#9. He Will Normalize Relations with Cuba
With recent talks to normalize economic and political relations with Cuba, it seems that cooler heads are prevailing in Washington DC. Since the Cuban Embargo was enacted in 1960, relations between the two countries have been tense to say the least. Even after more than 50 years of existence, this embargo has done nothing to topple the Castro regime. It’s high time for some policy change and Rand Paul is the candidate to make it happen.
Many Hispanics of Cuban descent still have countless family members living in squalid conditions in the island nation. In addition to living under a dictatorship, they are completely cut off from trade with the biggest economy in the world. No true supporter of free markets can justify a trade embargo. It is isolationism plain and simple.
There is no denying that Cuba is a dictatorship, but that has not kept the U.S. from trading with countries like China, whose atrocities make the Castro regime’s abuses look like child’s play. The end of the embargo may not cause a sudden regime change in Cuba, but it will allow for a potential entrepreneurial class to rise and challenge the status quo in the near future.
In the same vein, normalization of relations with Cuba will allow for American citizens to finally visit Cuba and see firsthand the effects of totalitarian socialism. Even in its more restricted forms, markets can still hack away at statist structures.
Rand Paul is on the right side of history on this issue. Candidates like Marco Rubio, a Cuban himself, represent a conservative status quo that picks and chooses free market policies where they see fit. On the other hand, Rand Paul sees free markets as a coherent package of policies that must be implemented in all spheres of human activity. If Latinos want to see true change in Cuban policy that benefits both countries, Rand Paul is their choice.
