Posted by
voice_of_reason on Monday, October 08, 2007 8:43:14 AM
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/getaways/09/11/cuba.forbidden.ap/index.htmlHAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Barack Obama would lift restrictions on visits by Cuban Americans to the hemisphere's only communist country if elected president. A growing chorus of Democratic and Republican lawmakers would go even farther, loosening the U.S. embargo enough to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba.
* Thousands flout ban to see 'forbidden treasure' of Cuba
* Cuba said about 37,000 Americans not of Cuban origin came in 2006
* 19 Americans have paid fines for sneaking to Cuba since January 2006
Since January 2006, 19 Americans have paid fines for sneaking to Cuba, including four people involved in making Oliver Stone's documentary about Castro, "Comandante." Fellow filmmaker Michael Moore is now being investigated for filming "Sicko" without permission in Cuba.
Traveling to Cuba is not as easy as punching dates into an Internet site, however. Travelocity recently agreed to pay $182,750 in fines for booking nearly 1,500 flights between the United States and Cuba from 1998 to 2004. The company says it fixed technical glitches and no longer lets such trips go through.
Doesn't it seem inconsistent that we have a trade embargo against Cuba while encouraging trade with China? Both are Communist countries that pose a threat to the United States.
It would seem that a case could be made for both points of view:
1) Embargo countries that espouse Communism
Let them watch their standards of living spiral downwards every decade, until they hit rock bottom. Even with that eventuality, Communist regimes can keep going at the expense of their people - by building walls, or other barriers to keep those
darn Capitalists from sneaking in. Has our embargo against Cuba really helped defeat Fidel Castro?
The question is "what would replace Communism under those circumstances?". Unfortunately, the alternatives that often appear in such countries are military rule, or religious fundamentalism.
2) Trade with them.
Do to them that for which we
greedy capitalists are often accused - the 'exploitation' of their cheap labor & raw materials. You know, that which Leftists call the
Rape and Plunder of predatory Capitalism, but which actually
raises standards of living on both sides? Their Govts will resist, but the people will demand some relaxation of their draconian policies, so that they can earn a living! Over time, they will become entrenched in a kind of Capitalism (a la China).
Of course, the Communist leaders will claim that it is
their policies that are succeeding. And, for a while, it will prop up those regimes. But, when Communism reaches its eventual demise, it is more likely to be replaced with a semi-Capitalist system.
Hmm, plan #2 is starting to look better ..