Last night I had a dream, it was a strange dream where I was supposed to introduce this very special guest at a dinner but I had no idea who it was. There were blue table covers, people were seated along rectangular tables, and behind the podium you could see a thin, frail man surrounded by much bigger men. I was finally told who I was going to be introducing: Fidel Castro. So, I quickly assembled my thoughts and was going to talk about the truth about Fidel Castro, something I am sure would have gotten me escorted out of the room or arrested. The dream ended before I could give my speech. It was the first time ever that I had a dream/nightmare including this butcher.

To my surprise, sort of, today I read that the Obama administration took down the big screen built along the side of the US interests section in Havana that would display messages promoting democracy and freedom of expression. CNN calls them “anti-Cuba” signs, sayings such as “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent,” showing that this news outlet simply parrots the Castro regime’s version of reality. Castro ended up putting up more than one hundred flags in front of the screen obstructing people’s view, so that they could not read the screen.

Why is it that every time I hear about some dictatorship or some terrorist in the news, it tends to be because the Obama administration has done something to damage the cause of America. He went to Europe to apologize. He talked about disarmament while North Korea fired off missiles. He would not support the Iranian people’s pro-democracy protests. He supports Chavez allies in Latin America. The list is extensive and it has only been six months. I want to hear that Obama went forth and challenged a country to be free. I want to hear Obama speak truth to power and call out dictators on their record. Instead we get appeasement. In his defense, the screen was not very useful since it was blocked, but instead of doing less to promote freedom in Cuba, Obama should do more. That’s where people get confused about measures such as the embargo. An embargo cannot bring down a regime, if that was the case, Saddam Hussein would not have been in power after the first Iraq war. The embargo needs to be followed up with policies that support the pro-democracy movement on the island. The solution to Cuba is not to make friends with the dictatorship, it is to pressure the regime while supporting the people that want to be free. Does Obama want to go down in history as being the president who abandoned the millions of people around the world who yearn to be free?

-AG