I’ve never met anyone who went to Cuba and wasn’t charmed by the people. Maybe President Trump should make the trip…or, at least, watch the TV special I made after I traveled there last year.
President Trump’s recent decision to curtail our rapprochement with Cuba exemplifies many of the qualities I don’t like about him: It favors fear and suspicion (and currying the favor of a few Florida politicians) over people-to-people connection; it’s preoccupied with driving a “better deal” regardless of compassion, by bullying a nation of 11 million people who are much weaker and poorer than us; and it is, I believe, simply illogical — politically, economically, and morally.
As we’ve learned over the last 55 years, isolating Cuba only makes its government stronger and its people poorer. That’s something I saw firsthand when I traveled there in 2016 (legally, thanks to President Obama’s reforms). And having been to Cuba, it’s clear to me that turning back the clock is a bad move all around. It will hurt struggling people who live just 90 miles from American shores — and it will make it that much harder for Americans to travel there and get to know our neighbors.
Travel is good for peace, it’s good for the economy, and it’s a civil liberty. If you agree, rather than shout amen, contact your member of Congress and let them know how you feel.