It’s one thing to be respectful of the Cuban people — and I’m not suggesting we celebrate anyone’s death. But it is another to sidestep the historical horrors of a murderous, 60-year military regime and strike a pose of diplomatic equanimity that assuages only gluttons of insincerity.
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Don’t Give Fidel Castro the Last Laugh
Posted November 30th, 2016 at 1:13 pm (UTC-4)
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We Ignore Venezuela’s Imminent Implosion at our Peril
Posted May 2nd, 2016 at 4:28 pm (UTC-4)
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Gangs of regime thugs now roam the streets on motorcycles and attack opposition gatherings. Meanwhile, the government is essentially shutting itself down…Remarkably, most of the Western hemisphere is studiously ignoring this meltdown. The Obama administration and Washington’s Latin America watchers are obsessed with the president’s pet project, the opening to Cuba.
The Perils of Business in Cuba
Posted April 25th, 2016 at 3:56 pm (UTC-4)
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It’s jarring to watch the American business community boycott North Carolina over that state’s new law regarding LGBT individuals — while racing to see who can open up shop in Cuba, where discrimination is even worse.
Obama’s Record on Foreign Policy Is Incomplete
Posted March 29th, 2016 at 12:55 am (UTC-4)
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Although Obama wants people to remember the new relationships he’s opened, like those with Cuba and Iran, his legacy will inescapably include Iraq and Syria too.
Obama Reaches Out to Cuba’s ‘Cuentapropistas’
Posted March 22nd, 2016 at 11:50 am (UTC-4)
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The president spoke directly with American entrepreneurs and self-employed Cubans during historic trip
Embracing Cuba
Posted March 18th, 2016 at 3:55 pm (UTC-4)
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In 1928, former President Calvin Coolidge visited Cuba. It would be 88 years until the next American presidential trip would take place, if nothing impedes President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit on March 21st. It’s hard to describe the historic nature of Obama’s move towards warmer relations with a country that was so strongly allied with the U.S.S.R. that former President John F. Kennedy and then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev came dangerously close to war over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Fast forward to 2014, when President Obama announced his vision to embrace Cuba, whose long-time dictator Fidel Castro had become so ill, he handed power to his brother, Raul. There are signs of change in Cuba, but it is slow. According to human rights activists, there is a disturbing crackdown on political dissidents. Much work remains to improve the lives of ordinary Cubans. For Obama, the effort is worth spending some of his dwindling political capital before he vacates the Oval Office.
The President Is Going to Cuba: Here’s Why
Posted February 26th, 2016 at 4:24 pm (UTC-4)
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In March, Barack Obama will be the first American president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928 to visit Cuba
Obama’s Second Term Could Be The Most Consequential In Recent Memory
Posted January 4th, 2016 at 9:59 am (UTC-4)
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…The question today is not whether Obama has made real progress since 2012. The question is how much of that progress will last beyond 2017, when somebody else is in the White House.
An End to Cuban Exceptionalism
Posted December 7th, 2015 at 1:42 pm (UTC-4)
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For almost half a century, Cubans have received unique treatment under U.S. immigration law. So long as they set foot on U.S. soil, Cubans are all but guaranteed admission … [But] the lack of rigorous background checks has created what Florida’s Sun Sentinel calls the ‘Cuban Criminal Pipeline …’
What Cubans Can Gain From Francis’s Visit
Posted September 18th, 2015 at 4:37 pm (UTC-4)
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Over the last few decades, the Catholic Church has become one of the most respected institutions in Cuba. Emerging from the shadows of state repression, it now provides meals and care for the poor, education, training for entrepreneurs, and libraries with access to foreign books and magazines.
Why I’m Going to Havana
Posted August 14th, 2015 at 2:40 pm (UTC-4)
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My visit to Havana, the first by a U.S. Secretary of State in 70 years, comes nine months after President Obama announced a new approach to relations with Cuba. It is an approach based on the ties that bind our people…
We Need a Cuba Policy that Truly Serves the Cuban People
Clearly, changes are coming to U.S.-Cuba policy under Trump. But what to replace Obama’s policy with? [N]o one argues for a return to the status quo ante. [T]he President-elect’s new team should seize the opportunity to bring energy and creativity to truly empowering the Cuban people to reclaim their right to decide their own destiny.