This afternoon, I was surprised to hear that the United States and Cuba are taking a surprising step toward normalizing relations. Although the embargo will remain for now, plans are being made to establish embassies in both countries, prisoners have been exchanged, and moves towards warmer relations are being made.
To make things more interesting, the deal appears to have been facilitated by Pope Francis. The Pope wrote letters to both President Obama and Raul Castro calling on them to resolve their countries' diplomatic differences. This afternoon, the Vatican Secretariat of State released a statement praising the deal:
The Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations for the historic decision taken by the Governments of the United States of America and Cuba to establish diplomatic relations, with the aim of overcoming, in the interest of the citizens of both countries, the difficulties which have marked their recent history.
My Gut Reaction (Part One): Gee, this policy has been in place for fifty years without overthrowing the Castros. You think it might not be working?
My Gut Reaction (Part Two): Combined with the non-punitive resolution of the investigation into American nuns yesterday, conservative Catholics' heads are going to explode.
More below the fold.
There is an old saying that continuing to do the same thing over and over again while expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. If that is the case, than the United States for the past fifty years has been certifiable when it comes to Cuba. We have carried on a policy of embargo and punitive sanctions on Cuba long beyond the end of the Cold War.
This policy has not only failed to overthrow Castro's government, it has arguably strengthened it. By always presenting the United States to Cubans as the enemy, the American government has allowed the Cuban government to rally its people on nationalistic grounds. Furthermore, by allowing Cubans to flee to the United States with little or no restrictions, the United States has effectively drained the Cuban opposition to Castro. How many Lech Welseas and Vaclav Havels never emerged because they could just flee to Florida?
Many conservatives are already objecting to the warming relations. Cuban-American senators such as Marco Rubio are up in arms, while some right wing Cuban Americans are complaining that some of the prisoners being exchanged were involved in the shooting down of plane dropping leaflets over Cuba sponsored by the right wing group Brothers to the Rescue. (Hmm...I wonder how the United States government would react if al-Qaeda or North Korea chartered a plane to drop leaflets over American territory.)
In the case of these conservatives, wanting to do the same thing again and again isn't a sign of insanity, merely stupidity and arrogance. It's time for a change.