Friday, August 14, 2015

It was the US blockade of Cuba that kept Castro in power



From BBC News:
The US has reopened its embassy in Cuba more than 54 years after it was closed, in a symbolic step signalling the warming of ties between both countries. 
John Kerry, the first US Secretary of State to visit Cuba in 70 years, presided over the ceremony in Havana. 
The US flag was presented by the same US marines who brought it down in 1961.
It was good to see this rapprochement between the US and Cuba. The touch of asking the same marines who lowered flag made it oddly moving.

What we want to see now is more liberty in Cuba. If the US wanted to bring that about or bring down the Castro regime - the two things are not necessarily the same - they should have ended their blockade decades ago.

That blockade was probably the thing that did most to keep Castro in power. American capitalism would have proved far stronger if it had been given a free hand in Cuba.

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