Its never to late to help, even when its not being asked of. Maybe they need a stronger people to help with the area that they know they lack, but let ego get in the way.

Here's a novel concept for the US government: with regard to Cuba, DO NOTHING!

There is one thing I agree with Pat Buchanan on, and that is that the US is supposed to be a republic, NOT an empire. Why our government thinks it needs to have a finger in everything that happens on earth is beyond me. All too often we create all kinds of problems trying to "do good" in places where we do not understand the conditions and have no rightful role.

Then there is the question of why we can have billions of dollars in trade with communist China, go visit communist Viet Nam, but cannot even allow our people to visit Cuba. Insanity.

I have been travelling freely to Cuba for the past 20 years, and I am not talking resorts here, only regret I have is not having travelled there earlier.
I have just come back from a 1 month stay in Cuba and was present in Havana for the Dec. 2nd celebrations along with 100’s of thousand’s Cubans.
Raoul tending out an olive branch to the U.S. pales in comparison with the desire of a whole generation of Cubans born after 1960 or 1970.
For this generation the Cuban revolution elastic is stretched to its limits, they love their homeland, but are eager and ready for change.
A change that THEY will control and not imposed by the U.S. or any other nation.
In all these years I have not met one single Cuban that had a bad word to say about Americans, American policies, Yes, but not Americans themselves.

Cuba is for sure, to say the least, a land of contradictions, what I have noted from my travels and to this day still amazes me is that the U.S government, will all it’s so called intelligence capabilities, has not yet understood that their greatest, and if I may say, cheapest weapon of propaganda against the regime has not been put to good use… The American people themselves.
If the U.S. were to lift travel restrictions to Cuba for its citizen’s, it would be the greatest revolution since 1959.
It is estimated that 6 million Americans would visit in the first year alone, Cuba is not ready for such an influx, nor will it be without major U.S. funding. They could barely cope now with 2 million visitors.
Anyway, for now that’s my two cents, and for the time being I will continue to enjoy my travels to Cuba and learning, sharing and living with the Cuban people.

The embargo is on Cuba because the wealthy who fled from Cuba when Castro came in, took up residence in Miami and now have control of the political arena in Florida. They want the land back that Castro took from their father's, which is of course "state-owned" now. So now President is willing to defy the Florida swing state, when Cuban-Americans hold the majority of the vote. So the embargo and travel restrictions will contiune until they get the land that Castro stole back to them. This of course will not happen, as Castro has informed the people of this and they have been instructed that once he dies, these "Yankee-Cubans" will come back and steal your land, so you must fight them. I mean come on, do you really believe that every President since Kennedy has just been vindictive? Maybe they were scared of Castro. I don't think so. There is a lot more to it than meets they eye.

As in the biological and sociological world diversied is embrased, it is sad that political diversity is not. As we proceed into the 21st century world governments need to "put down the gloves" and get on with improving the quality of life for all humanity. If this means becoming more tolerant of all nations...so be it.

A policy of more engagement with Cuba's leaders, plus lifting the trade embargo and travel ban for Americans, would make far more sense than "staying the course" we've been following since the Kennedy Administration. The embargo and travel ban have by no means hurt Cuba, which after all has been trading with and receiving visitors from other countries. However, they have been hurting Americans such as farmers in Illinois and other states in America's "breadbasket" who'd like to sell their produce in Cuba and Cuban-Americans who want to visit family members in Cuba, but are unable to because of the travel ban. Also, I find it just plain ironic that in keeping Americans from visiting Cuba, this government is emulating Cuba's. She does not want Cubans to visit the United States lest they decide they want to defect--which many Cubans have. However, I strongly doubt that the average American who travels to Cuba would want to defect to that country. It's time these twin Cold War relics--the embargo and travel ban--were lifted.

Our relations with Cuba as a sovereign nation can only go "up" from this point.

Either the Bush administration drops its gratuitous sanctions against the nation of Cuba, or it feigns ignorance (a common foreign policy strategy in the Bush playbook) and ushers in another half-century's worth of poor relations with our island neighbor.

While I do not agree with Communism's tenants (as a true-blue American), I also believe that promoting Democracy is not the panacea that the Bush administration makes it out to be. Case in point: Nazism was allowed to rise in Germany because of the democratic reforms forced on the German people after WWI. If you need a more contemporary example, look at the current Iraq situation.

Drop the sanctions against Cuba, talk to the ruling regime, offer aid and sustinence to their development, but impose fair yet firm statutes for them to follow (ie. no military expenditures or weapon development). If you do that, you remove ALL of their political clout. The only political pull that Cuba, Venezuala and Iran have at the moment is that they defy us. Turn the tables and become a realistic, benevolent yet firm superpower, and their leaders lose their charm.