DIPLOMACY - Cuba, a Sane Policy

"U.S. Plans Informal Meetings With Cuba" by GINGER THOMPSON, New York Times

Excerpt

Seizing the momentum from recent meetings with Latin American leaders, the Obama administration is quietly pushing forward with efforts to reopen channels of communication with Cuba, according to White House and State Department officials.

The officials said informal meetings were being planned between the State Department and Cuban diplomats in the United States to determine whether the two governments could open formal talks on a variety of issues, including migration, drug trafficking and other regional security matters.

And the administration is also looking for ways to open channels for more cultural and academic exchanges between Cuba and the United States, the officials said.

The next steps, said a senior administration official, would be meant to “test the waters,” to see whether the United States and Cuba could develop a “serious, civil, open relationship.”

After saying the United States was “ready to talk about a series of issues,” the official added, “This thing with Cuba is going to take a lot of time, and it may not work.”

Officials who discussed the plans did so on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the efforts.

I for one, have always thought that the old policy on Cuba was the wrong approach, and I was in high school during the Cuban Missile Crises. After all, we did NOT refuse to talk to the USSR during the Cold War.

Refusing to talk to America's enemies does not protect us. If nothing else, talking to enemies can give us an idea on their stance and an OPPORTUNITY to change things. Silence gets us nothing. Also, talking to an enemy does NOT = capitulation.