Much has been made of the fact that long time Cuban Strongman, Fidel Castro, has temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul. The streets of Miami have been quite festive on the news, but the news means little. In the first place the move is temporary and in the second place, even if Castro dies on the operating table, by all accounts his younger brother is even more ruthless. These turn of events are no cause for joy or celebration.

Castro’s power and the control of his Communist regime, lies as much in their ruthlessness as well as in their ability to manipulate the populace for their own ends. They, like Chavez in Venezuela, portray themselves as heroes to the people, arguing that they are protecting Cuban society from an inevitable onslaught, in this case from the United States. Such Mussolini-esque tactics are most successful when they are tinged with truth. While in Chavez’s case, his claims of imminent invasion are the stuff of fantasy, Castro, however, can point to an obvious sign of US hostility. That sign is the US embargo. And with this sign Castro can argue with some degree of truth that the US is bent of starving the Cuban people.

The US effort to isolate Cuba, accomplished two things: in the first place it drew Cuba closer to the Soviet sphere as Castro became increasingly dependent upon the USSR to purchase Cuban goods, and supply Cuba with various forms of assistance. In the second place, the embargo solidified Cuba's hold on power. Demagogues like Castro, love to portray themselves as champions of the people and saviors. In this case, the US played right into Castro's hands. Any poverty, sickness or economic decay in Cuba, Castro can easily blame the United States, not his own failed policies, thus Castro champions himself as someone standing up to aggression. In all the history of the world, no one can point to a single case where an embargo successfully brought down a tyrannical government. It failed in Iraq, it has failed in Iran, it failed with Libya and in countless other examples. The only people affected by these economic embargoes are ordinary citizens, in most cases, the power and influence of tyrants is only enhanced, like Saddam Hussein. In dealing with a nation like Cuba, there are only two viable options: Invasion or Engagement.

Clearly, in the present day, Cuba is isolated and poses no real danger to the United States, thus invasion is foolish. This leaves engagement. The US should actively seek to enhance ties with Cuba through trade and cultural exchange. Such efforts proved quite successful with the Eastern Block. Why is it that the US has chosen a similar path with hard-line China and even Vietnam, but maintains the farce of this blockade with Cuba? If any country was ever a greater threat to the United States, it is China, yet, China is one of our largest trading partners, meanwhile we insist on starving Cuba into submission. In realty the only people starving are the very people the US should be trying to win over; instead we drive them into the open arms of Fidel Castro.
http://www.thephalanx.com/2005/10/communism-would-have-fallen-years-ago.html

If Castro dies, as many hope and as some suspect has already happened, little will change and we can thank the embargo for much of that and Raul Castro for the rest.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-31-cuba-castro_x.htm