A Bittersweet Future For Cuba
- Details
- Category: Politics
- Published: Monday, 21 March 2016 23:07
- Written by Attorney Pam Keith, Esq.
By Attorney Pam Keith Esq. (Attorney Pam Keith is a candidate for US Senate)
A word to my Cuban American friends. Yesterday, President Obama landed in Havana, further advancing the normalization of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. For those who have lasting scars from the horrors perpetrated by Fidel Castro and his cronies, I extend my sympathies.
While most will cheer this change, for you this week's visit will be a painful reminder of loss and injustice. But every grieving period must come to an end. The mourning and grief over what was lost in Cuba must now move into a time for rebirth, growth and forward momentum.
The opening of relations with Cuba has little to do with redressing the sins of the past, as that cannot really be done. It has to do with
 |
 |
setting the course of the future, and we may all rest assured that the Castro regime will not play a large role in Cuba's future.
First of all, no one lives forever, and Raul Castro is no spring chicken. Second, in opening travel, immigration, trade and diplomatic relations with the United States, we are showing today's Cubans all that they have lost under the control of a dictatorship.
Today, Cuba is a crumbling, underdeveloped land, with little viable enterprise. In all honesty, the Castro regime is not important enough to be singled out for diplomatic sanction. Our singular treatment of Cuba has given it an outsized role in our foreign relations scheme. Cuba holds no sway over other South American nations and is not likely to persuade any to follow its Communist path into irrelevancy.
Rather, by opening the doors to Cuba, we create a means by which the rich Cuban heritage can be more easily shared with others, and the strong American principles of entrepreneurship can provide hope and opportunity for thousands of Cubans. While this moment may be bittersweet, I pray that my Cuban friends do not let the bitter outweigh the sweet.
 |
|