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Broadcast – Cuba

President Obama’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba is a great accomplishment. The 50-year policy of isolating Cuba and imposing a trade embargo has been foolish and hypocritical.

Here’s something you didn’t know. The reason for breaking ties with Cuba was the Castro regime’s suppression of “human rights.” But that’s a phony excuse, reflected by our support of despots like the Shah of Iran. As long as dictators allowed U.S. companies to do business, Congress and the White House didn’t care if they brutalized their own country. Republican presidential candidates like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush attack Obama for not demanding freedom for the Cuban people. Are they suggesting we stop trade with china, which routinely denies basic rights to its citizens?

Unlike his gutless opponents scrounging for votes in Florida, President Obama deserves credit for opening a new chapter in foreign policy. I’m Phil Heimlich.