That’s Right Nate

Today marks the anniversary of Cuban independence.  In 1902 the United States ended its 4 year military occupation of Cuba though with the stipulation that we would be able to interfere in Cuban affairs in the future.  With Obama’s ignorant statement on his willingness to talk to Cuba yesterday I thought I should offer a bit of a history lesson.

Cuba is a hard line Stalinest communist country.  It has been that way since Castro took over the country and finding the United States unsupportive sought aid from the Soviet Union.  Cuba has done many things to antagonize the United States since then including repelling the Bay of Pigs invasion and allowing the Soviet Union to put nuclear missiles on Cuban soil.  In recent years, Cuba inflicted Jose Canseco on American baseball and  The Bush administration has accused Cuba of maintaining a bio weapons program.

Obama’s plans to talk to Cuba are simply wrong.  The Soviet Union and China were both Stalinist at one time too, but they liberalized enough that the United States was able to engage them.  Reagan and Gorbachev together helped bring down the Iron Curtain while Nixon brought us closer ties to China.  Both countries are no longer threates to the United States.  Cuba though has never embraced capitalism or democracy despite 50 years of us isolating them.  If we ever wish to free the people of Cuba, it is clear we must continue to isolate them further.  Talking to the Cubans will get us nowhere and could be used to their advantage.