lower the embargo incrementally for good behavior.

We didn’t just cozy up to Libya. They made concessions and settlements and renounced terrorism. Cuba has not done so.

And another thing did you know that Cuba is currently home to dozens of U.S. fugitives including cop killers like Joane Chesimard?

We normalize relations with Cuba in exchange for Cuba using its fine system of free health care – which is far superior to ours – to treat our undocumented visitors.

The sugar growing Cubans in Florida go nuts. They lose all their political power. They, and the sugar growers in Hawaii lose the American sugar market to cheaper sugar and Virginia and the Carolinas lose their tobacco markets, too.

Coca Cola switches back to cane sugar. Many foodstuff products follow. There goes the corn sweetener market in Iowa.

The economic situations in all those states will suffer, particularly in the sugar industry states. Jobs and tourism losses.

Chavez and Castro’s younger brother Raul will never shut up. Oil prices go up,

Yet another avenue for the drug trade goes WAY up.

If Cuba gets opened up and gets into and hurts the American market, Obama loses most of Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, the Carolinas and Virginia!! and maybe a plains state or two, right back to a good decent Republican candidate.

But hey! they’re our friends now!

Come to think of it, maybe we should lift the ban on Cuba and teach the Floridians a lesson or two.

Mr. Kong,

You have a rather simplistic view of the Cuba issue. For one thing we don’t have official diplomatic relations with Cuba but don’t mistake that for “freezing Cuba out” diplomatically. We have an interest section in Havana which is a de facto embassy and is in fact housed at what had formerly been the U.S. embassy. Cuba has an interests section in Washington D.C. and a diplomatic mission to the U.N. in New York. The U.S. has negotiated several agreements with Cuba such as the migration accords of the mid 1990s.

Secondly, about those McDonald’s restaurants that you think will free the Cuban people…

The problem is that the way the Cuban economy is set up there can only be McDonald’s if the regime allows it and then only if the regime (or the military) is the majority partner. What you don’t seem to understand is that we can lift the embargo on the regime but the regime doesn’t have to lift the embargo it has on the Cuban people.

They drink Coca-Cola in Cuba. Canadians, Brits, Spaniards, and Frenchmen all visit Cuba by the millions. Their tourist dollars haven’t liberated Cubans and neither will American tourist dollars. Why? Because the regime controls 90% of the Cuban economy and 100% of the parts that deal with foreign investment. Cuban workers at joint ventures such as hotels are paid about 5% of what the foreign partners pay the regime for their labor.

Also I don’t know if Syria and those other countries you mentioned killed American civilians and harbor American fugitives but I’m pretty sure they didn’t expropriate $1.8 Billion in U.S. assets.

China expropriated a fraction of what Cuba did when it went communist and as a result the U.S. embargoed China for 30 years until they settled. By the way China’s economy is managed much differently and much more openly (and privatized than Cuba’s).

It’s a complex issue, not one that you just throw out there on a flyer like you did, especially from the conservative side where our friends are supposed to be.

But rather than exchanging long comments why don’t you come on our Babalu Radio Hour Podcast this Wednesday to discuss.

my email address conductor@babalublog.com

Henry Gomez