The suggestion that Cuba’s economic crisis is the result of U.S. policy is nonsense. The real culprit is the dictator, Fidel Castro. To subsidize the failed ideology of communism will only strengthen Castro’s hold over Cuba.

Castro sponsored and armed the communists in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Granada. Castro harbored and financed terrorist organizations that target U.S. citizens and military personal. If it were not for the collapse of the Soviet Union, Castro would continue to sponsor, arm and finance terrorists and communist aggression against free people throughout the region.

To lift the U.S. embargo will only prolong the oppression of the Cuban people. New revenue that the Castro regime obtains will not be used for social services. Additional resources will be used by Castro’s military, Cuba’s communist leadership and Castro himself. If the embargo is lifted and American companies were allowed to do business in Cuba it is an illusion to believe that the people of Cuba would receive a better life. The truth is, as foreign companies doing business in Cuba know, the Cubans who work for these companies do not receive any pay check from these companies.

Rather, the company will forward the total salaries owed, in U.S. currency, directly to Castro’s regime. Castro’s regime then pays the Cuban workers. The amount received from the Castro regime is substantially less and is in a worthless currency, the Cuban peso. The rest is pocketed by the Castro regime.

To lift the embargo will not bring any form of relief to the Cuban people. Rather, it will subsidize an old relic of the Cold War and perpetuate a failed and useless ideology. Real relief will come once Castro’s chokehold on freedom is broken and the people of Cuba are free to make their own decisions.

Douglas J. Ahearne

Madawaska