I call myself theCardinal because much like Cardinal Richelieu I have divided loyalties. His loyalty was purportedly to the church but ultimately he served his country before his God. My conundrum stems from being an American of Cuban descent. I am certain that the death of Castro will launch me out of my house and somewhere in the middle of Calle Ocho so I can laugh, sing and dance with everyone else. Yet when it comes down to it I am an American first and American interests are my primary concern. And let there be no doubt there is a divergence in what is good for America and what we Cubans in Miami want for Cuba.
Most Cubans still cling to the embargo as if it was holy writ, but let us examine what Cuban-Americans hope to accomplish with it. What they hope for is that this will cause the collapse of the commie regime and that democracy would immediately take its place. That's just plain nuts. Cubans in Miami have been here for 47 years and as it is we barely have the political maturity to run a city or a county. So we expect people who have known nothing else but corruption and communism in all that time will immediately adapt?
A collapse would be catastrophic for the US - a veritable flotilla of boats, rafts, dingies and god knows what would make its way to South Florida. We also don't know how bad order would breakdown without authorities to maintain control.
What I am saying is that even though Castro is more to blame for the crappy Cuban economy than the embargo it is in our interest to improve Cuba's economic performance. It is absurd to think that an island with a population smaller than the state of Florida could possibly pose a geopolitical threat
