You know, since we’re supposed to be fighting ignorance here, Cuba is not now nor has it ever been a great producer of coffee, nor a producer of great coffee in any amount worth noticing.
Maybe you forgot this?
Or the Bengal famine in 1943?
Or Ethiopia 1984-85?
Actually, that’s Amartya Sen’s (I believe) theory. He theorized, and makes a real good case, that famines are the result of deliberate political decisions to allow famines, and not crop failures.
Amd Aro, actually your cases support the theory. Ireland was a net food exporter during the 1840s. As that site says:
In Bengal, it was the disruption of the war, combined with hording of rice by speculators, and the government’s decision to feed Calcutta at the expense of the Bengal countryside.
In Ethiopia in 1984 and 1985, the government made the choice to withhold food supplies to rebel areas, and also tried to force collectivisation on the peasants.
and what has that got to do with democracy
Castro’s Cuba has some things going for it; life expectancy, infant mortality, and infectious disease rates there are more in line with the “first world” than the rest of the third world. It also has a high literacy rate, and high levels of education. As far as I know, it is relatively safe from the awful crime we see in Mexico or Colombia. I think many ordinary Cubans, those who are neither party members nor active dissidents, fear that the end of Communism may bring political freedom - but will erode all of those gains and really a truly miserable third world nation
I think there needs to be a solid proposal, back by the U.S., Canada. the EU, and maybe some leading Latin American countries, to provide an international transition plan. Certainly Castro would oppose it and refuse to admit failure, but he won’t last all that much longer. We need something that will say to the Cubans, we will help maintain those high social standards, and ease in market economics, and provide for fair elections with a multiparty system. This is important Castro also scares the Cuban public with the idea that Miami has a whole “mafia” of former Batista supporters, gangsters, and opportunists who would return Cuba to 1955 in a heartbeat if they could.
Well, at least in theory, a democratic government is responsive to the desires of its people…it’s much harder for a democratic government, that has to get reelected to say “Let them eat cake”
Doesn’t Congress realize that if we just keep the embargo for one more year, we’ll win the cold war? 
Cubans also do not suffer from obesity.
Amazingly the USA is opening up to Cuba when the EU is tightning the screws on him due to the recent executions and political repression. So now is the time for the US to open up? Is that hypocrisy or what?
First of all, Cuba was propped up by the Soviet Union for decades so I do not know how you would expect the Soviets to show a modicum of conscience and backbone and help to make Cuba a pariah state. You might as well have expected them to ask the USA to invade them.
Secondly, I do not see why it is OK for the USA to trade with some communist countries and not others and why the rest of the world should be expected to follow the lead blindly. The rest of the world have their own policies and interests and ideas.
Oh I wouldn’t bet on thatOh, I wouldn’t bet on that. True, the people in that photograph are either policemen, or ones with relatives abroad, so by Cuban standards they are filthy rich.
Obesity is not a problem in Cuba. Getting food is.
Starvation will generally have that effect.
And not suprisingly, some of the members of the Politburo are kind of hefty. Have you seen a picture of Alfredo Jordan? Although, it’s a good sign when the Minister of Agriculture is overweight…it shows a man who likes his work.
For the sake of clarity, I was being sarcastic with my reference to obesity. I was lampooning the idea that Cuba is superior to the US because of education, health care, etc. All of that is irrelevant if you have to scrounge for food.
Castro is an abomination. I see the merits of opening Cuba and isolating it. I don’t see why our policy towards Cuba is different than our policy towards Red China. We should coordinate our efforts with Canada, SAmerica, and Europe. Europe and the UN have done little to foster freedom in Cuba or elsewhere.
The person who mentioned US Sugar interests hit on an important lobby that is preventing liberalization.
I think it’s funny that whenever Europe doesn’t meddle into the affairs of other countries it is perceived as hindering freedom and democracy.
- What exactly did the US do for the democracy in Pakistan, China, Saudi-Arabia, Egypt etc. ?
- How did the embargo of Cuba foster freedom and democracy?
Different countries have different reasons for their politics, but whenever a country doesn’t follow the US (whose rules for international cooperation do not make sense to me), it is either harming democracy or even supporting terrorists 
I think it’s funny that whenever the USA doesn’t act as Europe’s butt-monkey, Europeans start pretending to actually have spotless hands.
Don’t get offended, there is no reason.
I didn’t say that Europeans have spotless hands. But it’s hypocritical to say that Europe did not foster enough democracy, given that the US doesn’t steer it’s foreign politics according to this goal either. The difference with Europe is, we never pretended.
I will not repeat the points I stated, just read them this time and you will understand my posting.
Bangladesh and Ethiopia democracies?
Since when? Certainly not in those years. Ethiopia was a marxist dictatorship led by a military coup.
And Europe has NEEEEEEEEEVVEEEEERR EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEEERRR EEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVEEERRRR exercised hypocrisy. Oh, NO!
Rise above your prejudice.
My friend from the Wee County, I wouldn’t worry about travelling to Cuba on that score. The Cubans are acutely aware of their dependence on tourism and will either stamp a sheet which they insert into your passport or won’t stamp it at all. I’ve been there and have been to the USA since - there’s no problem.