>
>Unless we actually start supporting dissidents in Cuba and starting putting real pressure on the government and regime spokesmen to implement a freer society,

And who are the dissidents?
Check the record of the people who opposed Castro and then fled here and waved the flag of freedom from Miami.
Battista made Castro look like Mother Theresa.

>> you're looking at a situation similar to Vietnam and China....both countries are better off financially than they were decades ago, but their record on human rights is still terrible.
>
Hmm... did they slaughter hundreds of thousand of innocent Iraqi's and Afghan?
As I recall, the US, not Castro, ran Gitmo.

>Obama tried this (in different ways) with Iran, Russia, and more recently Syria, which turned out to be a complete humanitarian disaster. They've all failed.
Hmm what has failed?
He hasn't done much of anything. That's not great, but it beats invading countries and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
At least this is a positive move.

>> This will be a repeat of the kind of blind eye we took with Iran when the country tortured dissidents in 2009 and Obama stood by silently.
Again- what dissidents? Do you have any idea what Iran was like under the Shah?

>
>As for the decent cigar, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that it was likely produced by some abused dissident working for ten cents an hour. :)
Of course that means that you support a higher minimum wage here, doesn't it?