If the world wasn’t so messed up number seven on Obama’s to-do list could easily be number one. There is nothing like a festering sore that extends just a few short miles from our shores. Cuba was one of the first lands where Christopher Columbus landed back in the 15th century. Its rich heritage, blending the Spanish with the African, brings a unique soul to the Caribbean’s largest island. Despite a history of struggle, Cuba’s people and culture are one of the Americas’ gems. Anyone who is moved by the smooth rhythms of Ibrahim Ferrer comprehends Cuba. For most Americans, Cuba has remained blanketed; shielded from us by an antiquated policy whose origins are of our own making.

Cuba was “liberated” from the Spanish during the US war against Spain. Liberty was just an illusion, however, as America seized control of the island. Businesses thrived in Cuba during the period prior to WW II. Self government existed on a local scale but the US remained deeply interventionist. Cuba became a pariah following the Communist Revolution in Cuba. The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis under JFKs watch further distanced the US from Castro’s Cuba. Despite being almost as close neighbors as Canada and Mexico, the US has treated Cuba as a non-entity. This policy has largely been dictated in recent years by the Cuban community in America that fled Cuba under Castro and who long to see his demise. Most of these elder Cubans reside in Florida, a state that has had some significant electoral weight in recent US elections. Religious and cultural exchanges have occurred since the end of the Cold War but no trade, and the US government has imposed a travel restriction on Americans who wish to go there.

It is well past time to change American policy towards Cuba. Cuba no longer poses a threat to the US (not that it really did after the Cuban Missile Crisis, anyway). The way communism can be defeated in Cuba is to flood the country with the fruits of capitalism which will cause their broken system of government to whither on the vine. The Cuban people are yearning to break from their strict society. With our economy on life support why not open up the floodgates between our two nations and allow Cuba to buy American products. Have you ever seen their cars? They continue to operate cars from the 1950s. What a great time to begin to introduce US automobiles into a new capitalist Cuba. I guarantee when Americans begin to go into the lazy humid bars of Havana and restfully sip on a cuba libre they will ask themselves, “Where has this been all my life?”. President Obama, change should come to Cuba also. This is why the American policy to open up Cuba after over a century of sanctions comes in at number seven.