"Will Someone Please Explain This Policy To Me?"
This was the question Dwight A. Roberts, the Texan president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, asked at a recent news conference in Havana.

Hey Dwight, what took you so long? I have been wondering about our trade embargo with Cuba for years. It makes no sense to anyone who wants to see reform in Cuba. The only person who benefits is Fidel Castro because it gives him an enemy to blame for his own economic mismanagement of Cuba. This is an island that once fed itself. Now thanks to Castro and his Communist cronies it is a place where food rationing is the norm.

It is truly staggering to think that a small minority of Cuban Nationals in these United States could have so much influence in Washington as to keep this policy in place. The embargo of Cuba hurts US exporters and it most certainly hurts the people of Cuba. It has no effect on Castro as this is exactly what he wants: something to take the Cuban people's minds off their empty stomachs.