Re: Query from Michael Lebowit

["Eli Stephens" <elishastephens@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This quote, taken from
http://www.usaengage.org/press_releases/2003/apr/cubatravel.htm, should shed
some light on the question:

"No one denies that the Castro regime is deplorable, but for 40 years the
United States has clung to a failed policy of isolation, with few results,"
Reinsch [Bill Reinsch, President of the National Foreign Trade Council and
Co-Chairman of USA*Engage.]  continued. "Each time relations start to
improve, it is Castro who rejects any progress. By this time it should be
clear to all that the only winner of the embargo has been Castro. It allows
him to avoid responsibility for Cuba's failures, blame them on the United
States, and solidify control over the Cuban people."

Reinsch noted that the recent crackdown on political dissidents in Cuba is
in line with the longstanding pattern of previous Cuban government behavior.
"It's time to call Castro's bluff and start removing the crutches he uses to
stay in power. Increasing contact between Americans and the Cuban people
does not reward Castro, it punishes him by building pressures that will
ultimately lead to a free government and people in Cuba," he said.

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