…and soon thereafter negotiate for missionaries on the Caribbean island?
Many conservatives, including myself, have favored normalizing relations with Cuba for years. One Republican senator says it’s time to lift the embargo. Politics have been the principal reason for the embargo lasting this long: nobody can afford to lose the Cuban-American vote in Florida. But a recent poll shows that a majority of Cuban-Americans now opposes the embargo.
The embargo has long been used by the Castros as a justification for failed collectivist policies in Cuba. Lifting the embargo and offering to normalize relations — and announcing it on VOA and elsewhere — would raise pressure on the Castros to allow more political and economic freedom. My prediction is that lifting the embargo is the quickest way to bring democracy to Cuba.
The Church is prevented from openly proselytizing in Cuba. Just as happened in Russia and Eastern Europe, normalizing relations would eventually lead to missionaries and a greater Church presence on the island. As I have written before, there are several dozen Church members who quietly meet in Havana, and Church officials have quietly visited Cuba for years.
Here’s hoping for quick normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations!