Of all the failed and counter-productive policies that the U.S. has engaged in over the last half century, the strident treatment of Cuba is nearly the most provably worst.
And, to my great regret, my own Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez, now leads the fight against starting to make some sensible decisions on that front. Menendez, a Senate leader, is blocking the President's science nomination confirmations to see if he can bully the President to back down from a common sense approach to Cuba.
And, by doing so, he contionues the failed policies of the part and keeps Cubans from attaining their freedom.
More ....
Had we not had this ill-conceived policy, fostered by Republican AND Democratic Presidents, Cuba would have been a liberal democracy DECADES ago. The embargo has been the rallying cry for the Castroites - "Look, the U.S. trades and talks to the U.S.S.R. (1963); it trades and talks to the People's Republic of China (1973); it even trades and talks with the People's Republic of Vietnam, to whom it lost 56,000 soldiers; it trades and talks to every petty dictatorship in the world (forever); but the U.S. must hate us Cubans. The Castros are right - we need them to protect us against the big bad U.S."
Obama's plan to ease restrictions is half-hearted at best. He knows that we should move to full recognition. But he also understand the politics of the Cuban emigres who really believe in the fairlyland of return to Cuba to reclaim the property that was theirs (never mind that they'll NEVER give up their U. S. Citizenship to do so; and never mind that they're NEVER going to get their property back).
So the Chinese can come here; we can go there. We can buy their products; they can buy ours (what products we have left). They can destroy us with their nuclear weapons; we can destroy them. But only Cuba threatens our very existence.
We keep Cubans tied to this failed economic and political systen so we can stroke the feelings of a few Americans who should grow up.
And, Senator Menendez is so deep in the hip pocket of these people that their wallets are imprinted on his face. Shame!