Is it time to recognize Cuba?

Over the years the US has had times where we allowed people to travel to and from Cuba and we think about having more trade with them and open things up a little, and then it always gets reversed again.

Maybe because Cuba is so close geographically? Maybe because Florida was a swing state for years.

It does seem odd to not trade with Cuba and be ok doing business with Vietnam, and we certainly trade with China.

Seems ok now, since Cuba is not so cozy with Russia anymore.

Reminder that we opened a US Embassy in Cuba under Obama and started to normalize things, but Trump reversed much of it. I knew a lot of people who took cruises to Cuba. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t feel good about the government taking most of the gain from the tourism, but I can see the flip side that it still helps the people there to have tourism.

Actually, Bill Clinton loosened travel to and from Cuba, I had one coworker whose brother came to the US to visit her, the first time they had seen each other in almost 40 years and this was before cell phones and internet, they probably rarely were in communication over that time. The mom of another work colleague flew to Cuba to see her family, again first time in forever. Bush eventually tightened it all up again.

After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, we’ve gone back & forth so many times that I had lost track as to whether we were on good or bad terms at this point in time. I had assumed that since Castro died that we were back on a friendly basis. Every so often rich Americans insist on partying in Cuba & seem to get what they want. I’ve NEVER been there & have NO desire to go there, so I’ve NOT kept up with it!!! The Kardashians were very impressed when they were partying there.

It’s time to end the embargo, yes. I’m for ending the Cold War, not artificially continuing it.

Always ironic that the U.S. complains about too many immigrants coming from places like Cuba, while simultaneously crippling their economy.

@Demosthenes We let Cubans in under asylum for many many years. They just had to make it here and it was pretty much automatic they would get papers and eventually become citizens. They didn’t have to prove anything, just be Cuban. Not that getting here was easy, some people died sadly, but many people made it. People outside of Florida probably don’t realize how often they would come.

The Republicans were fine with it. Cubans predominantly vote Republican.

Now, the laws changed finally. Most Latin Americans and especially Haitians felt it was an unfair policy.

I did a Web search and I found that the U.S. does recognize Cuba diplimatically, but there is still an embargo on Cuban made goods and Americans can’t visit Cuba as tourists.

^^The last time they opened Cuba to Americans it had to be an educational visit. There were cruises weekly from Tampa to Cuba. Must have been 2017–2018 time frame, it wasn’t long after I moved to where I live now.