History was made yesterday, when President Obama and his family set foot in the nation of Cuba. An American president hasn't visited Cuba in nearly 9 decades (since Calvin Coolidge visited the island nation in 1928) -- and no American president has visited since the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
This is one more step in the normalization of relations between the two countries. And that normalization is long overdue. Outside of Canada and Mexico (which share borders with the United States), no other country is as geographically close to the U.S. as Cuba is (about 90 miles away).
Cuba poses no danger to the United States (far less than many other countries with which we share full diplomatic relations), we have no right to dictate to Cuba what kind of government we think they should have. That is a matter for the Cuban people alone. There is no rational reason why we shouldn't treat Cuba fairly, and give them the same respect we offer to most of the world's other countries.
It is also time to end the silly embargo we have had regarding Cuba. It has accomplished nothing, and the other nations of the world long ago stopped honoring it.
agreed
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