Editorial February 18, 1994

If it’s now OK to begin trading with Vietnam, and I think we should, then why are we continuing to wage a human rights war against the people of Cuba?

To my knowledge, with the exception of the CIA bungled Bay of Pigs invasion, no American forces have died in Cuba for a very long time. While Fidel Castro is still painted as a communist, we all know that the long-dreaded communist threat is gone. There is no Berlin Wall. The Soviet Union no longer exists. Throughout Eastern Europe, the former bastion of many communist countries, we have openly and quickly moved to increase relationships and establish trade.

Surly, Washington can longer fear anything from Cuba. The continued pressure against this country and our neighbors because of Castro is the absolute height of folly. Besides Castro there are hundreds of thousands of innocent Cubans who have long endured the mighty fist of America. It’s time we stopped being a bully. Drop the restrictions, open the trade and embrace the Cubans as our North American brothers. There is little wrong with the way Castro runs his country. He has a higher level of education than we do. The Cuban medical system is one of the best in the world. Their infant mortality rate is much lower than ours. Regardless of the propaganda we are fed from Washington, Castro is still revered by the bulk of the Cuban citizens. Is his espousing of his political doctrines and views really any different from that of any other government including our own?

In Panama we killed thousands to “get” Noriega. In Cuba we have punished hundreds of thousands to “get” Castro. It’s time we stopped.