When I spoke to Congressman Flake last year to try to dissuade him about lifting the embargo, this was one of the reasons he gave me for feeling sympathetic to the idea of lifting it. He said, when Cubans get to see happy, well dressed Americans, it will give the country a huge unrest, because outside truth always unsettles a tyranny. When I told him that the world travels there in great numbers and that America is the biggest supplier of medicines and food to Cuba under the embargo and none of it gets to the Cuban people, he knew that but offered a counter argument. He said if restrictions were lifted, Americans travelling would outnumber the rest of the world immensely and the Cuban infrastructure could not sustain those numbers and the country would have to collapse. He was sincere. He may have been wrongheaded and his arguments "flaky", but he is anti Castro and his goal is to undermine that country and get it free faster.

I am taking this opportunity to beat what I hope is not a dead horse. I told you about the two page Otto Reich article about the anniversary of the revolution in National Review's 1/26 issue. I've mentioned a good paragraph on the 50th on page 12 of the same issue. As I continued to read, I also saw a notice of the nefarious assistance Greg Craig, Obama's incoming legal advisor, gave in the Elian Gonzalez affair.
Now, look at that. Three things friendly to the world wide anti Castro Cuban community in one issue of National Review. Can anyone name one other magazine or newspaper that did that in January? I hope anti Castro Cuban Americans who read this blog will go out and buy this issue and, if possible, subscribe to the magazine. I have no ax to grind here except that if a magazine proves itself so friendly to the cause of liberty, it should get some rewards for its efforts.

Honey; you've left me thirsting for that Reich article. I thought it was on-line, but you have to subscribe. Looks like I may break down, cross the street and see if B&N has a copy. As for Flake, he should know better, and all he's doing is helping the regime stay afloat. The regime knows they can't handle the increased numbers, so they'll just control how much comes in. Cuba is an incredibly efficient police state, do idiots like Flake not realize that? Do they think Fidel or his sychophants have survived 50 years by being careless and stupid? No, they will take the added tourists and their money, and will control how many and where they will go. In fact, I believe all of Cuba's tourist agencies are controlled by the Ministry of Interior, and the 'guides' that honcho around the tourists are all undercover Cuban counter-intelligence agents. They will not let anything get out of control, so Flake and the other 'useful idiots' better wake up to that fact. In fact, I guarantee you that as we speak the Cubans are gearing up their intelligence apparatus to prepare for the influx of Cuban-Americans once Obama drops restrictions. They will also prepare to take the added influx of $$ and funnel them to the tourist industry that keeps them afloat. Later, they will do the same when Obama drops the embargo and allows Americans to travel freely. Nothing will change!!

As much as I'm for removing most of the embargo Flake is a useful idiot and a tool. He is a true blue libertarian...and I don't mean that as a compliment in anyway.

Mambi,
The article from 1/26 NR issue on Greg Craig is in NR online today, January 19th. You can read how he helps causes and people we don't enjoy. Elian is back in Cuba playing the hero and Craig had a hand in it.
January 19th. Hmmm. Fitting that this symbol of tomorrow's new era in our country is hinted at in this article. Also online there today is that a tax cheat will take over at the IRS. What a world.