How not to conceive of policy

I love this quote from David Rivera, a Republican Congressman from Florida, because it so perfectly encapsulates how to fail when making Latin America policy and to achieve the opposite of what you want. He is referring to leftist governments.

“Yes, we should isolate them and use sanctions,” he said. “But at the same time: To truly end the spread of socialism, we should do everything we possibly can to get a closer relationship with the people of these countries … There are so many NGOs (non-government organizations) promoting education, cultural communication, human rights and much more. We should promote this, help them grow, to prevent an anti-American message.”

Here's the plan. We hurt the citizens of the country as much as possible economically, which will then give them a more pro-American viewpoint and help foster regime change. It has worked wonders in Cuba.