One might have hoped that more than a degree of maturity would have evolved in American foreign policy toward Cuba over the last 50 years. Yes, Cuba the other day celebrated 50 years of Castro.
Writing on truthdig.com Eugene Robinson says:
"It was around 3 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1959, when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista slipped away to the airport and fled his island nation, hauling as much loot as his aircraft could carry. Hours later, the audacious young man whose badly outnumbered guerrilla forces had defeated Batista’s army stepped onto a balcony overlooking Cespedes Park in the eastern city of Santiago. It was the first time that Fidel Castro had faced a cheering crowd as Cuba’s unquestioned leader. It would hardly be the last.
The turning of the year marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution—yet another reminder of wrongheaded U.S. policies that have unwittingly helped shield Castro’s revolution from historical trends that long ago should have forced the regime to give way, or at least compelled it to evolve.
President-elect Barack Obama will have more urgent matters to deal with after he takes the oath of office. But somewhere on his long to-do list, he should make a note to finally bring five decades of counterproductive American policy toward Cuba to a definitive end."
Continue reading the complete piece here.
Writing on truthdig.com Eugene Robinson says:
"It was around 3 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1959, when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista slipped away to the airport and fled his island nation, hauling as much loot as his aircraft could carry. Hours later, the audacious young man whose badly outnumbered guerrilla forces had defeated Batista’s army stepped onto a balcony overlooking Cespedes Park in the eastern city of Santiago. It was the first time that Fidel Castro had faced a cheering crowd as Cuba’s unquestioned leader. It would hardly be the last.
The turning of the year marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution—yet another reminder of wrongheaded U.S. policies that have unwittingly helped shield Castro’s revolution from historical trends that long ago should have forced the regime to give way, or at least compelled it to evolve.
President-elect Barack Obama will have more urgent matters to deal with after he takes the oath of office. But somewhere on his long to-do list, he should make a note to finally bring five decades of counterproductive American policy toward Cuba to a definitive end."
Continue reading the complete piece here.
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