Cuba cannot teach China anything about human rights abuse!

Cuba doesn't have a human rights problem. The dissidents who are imprisoned are 5th columnists, subversives who take the blood money of an enemy nation whose elite are dedicated to destroying the Cuban state. If the situation were reversed, the US would do the same, and for those who deny this simple truth, consider that fate of islamic activists accused of "links" to radical groups or AQ.

Well said comrades! With the US doing everything in it's power to bring down Fidels accomplishments and retake his beloved Cuba, it is necessary to be vigilant It is amazing the cruelty the yanquis employ to ensure a socialist state fails. They still think the South is theirs to rule and ruin. Ecuador just put down a US backed coup. Bolivias' Evo morales made the claim that he has info about rightwing opposition pushed by the US embassy is planning a takeover. Lobo, a wolf, has been installed by The US in Honduras. Haiti's Aristide was kidnapped and replaced by a puppet gov. The US sent an army to secure it's dictator after the ,quake, then leaves the people dying in raggedy tents while corporations decide how to enslave the people to make the most profit from their precious labor. And who do they put in charge of the colonization, Bush the lesser, the retarded son of GHW Bush, Reagan's hit man for the CIA. Fidel is one of the most selfless, honorable, intelligent benevolent socialist leaders ever to rule. Everything we know about him and Cuba is tainted by expats. who were relieved of their ill gotten gains, and now use the right wing press to demonize my hero. I could go on, I have studied Fidel and Cuba for some time now and Hugo does well to honor him and follow in his footsteps. I would gladly live in Cuba today or Venezuala to see the socialist wave roll through the South American continent. And I promise to do all I can to support it. Viv la Revolucion! Damn the Capitalists!

There is no problem with Cuba. If you go to Cuba, like I did, you will find that most cubans are happy with their lifes. They have free medical care and free education. They don't need a wild monetary system. They are a beautyfull happy people who actually enjoy life instead of americans or europeans that have to work an average of 10 hours per day so they can pay then rent and eat mcdonals. It only lacks resources because the US closed the market doors to them, that's why they can't re-build their buildings and make new cars. Before Fidel came, Cuba was like most south americans countries, a dictatorship that sold oil to US for a very cheap price.

Instead of bashing the US for all the ills in the world cart blanch you need to look at another side of the situation. As a white american from California I can speak myself and most of my peers and say " I dont care, open trade, whats the big deal". As an expatriot living in the DR who knows alot of Cubans, both younger from the Castro Cuba, and older who left when he became dictator, and their decendants living here and in Miami I can say It´s the displaced Cuban Americans who dont want to open up anything with Castro´s Cuba. These Cuban Americans have alot of power, influence, money, and control one of the biggest lobbying groups in Washington, and they Hate Castro! Alot of them still have the deeds to the lands and businesses that Castro stole when he nationalized Cuba. These people were robbed of everything by Castros thugs when they had to leave Cuba and will do anything in their power to see his regieme fail, and they have alot of power!

All the American trade embargo on Cuba has done has limited trade between the two nations. Latin America and European nations have a great relationship with Cuba. In this modern information age, phone and internet commerce is the big thing as well third party business deals. So the embargo no-longer works.

Castro actually tried to compensate Americans for their property losses, but the US government turned him down. This would have happened if this embargo was lifted, but since it is not, Cuba does not have the money to pay back any compensation. So it is the US that is responsible for American losses in Cuba. This embargo needs to be lifted.

The US embargo should be lifted. But, Reid Campbell, is correct about the Cuban-Americans in the US. Despite the embargo, the US was Cuba's 5th largest trading partner since 2007.

Lifting the U.S. embargo would mean a 5% increase in Florida´s GDP during the next year after the lifting, so it makes a lot of sense. As a consequence of the present crisis hundreds of companies in Florida are in a bad shape and lifting the embargo could mean immediately a source for income, even if limited by the failed regulatory system in Cuba.

A minor addition to my comment of 19 October 2010: 1. It's the ANTI-Castro Cubans that keep the embargo going. They're just unhappy that their property was nationalised! 2. Ditto for American companies that were nationalised. 3. Last, the United States is nervous because they are wrong and Cuba is somewhat successful.

USA should pay war reparations to Cuba for the CIA bombing of factories, farms and introducing pig flu. Also to Nicaragua. 19520

USA should pay war reparations to Cuba for the CIA bombing of factories, farms and introducing pig flu. Also to Nicaragua.

If we could justify trading with communist China, then it does not make sense that we cannot trade with communist Cuba. Would not the same arguments we used for China apply in Cuba? And why should we allow a bunch of ex-pats in Miami set our whole nation's foreign policy? Why should Canada be able to do business in Cuba but not USA?

MEJanssen , I think, the reason why China and Cuba are treated differently, because, the ideology per se, which constitutes the basis of a country, is not a problem for the US. Money is a problem. Resources are the problem. And, in many ways, "new Americans" are the problem... Like some other guys already pointed out here, the problem with Cuba (at least, during last two or three decades) is not coming from Americans -- it is coming from Cuban Americans. The same way like the image of Evil Russians primarily is portrayed by Russian Americans who came here and for some reasons feel pissed off by Russia and, therefore, decided to devote their life to "punish" Russians. Or may be just trying to make easy money for living by trashing their former compatriots. American politicians or corporations just use these pictures, if they benefit from it. Talking about China... the story of the USA and the USSR comes to my mind, when, in 1920s the Soviet Union got tremendous help and jumpstart of their industry by the US companies (tractors, automobiles, ...). In some way, this could be seen as -- Americans helped to create a superpower which, later, became a problem for them. May be similar story is happening with China, which, at this point, has pretty effective politico-economical system and may be one day can emerge as the greatest power. May be even surpassing the US with its capabilities...

Simply put, the stumbling block are our politicians that support the Miami Cubans , the real thugs that robbed Cuba by cleaning out the banks before they ran off to Florida; These ex- bordello owners and Narco lords of whom Mr. Campbell refers to as "people that the Castro thugs robbed" is to say the least, amusingly misleading. Miami the stronghold of the Cuban Mafia with people like Orlando Bosch and Posada Carilles to name a few committed terrorist acts with impunity under the protection of" Uncle Sam" ...just google for more info, Mr. Campbell!!!! expand your horizons, the thugs are in Miami not Cuba...Below are some of the key players within the Miami Mafia Lincoln Díaz-Balart - Jose Basulto - Ricardo Bofill - Felix Antonio Bone - Orlando Bosch a Bin Laden of the Cuban exile -Frank Calzon- Posada Carriles another Bin Laden of the Cuban Exile - Rene Corvo = Martha Frayde - Juan Antonio Llamo - Miguel Loredo -Humberto Matos - Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo - Otto Reich - Ramon Saul Sanchez - Armando Valladares- Carlos Albert Montaner. You can say these up right Cuban American with many like them probably stole 90% of the hard cash from Cuba like robbers in the night, and they have the gall to demand payment for their "properties"; this is synonamus with Chiang Kai-shek et al of Taiwan demanding payment from Red China for the properties left behing when they fled China in 1949. Now Campbell, would you call Mao's boys thugs too. fred....oregon, usa