Yes, I’m aware of that (didn’t know the exact numbers). The point I was making was, that yes the embargoes hurt the people, but they did not personally hurt Castro at all. He is older than dirt now and will probably dead in a few years anyway. When that time comes, considering how close Cuba is to Florida, it would be smarter to cultivate a more friendly relationship, than to keep up what we have been doing. It might even benefit the people living there. The next “big” regime" will probably be more moderate, and you can catch more flies with honey.
Politically, it may be easier to wait until Fidel finally goes off to the great Party Congress in the sky.
The day Castro dies is the day support for the embargo collapses even among Florida’s old line cuban exiles.
Castro (Fidel), is as good as dead now, Castro (Raul) looks likely to hang around for a while longer. Any government that follows Raul’s is likely to be a continuation of the Castros. My point is that waiting for change in Cuba in order to change US policy will probably mean that US policy never changes.
Our international politics should not be determined by some anti Castro ex Cubans living in Miami. It is a little bigger than their half a century of hate.
This might be the wrong forum for this, or maybe the wrong thread, but I find your attitude misguided. Cubans in the US have used their collective political clout to influence US policy, and how does that differ from any other ethnic, religious, political, geographical, or whatever group living in the US? It does not.
But I am almost certain that the permanence of the embargo has less to do with the political influence of Cubans in the US than you think. If that was all there was to it then the embargo would be gone since at least 1995 when President Clinton ammended the law to allow for the return of Cubans to the island, something that Cubans in the US universally oppose. In the end the embargo is still in place not because of the influence of Cubans in the US, but in spite of it.
Everything I need to know about Cuba, I learned from lalenin. Seriously. Thanks.
Especially for this little bit. I brought up more or less the very same point as **gonzomax **in another thread last month, and this time your answer is more clear to me. I’m glad to hear that Cubans aren’t generally in favor of the current policy. But I feel like it is portrayed in American media that they *do *favor it. People say things like “Policy won’t change because pols need FL’s electoral votes!”
I think the complaints we make about the perceived imbalance of power that the Cuban community has are mostly a quirk of the electoral college. Not so much anything against Cuban-Americans making themselves heard. Sadly, I’m expecting change due to generations dying off before anyone will change our screwball electoral system.
+1 and :D. This was too good to go unacknowledged.