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Should American Citizens Be Allowed to Travel to Cuba?

Of course, they should. Doesn't the Declaration of Independence declare that the inalienable rights of mankind are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? Freedom of movement is the essence of liberty, so as free people, Americans should be able to pursue happiness lounging on the sand at Varadero Beach, sipping a caf con leche on the Malecn, or admiring the mountains of Santiago.

Security concerns dictate that, in time of war, travel to enemy belligerents be prohibited, but the United States and Cuba are not shooting at each other. Restrictions on American travel to Cuba, part of a trade embargo clamped on the island in the early 1960s, are a relic of the Cold War standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the USSR, the Cold War ended, except in one corner of the Caribbean.

The embargo on Cuba is an aberration, and the policy no longer makes sense. Is the policy in place because Cuba is a Communist state? If so, why can U.S. citizens stroll about Tiananmen Square in Beijing and poke about the Cu Chi Tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam? Is the policy in place because Cuba is an adversary in the international political arena? If so, why could Americans, at the height of Cold War tensions, visit St. Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's tomb in Moscow? Is the policy in place because Cuba is an authoritarian state? One must admit that Egypt is also authoritarian, yet thousands of Americans travel there for business and pleasure each year. Americans can marvel at the pyramids of Giza but are forbidden to explore the great colonial fortress of El Morro, a mere 90 miles from Key West, Florida.

Why does this prohibition exist? It cannot be because the U.S. government fears that its citizens will be so impressed by the achievements of the Cuban Revolution that they will convert to Communism. Economically, the revolution has been a disaster. Once among the richest countries in Latin America, Cuba is now one of the poorest. The revolution's failures result from a rigid ideology that stifles enterprise and innovation, a long dependence on subsidies from the Soviet Union, and sheer bureaucratic incompetence. Present-day Cuba has become, in effect, a museum of Communism's failures. Only a committed ideologue would find it inspiring. The reason for the travel restriction must lie elsewhere.

The reason can be found in the anger, frustration, and stubbornness of the Cuban exile community

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