[Lostagain]

Not normalizing relations with Cuba years ago is on the list of biggest mistakes our government has made in our era. Had we moved to normalize relations with Cuba years ago, it is likely Fidel would have retired a short time later. I hope Raul's conditions for normalizing relations with their northern giant, establishes a precedent that they will maintain a safe distance from the U.S. government. Washington does not exactly have the interests of Latin America in mind when it deals with governments and people from that region. Our history of intervention, both overt and covert, is ugly at best.

We are begining to make the same mistake with Venezuela and their popularly elected president. Hugo Chavez seems to be taking over Fidel Castro's spot as the man we're told to hate the most in L.Am. The more our government tries to marginalize him, the more he's going to find his friends elsewhere; and he's not looking in very nice places. When it comes to L.Am., our government tends to act as an arrogant bully doing exactly what it pleases without any concern for the consequences suffered by the people.

Yeah, when Fidel Castro goes, it will be the end of an era, but all things considered, he was a damn sight better for the poor in Cuba than Batista.