Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

I’m not saying ending the Cuban trade embargo unconditionally is a good idea and sure as hell hope that is not what President Obama did. I’m in favor of ending the embargo conditionally. That any American trade and business that goes into Cuba goes to the Cuban economy and the Cuban people. That the Cuban Government doesn’t tax most of it away, or all of it way to boost up their communist regime. But as long as Cubans see, feel and get the benefits of American trade in their country and have all the access to Cuban resources like hotels and everything else as American tourists, than this is something we should definitely be doing.

Cuba is not a threat in any way to America. Economically, militarily in no way whatsoever. If anything Venezuela is a bigger threat to America than Cuba, because they have a larger military, more economic resources, better ties to other authoritarian regimes who don’t like America and everything else and yet we trade with Venezuela. We are the only at least developed country in the Western world that doesn’t trade with Cuba and that only hurts the American economy and American business’s. Cuba gets that economic activity back and then some from Europe, South America and Asia.

Cuba is moving in a better if not positive direction now under Raul Castro now the President of the Communist State. They have opened up their economy to private enterprise and they now have Cuban business people who work or own for private business’s and other companies. They’ve also lessened restrictions as it relates to personal freedom and allowing Cubans to have more access of their own country. You don’t open up countries by ignoring them. We are seeing that with China and saw that with Russia when they were under Soviet control. You open up countries through engagement and encouraging the people in those countries to take control of their own country.

Keith Hughes: Cuba Explained- Ending The Embargo