The United States and Cuba

Fidel Castro is gone and Raul Castro soon will be gone. What the successor government will be like is a matter of opinion, but now is the time for the US to position itself to influence it.

There's no need to begin big. What could help begin a rapprochement between the two countries is exploration of mutual interests. A few examples of places where cooperative activities can be launched are preservation of animal species, emergency services coordination, historical preservation, and the end of travel restrictions imposed on Americans.

Ivory-billed woodpeckers and Atlantic crocodiles are just two endangered species that would benefit from coordinated preservation efforts. Endangered turtles use the Gulf of Mexico and also would be better able to thrive if scientists in both countries coordinated their research and recovery efforts.

Each summer and autumn hurricanes boil up in the waters of the Atlantic basin. In addition to sharing weather forecasting services, greater mutual emergency services in the aftermath of a storm could save lives and resources in both nations. Just in case anyone feels a little snobbish about accepting relief from Cubans, they might consider whether the residents of New Orleans would have accepted Cuban help after Hurricane Katrina battered their city.

Cuba and Florida share a history dating from Spanish colonial times. Many of the records of the Spanish experience in Florida are thought to be in Havana. Surely sharing these documents would provide a fuller portrait of that time. More recently, Americans resided in Cuba and it is important to tell their story and that of the Cubans they knew. Ernest Hemingway is the prime example, but by no means the only one. I don't know if anyone wants to be reminded of Meyer Lansky, but American abuse of the Cubans is still a true story.

Last, but certainly not least, the travel restrictions still imposed on Americans who want to visit Cuba should be ended immediately. It's fundamentally undemocratic for the government to tell us where we can or cannot travel. Any opposition to allowing this because Cuba still clings to Marxism-Leninism can be countered easily by use of the old adage, "We'll sell them the rope to hang themselves."