WHAT'S GOING TO SURPRISE FOLKS IS...

First a new regime, then American reform (David R. Sands, September 18, 2007, Washington Times)

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said yesterday that the United States was ready to work with Cubans seeking real economic and political reform, but that he saw little sign to date of change as ailing leader Fidel Castro passes from the scene. [...]

"Unless the regime changes, our policy will not change," the Havana-born Mr. Gutierrez said in the first of a series of programs on the future of post-Castro Cuba at the Heritage Foundation.

But he said the U.S. government is anxious to do business with Cuba once the Castro regime is replaced. He said the United States was already the largest source of food and humanitarian aid to the Cuban people, despite the hostility to the regime.

"The question is not, when will the United States change its [embargo] policy? The real question is, when will Cuba change its policies? ... We are prepared to work with Cuba if there is real reform," he said.

...not just how soon we have normal relations with Cuba after Castro dies, but how quickly we're interknit with them economically, socially and politically. The five decades of Castroism will be truly inexplicable to history.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 18, 2007 8:12 PM