We've all heard of the hostility that has been going on between the US and socialist-country, Cuba. However, with Obama in the White House and Raul Castro ruling, the likelihood of a reconciliation between these countries is high. Raul agreed to meet the US president last year in a neutral setting so that they could improve their relations, and Fidel has even said that Obama is an "intelligent and noble man" (US News). The fact that both Raul and Fidel are even talking about Obama is a big step; the fact that they are speaking highly of him is an even bigger step.
However, Obama is making some very tough demands regarding this future relationship. Although Obama wants to lift the travel restrictions that are currently in place, he wants to keep the 47-year old economic embargo. He feels that the embargo will put pressure on Cuba to change its government (aka make it democratic). I personally think that this is a bad move on his part. We need to end the embargo and just start over. If you don't erase the past hostility completely, it will just keep reappearing in one form or another. Also, using the embargo as a tool to make Cuba more democratic is naive and disrespectful, in my opinion. You can't change a country that has been living a certain way for so long; the people and the culture have changed. Likewise, it is not our place to spread democracy to every nation in the world. Look what happened when we tried to impose democracy on Iraq and meddled with its personal issues....we have 4,000 dead soldiers. I think this quote from US News speaks the truth: "The U.S. needs to accept Cuba the way Cuba is." That means socialism and all!
What do you guys think? Should Obama use the embargo as a tool to get Cuba more democratic? Or should he just forget the ill-feelings and start over completely with this troubled country?
2 comments:
Using an embargo doesn't work, George Bush tried it and it served to show that it is ineffective and a waste of time. Byimproving relations with them, we can then slowly work to get the cubans more rights and while that will take time, things will start to turn around
Yeah I also think that it is kind of a pointless effort (the embargo). If it has been up for 47 years, what the heck is going to make it work now?
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