U.S. policy toward Cuba

It is widely argued (including by me) that although the U.S. embargo against Cuba damages the country economically, it bolsters the Castro regime politically. The Miami Herald has an article arguing that the embargo is also making it more difficult for the U.S. to get global support to condemn human rights abuses in Cuba.

In short, our strong-arm tactics turn everyone off. Plus, Europe is annoyed by Helms-Burton, which is the U.S. effort to extend the effects of the embargo into other countries. Finally, a number of governments believe that U.S. tactics just don’t work:

European diplomats interviewed by The Miami Herald, many of whom declined to be identified because Cuba is a delicate subject, say all its members want democracy in Cuba. But some governments like those in Spain, France and England feel that condemning Havana at this time would prompt the communist government to dig its heels rather than embrace change.

I don’t think that positive statements about desiring democracy in Cuba (which, after all, is clearly a dictatorship) would have a negative effect. But at the very least, let’s admit that our Cuba policy has been a miserable failure and talk about what else might actually work.