United States and Cuba: Relationship and Reconciliation

I was very intrigued when I heard President Obama's announcement that the United States and Cuba are normalizing relations for the first time since a Communist regime came to power in Cuba in 1959.

The actions the United States took at that time to cut all diplomatic ties and impose an embargo were probably not all that unreasonable back then.  But the world is different now that the Cold War is over and Communist governments no longer pose the same kind of threat they did.  And given that the embargo hasn't had its intended effect, I suppose it's worth trying a different strategy in responding to the troubles that Cuba poses.

Certainly in more recent years, there has been plenty of exchanging between Americans and Cubans.  I think back to 2005, when I was in 8th grade, and one of my fellow classmates went on a trip to Cuba with her team to play softball with a team there.  From what I heard from her and from news coverage of their trip, they had some positive interactions with their Cuban counterparts.

Of course, critics of this action are right to point out that Cuba has to address its abuses of human rights.  Keeping that in mind is important to building a relationship with Cuba from here on out, the United States doing its part as a member of the international community to effect the right kind of domestic change within a foreign country, even while allowing the flow of trade and commerce.

One thing that struck me from these proceedings was the role Pope Francis and Vatican played in helping mediate.  It's notable how the Church is taking on a diplomatic role among the world powers in our present day, centuries after playing on the world stage as its own political power.  Pope Francis--himself from a Hispanic country--is leading the way in taking an active role to help bring about healthy encounters among all the peoples of the world.  It speaks to the mission of the Church to bring about reconciliation, in the spirit that Christ reconciled us to God, and this diplomatic action is a very real example of such reconciliation playing out on the world stage.  We're sure to find a measure of success with that kind of worldview prevailing.