Chris Smith: “Allowing travel to Cuba is a terrible mistake. The benefits of free trade cannot flow to people who are ruthlessly…”

“Allowing travel to Cuba is a terrible mistake. The benefits of free trade cannot flow to people who are ruthlessly oppressed by a rigidly controlling totalitarian regime. Supporters claim that American tourists will help average Cubans. But letting Americans travel to Cuba will strengthen Castro and do nothing to improve the lot of average Cubans. Freedom cannot penetrate Castro's Communist cadre because it operates more like an organized crime syndicate than a legitimate government. But surely, we are told, joint ventures with foreign investors will change all that. All joint ventures in Cuba remain under Castro's thumb. Those businesses cannot even hire a Cuban worker without Castro's blessing. All the property in Cuba belongs to Castro. All the income that comes from these Americans will go to Castro. We are also told that if we support trade in China, we ought to support it in Cuba as well. But China and Cuba, I think, is a poor comparison.”