Cuba trip misses the boat

For my money President Obama’s trip to Cuba this week—the first such trip by a sitting U.S. president in nearly 90 years—is an empty gesture at best and an embarrassment at worst. Would someone please get me a president who does not begin foreign visits by explaining how rotten our country is and why we have no business criticizing others.

I think all restrictions on travel and trade between the United States and Cuba should have ended decades ago, if ever put into effect at all. One of the nice things about free trade is that you don’t really have to like the people you’re trading with. You’ve got something they want, they’ve got something you want, and you leave politics, religion, and the Great Pumpkin out of it.

The Brothers Castro, who are now laughing at their 11th consecutive U.S. president, run a prison. It’s not a utopia, it’s not a workers’ paradise, it’s not a communist dreamland. It’s a place where people are literally dying to get out.

If the good citizens of Cuba want to make cheap products for me to buy, I’d let them. If they want to offer me vacation rentals, I’d let them. I wouldn’t pretend it’s a pleasant place any more than some other Third World country that might have a nice beach.

I’m ready for a U.S. president to say our nation’s laws and customs are morally superior to those of our trading partners, but that’s okay because we’re also less petty and juvenile.

And I’m staying at Resort de Trump Havana when it opens.

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About moc

My name is Mike O'Connell. I am 41 years old and live in Northern Virginia. I am a teacher, a musician, and an enthusiast of all things American.

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