To begin with, the U.S. government should stop its long-standing hypocrisy of putting out a loud, empty anti-Castro and pro-freedom rhetoric while at the same time quietly supporting and protecting the Castro dictatorship and suppressing any attempt by Cuban exiles to overthrow the Castros or bring democracy to the island. The U.S. is mainly interested in stability in Cuba and avoiding a massive exodus towards our shores, and they look towards Raul Castro to keep things that way, even if that implies continuation of the dictatorship.

The U.S. should support opposition groups that want real democratic change in Cuba and should not lift the embargo (for whatever it is worth) until there are free internationally-supervised (not by Jimmy Carter) multi-party elections, political prisoners are freed and civil rights, the rule of law, and economic freedoms are reestablished. Once all these conditions are met, then the U.S. should release all the economic aid that has already been earmarked by Congress for a post-Castro democratic Cuba.