Quora Answer: Do You Think the US was Correct in Halting Normalising Relations with Cuba?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Do you think the US was correct in taking a step back from normalising relations with Cuba?”

The entire US policy with regards Cuba has been a disaster.  When Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz launched a revolution against Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar, it was against a dictator and a tyrant.  Castro grew up shaped by the consequences of American policy, supporting rightwing dictators throughout Latin America, regardless of the suffering of the people, as a bulwark against Communism.  Only Americans think they are the good guys here.

A study of Castro’s speeches prior to, and in the immediate aftermath, of the Cuban Revolution show that while they had a leftist slant, he was not a Communist.  When the US opposed their Cuban people’s deposing their favourite dictator puppet, and instituted an embargo, Castro was forced into the arms of the Soviet Union.

It was US aggression that lead to the Bay of Pigs fiasco.  It was US authorisation of CIA covert activities to assassinate Castro that lead, eventually, to the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Were the Russian Premier a true hardliner instead of Nikita Khrushchev, we would all be playing Fallout 4 for real.  From a realist perspective, you cannot influence people when you are not their friends.  The US, if it is serious about playing a positive role in Cuba’s development, should thaw relations, and offer aid.  This is how you influence them, and shape their policy.

The only reason why the Trump regime decided to step back is personal.  Donald Trump made it his personal mission to rollback, and reverse policies associated with Barack Obama.  The Republican Party is locked in an ideological battle with the Democratic Party.  As such, affected US policies are reversed solely out of spite.  The Democrats are not any better.  As the US electorate becomes more polarised, I expect this to be played out at every level of government, until a demographic shift makes their voice heard at the ballot box, or the US devolves into civil war again.